In a world of sedentary activity we also seem to have increasing problems with thought. The push on academics and the increasing amount of time children spend at their desk, have not made our children smarter. Could it be that the answer is not more time at desks, but getting up and jumping around more?
The importance of physical activity can be seen throughout history. The ancient Greeks highly prized their top athletes. Every boy not only went to school to study, but also to train his body for sports competitions.
Even in our desk centered modern culture, we still prize our top athletes as heroes. We know, somewhere deep inside, that what they do is amazing. We know our bodies matter. We know we should exercise in order to have a healthy heart and strong muscles. But we are just starting to realize we need to move for our brain. Our brain needs oxygen too.
If you want your kids to be smart, teach them to jump rope. Teach them to double skip, double Dutch, and hula-hoop.
Neuroscientists are finding more and more connections showing how physical movement has a direct effect on the brain.
5 reasons to keep your kids moving in order to learn more efficiently:
The cerebrum is the part of the brain where learning is processed, it is this very same area of the brain that processes planned movement, such as walking, dance, swimming, and any sport you can think of.
BDNF is a protein produced inside nerve cells. This protein is essential to promote, function, health, and growth of brain cells. The body’s production of protein increases when you exercise.
Movement increases the quality of the white matter in your brain. The quality of white matter determines how fast and efficiently your brain processes information.
Many studies suggest that people who exercise regularly have more brain mass in several regions of the brain.
Oxygen, we all know that oxygen is vital to every part of our body. Did you know that your brain uses 3 times the amount of oxygen as your muscles? Whenever we get up and move around a bit, even if it is just a 5 minute movement break, between academic study, it increases the blood flow to our brain making sure enough oxygen is available to fuel the hard work which the brain is about to undertake.
Thanks to Pixabay for the free image.
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We homeschool and in my experience you are absolutely right! Exercise and free play are as important, if not more important, than instructional or other focused learning. Sometimes my daughter in perticular, struggles with something as we try to teach her. Then after a few days or even weeks when we try the same again she knows it, even though it seemed to us that she learned nothing the first time we tried.
Thanks for the comment. It is amazing what learning goes on inside the child, where we can't see. You plant the seed, and a week or month later when you think you are going to re-teach a concept the child did not understand the first time, you find a plant! I love those surprises.