As the first weeks of school descend and my son begins his adventures at McMurray, I am stunned to see that his time for recess has gone from almost an hour a day at Chautauqua to practically zero at the middle school. Sixth-graders are required to take only one semester of P.E.

This semester my son doesn’t have P.E. and thus no active time at school outside of the half-hour during lunch, 10 minutes of which he’s using to eat. That leaves a potential of 20 minutes of active time during a seven-hour school day.

In The Seattle Times recently there was an article stating the importance of at least an hour per day of active time for our children not only for physical health, but for academic success as well (“Want to get an ‘A’? Exercise an hour a day,” Sept. 7).

I am aware of the many after-school activities available for children, ranging from swimming club to soccer; however, some children are not interested in those types of sports and parents can’t manage the logistics of practices if they work during the day.

I propose this simple solution:

Could the school shave four minutes off each of the seven classes (including homeroom) and embed a recess time during the school day? I know the results would be better learning, fewer behavior problems and a healthier student body.

— Kim Thal