When I was a little kid, my brother and I used to love to ride our bikes to school. It wasn't a long ride. We rode about six blocks, crossed one busy street with the help of the friendly neighborhood crossing guard, rode down a narrow and rickety path next to the cemetery, arrived at school, and locked our bikes on the bike rack. Back then, the rack was often so full, it was hard to find a place to lock it!
I don't see many kids riding their bikes to school anymore. If they do, they are carefully escorted by a parent, which is probably one reason why kids don't do it anymore. When we were little, sending my brother and I to school on our bikes saved our mom the time and trouble of taking us there... but if she'd had to hop on her own bike and lead us there, it might not have been worth it!
It is no big secret that exercise is good for children's bodies... I don't mean their weight, necessarily, but their hearts and lungs and strength! Now, a few schools have figured out that exercising is also good for kids' brains. I read about two schools that invested in exercise bikes for the students. At Moundsville Middle School in West Virginia, exercise bikes were placed in the backs of classrooms. Students get to take turns riding the silent bikes during lessons. Teachers have noticed that kids, including those with attention or behavioral problems, are better able to focus on lessons when they are riding the bike. Some teachers even use extra time on the bike as an incentive for good behavior!
At Ward Elementary in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the school created a special classroom filled with exercise bikes. Teachers take turns bringing their entire classes of students to the room, where everyone rides. As they ride, they read books! They call this program Read And Ride. The school's data shows that the children who regularly participated in Read And Ride scored about 83% on reading proficiency tests, while students who did not regularly participate scored only 41%.
The University of Illinois did a study in which 110 joined a program where they did fun physical activities, such as playing tag or soccer, for two hours each day after school. The study found that, not only did the children become more physically fit, but they improved their executive functioning skills such as concentrating on a task and switching their attention between two cognitive tasks.
Apparently, this works because cardio exercise pumps blood, oxygen and nutrients into the brain, and also provides it with serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, chemicals that help us with our learning, attention, perception, motivation, and arousal.
I am definitely not one of the people who claims that exercise is a simple cure for everything from ADHD to learning disabilities to depression! I know these issues are more complicated than that! But I also think that it is good for all children to get the chance to move around and get their blood pumping during the school day. For children who experience problems learning, it makes sense that they should have a chance to reap the benefits of something this simple! Yet many schools are cutting down on recess and PE, and longer school days and more homework even take away children's chances to get exercise by playing outside after school. At some schools, children with special needs or low test scores are even taken out of "special" classes such as PE in order to participate in extra academic help
As I continue the process of getting Over The Rainbow started, I will remember to incorporate physical activity as frequently as possible.
Have you heard of other ways that schools are finding to combine exercise with learning?
REFERENCES
Biking IN The Classroom
Action For Healthy Kids
May 14, 2014
How Exercise Boosts Your Brain Power
Active.com
How Exercise Can Boost Young Brains
New York Times
October 8, 2014
Read And Ride
www.readandride.org
This School Has Bikes Instead Of Desks - And It Turns Out That's A Better Way To Learn
Fast CoExist
October 6, 2014
I don't see many kids riding their bikes to school anymore. If they do, they are carefully escorted by a parent, which is probably one reason why kids don't do it anymore. When we were little, sending my brother and I to school on our bikes saved our mom the time and trouble of taking us there... but if she'd had to hop on her own bike and lead us there, it might not have been worth it!
It is no big secret that exercise is good for children's bodies... I don't mean their weight, necessarily, but their hearts and lungs and strength! Now, a few schools have figured out that exercising is also good for kids' brains. I read about two schools that invested in exercise bikes for the students. At Moundsville Middle School in West Virginia, exercise bikes were placed in the backs of classrooms. Students get to take turns riding the silent bikes during lessons. Teachers have noticed that kids, including those with attention or behavioral problems, are better able to focus on lessons when they are riding the bike. Some teachers even use extra time on the bike as an incentive for good behavior!
At Ward Elementary in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the school created a special classroom filled with exercise bikes. Teachers take turns bringing their entire classes of students to the room, where everyone rides. As they ride, they read books! They call this program Read And Ride. The school's data shows that the children who regularly participated in Read And Ride scored about 83% on reading proficiency tests, while students who did not regularly participate scored only 41%.
The University of Illinois did a study in which 110 joined a program where they did fun physical activities, such as playing tag or soccer, for two hours each day after school. The study found that, not only did the children become more physically fit, but they improved their executive functioning skills such as concentrating on a task and switching their attention between two cognitive tasks.
Apparently, this works because cardio exercise pumps blood, oxygen and nutrients into the brain, and also provides it with serotonin, dopamine and norepinephrine, chemicals that help us with our learning, attention, perception, motivation, and arousal.
I am definitely not one of the people who claims that exercise is a simple cure for everything from ADHD to learning disabilities to depression! I know these issues are more complicated than that! But I also think that it is good for all children to get the chance to move around and get their blood pumping during the school day. For children who experience problems learning, it makes sense that they should have a chance to reap the benefits of something this simple! Yet many schools are cutting down on recess and PE, and longer school days and more homework even take away children's chances to get exercise by playing outside after school. At some schools, children with special needs or low test scores are even taken out of "special" classes such as PE in order to participate in extra academic help
As I continue the process of getting Over The Rainbow started, I will remember to incorporate physical activity as frequently as possible.
Have you heard of other ways that schools are finding to combine exercise with learning?
REFERENCES
Biking IN The Classroom
Action For Healthy Kids
May 14, 2014
How Exercise Boosts Your Brain Power
Active.com
How Exercise Can Boost Young Brains
New York Times
October 8, 2014
Read And Ride
www.readandride.org
This School Has Bikes Instead Of Desks - And It Turns Out That's A Better Way To Learn
Fast CoExist
October 6, 2014