I have worked in the academic world as a physical educator for more than 15 years. I have come to realize that most people in academia do not care that physical education improves a child’s health. They do not care that exercise reduces depression and anxiety. What people in academia are looking for is something that will help improve test scores.
At Family Time Fitness, we work mainly with homeschool families. Test scores may not be a priority for most homeschool families but most parents want their children to succeed academically. I would argue that fitness-based physical education is one of the best things you can provide for your children to help them improve academic performance. There is a large amount of research in neuroscience that shows exercise improves overall brain function.
Research has found that as little as 20 minutes of daily exercise helps improve brain systems. These systems include the attention systems, memory systems, and motivation systems. After an exercise session, children are more able to focus on reading, writing, and solving problems. Memory is also improved after exercise. Children retain more information after exercise. The motivation system in your brain is also activated during exercise. During exercise, your brain releases dopamine. With regular exercise, the number of dopamine receptors increases in the brain as does the amount of dopamine released. The release of dopamine creates feelings of pleasure and reward which motivates a person to repeat specific behaviors. Adding physical education to your child’s daily academic routine may help improve academic performance because the brain will connect the reward of the dopamine release to the physical education.
If you and your children are not doing any physical education during your school day why not try starting your day with 20-30 minutes of fitness-based physical education. After completing the physical education lesson move right into another academic task. Try it for 3-4 weeks and see if you notice a difference in your child’s focus and behavior. If you do not know where to start, check out our Physical Education Lessons. One of the great things about our physical education programs is that they can all be done at home in minimal space. You do not have to travel anywhere. You can complete the physical education lesson and move right into another subject without losing any of the brain benefits of the exercise session.
In the next blog post, I will share another benefit of exercise has on brain function.
