How to Improve a Child’s Performance in School
I’m the father of two boys who wrestle, run track and who have high academic aspirations. This is why I’m always looking for ideas to be a better dad. I believe part of being a better dad is finding ways to improve my children’s performance in school.
However, it’s easy to become frustrated and lost with so many suggestions all over the internet. Most of these suggestions are simply random opinions. As a result, I prefer to focus my time on scientific research. Research that provides evidence on specific techniques that actually work to improve a child’s performance.
Today I across one of those research studies. A clinical research study was published in the Lancet Child & Adolescent Health Journal. This study was regarding the factors that can improve a child’s performance. Specifically, this study measured for “global cognition”.
Global cognition includes:
- Planning
- Initiation
- Execution of goal-directed behaviors
- Mental flexibility
- Problem solving
How to Improve a Child’s Performance in School
This study was a cross-sectional observational study from 20 study sites across the USA between Sept 1, 2016, and Sept 15, 2017. The participants included 4524 US children aged 8–11 years. The researches measured three factors:
- Amount of sleep
- Amount of exercise
- Screen time
The researchers compared the collected data to the Canadian 24 hour movement behavior guidelines. The guidelines tracked were as follows:
1) Uninterrupted 9 to 11 hours of sleep per night for those aged 5–13 years and 8 to 10 hours per night for those aged 14–17 years, with consistent bed and wake-up times
2) An accumulation of at least 60 minutes per day of moderate to vigorous physical activity involving a variety of aerobic activities. Vigorous physical activities and muscle and bone strengthening activities should each be incorporated at least 3 days per week
3) No more than 2 hours per day of recreational screen time
Researchers found that only 5% of the children met all three guidelines. In addition, those in the 5% had superior performance in memory, thinking, and language test over the children who met none of the guidelines. What’s more, performance improved with each additional recommendation met.
(As a side, it’s worth noting that the fewest participants met the physical activity guidelines (only 18%). As a youth sports advocate, I find this troubling.)
My conclusion from this research is a simple prescription for parents who want to know specifically how to improve a child’s performance in school. Consistently help your child get 9 hours of sleep, 60 minutes of exercise, and less than 2 hours of screen time per day to improve their academic performance in school.