How are we missing this?
My wife and I have been touring and interviewing schools for my son, Sam, to attend next year. We have considered both public and private schools. We have seen incredible, loving environments that promote creativity, expression, exploration and adventure. Some schools emphasize the arts and music. Some focus on projects and team building. Most simply set out to challenge a child with their version of the traditional curriculum that shaped me and millions of other children before and since.
I have interviewed dozens of teachers, principals and vice-principals. I can confidently say that these are some of the most under-recognized and under-paid people among us. Their passion for children is palpable, and their commitment to providing the utmost for each student rings clear. The only remarks that hint of complaint surround resources, funding and the lack thereof. But they appear masterful in their ability to create something from nothing – as if making binoculars from empty tissue paper rolls.
My wife, Camilla, squirms uncomfortably in her chair during these interviews. Not because she is typically sitting in a seat made for a six year old, but because she knows the inevitable series of questions to come.
What is your school’s position on nutrition? What do you think these children should eat? How often do the children get to play? How active are the students during the day? Do they get to move?
I can’t say that I am surprised by the typical response that I get. But I am confused.
Most schools have no regard for the food that fuels their fledgling scholars. From my observations (and you know that I was looking), nutritional awareness falls somewhere between total disregard and vigilant peanut alert. At the risk of sounding radical, I will suggest that Tater-Tots, French Toast Sticks and chocolate milk are NOT part of a “balanced breakfast.”
The average first grader in our region enjoys one hour of “Physical Ed” per week. There were varying thoughts on “free movement” about the classroom, but real physical activity was limited in almost every case. The Waldorf School was the exception. The challenge for us here was that we would have to strap the kids in the car for an hour each way to school every day. So much for movement.
The one thing that I found in all schools, teachers and administrators was a sincere desire to create the optimal environment for child development. Each tour included an impassioned discussion of the technology, methods and tools made available to each child. This discussion always included a mention of the allocation of resources – money. The investment was clear, but so was the disconnect.
Exercise is free. How could we be missing this?
Dr John Ratey, a neurologist and clinical associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and author of Spark: The Revolutionary New Science of Exercise and the Brain, is a vocal advocate of daily physical exertion for optimal child development. His work is the definitive guide to building bigger brains. He discusses the abundant evidence that exercise and physical activity is not only great for our hearts, lungs and muscles – but it is the fundamental essence of mental and intellectual development.
A fascinating new body of research in neuroscience demonstrates that our brains are wired in such a way that learning is tied directly to movement. This relates back to our hunter and gatherer ancestors’ need to move in order to eat. Learning is tied to moving because moving was tied to eating. Before the days of neon roadside signage, you actually had to remember where the food was.
The take-away here is simple. If we truly want to help our children discover and experience their potential as whole human beings, we must simply encourage – and allow – them to move. More on this to come…
Check out this video below. One family in China gets it. Move like a human.
Learn more about John Ratey, MD and Spark here: johnratey.com
Read this on a treadmill so you remember it.
Dr. Stephen Franson
