Cutting PE from schools hurts kids in more ways than one

Guest Blog Post
AFL Team

Integrated Learning Strategies (ILS) is a learning and academic center. As a reminder, ILS is not a health care provider and none of our materials or services provide a diagnosis or treatment of a specific condition or learning challenge you may see in your child or student. If you seek a diagnosis or treatment for your child or student, please contact a trained professional who can provide an evaluation of the child.

A recent article by the New York Times editorial board highlights a disturbing, yet growing, trend across schools in North America. As parents and educators turn up the academic pressure on kids, cuts are being made to make sure they have more time in the classroom.

Which means your child is spending less time playing outside, less time in phys ed class, and overall getting less physical activity during their day. Yet studies show that physical activity improves academic performance. So removing active time from the schedule in favour of desk time is illogical. And it’s hurting our kids.

Do you know how much physical activity your child gets while they are at school? Many parents may believe that their kids are getting close to the recommended 60 minutes during the day, but too often this is not the case.

A little digging might reveal that your child is moving less than you think and that means it’s time to:

1. make sure your child is active outside of school hours, or
2. advocate for more physical activity at school, or
3. all of the above.

Active for Life is a non-profit organization committed to helping parents raise happy, healthy, physically literate kids. For more articles like this one, please visit Activeforlife.com.

Integrated Learning Strategies is a Utah-based center dedicated to helping mainstream children and children with learning challenges achieve academic success. Our services provide kids with non-traditional tutoring programs within the Davis County, Kaysville, Layton, Syracuse, Farmington, and Centerville areas. Areas to find Integrated Learning Strategies include: Reading tutors in Kaysville, Math tutors in Kaysville, Common Core Tutors in Kaysville, Tutors in Utah, Utah Tutoring Programs