Sport Fitness & Physique

Strange, what our education system values.

I mean it’s strange what students are learning
-or rather …what they’re not learning –in our homes and in our schools.

Is he really ready to write? Would he rather be doing something physical?

Ask yourself this:
What part of the child do we educate?
-What specific element within the child do we chose to enrich in order to give them the greatest possible advantage ?

I would not be the first to say that our traditional education system is completely backwards and absolutely upside-down -or at the very least wildly misguided.

The traditional educational system teaches from the neck up and to the left.  That is to say, our education system tends to focus on the logical side of the brain and little else.

The right side of the brain that controls our synthetic, intuitive and creative expression -is largely ignored -or worse yet …suffocated.  Rarely do students have the opportunity to creatively express themselves through music, art, poetry, drama or dance to any meaningful degree.

But here’s a great question:
How much do our children learn about their physical bodies?

How do our students learn to care for themselves -to care for the biological framework that carries them through life and that will certainly begin to decay and to disintegrate –long before their precious minds ever begin to decay?

Worth more than we're giving her...

We’re missing something there, are we not?

We are letting our children down in many respects.

Why are we not educating the Whole Child? -The Entire Student?
Perhaps we are doing our children a greater disservice than we know.

At the American Heart Association’s 2010 Conference on Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism -Dr. Lesley A. Cottrell presented fascinating new research detailing the relationship between physical fitness and academic performance.

Dr. Cottrell and her pediatric research team from West Virginia University in Morgantown, W.Va. tested 725 fifth grade students and followed them for two years. What Dr. Cottrell’s team found, was that students who began the trial in good physical condition tested higher academically than their obese or less physically fit classmates.

Furthermore, when the same 725 students were tested again in seventh grade, the researchers found that the students who maintained their physical fitness continued to test higher academically than their less physically fit classmates.

The students who worked and improved their physical fitness during the two year trial -also improved their academic performance.

Subsequently, the students whose physical fitness declined, were also found to have declined academically as well.

How fascinating!

Incidentally, the students with the lowest overall academic performance …..well, they were not fit in either the fifth or the seventh grade. That is very telling, I think.

“The take-home message from this study is that we want our kids to be fit as long as possible and it will show in their academic performance,” Cottrell said. “But if we can intervene on those children who are not necessarily fit and get them to physically fit levels, we may also see their academic performance increase.”

Get Out -Get Active -Get Smart!

So, it would seem that educating our children and helping them improve their physical fitness -is just as important as educating our children and helping them improve their cognitive performance. And with childhood obesity climbing to epidemic proportions  -educating our children to be more physically active and nutritionally savvy just makes good sense for us all.

So, how do we accomplish that?

How do we educate the whole child -the entire person?

How do we improve the odds of success in life for our students, both physically and academically?

Well, I have a few ideas…..Do you?

Let me know your thoughts on the matter.
Comment below, join the disussion -reply on Facebook or send me an email.

I have children …in several different age brackets. I have clients with children …and I want the best –For all of them.

To your Good Health! …and to the Good Health of our Beloved Children!

Are we doing our best .......for them?

Let me know!