Home Schooling and increased physical activity, an undervalued link?
A short but worthwhile piece that highlights the use of home-schooled children’s free time for increased physical activity.
Gardening in any capacity is always beneficial for young children – particularly now in the UK when a change of season is presenting new challenges.
Being reminded of the physical benefits that gardening offers is very welcome.
Is Home-Schooling The Path To Increased Physical Activity?
103 authorities in the UK have reported a 60% rise in the number of children being home schooled over the last three academic years, as reported by Education Guardian. Among the many benefits to education within a home setting are a broad variety of ways in which children can be physically active throughout the school week.
With childhood obesity a real and growing global problem, the responsibility lies jointly with parents as well as education providers to promote opportunities for exercise and movement from EYFS onwards. But when education takes place in the home, rather than in a typical classroom setting, how is this achieved?
More Time For Exercise
With a lack of commute to school, there are simply more hours for children to explore fitness activities during the day. These might not be obvious types of exercise such as PE lessons, although many home school parents will opt to take their children to the swimming pool at least once a week. A subtler form of exercise could include going on a long nature walk which allows for plenty of movement, fresh air, vitamin D as well as the chance to learn about the environment in person, rather than from a book.
Gardening As An All-Rounder
Similarly, gardening with your children is an excellent physical activity that has multiple benefits for the body, mind and soul. It also teaches your children about body awareness, while developing the gross motor skills which are linked to a boost in cognitive function. The pushing and pulling motions that are associated with some of the heavier tasks involved in gardening, assists in organising the brain and calming the body. Furthermore, one study has shown that the development of these gross motor skills in conjunction with other fine motor skills even enhances the ability to tackle mathematical problems when incorporated into learning.
Increased Neural Connections
Those children who are active at a young age are exposed to a diverse range of experiences. This produces a greater number of neural connections in the brain and it is these all-important pathways that are responsible for the rapid processing of information, as well as enhanced reasoning, analytical and rationalisation skills. In fact, active children are 20% more likely to go on to achieve A grades in Maths and English at GCSE. This is due in part to the increased blood flow to the brain that occurs during physical activity.
Regardless of whether you’ve chosen to educate your children within a domestic setting or not, being aware of the many opportunities to stay active and healthy at home can only have positive consequences for the future of your family.
