Oct 10, 2019 | Articles, I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog
Parents and teachers tend to frown at children who fidget in our homes and classrooms. It is usually interpreted as a sign of boredom or lack of attention and so we order children to sit still. But now, a recent report in Medical Express (medicalexpress.com/news/2019-09-fidgeting-good-child-health.html)) suggests that fidgeting could actually be good for their health. Research suggests it might help protect against obesity, improve cardiovascular health, and even save lives.
Researchers from Australian universities measured the energy expenditure of 40 children aged four to six while each spent an hour in a room designed to calculate energy through the amount of oxygen breathed in and carbon dioxide breathed out.
The children all followed the same procedure for the hour: 30 minutes watching TV, ten minutes drawing or colouring in, and 20 minutes playing with toys on the floor. The number of times children changed posture was counted and taken as our measure of fidgeting.
The fidgeting that was witnessed varied enormously, despite all of the children following the standard set of activities. There were 53 posture changes per hour in the most fidgety third of the sample, and only 11 per hour in the least fidgety third. These differences directly affected the number of calories burned.
The difference between most and least fidgety groups was only around six calories per hour. But when extrapolated over months and years, this could lead to large differences in energy use.
After all, children of that age typically spend around nine to ten hours per day sitting down, so a six calorie difference per hour of sitting would become a difference of 60 calories per day, 420 calories per week (about three bags of crisps), and 22,000 calories per year (equivalent to about 2kg of body weight in a 20kg child).
They also found that children were much less fidgety while watching TV than when drawing, colouring, or playing with toys on the floor. This may partly explain why time spent watching TV increases the risk of obesity so strongly in children of this age compared to other sedentary activities.
Meanwhile, an older study found that more fidgety adults resisted weight gain when overfed compared to less fidgety individuals. Taken together, this evidence suggests that differences in the tendency to fidget might partly explain why some people are more susceptible to obesity than others.
It is now well established that prolonged periods of sitting are harmful to health, and it is possible that fidgeting might reduce the harms of sitting. A study of more than 12,000 adult women in the UK found, as expected, that the amount of time spent sitting per day predicted the risk of premature death over the subsequent 12 years.
At the start of the study the women had been asked to self-rate their tendency to fidget on a scale of one (no fidgeting) to ten (constant fidgeting). In the most fidgety third, the risks of premature death from sitting were substantially reduced compared to the least fidgety third.
Why fidgeting seemed to reduce premature mortality was not explored in that study. However, a more recent laboratory-based study in adultsfound that the harmful effects of prolonged sitting on blood vessels in the legs (such as reduced blood flow) could be mitigated by asking the study participants to fidget by moving their legs while sitting. Fidgety individuals may have some protection from cardiovascular diseasecompared to less fidgety individuals
Fidgeting is not considered as being important to health at the moment, but the growing body of research suggests that it should be. The evidence might even lead to new (and much needed) approaches to preventing obesity and promoting cardiovascular health.
Such approaches might be particularly practical as they involve fairly small changes in how we live. Fidgeting or standing breaks during long periods of sitting in the classroom, or at home, far from being an annoying habit, could be precisely what we need.
Sep 25, 2019 | Articles, I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog
Most people still believe that learning happens in the brain and the body doesn’t play a role. See how teachers insist that children sit still without any fidgeting with any part of the body when in the classroom.
In the past, children could make up for this body neglect by using their bodies in all kinds of activities after school hours. They used to climb, run, tumble, dig, fall into ditches and fall out of trees. The change isn’t all due to TV and screen time but also because today’s families live in small homes without access to open play areas. Long hours are spent in commuting to and from school. The streets have become dangerous places. It’s been estimated that children are spending 25% less time on free play than they did in their grandparents’ time.
The reality is that the brain needs the body’s movement in order to create the neural pathways that make ease of learning possible. You can’t make a child learning ready with workbooks, i-pad games or computer programmes. It develops as children’s brains mature along with experiences occurring as a result of bodily sensation and movement.
Important movements are the early reflexes, followed by large body movements such as climbing, jumping, swimming, playing hopscotch, catching and throwing balls, riding bicycles, running, skipping, sweeping and digging. Smaller body movements develop fine motor skills, such as cutting vegetables, drawing, building with blocks, moving to music and learning rhythm through clapping, singing and so on. Movements that need crossing the midline help build the pathways connecting the two brain hemispheres and are crucial for learning to read, write and understand maths.
Children love to move; they need to move. If their bodies are given the chance needed to move in play, they will develop to a stage of learning readiness. Perhaps not all of them will reach this stage at exactly the same time but we do have the genetic potential to be wired to learn.
So limit sedentary time. Push your children out of doors. Make sure you spend quality time in play parks or open spaces over the weekends. Buy body healthy toys like trampolines, skipping ropes and balance boards rather than the latest hi-tech toy. Go back to basics if you really want your child to reach his or her potential at school.
Jun 5, 2019 | Articles, I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog
When Mat fails to learn to read at grade level, his parents are encouraged to help him with extra reading at home, or refer him for remedial reading. This often doesn’t help very much and the reason is that reading failure is a symptom that the child has an underlying problem. His problem may not be the act of learning to read at all. The struggle to read is a red flag signifying that there is something going on in Mat’s brain that is the real reason for his problem.
For example, if the two sides of Mat’s brain aren’t communicating properly, the eyes won’t function properly either. Most people see words with each eye. If you are reading the words THE CAT your right and left eyes will separately see the words (THE CAT and THE CAT), then send the signals to the brain. The brain, in turn, superimposes the two images into one and you ‘read’ the words: THE CAT.
If Mat’s eyes are not functioning properly, he might look at the two images and see: THE TCAT CAT. He can’t make sense of this so can’t read it. He blinks and looks again. This time he sees: THE CATHE CAT. Mat decides that he really sucks at reading and must be very stupid!
It isn’t simply a question of seeing. An optometrist finds that Mat has perfectly normal vision. The truth is that efficient reading depends on many skills, not only the health and visual acuity of the eyes. The problem may be more deep seated – caused by faulty wiring in the brain, that we call ‘neurological disorganization’ or ‘incomplete neurological organisation’. If the child’s inability to read is the result of incomplete neurological organization, there will be other significant clues. If his eyes don’t function well together, he will most likely get tired quickly; he may find that certain sports are difficult; most likely his coordination will be poor and he may show awkward movements.
Many children with learning problems show a lack of coordination stemming from poor neurological organization. These children are not stupid but merely need help in rewiring the brain networks to bring about organized neural pathways needed for reading, writing and numeracy. ILT practitioners see this day after day. Once the correct connections have been made in Mat’s brain, he might suddenly take off and develop rapidly in many areas.
Clues to neurological disorganistion
Here are some of the signs of a disorganized brain that many children with reading problems (also labelled as dyslexia) show:
They lack coordination. Running, walking even crawling seem awkward and lack grace and smoothness
- They have undecided or delayed dominance, meaning that they show uncertain preference for writing, for throwing, stepping on a stool, etc. This lack of a clear dominant side exists way beyond the age of six years, when most children have developed clear dominance.
- They seem to love music
- Their handwriting has no consistent slant: their letters seem to have different angles and go in different directions
- They show signs of visual difficulties – often holding their noses close to the paper when reading or writing
- Many reverse letters and numbers, mixing up the directions of letters such as ‘b’ and ‘d’. They may read ‘saw’ for ‘was’ or write numbers backwards
- Most are poor spellers who may be drilled for a test but forget what they learn in a very short time
- Many seem to manage maths better than reading and speak more fluently than they can express themselves in writing
- Most seem to understand spoken language but struggle with written language.
The importance of neurodevelopment
Very often the brain does not develop normally if a stage of development is missed. The eyes, for instance, learn to work together in the period when the child is crawling on hands and knees. When the leading hand feels the floor, the eyes will reflexively focus on that hand. This helps both eyes focus on one point at the same time. The two images from the two eyes are superimposed in the brain and the child sees one image and not two. Crawling is also very important in helping the child judge distance, an ability needed when writing.
During this all-important crawling stage, the ears are also learning to work together. As the forward hand hits the floor, the head moves gently from side to side as the eyes follow the hand. This provides stimulation to the vestibular system in the inner ears, and much of the information leading to the speech centre is coordinated through this system. The vestibular system coordinates visual perception with the ability of judging where the sound comes from and helps the brain make the postural adjustments to allow the child to move freely.
This is just one example to emphasise the importance of the crawling stage in infancy. Parents need to severely limit the time that babies are kept in playpens, walking rings, car seats and such like. These prevent the infant from learning the normal crawling patterns which are so vital for coordinating all the functions of the body.
How do we address this?
ILT practitioners look for clues that point to inadequate functioning or underdevelopment of brain areas that support learning in their young clients. They also appreciate the role of nutrition in brain functioning and know that a healthy brain depends on the body being healthy and well nourished.
Once the underlying causes of the child’s problem have been uncovered, a programme of individualized activities are given to the family to be done at home every day. The child’s progress is monitored through a series of programme reviews, in order to adjust the activities according to progress shown.
This process basically gives the brain a second chance to develop all areas and so make it possible for the child to ‘catch up’ on those difficult academic areas.
Oct 24, 2018 | Articles, I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog
The fact that schools and higher learning institutions close for the summer holidays might not be based on neuroscience but is nevertheless wise. It has to do with the effect of heat on our brains.
I’m sure we can all relate to the experience of not being able to focus and cope with mental work in extreme heat. The same can be said for children, struggling in a hot classroom.
A recent study finds a link between heat and lower academic achievement. High school students who were tested during hotter years had lower scores compared to their test performance after a cooler year. Another study concerned university students who were given two tests a day of basic addition and subtraction, cognitive speed, memory, attention and processing speed for 12 consecutive days during a particularly hot spell. Those students who lived in air-conditioned buildings scored significantly higher than those who did not. Yet another researcher[1]wrote that taking an exam on a day where the temperature reaches 32 degrees Centigrade leads to a 10.9% lower likelihood of passing a particular subject (e.g. Algebra).
So our hot South African summers cause some brain drain and possibly our youngsters could benefit from schools staying closed during January and February, the hottest months of the year. Of course, air conditioning seems to offset the damaging impacts of heat on academic achievement but we know how expensive it is to install and run air conditioners in schools. We also know that air conditioners release carbon dioxide into the atmosphere which is not good for our already struggling environment.
But summer heat can cause physical problems for children as well. It’s important to remember children are at high risk for heat-related illnesses, as their bodies heat up 3-5 times faster than those of adults. When the weather is extremely hot and humid, the body’s ability to cool itself down is compromised, and both adults and children are at risk if the temperature rises above 32 degrees Centigrade.
Dehydration is a major concern and it should be remembered that often children don’t feel thirsty when they are engaging in physical activities out of doors.
- Before outdoor physical activities, children should drink freely.During activities, they should have water available and take a break to drink every 20 minutes.
- Sports practices and games played in the heat should be shortened and there should be more frequent water breaks.
- Clothing should be light-coloured and lightweight. Limit clothing to one layer of absorbent material to help the evaporation of sweat. If their shirts become sweaty, they should change to dry clothing.
- Children complaining of feeling dizzy, lightheaded or nauseous should be allowed to move into a cooler environment.
There is no doubt that heat and dehydration can make children sick. Apart from dehydration, children can also suffer from heat exhaustion, heat cramps and heat strokes.
Your child may not tell you if they’re feeling bad, so it’s critical to recognize the signs and symptoms of these heat-related illnesses in order to take proper action and prevent further injury.
If your child develops any of the following symptoms, it might be wise to call your pediatrician immediately:
- Feeling faint
- Extreme tiredness (e.g. unusually sleepy, drowsy or hard to arouse)
- Headache
- Fever
- Intense thirst
- Not urinating for many hours
- Nausea
- Vomiting
- Breathing faster or deeper than normal
- Skin numbness or tingling
- Muscle aches
- Muscles spasms.
With the long summer holidays looming every closer, plan to protect your children from the heat by playing outside in the early mornings and late afternoons (apart from swimming). Children may become restless if kept indoors for too long so make sure you have entertainment planned in the form of indoor games and activities.
But don’t forget to limit the amount of screen time!
[1]R. Jisung Park, Assistant Professor at the University of California, Los Angeles.
Oct 17, 2018 | Articles, I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog
Most children love summer for the joys of playing in and around a swimming pool, the sea, river or lake. Parents enjoy the relaxation of being able to let children amuse themselves in the water – although remaining vigilant, of course. And the healthy, outdoor exercise is obviously good for growing bodies. The brain also benefits from the extra oxygen taken in during the exercise, but swimming may also develop skills that are valuable for school learning.
The bilateral cross-patterned movements in swimming strokes help with the development of neurons (nerve fibres) that connect the right and left sides of the brain. This makes fast, efficient communication possible between the two. The result is better cognitive functioning which will be seen in better learning ability.
A study was conducted in 2012. It involved over 7000 preschool children in Australia, New Zealand and the USA over three years. The results showed that children taught to swim at an early age reached developmental milestones consistently quicker than average. They showed better coordination and increased fine motor skills like cutting, colouring in, drawing shapes and many mathematically related tasks.
The research found significant differences in academically related skills between those children who were taught to swim and non-swimmers, regardless of socio-economic background. There were also no gender differences.
Professor Robyn Jorgensen of Griffith University in Australia who led the research, said “Many of these skills are highly valuable in other learning environments and will be of considerable benefit for young children as they transition into pre-schools and school.”
For further information about the study, you can contact the team at earlyyearsswimming@griffith.edu.au.
Remember, though, that these children were taught to swim using strokes that allow us to swim ‘properly.’ They weren’t merely ‘doggy paddling,’ jumping around, splashing in the water or bobbing with water wings or other flotation device. To get the most out of swimming as a brain boosting activity, children should learn the basic strokes and spend time using these to move through the water.
And, of course, it keeps them safe around water!
Oct 5, 2018 | Articles, I'm a Parent, I'm a Teacher, ILT Blog
All movements and thinking activities that children engage in help to develop the network of brain cells that are so crucial to learning and coping in life. We can create new connections in our brains throughout our lives but during childhood this is crucial for their state of learning readiness and ability to meet academic demands.
The brain is composed of a left and right side – called right and left hemispheres. It may be that we develop a preference for using either side to function but rather than encourage a decided dominance of a particular hemisphere, it is far better to balance the brain. We need the specialised areas of both hemispheres to function optimally – especially in school. With this in mind, we should try hard to provide opportunities that will promote development of both brains in our children.
What kind of activities does your child gravitate towards? TV, computers, video games and texting will wire the brain in a certain way. Art, music, sport, messy play will result in other areas being wired. What is needed is a variety of activities to help the brain’s left and right sides develop equally and be able to communicate efficiently.
The left hemisphere predominates when we are using our right hands and right side of our bodies, speaking, reasoning, or working out a maths or science problem. You will be helping the development of this brain when you get your child involved with:
- You can play with numbers, for example having the child learn to count by jumping up and down a flight of steps; call out a number and ask the child to tell you what number comes before or after it; introduce shapes and have them cut out different paper shapes; teach quantity in the kitchen.
- As soon as a child is speaking his home language well, introduce a second language. Teaching songs, rhymes and simple phrases is a good beginning.
- Install a love of reading. Children simply must have stories read to them.
- Once children are older and can read, play a dictionary game: give them the first three letters of a word and have them find words with those letters.
- Play with science concepts. For example, ask children how water turns into ice and back again; what makes wood burn? What is wind? Where does our water come from? Explore the environment: have children draw everything they can find in the garden, including insects and discuss their discoveries with them.
- Introduce them to music: if at all possible, let them learn to play an instrument. Studies have shown that music appears to accelerate language development, speech and reading skills.
- If learning an instrument isn’t possible, at least play music in the home with chances to move to the rhythm, beat out the rhythm on homemade drums and learn the words of songs. Be sure to include a variety of music – including classical.
The right side of the brain is specialised for control over left-hand and left side of the body, imagination, intuition, understanding the ‘big picture’ and more. Activities that encourage right brain development include:
- Telling stories and hearing stories read or told out loud.Understanding content through tone of voice and speech inflection is an important part of comprehension.
- Dealing with feelings: talking about the child’s own feelings and how others feel; watch a film together and talk about how events affected the child and you. Ask for suggestions how the story or ending could be changed and how that would affect feelings.
- Encourage children to engage in fantasy play. Playing make believe is a very important part of childhood.
- Study the faces of other people and try to guess their feelings. This can be done with ‘emoticons’ too, but looking at people when you are out and about can be fun and enlightening too.
- Use music to discuss feelings. How do different pieces of music affect feelings?
- Use art to express feelings: blank pieces of paper with paint or crayons stimulates imagination and the release of emotions. Don’t overdo the colouring-books.
This list provides some examples of the many activities that can be used to help whole-brain development. Spend some time on the internet to lengthen the list, and then enjoy the time spent with your child. Your brain will benefit too!
