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Test Scores Go Up When Learning Is Combined With Fitness
Filed under: In The News, Diet & Fitness, Health
Exercising every school day for 40 minutes in a regimen that includes flexing a few mental muscles increased test scores in elementary school students. Credit: Getty Images
But what if you could combine thinking and learning?
With gym classes getting cut nationwide, the Los Angeles Times reports some schools are starting to ask that question. And, research suggests, creating more of a seamless web between thinking and moving might not be a bad idea.
Exercising every school day for 40 minutes in a regimen that includes flexing a few mental muscles increased test scores in elementary school students, according to research presented recently at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Denver.
The research involved children from an elementary school in South Carolina, where kids hopped through ladders while naming colors found on each run. They also climbed rock walls labeled with numbers that challenged their math schools.
As a result, the Times reports, their fall test scores went from 55 percent of them meeting state education goals to 68.6 percent.
"These data indicate that when carefully designed physical education programs are put into place, children's academic achievement does not suffer," lead researcher Kathryn King, a pediatric resident at the Medical University of South Carolina Children's Hospital, tells the Times.
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ReaderComments (Page 1 of 1)
5-06-2011 @ 8:13PM
datacpa said...Maybe it isn't the naming of colors or doing math while climbing the walls that has helped these kids. Maybe it is the simple fact that exercise has a way of recharging the brain and helping it focus better overall. I know I am much more alert on the few days when I actually take time from my schedule to exercise.
Reply
5-07-2011 @ 7:21AM
shusshu3 said...In one class, you run mathematical equations. In the next, you run laps. One is for thinking. The other is for moving.I am an Air Force and single at present .I need a woman who can love me back ..I also uploaded my hot photos on Uniformedmingle .C oM under the name of hoho212..It's the largest and best club for seeking Army, Navy, Marines, Air Force, Police Force, and the admirers of those who wear the uniform.I just hope you don't mind me being a soldier ...Please Check it out!I'm serious.
5-06-2011 @ 8:56PM
LillieFaerie said...Our daughters were on the swim team in school, and before that as kids. Strange thing. Every single student on the team were also either all A's or A and B students. What participation in extra curricular activities-be it orchestra, choir, track, cross country, swimming, and all sorts of clubs is teach the kids to priorities. Same with adults. Activity, anything-clubs, walking, running, biking, extreme sports-creates interest, stimulates those to do something else, and makes people schedules.
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5-07-2011 @ 7:38AM
bsjg1995 said...Exercise does help us focus and extracirrucular activity keeps kids in school! The effects of excercise go beyond learning priorities. Exercise releases chemicals (endorphines) in the body. Exercise keeps use healthy. With the level of obesity in our nation it is impossible for me to understand why we would get rid of physical education. (No, I am not a gym teacher.)