Why Rockford Schools Should Rethink Recess [POLL]

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The American Academy of Pediatrics calls recess "a crucial and necessary component of a child's development." A new project proves just how crucial.

Four elementary schools in Texas have been trying out the LiiNK Project for the past 5 months and so far the results have been outstanding. The project was created by Texas Christian University and there are 4 basic steps to implementing the program.

• Increase the amount of physical activity / recess in your school
• Create equality across content areas. Add ethics / character development
• Assess students differently. Less standardized testing
• Restructure the school day. Less hours in the classroom with more time for play / creativity

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Eagle Mountain Elementary school in Fort Worth, Texas was recently featured on the Today Show. Here's how they have restricted the school day. The youngest kids at the school used to have one recess a day, now the have 4-15 minute recess periods. The children are always outside whether is drizzly or cold. Donna McBride, a first-grade teacher at Eagle Mountain was a bit apprehensive at the beginning of the experiment, as were many teachers, thinking there wouldn't be enough time to teach them all they needed to learn everyday.

Now 5 months into the experiment, most of that apprehension is gone. Her students are more focused, less fidgety, they listen more intently, there are fewer discipline issues and they are show more strength at solving there own problems.

Even parents are seeing the positive changes at home.

"You start putting 15 minutes of what I call reboot into these kids every so often and… it gives the platform for them to be able to function at their best level," said Debbie Rhea, a kinesiology professor at Texas Christian University who created the project.