Importance of Brain Breaks in Your Child's Education

Do you remember when you were in school? Sitting there staring for hours at a blank piece of paper, clueless about how to solve a problem? Brain breaks save your child from the torment difficult topics cause. The exact torment we suffered through in school. They also add value and excitement to your child's education.

As a parent, I know the feeling of wanting to push your child through a hard topic. Most likely, my urge to push is because as a child, I was pushed through difficult subjects. Over time, I developed a hatred for the subjects I was pushed through. I learned to despise math and asking for help on homework.

Pushing Does Not Help Children Learn

The truth is, pushing does not teach your child anything, except for frustration toward the subject at hand. Instead of pushing, take a brain break instead. You will be amazed at how smooth your child's lessons go afterward.

A brain break is a solution to the exhaustion and helplessness we feel when we are presented with a new piece of material, a difficult assignment, or a task that requires long-term in-depth thinking. They allow us to relax our minds and develop a better focus on the task at hand. Our emotional state is improved, which allows us to feel more confident in our ability to tackle something difficult.

What is a Brain Break

Using brain breaks on a regular basis empowers your child to learn effectively and enjoy school subjects. It empowers them and instills that they have the power to overcome difficult roadblocks. You will see a dramatic change between pushing them through topics and allowing them to back away and re-approach the topic with ease.

What Happens During a Brain Break

During brain breaks, we focus on particular material or movements, resetting the prefrontal cortex. In the process, our neural circuitry is refocused through your preference of stimulating or quite activities that focus our energy output through the prefrontal cortex. This will allow you to regulate your emotions, making you more effective at problem-solving.

During instruction time, brain breaks can help a child rewire their brain and refocus their attention and energy on the task at hand. The brain is like a road, once you drive down it so many times it is predictable and becomes worn. The human brain is set up to focus on novelty and excitement.

The development of the human mind is entirely dependent on the inability to handle the dull and boring. We are pre-wired to focus on the excitement in life and ignore what is pushing us farther than our attention span can go at the moment.

During a brain break, the mind is refreshed and can refocus on a topic. This is the time when we miraculously discover a solution other than the one we were looking for previously. The one to ten minutes during a brain break, our mind moves away from the intense focus we use during the learning process.

The brain ignores everything memorized, the problem-solving required to complete school activities, and the math problems we are facing.  You realize that your mind is not focused or stressed. What you do not realize is that your brain is processing and storing away the information you just gained. It is making room to take in new information that we were unable to process before.

Do Brain Breaks Really Work?

It is true; brain breaks do work! Research into proper nutrition and frequent brain breaks have shown that both contribute to positive development in a child's cognition and overall school performance. You will achieve the best results when music accompanies aerobic exercise. This forces the brain to focus on something other than educational materials.

Three of the most important studies will change the way classrooms function throughout the day. The first study revealed that at least five minutes of exercise, like dancing, showed significant improvement in classroom concentration and increased fluency in math.

The second study shows a significant increase in concentration in students who were allowed to take relaxation breaks.

The third study focused on a group of 4588 students who were classified as low income. Students received nutritious food that was inaccessible at home. They were also allowed to take 10-minute exercise breaks when they felt overwhelmed, and 10-minute relaxation breaks when needed. These students tested much higher on comprehensive achievements than they did previously.

Benefits of Incorporating Brain Breaks into Your Homeschool

You want what is best for your child. You want to make sure that you teach them according to the way they learn. All children reap benefits of brain breaks, even children who attend homeschool. Giving your child a few minutes to goof around is exactly what they need to perform well academically. So what are the benefits of brain breaks?

The brain is hardwired by movement and children prove this constantly. If you want your child to perform well, they need to run and play. They need to swing from the monkey bars, run through the grass, and tumble down the hill.

The human mind depends on movement to anchor short-term memories into long-term movements. If your child wants to march outside and recite their multiplication tables, let them. If they want to act out the story from their reader instead of sit at the table, let them. Instead of focusing on a chapter about tornadoes in their science book, make one.

Let Them Wiggle!

Children learn better when you read to them as they are getting their hands dirty in the sand table. Public school teachers frown upon movement in the classroom. They tell children to sit down, stop fidgeting, and sit still. According to psychological research, teachers who do this are dampening a child's ability to learn.

Movement alerts the brain that it is time to take in our surroundings. It provides the oxygen needed for the brain to function at its highest potential. It also increases the focus we can provide to mental tasks, allowing us to be more productive. So why should your child sit in a chair all day to learn?

Different Types of Brain Breaks

If you are looking for different types of brain breaks for the classroom, you will be pleased to know there are plenty to choose from. Taking upbeat YouTube brain breaks, watching brain break videos, or letting your child go to a website that specializes in brain breaks will bring back their motivation.

Choose a website like GoNoodle Brain Breaks or Learning Station Brain Breaks will allow your child to choose their own motivational soundtrack.