Tuesday, June 09, 2009
The Fourth R...
There is an excellent article in the New York Times about a new study in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics that shows the importance of recess (and physical activity) for children's development.
The article states:
The article goes on to say that children can benefit academically from physical activity and that recess should be a part of every curriculum. I encourage you to read both the article and the study.
I always knew there was a good reason that recess was always my favorite class when I was in school...
There is an excellent article in the New York Times about a new study in the Journal of American Academy of Pediatrics that shows the importance of recess (and physical activity) for children's development.
The article states:
The best way to improve children’s performance in the classroom may be to take them out of it.
New research suggests that play and down time may be as important to a child’s academic experience as reading, science and math, and that regular recess, fitness or nature time can influence behavior, concentration and even grades.
A study published this month in the journal Pediatrics studied the links between recess and classroom behavior among about 11,000 children age 8 and 9. Those who had more than 15 minutes of recess a day showed better behavior in class than those who had little or none. Although disadvantaged children were more likely to be denied recess, the association between better behavior and recess time held up even after researchers controlled for a number of variables, including sex, ethnicity, public or private school and class size.
The article goes on to say that children can benefit academically from physical activity and that recess should be a part of every curriculum. I encourage you to read both the article and the study.
I always knew there was a good reason that recess was always my favorite class when I was in school...
// posted by Tammy Wachter @ 5:05 AM 
