Just when my daughter was starting first grade, the Atlanta school system in Georgia decided to revoke recess. I was horrified. Children need to exercise for overall health — not only for muscle tone and physical well-being, but for mental and emotional welfare, as well. They need to blow off steam. They need to screech at the top of their lungs, and get sweaty and red-faced from chasing each other around on the school playground. They need to hang upside down on the monkey bars, hop, skip, jump-rope, and play catch. Or at least, take a friendly stroll around the softball diamond and prattle non-stop with a new or best friend.
Cancelling recess was an effort for the Atlanta School District to maximize study school hours in an attempt to raise scores in standardized test-taking. But health experts have always associated the practice of regular exercise with higher academic achievement. And here, with an already soaring adult obesity problem in the US, it would be only a matter of time when more of our children would suffer from the ill effects of child obesity, as well. It was clear to me, at the time, that this new-fangled idea to strip kids of their recess time, in favor of more sit-down time, would lead to, both, a stagnant quality of elementary-level education and a poorer quality of child health. A new approach is not always the more improved approach.
When I was a little girl, school ran from about eight o'clock in the morning until about three o'clock in the afternoon — or a little less, depending on the grade, Monday through Friday. Recess was usually ten minutes long, held at the end of each school hour. We, also, got an hour lunch break from noon to one o'clock. We would eat, jabber, giggle, and race around. Sometimes, I would even dash home to eat lunch, and sprint back as fast as I could, so I would not be late for the one o'clock bell.
I grew up playing different games at recess. Sometimes, the games were spontaneous and innocent, like hopscotch or tag; or sometimes, the games were organized and rather aggressive, like dodge ball or nation ball. But my all-time favorite was tether ball. The ball was very soft and so my little fist would not get hurt hitting it. The biggest benefit was that the ball was tethered to a pole, so there was a huge chance I would not miss punching at it.
Yes, children, definitely, need to have breaks during the day to release their unexpressed, pent up energy. Did your school have recess? What were your favorite childhood games?
VERBS — Глаголы:
Revoke /rɪˈvəʊk/ — отменить, лишить чего-либо
Blow off steam /bləʊ ɒf stiːm/ — выпускать пар
Screech /skriːtʃ/ — визжать
Chase /tʃeɪs/ — гнаться, преследовать
Take a stroll /teɪk /eɪ/ — пойти прогуляться, прогуливаться
Prattle /ˈpræt.əl/ — болтать, лепетать
Strip /strɪp/ — лишать чего-либо
Jabber /ˈdʒæbər/ — болтать, трещать
Giggle /ˈɡɪɡl/ — хихикать
Dash /dæʃ/ — мчаться, нестить
Tether /ˈteðər/ — привязывать
Punch /pʌntʃ/ — бить, наносить удар
ADJECTIVES — Прилагательные:
Soaring /ˈsɔːrɪŋ/ — увеличивающийся
New-fangled /ˈnjuːˌfæŋɡld/ — новомодный
Stagnant /ˈstæɡnənt/ — не имеющий прогресса
Innocent /ˈɪnəsnt/ — безобидный
Pent up /pent ʌp/ — сдержанный
NOUNS — Существительные:
Recess /rɪˈses/ — перемена (в школе)
Welfare /ˈwelfeər/ — благополучие, благосостояние
Attempt /əˈtempt/ — попытка
Achievement /əˈtʃiːv.mənt/ — достижение, успех
Obesity /əʊˈbiːsətɪ/ — тучность, ожирение, чрезмерная полнота
Hopscotch /ˈhɑːpskɑːtʃ/ — игра в классики
Tag /tæɡ/ — игра в салки, пятнашки
Dodge ball /dɑːdʒ bɔːl/ — игра в вышибалы
Tether ball /ˈteðər bɔːl/ — тетербол
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