I just wanted to give a shout out to my little sister (well 24 year old sister) who created a "Get Ready to Learn" obstacle course for our school. My wonderful principal partnered with my sister (who has her masters in exercise science) to create these stations to help our students get their brain juices flowing! We use these during our mini-breaks (kids get a quick snack, water, opportunity for movement). She researched which specific exercises worked on core muscles and vestibular motion. Plus it increases their ability to focus on a task following the exercise. Here is a picture of her modeling a station:
A book on the market that describes the impact of exercise on learning is:
Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain by: John Ratey
http://www.amazon.com/Spark-Revolutionary-Science-Exercise-Brain/dp/0316113506
We give our students "Brain Breaks" that are purposefully built into our lessons as often as needed for your particular group of learners. Other types of "brain breaks" I use are quick and easy yoga moves, humor, music, stretches, and basic plyometric exercises (also known as "superman jumps" to my kids.
Parents: I would encourage the use of "brain breaks" in homework to minimize the complexity of homework time.
So go get moving!
Candi : )
I'll have to check out this book sometime. :) We do something similar to this where I teach. We have a maze set up in the school where kids go to do similar types of activities. They love it and it helps them sooo much. Here's a link to the site where the maze handbook is avaiable: http://mimlearning.com/
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing the resource :)
Your welcome. Thank you for your comment and the resource! Have a great week!
DeleteCandi : )