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Impacts Of Healthy Lifestyle On Academic Performance Of Kids

27. October 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
Nutrition, physical activity, less screen time and good sleep are the pillars of a healthy lifestyle. Implementing each of these in the daily life of children can bring about a positive shift in their academic performance. As per a study published in “International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health”, (Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2020, 17(1), 243), a direct link has been established between lifestyle changes and an upward trend in cognitive control and academic performance in high school students.

Let us further elaborate this by looking at the ways in which a healthy lifestyle impacts the academic performance of kids:

  • Brain Function: The brains of children who eat a balanced diet comprising of all essential nutrients are likely to perform to a higher capacity. Deficiencies in iron, zinc, vitamin B, C, A,  calcium, folate, iodine and other vitamins or minerals lead to lower dopamine transmission in kids, impaired mental concentration and inhibited cognitive capabilities.
  • Behavior: Children with a healthy lifestyle are willing to learn and have higher attendance at school. Malnutrition, high sugar consumption, junk food and other poor habits breed behavior problems in kids that affect their willingness to go to school and learn. For kids to exhibit their best behavior they should sleep on time, be physically active, and eat required amounts of protein, fat, complex carbohydrates and fiber.
  • Physical Activity: Children who are physically active at school and at home have higher chances of performing well in academics as compared to their peers with sluggish lifestyles. Active students usually have better memory and concentration, lower dropout rates and less disciplinary issues, which result in better academic performance.
  • Sleep: Consistent sound sleep is critical to a child’s academic performance. Sleep disturbances and inconsistencies affect student’s mood and well-being. Students thrive academically when their brains are well rested; they have better concentration, more retention/grasping power and higher energy levels throughout the day.
  • Screen Time: Limited screen time is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle these days; its benefits are better sleep, lower BMI and less aggression. These benefits are directly linked to better academic performance and completion of homework. As per the latest recommendations of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), screen time of children aged 2 to 5 years should be limited to one hour per day and consistent limits should be set for older kids (6 and up).
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer a variety of programs to help kids in maintain a healthy lifestyle.  The programs organized by the clubs include ‘ALL STARS’, ‘Passport to Manhood’, ‘SMART Girls’, ‘SMART Moves’, etc. The activities help kids in understanding the importance of a healthy lifestyle and improving physical activity. To know more about impacts of healthy lifestyle on academic performance of kids, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

Creating Learning Opportunities Around Your Child's Interests

22. September 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
Learning is not limited to a classroom. A child should be allowed to bloom into his own persona by learning from each and every experience, both in and out of the classroom. It requires self-introspection, patience, and hard lessons to let your child learn from things and activities that interest him.

What Is Interest-Based Learning?

It is a mode of learning in which a child will learn new concepts and skills via activities that interest him. Doing so benefits a child in myriad ways some of which are:

  • Improved attention span
  • Better engagement
  • Improvement in existing skills and abilities
  • Development of fine and gross motor skills
  • Social interaction

Types Of Interests

  • Personal Interests: A child’s favorite things e.g. cars, dolls, clay, a toy character, etc.
  • Situational Interests: A person, material or activity that attracts your child’s attention usually in the form of a new or unexpected situation
Here are some ways with which you can create learning opportunities for your children while working around their interests:

Books: “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counselors, and the most patient of teachers.”– Charles W. Eliot.

Introducing your child to books at an early age will do wonders in broadening his mental horizons and will also help you understand his interest in a better way. Books are a gateway to innumerable possibilities and opportunities for a child.

Play And Fun: A new concept in the realm of children is gamification. Game based-learning promotes deeper learning and non-cognitive skill development. Games are a thrilling and engaging medium for introducing children to new concepts and ideas.

Organization: A child who is overwhelmed with disorganized study material and other objects in his space will not deliver to the best of his abilities. Teach your child how to stay organized at an early age, as this will affect his willingness and motivation to learn.

Learning Styles: Explore the style of learning that is most suited for your child. Children can be visual, auditory, physical, logical, verbal, solitary or social learners. Keep tweaking learning styles until you find the one that your child enjoys the most.

Celebration: Celebrate every little achievement and success of your child irrespective of his performance. The key is to appreciate his efforts against his performance. Always shower kind words of encouragement at his triumphs, albeit small.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer a variety of learning opportunities to children in the form of innovative clubs and programs. A wide range of activities is organized by the clubs to improve the learning capabilities of children. To know more about creating learning opportunities around your child's interests, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

Ways To Develop Decision Making Skills In Kids

24. August 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
The transition from childhood to adulthood becomes smooth if good decision-making skills are acquired at the right age. Teaching kids how to make decisions is a valuable life skill as it allows them to find solutions to various conflicts throughout their life. Also, good decision-making skills promote responsible behavior among kids. Well-planned problem-solving activities and encouraging logical thinking support the ability of decision-making. 

Ways To Help Kids Develop Good Decision Making Skills

Involving children in decision-making using the correct techniques will enable them to build their skills.

  • Expose Kids To The Real World: Expose children to different consequences by showing live examples. It will help kids to understand the outcomes of a decision and base their decisions on logical reasoning. 
  • Allow Kids To Make Mistakes: It is important to allow kids to explore their thoughts and if during the process they make reasonable mistakes, that should be allowed. 
  • Know The Kid’s Interests: Motivate the child and help him to find out his interests. Quote examples of successful people to help children understand that hard work and dedication are the keys to succeed in their field of interest. They will learn to make positive decisions instead of taking shortcuts.
  • Teach Kids To Know Themselves: Teach children to distinguish their own strengths and weaknesses so that they are able to take better decisions in life. Kids should be able to realize that they will not necessarily excel in all the given opportunities. Learning to accept defeat or setbacks and the decisions to take thereafter is essential for children.
  • Stay Involved With Kids: Children should be encouraged to be a part of social organizations that will teach them important life skills. It will expose them to positive peer pressure and also enable the parents to understand their children better.
  • Talk To the Kids: Open communication is vital for kids. It will enable the parents to bond with their children. A parent can anticipate the child’s decisions and warn him accordingly. 
  • Praise The Kids: Do not just focus on what the child needs to work on. Praising them when they do great things, helps reinforce their desire to excel and take decisions that will provide better outcomes.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer various programs to develop decision-making skills in kids. For more details on ways to develop decision-making skills in kids, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX - 76541 or call at (254) 699 – 5808. 

Impact Of Tutoring Programs On Elementary School Students

27. July 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
Tutoring is an essential component of any effective academic program. The goal of such programs is to improve the educational outcomes for students. Tutoring programs have been identified to improve the chances of academic success. This is why tutoring programs are recognized to have an enormous impact on elementary school students as these create a strong base for academics. Tutoring also helps elementary school students in boosting their confidence, strengthening their subject comprehension, and building important skills.

Impacts of tutoring programs on elementary school students are:

  • Better Academic Performance: A tutoring session supervisor gives individualized attention to students and addresses their problem areas. It helps the child in performing better at exams, tests, and assignments. Children are able to work on their problem areas and have a better understanding of the subjects. With enhanced study skills, students will be able to achieve higher learning potential.
  • Improved Study Habits: When a child experiences an educational environment outside his school, it teaches him a lot about study habits. It may include classroom ethics, work conventionalities, and other useful habits that a child can use in a classroom, and beyond that.
  • Enhanced Self-Esteem: Better grades facilitated by tutoring programs result in high self-esteem and confidence; this helps a child a lot in his academic and social life. A child’s level of motivation and his attitude towards study are also improved.
  • Development Of Critical Thinking: Students who attend tutoring programs are better at critical thinking. A tutoring supervisor teaches and promotes his students to think critically about the problems and find their solutions accordingly. When children learn to look at academic issues by using critical thinking methods, it makes them better at facing challenges in the classroom.
  • Tutoring Helps To Maintain Skills: Tutoring gives students a chance to continue academic practice during their school break and helps them in keeping their academic skills sharp. It helps the students in getting back to school, after a gap, with polished concepts and skills.

Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer tutoring programs to elementary school students. The tutoring programs help students to develop skills and gain practical learning experience. For more details on the impact of tutoring programs on elementary school students, visit 703 N. 8th Street, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.

How To Teach Healthy Habits To Kids?

18. June 2020 Administrator Blog (0)
Home is a child’s first school where some of the most important life lessons are taught; one of them being healthy habits. Teaching a child about healthy habits helps in building a strong foundation for his healthy life. These habits positively impact a child’s physical, emotional, and mental health.

Some ways to teach healthy habits to children are:

  • Teaching Good Manners: Kids should be taught the importance of good manners when dealing with family members, peers, and even strangers. Examples of good manners for children are saying please, thank you, apologizing, expressing other meaningful gestures, etc.
  • Limit Screen Time: By limiting screen time, children get more time for other activities that may be beneficial for their health. They also interact more with those around them (family members, neighbors, and other children) and pay adequate attention to hobbies.
  • Smart Snacking: Introduce the child to the concept of smart-snacking early in life. It will help him develop a positive relationship with food. Smart foods can be introduced to a child by involving him in the process of listing down healthy snack options while making grocery list.
  • Good Eating Habits: Teach the child about the basics of eating like chewing the food properly. Also emphasize on the importance of breakfast, drinking enough water, and looking at labels before purchasing packaged food.
  • Physical Activities: Children are more encouraged to stay physically active if the elders in their house practice the same. Some activities that a child can practice for healthy living are swimming, hiking, running, cycling, or simply walking in a nearby park.
  • Read Daily: Teaching kids to read from an early age exposes them to a variety of benefits such as enhanced vocabulary, better language development, concentration, exposure to a wide range of information, etc. Reading broadens a child’s mental horizons and encourages him to perceive the world from different perspectives.
  • Spend Time With Friends: Children, who spend more time with friends, grow into confident and happier individuals. Encourage the child to socialize with other kids in parks, after-school clubs, libraries, etc. This will instill valuable and healthy social skills like cooperation, problem-solving, and communication.
  • Power Of Positivity: Teaching kids about the art of staying positive under all circumstances makes him resilient in the face of challenges at school, out of school, and at the workplace as adults. Some things you can teach your child to foster positivity are the use of positive affirmations, kindness meditation, helping others, writing a gratitude journal, etc.
Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas offer various clubs and programs to teach healthy habits to kids. The clubs organize various activities that develop healthy habits in children. For more details on ways to teach healthy habits to kids, visit 304 W Ave B, Killeen, TX – 76541. You can also call at (254) 699 – 5808.