Field Day 2008

It's that time of year again for elementary school kids ~ FIELD DAY! The day started out very cold, but I think the kids were fine with that. They seemed to have a great time anyway. Once again, they didn't have any competitive aspects of Field Day (no points, no ribbons, no stars)...the kids just play and, in most cases, "hang around". I have expressed before that I am not a fan of this "feel good" Field Day. I don't think it's giving the kids any competitive experience and, let's face it, our culture is competitive. This should be the one day where we reward kids for excelling and allow them to experience some good old fashion competition. I won't get on my soap box in this post ~ maybe another time. But, I do think field day can be set up so it's fair, fun, challenging, and rewarding for all kids ~ even for those kids that don't enjoy sports or are athletically challenged :o) They could have booths/events that are more intellectual in nature...speed puzzles, word games, speed reading, etc. I just think they should still get a tangible reward or prize or compensation for excelling and participating in "the games". Cailey doesn't have a competitive bone in her body and I would like to see her challenged and allowed to work outside her comfort zone in this area and then rewarded for her attempt. I don't think it's the kids that mind having competitions because they seem to find a way to compete anyway and they seemed to have more fun at the stations that allowed them to keep score or compete for distance. Enough of that. The kids had a good time no matter what my opinion is :o)

On another note, Cailey was a little under the weather today (cold/allergies) but she insisted on going to school today ~ she has been looking forward to Field Day for weeks. The "virus" that has been making it's way through all of us finally caught Cailey and she is not feeling well.

You can see from the pictures that it was, indeed, a chilly morning. Enjoy the pictures.