Arts Replace Recess

  A group of 9-year-olds was busily putting the finishing touches on an enormous poster for the fourth-grade play.Its topic: saving the Earth. Down the hall in the music room, beneath portraits of Mozart and Bach. Cheerleaders in the gym were perfecting a victory chant, jumping, twisting and stamping their feet. All of this learning was taking place not after school hours, but during recess break that for some elementary school students is slowly being squeezed out of the day; jump rope, freeze tag and the jungle gym have some new competition. Recess is now being seen by parents and educators as a time to pack in extra learning.   Free time during school hours has become a hot topic among educators across the country, many of who worry that children are not getting enough of it.