Parents, you are being asked to play new roles these days: teacher and academic advisor. Between work and household responsibilities, you’re having to schedule virtual meetings with teachers, answer homework questions and help your kids get through the rest of the school year without skipping a beat.
Pretty tall task considering most of us haven’t taken a reading quiz once we got our diplomas.
But there is one thing you can do to boost your child’s academic excellence: Exercise together!
There was a reason schools have recess and physical activity as part of the curriculum. It works. Just 12 minutes of exercise a day has been shown to improve young people’s focus and improve their reading comprehension. Physically active kids have also been shown to have a longer attention span to absorb the reading material.
Reading better, in turn, has its own benefits on your child’s body like increased empathy, memory and people skills.
While you’re crushing your fitness goals, burning fat and fulfilling your purpose with energy, bring your kiddos along for a couple of workouts and see the benefits.
#1 EXERCISE BENEFIT FOR KIDS: BETTER MOOD
Well, first of all when kids exercise they get a boost of endorphins—natural happy hormones in the body—when they do something that requires a burst of energy. Kids aren’t short on energy, but endorphins make you feel better naturally and make you more willing to take on other tasks through the day.
#1 EXERCISE BENEFIT FOR KIDS: IMPROVED MEMORY
Exercise releases something called “growth factors”, which are proteins required for growth of cells in your body. For your brain, these growth factors increase the number of connections in the hippocampus of your brain, a region in your brain needed for memory. The more connections, the more your brain can retain information and store memories.
A study by Brain Research (1) showed that 9- and 10-year olds who were physically active had larger hippocampi than their peers.
So get them outside and they can’t use the excuse ‘I forgot’ next time you ask them what they read.
#3 EXERCISE BENEFIT FOR KIDS: BETTER REST
Exercise has also been shown to create better rest because you increase your blood circulation, which helps repair damaged cells, and reduce stress (comes in handy for a big test or reading assignment). Kids will also get vitamin D and melanin from the sun, which can turn into melatonin at night. With more rest comes the ability to focus on a reading assignment and retain information.
On top of all that, getting the kids out of the house and exercising can soften the effects of isolation happening right now. Your kids are used to being around dozens (even hundreds for older kids) of classmates every day and learning valuable social skills in the process.
The FASTer Way is all about family and community which is why we’ve provided kids workouts as part of our VIP Membership Digital Studio. We offer it because we know you have so many other things to take care of, you can’t always brainstorm new things for your kids to do. Just put on your workout clothes and start one of our virtual studio routines made for them and you can work together and bond. Kids can benefit from our whole program by eating better, learning how to cook and even yoga (although it might not be easy to get them focused on breathing and slow movements).
It’s been a tough few weeks but exercise is the key, friends. Keep moving, staying positive and we will get through this together!
1 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006899310018317
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