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Grab it while it is still free.  Download it from the Peaceful Playgrounds Website at :
http://www.peacefulplaygrounds.com/brain-breaks-basic-supercharged/

Any teacher knows that attention span is related to academic achievement.  Now a researcher has identified a link between physical activity and attention span.

A recent study out of the University of Granada has linked participating in physical activity with longer attention spans. Better cognitive abilities such as time perception were also higher in physically active participants. It has been generally known that physical activity lends …

The report: Educating the Student Body Taking Physical Education and Physical Activity to School reports on the importance of these three activities in a well rounded education.







http://www.iom.edu/Reports/2013/Educating-the-Student-Body-Taking-Physical-Activity-and-Physical-Education-to-School.aspx





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School Tools for Creating a Culture of Wellness












The Wellness Impact: Enhancing Academic Success through Healthy School Environments.�…

Schools play an important role in helping children to be healthy and fit.  A fast growing body of research indicates that student wellness and academic learning go hand-in-hand.  Put simply, the benefits that can arise from proper nutrition and physical activity are a prerequisite to optimal learning and to avoiding and preventing chronic diseases.

We have put together a page of resources for schools on the topic of:  Tools for Creating a…

Let's Move in School (LMIS), a national initiative to increase physical activity before, during, and after school, was introduced by the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance (AAHPERD) and its National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) on February 1, 2011.

Take a look at the LMIS Promotional Video!

In support of First Lady Michelle Obama's Let's Move! campaign, the initiative helps yo…

Watch this 3 minute video on how exercise promotes learning. John Raney author of SPARK explains 3 ways that brain grow occurs and why.

Watch 3 minute Video

CBS in Canada ran a 19 minute documentary on an alternative high school and their exercise program based on Dr. John Raney's SPARK book and research known as Brain Gain Theory.

New research and pilot fitness programs in schools are showing positive results that exercise helps the human brain learn.

Video: Brain Gains

Contributed by JC Boushh Since 1990, 40 percent of the nation’s 16,000 school districts have either modified, deleted, or are considering deleting recess from the daily elementary school schedule due to increased pressure from numerous sources to improve achievement. (American Association for the Child’s Right to Play, 2000)As schools, administrators, and teachers feel the ever-growing pressure to meet academic test scores and No Child Left Behi…

Contributed by JC Boushh Research published in the American Society for Microbiology indicates that dirt as actually beneficial for children and can affect then cognitively in a positive way. In the age of hand wipes and Purell parents and teachers can finally let their children experience the value of playing the dirt. The research indicates that children who play outdoors can inhale a soil-borne bacterium that has positive effects on cognition…

Contributed by JC BoushhLast week I attended the National Association for the Education of Young Children Annual Conference and had the opportunity to not only lecture on the value of free-play for children, but to also here many fellow advocates who share my beliefs in the importance of children’s play. I also learned that NAEYC is in the process of organizing a panel to prepare an official position on children’s play, and in NAEYC’s infinite w…

Contributed by JC Boushh
There has been an enormous amount of research conducted on the important role recess plays in healthy child development, concluding that recess is necessary for a child’s: Physical Health, Mental / Emotional Health, Social Development, Cognitive Development, and Academic Achievement. An article titled “Even Turtles Need Recess: Many Animals -- Not Just Dogs, Cats, and Monkeys -- Need a Little Play Time” in Science Daily …

Sharon Murray, the president of the Rocky Mountain Center for Health Promotion and Education, pointed out that states with “health-supporting policies” – things like minimum health and physical education requirements, an emphasis on healthy nutrition standards, funding for school-based health clinics and other student services – tend to have higher test scores and lower dropout rates than states that don’t.

“So my recommendation for action is, …

Contributed by JC BoushhA new podcast by Susan Engel, PhD., Katharine Beals, PhD and Sarah Garland titled “Are Schools Effectively Teaching Collaboration?” on BAM Radio asks the question are schools spending too much time on academics and missing the boat on socialization. As schools focus on increased academic performance and standardized test scores many schools are eliminating or reducing student’s recess time, but in reality this is have a n…

Join us on October 26, 2010 at 2:00 PM EDT, 1:00 PM CDT, 12:00 PM MDT, 11:00 AM PDT for a KABOOM sponsored webinar titled “Recess: It's Child's Play”. Peaceful Playgrounds a longtime advocate for all children’s Right to Recess will present on the topic of the value of recess. Peaceful Playground creator and founder Melinda Bossenmeyer says, “Recess matters!” It provides opportunities for cultural exchange, solitary play, reduction of anx…

Target has announced 1 billion dollars in support of reading and education by the year 2015. This support will target reading by helping start reading pledges, the purchase of books, and community reading centers across the nation. Statistic have shown that only 3 out of 4 children graduate from high school, and those graduation rates in African-American and Hispanic communities are even lower. Target hopes to change these statistics by helping …

Contributed by JC Boushh The decline in physical activity and a sedentary lifestyle has led to a rise in childhood obesity. Free-play and recess it turns out may play a critical role in reversing the obesity trend in children. Researchers from Children's Hospital Boston and the University of Massachusetts have been studying and monitoring the physical activity levels of children during recess and discovered that different recess games produc…

A recent "Well" blog posting from New York Times Blogger, Gretchen Reynolds ask, Can exercise make kids smarter?

In her blog she suggests that researchers showed that fit children had significantly larger basal ganglia, a key part of the brain that aids in maintaining attention and “executive control,” or the ability to coordinate actions and thoughts crisply.

The study groups consisted of children of similar socioeconomic backgrounds…

Contributed by JC Boushh The Cincinnati Enquirer recently posted an article “More Students Feel Lunchtime Crunch” investigating the growing issue of shortened school lunch times. Inquiries to parents throughout the Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area showed a consensus among parents that many school lunch periods had been shortened by as much as 10 minutes. Students complained that there was not enough time for them to get in line to r…

General Powell and his wife to attended “Education Nation” Summit September 28 at Rockefeller Plaza. He will be delivering the keynote and discussing to state of our nation’s education system with attendees. The discussion will be streamed live on MSNBC and can be accessed at educationnation.com. The summit will seek to address the High School Dropout Crisis, Prepare Our Future Workforce, and other related issues affecting our current education …

Registration is open for the Target Field Trip Grants program. The program will award five thousand grants of $700 each to schools across the United States for the upcoming school year. Teachers can use a grant to fund a school field trip that connects their curriculum to out-of-school experiences. Education professionals who are at least 18 years old and are employed by an accredited K-12 public, private, or charter school in the United States …