The Next Generation Left Behind

The Headline in the yesterday’s NY Times was “Schools Cut Back on Subjects to Push Reading and Math” my immediate thought was here we go again. Are we really helping the kids or are we hurting the kids. Do two hours straight of math help? How can it help? We know the parameters of attention span, then why are we doing it? We know there is a direct relationship between motor activity and cognitive learning. Why do we ignore the hard facts? Fifteen minutes of movement following fifteen minutes of math or reading will significantly improve performance and control attention by calming them down. The problem is that we are so hung up on standardized tests that all we are concerned with is teaching to the tests. We are creating a generation of robots that can memorize and recite rote facts, but not think. In addition they are obese and completely reconditioned. What kind of future does this predict? We are actually seeing the future now, obese inactive children prone to diabetes and other related diseases. What is wrong with the concept of a sound mind and a sound body? Educate the whole person!