Recess time: how do you cope?

i know this sounds horrible but i don't worry about recess much at all. i do worry every day during lunch and just after lunchtime but that's all the thought i give to PA during my two PA girls' schoolday. this could be because i've been dealing with PA for so long (10 years now) and i've just grown accustomed to dealing with it differently than i used to. i don't even worry during snacktime because i know my girls are extremely careful about what goes into their mouths and/or anything they handle. if it doesn't pass their scrutiny (label reading, comfortable feelings, etc) then it doesn't go into their mouths ever. it helps that their classrooms are peanut free and that almost everyone they play with at school during recess and in general does not eat peanut products out of concern for them. i'm sure a few do but i try not to worry about the "what-ifs" whenever the risks are fairly low to them. that's just how i handle it these days. i'm certainly not advocating that for everyone (especially if your children are very, very young or if you are in the beginning stages of dealing with PA).

joey

Do you know the ages of the other students out at the same time as the Kindy recess? Maybe a "recess buddy" from the oldest grade out there could be set up where a few of the older kids rotate as her buddy each time she's on the playground. Some kids LOVE to have this type of responsibility and maybe they could wear a Be A Pal bracelet as a small token of their job.

I know I worried about recess when my now 18 year old egg, milk, peanuts, treenuts, shellfish son was about to start school when there was hardly any awareness at all. But thankfully there was never a problem.

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Jana

[url="http://www.seattlefoodallergy.org"]www.seattlefoodallergy.org[/url]

We had all kids who ate PB/nutty foods for lunch use wipes on their hands after they ate/before recess.

Also, the aides were trained all about PA and the Epi. They were SPECIFICALLY told that lunch and recess would "pose the HIGHEST RISK to (our son's) life on a daily basis." They were also told to stay in close proximity to our son during his lunch and recess times.

Get to be very friendly with the school - especially the secretary. The subs have to report to the office upon arrival to the school - the secretary is your first line of defense when dealing with subs. (At least that's the way it is here.) The secretary here tells the subs about our son, and then the first thing the subs see when they walk into the classrooms is my son's folder with all his information in it.

Good luck.

have u researched a 504?
[url="http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum7/HTML/001854.html"]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/Forum7/HTML/001854.html[/url]
luvmyboys

I am on a mission to learn everything I can about 504's. I have the Coordinator's name in my pocket. What a wealth of information that thread was that you posted - thank you!!!! I don't know what I would do without this site.

My son does not wear an Epi. At recess, the aides have one walkie talkie, and the main office (which adjoins the nurse's office) has the other. I was actually in the nurse's office talking to her one day when I could hear them saying over the walkie talkie that my son was coming in to the nurse (out of breath - asthma) and within a minute he was there, accompanied by an adult. It works well [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

For me personally, I consider the risk of him having an injestion reaction at recess very low, and if he had a contact reaction, I would rather have the nurse evaluate it than have one of the many rotating moms who volunteer on the playground make a decision about whether or not to give the Epi. For you though, with the kids being allowed to eat during recess, of course there is more risk. I have honestly never heard of snacks during recess - you would think they would be concerned about choking! Maybe that is something the school would be willing to consider changing? I know regardles of PA, I wouldn't want my kids eating ancks while they are running around. There may be other parents at the school who don't like the idea of that either.

[This message has been edited by mcmom (edited November 24, 2006).]

I understand your concern. I don't worry about recess too much. In the winter months though I came up with what I think is a brillant plan. In the winter it is hard to tell each child apart because they are all bundled up so what I do is have my child wear a brightly coloured tag on his coat so if a teacher sees him down she can see the tag and know that it is my son. The school thought that was great and they implement it for all the allergy students....

Pam

With every public school that I have dealt with, kindergardeners have their recesses separately from the other grades. Some schools even have separate playgrounds for the kindy classes.

At our school, they have at least 4 adults on the playground when the K classes are out there.

Check your state law and see if students are allowed to self-carry their epi-pens. Here in CA, students are allowed to. That law trumps the desires of the school nurse.

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Cheryl, mom to Jason (9 MFA including peanuts, tree nuts, shellfish and egg)
Joey (7 NKA)
Allison (3 MFA including milk, butternut squash, several fruits and suspected shellfish allergies, avoiding tree nuts, RAST - for peanut)
Ryan (born 12/27/05) nka *knock on wood*

Quote:Originally posted by MamaZof2:
[b]) IF I can find a private school that deals with PA well). [/b]

MamaZ,

Be careful of private schools. Many of the 504 clauses you will want will not hold up. Take a real good look at the schools handbook and look at rules and regulations.

The clause in my PA son's OLD private school read; "Limited resources prevent us from accepting students who would require more than simple accommodations." And later in the handbook book ;"School's Right to Amend: Since situations can arise that were not foreseen at the time of writing this Handbook, the School reserved the right to initiate, change or modify the policies as needed. Parents and students will be notified of any admendments"

We moved our 4th Grade PA son to a Public School this year. They (except school nurse) are lightyears ahead on allergy awareness. The teachers actually asked me about stuff I never considered before. For instance, PA DS shares a desk with another child. They switch teachers half day. Teachers wanted to know if it would be ok to give DS is own desk. Never got anything like that from private school! There are 400 kids at new school and the playground is just huge! I feel he is safer there than the private school.

Look at ALL your options. I made the mistake of putting too much credence in what other parents were saying rather than really checking it out indepth for myself. PA DS is now in a magnet gifted program. He actually smiles alot now.

PP

I know for a 5-year-old this might sound a little far fetched, but the first precaution you can take is to make sure that your daughter can recognize when she's having a reaction, and be able to voice it for herself to get help. This is very important, considering the size of your child's school, and the lack of supervision. When I was in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades, I would have recess and lunch in the school office, because my school also let children have snacks on the playground. And since even if children weren't allowed to eat outside, there was no way to be sure they wouldn't do it anyway. That might be a good idea. I would bring in a few of my friends who weren't eating peanut related products to have break and lunch with me. That might be a safer option.