Elementary school flex time not wasted, say students, teachers and most parents

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This article was published 07/11/2023 (719 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Laidlaw School is the latest elementary building in the province to adopt “flex time” — an open period pencilled into every weekday during which students have free time to catch up on homework, sing karaoke or stretch their legs.

Starting in September, Grades 1-8 students have been given 30 minutes every day to participate in any activity of their choice inside the Tuxedo school or on the playground.

Principal Heather Eby said students are responsible for making a decision about how to spend their time, based on answering the question, “What do I need to be successful today?”

“For some students it may be the need to move, connect, create, relax, catch up, build, practise or learn a new skill,” Eby said, adding children are supervised by teachers and, in some cases, learn extracurricular skills from them during the afternoon slot.

One teacher began running informal knitting classes this fall. Another staff member who is fluent in Spanish has provided introductory language lessons to interested kids.

Students have made creations out of Lego, participated in crafts and dance routines, and organized informal sports matches, among other options available between 2:10 p.m. and 2:40 p.m.

“I love it,” said Alice Abreu, a Grade 2 student and self-described “Swiftie” — a fan of American pop-superstar Taylor Swift — who typically spends the free period singing with her classmates.

The seven-year-old said she alternates among various ballads by her favourite artist.

Ruth Abreu, co-chairwoman of the parent advisory council, said she was initially skeptical of the flexible approach to schooling — a stark contrast to her educational upbringing in Brazil.

“With the karaoke, she actually has to read, so she’s reading there. When they’re doing board games, they may be counting or reading and learning generosity, respecting each other. It’s very nice there’s something different from just the standard (rote) learning,” said the mother, who moved to Canada in 2014.

Abreu said the slot teaches students about decision-making and allows children who need to regulate themselves to do so with calming music, independent reading or a break in another form before tackling the remainder of the school day.

The majority of parents are on board with the 2022-23 pilot, although a minority argue it’s a waste of time, she said. As far as Abreu’s concerned, 15 additional minutes of recreational time (the open period includes 15 minutes of existing recess time) will not impact students’ literacy or numeracy skills.

Laidlaw’s staff team took inspiration from colleagues at École Charleswood School, a nearby middle-years facility that schedules 30 minutes of “On y va” (go time) in the mornings.

Intentionally flexible periods have been growing in popularity across the Pembina Trails School Division and elsewhere in North America.

“What’s happened in education is we’ve finally accepted the fact that children have limited attention spans,” said David Telles-Langdon, an associate professor of kinesiology and applied health at the University of Winnipeg.

Telles-Langdon likened an intensive math lesson to a rigorous workout; he said it is unproductive to overload student brains with academic content, much like it is ineffective for coaches to drill athletes to the point where they might get injured.

Down time allows youth in both settings to reflect on feedback and process it, said Telles-Langdon, who completed his PhD in cognition and learning at the University of Western Ontario.

“The recovery piece is important and we often short-change that,” he added.

Telles-Langdon touted flex time — when adults help craft and facilitate those periods to meet student needs — as a way to provide kids with more exercise breaks and opportunities to explore how they learn best.

Laidlaw’s early findings suggest the open slot is making students feel re-energized in the afternoons and there is a greater sense of community across the building, the principal said.

“It’s a nice, equal, inclusive, safe playing field for them all,” Eby said.

The interdisciplinary activities incorporate curricular outcomes while ensuring students with varying skill sets find success in the afternoons, she added.

maggie.macintosh@freepress.mb.ca