Cognitive Self-Regulation Of Early Childhood Education

“The science shows pretty clearly that taking breaks in the day makes students better able to encode memory and learn and perform academically. There’s a lot on the table in terms of the child’s health, well being, and academic success.” said Murray, former chairman of the AAP’s Council on School Health (Recess Helps Kids Learn Better in School) . This shows that breaks are essential for helping children and teens focus. If there were not any breaks, then kids’ and teens’ brains would get too overwhelmed with the information, and they would start to lose their focus, because their brains would be looking for something else to do. That is why recess is a crucial part of a normal school day!

One aspect that is most likely obvious is the physical activity that comes with recess. Physical activity is a large part of life that many people have neglected and have discovered the consequences of this neglect. Whether it was all the health complications, like for instance obesity, or lack of fitness. In one study, by Heather Erwin, a professor in the department of Kinesiology and Health Promotion at the University of Kentucky, they looked at the amount of physical activity students did with recess incorporated into their school day compared to the amount that other students without that time for recess. They found that students with recess in their school day had larger number of steps compared to those students who did not have recess in their school day. this study proves the point that recess in schools provides more physical activity than if there was none. This physical activity can be very important to some students, whether they know

Physical activity has not only physical benefits. It also has a very big impact on social-emotional and cognitive aspects of child’s live. According to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention “The development of a physically active lifestyle is a goal for all children. Traditional team and competitive sports may promote healthy activity for selected youth. Individual sports, noncompetitive sports, lifetime sports, and recreational activities expand the opportunity for activity to everyone. The opportunity to be active on a regular basis, as well as the enjoyment and competence gained from activity, may increase the chances that a physically active lifestyle will be adopted.”

In the article “School Readiness for Infants and Toddlers? Really? Yes, Really!” by Sandra Petersen, she discusses how from birth to age three are crucial for school readiness. The “exuberant period” which is the months before and after birth is the time when the brain creates connections, “each capturing a moment of learning.” During infancy, foundations are built in each developmental area – language, motor, cognitive, and social-emotional. These later develop into skills such as curiosity, paying attention, memory, gathering information, problem solving, and working through frustration are learned. These skills are established in infancy and toddlerhood, but they are used throughout your whole life. These are essential skills that teachers look for.

1. Brain Based Research: What does this tell us about young children 's brains and how they best learn? What ideas do teachers of young children need to keep in mind?

Students learn better in school when they exercise. When you run, and play outside it helps your brain process. When you’re sitting doing nothing it slows down your brain. When you go to recess and play your brain takes up more energy. It all so helps you improve focus.

The interaction a preschooler has with the surrounding environment, whether it be physical or social, has a significant impact on the child’s development. Ramani (2012), had taken a look at playful environment versus a structured environment to see which one benefited children more when it came to social interaction and joint problem solving. The interaction shown in the experiment showed that a playful environment benefits children more because they are free to communicate and interact with other children, they were more observant of their environment, would imitate more to get their point across, and were overall more positive. Denham, Bassett, Zisser, and Wyatt (2014) evaluated the child’s engagement with the surrounding physical and social environment, along with taking a look at the ways social-emotional learning can predict how academically ready the children are.

One strategy provided is to create “Safe Place” in the class where children can feel safe and release their emotions (Hoffman, Hutchinson & Reiss, 2009, p. 37). These Safe Place can have objects such as stress balls to help relieve anxiety. Similarly, teachers can establish a “We Care” area, where children can create letters for their friend. Ultimately, this would help support students’ social expression. These two strategies would be appropriate for preschoolers and K-3 setting. However, it would not be appropriate for infants nor toddlers because it is difficult for them to comprehend what to do in the Safe Place nor in the We Care

Think of it, kids only go to Physical Education or “gym” class every other day of the week. So that is about two or three times a week. Gym class only lasts about an hour of the day, and for some students, this is the only physical exercise that they have. When kids come home from school, they usually just sit down on the couch and watch TV until dinner time, study, and then play video games late at night, and then go to bed. The way we can get kids to develop a habit of more physical exercise is having gym class every day instead of just two to three. Also, instead of kids playing games that involve little to no activity, Schools should have kids focus on things like getting your body moving like running, yoga or sports games like baseball, football or volleyball. Things like this that kids can look forward to doing everyday may potentially lead to a child more encouraged to play with a ball afterschool and find a new hobby instead of sitting at home on the

Between the age of two and six years, the brain experiences a rapid growth. By the age of six, the brain is 90% developed as compared to that of the adult. However, the child lacks experience and knowledge. The brain becomes a trainee of what happens around them and imitates what is

Growing up, it was among the most common of punishments to be told to stay inside during recess. It is still being used in the school where I do my observations. I remember when recess had to be cancelled due to inclimate weather. The rest of the day would drag on. It was hard to focus on school work as I kept glancing out the classroom window at the playground. An article published in the 2011 journal Economics of Education Review cited the findings of Olga Jarrett and her colleagues, who determined that recess increased the amount of work completed in the classroom and it reduced the amount of fidgeting and listlessness in students, promoting behavior management. It’s worth noting that the American Pediatric Association referenced a series of studies that determined the brain was able to process at optimal levels once it had the chance for a break following learning. Then there are the physical benefits of recess to consider. Between tablets, smartphones, laptops, and advanced gaming systems; a majority of the attention grabbing activities for students involve staying inside and being sedentary. Recess offers students an opportunity to get out and be active which they might not be motivated to do after school at home. The National Association for Sport and Physical Education recognize recess as an essential component to helping students participate in physical activity and recommend that students be allowed at least 20 minutes of recess per school day.

In the text it says, “When kids get breaks, they are more able to learn.” ( McCarthy,1) Even though not having recess would give schools more time to teach their kids, the kids will not learn as much because they will not be focused on learning because their brains are tired. To add on , the article also says, “Though play at recess, kids learn communication skills such as negotiation, cooperation, sharing and problem solving” (McCarthy,1) By learning skills that you do on the playground, it helps you make better decisions in class which can also help you learn more. Finally, the text states, “Play also gives kids opportunities to practice coping ski, such as perseverance and self control.” (McCarthy, 1) If kids get to have recess, they will learn important skills that let them learn how to push themselves to do better which can help them learn and/or do good on

Santrock (2012) also outlines the benefit of play for the child's physical development, as it "permits the child to work off excess physical energy and to release pent-up tensions" (Santrock, 2012, p.438), resulting in improved physical and mental health. Garvey (1991, p.27) states that play involving physical activity occurs more frequently in healthy children, possibly confirming that it is a component of healthy development. In addition to this, encouraging physical activity through play could influence the children to maintain a healthy lifestyle later in life, and has an array of physical and mental health benefits which prevent disease associated with lack of activity (Chaloux and Media, 2013.)

As children grow they continue to need physical activity. One of the methods of exercise that is popular with children in the middle childhood age is rough and tumble play or ‘play fighting’ (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). Unfortunately, this sort of play is often discouraged by schools because of the possibility that someone may become injured. (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010). Teachers must find the balance between protecting children from getting hurt and allowing them to run and jump to release the copious amounts of energy that they have to burn (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2010).

Every builder knows "A house is only as strong as its foundation". They also know that they have to evaluate and become familiar the land before beginning to work. This rationale can be used as a guideline for teachers across the world, especially with the children in the early childhood stage, ages 2-6, because how teachers assist children in this stage will serve as the foundation for the life ahead of them. A child develops physically, cognitively and socially. It is important for the teachers to know how the child is developing in order for them to effectively teach the students because they lack of understanding can lead problems for the child. Additionally, if the teacher is aware of how the