ActivEd Blog

Lately, there has been a lot of talk about the link between movement and learning. We know it's beneficial for children to remain active while learning. As achievement increases, students are more focused and less hyperactive, and they are healthier. In May, The Atlantic published "Why Young Kids Learn Through Movement." The article lays out the case for movement in early childhood education. From the article: 

Research has shown time and again that children need opportunities to move in class. Memory and movement are linked, and the body is a tool of learning, not a roadblock to or a detour away from it. 

When students aren't active in the classroom, they lose opportunities to maximize learning. Many times, students become restless when they sit at their desks. Movement in the classroom is especially important as some schools decrease the amount of time students spend at recess.

Help your students use their bodies as tools for learning with Walkabouts by ActivEd. Integrating movement into standards-based math, language arts, and reading lessons helps educators utilize a valuable tool for academic success! Learn more today.

Getting kids moving is important to their health, their well-being, and their academic success. How important is it? Homeroom, the official blog of the U.S. Department of Education, highlighted the importance: 

How do we make sure every young person — no matter where they live or their family’s income — has the opportunity to be active and healthy every day? We believe schools are an important part of the answer. Simply put: children go to school five days a week, so schools are in a unique position to help kids exercise regularly. Plus, physical activity helps kids concentrate on classroom tasks and improve their standardized test scores. That means schools have a vested interest in keeping kids active so they’ll do better academically.

Unfortunately, many school districts lack the resources to offer robust physical education programs. There are lots of reasons schools have had to cut back on physical education classes and recess: not enough funding, few safe spaces to play, the need for more classroom time to make sure every child is given educational opportunity. The number of things schools have to accomplish every day is enormous.

The article continued with a focus on afterschool activities. At ActivEd, we take a different stance. By incorporating physical activity into lessons, teachers can get their students moving while teaching! Want to learn more? Request more information.

A new research study was recently published by the American College of Sports Medicine: Physical Activity, Fitness, Cognitive Function, and Academic Achievement in Children: A Systematic Review by Joseph E. Donnelly, Ed.D, FACSM (Co-Chair); Charles H. Hillman, Ph.D. Co-Chair; Darla Castelli, Ph.D.; Jennifer L. Etnier, Ph.D., FACSM; Sarah Lee, Ph.D.; Phillip Tomporowski, Ph.D., FACSM; Kate Lambourne, Ph.D.; and Amanda N. Szabo-Reed, Ph.D.

The Hechinger Report recently published an article about how after adopting Common Core, the achievement gap between black and white students has grown. From the article:

Researchers at Iowa State University* in collaboration with the Department of Pediatrics at the *University of California at Irvine independently examined the effectiveness of our Walkabouts in a recent research study. The purpose as outlined in the attached scientific abstract was: to examine the effect of integrated physical activity with academic subjects using the “Walkabouts” program, compared to traditional lessons, on inattention and hyperactivity among PreK to 2nd grade students over an 8-week period. Results showed that children assigned to the intervention group improved significantly more, compared to the control group, in both inattention and hyperactivity, whereas children in the control group had a decrease in their performance over the 8-week period. Students who received Walkabouts had a decrease in hyperactivity while increasing their attention. This was an independent study conducted by these two R1 research universities and ActivEd was not involved in the administration, was blind to the methodology and the results until the study was completed.

*Iowa State University and the University of California at Irvine are two of 115 institutions that are classified as "R1: Research Universities (Highest research activity)" in the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education in the US.

Would you like to see this research in action in your classrooms? Request a free trail of Walkabouts!