You make me blush when you say that, but GO ON!

With much anticipation and almost 100 percent certainty, students at LGA look forward to recess. It's a lot of fun at LGA! There are a myriad of activities for students to take part in. We are fortunate because there is a lot of green space for students to explore, and the playground built a few years ago still gets a lot of attention from both small and big kids. As I blogged before, Four Square is a major part of the landscape of recess. At our weekly all-school meeting, 5th and 6th graders announce "all-school" recess games, while younger students look forward to hearing the choices with much excitement. Some games are popular, garnering close to thirty students of all different ages playing, while others draw a smaller crowd. What makes them all similar is that everyone, no matter the age or skill level, is not only invited but encouraged to play. My office window looks out at this game, and I often peer through my window with pride, because it is times like this when our small school really works well. Some might say it is out of necessity, but I don't agree. 

At almost three years of age, my own son, Raviv, can hold his own with the big kids of kindergarten, and yet also enjoys parallel play with his younger sister, Danya, as she toddles about in our family room. I see how much Raviv appreciates learning from the older kids he interacts with. I wouldn't change a thing about how he is learning negotiation, seeing and imitating behaviors in other children (that Rebecca and I might not always want to have emulated) and picking up new vocabulary words every day.  Many of these experiences aren't with his age cohort. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what he learns from his peers, but these multiage interactions have developed his skills even greater than I thought possible. He goes to preschool and is with ten other 2-3 year olds all day. In the afternoon, he joins with his friends from the middle classroom. He is in love with every single child in that classroom. We have to tear him out of there when we pick him up at the end of the day. It is this appreciation that makes my reaction to recess standards at LGA even stronger. 

Navigating an elementary school playground can sometimes be a daunting task. Luckily, recess at LGA is, for the most part, a joyous experience. It's pleasant. When the whistle blows signaling everyone to line up, it goes to a whole other level. The 6th graders help corral everyone else into lines. A hush falls over the assembled. The leaders ask four or five different students for something we call "compliments," which are exactly what it sounds like. "I want to thank Mara for playing soccer with me. She showed me how to kick the ball the proper way." "I want to thank Yoav for including me in the game of Four Square." "I want to thank the 5th graders for letting me join in on the game of tag." Et cetera. 

It's the kind of moment that makes you do a double take and blush. The younger students are seeing and hearing the older students being nice to each other. Before students walk into class, they are taking a collective deep breath and appreciating others. Not a bad habit to teach our kids.