Bringing it Home: Moving and Learning

that's got to be an interesting version of twist and shout the kid version of twist and shout it's on dance songs for kids oh fun i like to dance i know i watch you but i've never heard this version it was a first but there is a reason we chose a kid's version of twist and shout today there is on this edition of bringing it home with sarah and sneal we're talking about homework now don't turn it off yet we're talking about homework on the move that's right getting those kids twist and shout while they do their homework so yeah yeah but not those kind of twist and shouting we want to talk about homework on the move because movement actually stimulates learning right and those kids have a lot of energy and you know in the classroom there's a deal all day you can't fidget and move and then we expect them to come home and just sit down and do their homework and that doesn't always work out so we have a special guest today that's going to talk us through this who is actually our first repeat guest we're so happy peggy jackson is here today hi peggy hello peggy is the director of the family resource centers haywood county tennessee and she knows all about homework on the move this is something that's been promoted through the family resource centers in haywood county because everybody knows we're trying to let everybody know how important it is for kids to be active while they're doing homework that's right so tell us what fidgeting is fidgeting is any kind of movement and it's really interesting i think because research shows that when you move even a little foot tap in or gum chewing can stimulate the brain and help you to focus and pay attention well i totally get that because if i'm out of eating i'm going to be checking my foot i'm not going to be tapping a pencil and i'm not a fidgety person but it does keep me more aware awake i guess that's right even doodling like if you want a phone call you know a conference call if you see they're doodling on paper no i definitely do i do that all the time i do want to go on too yeah your brain and your body work together so when your body is doing two things your brain knows which is the primary thing that you're supposed to be doing and that's what it really focuses on so our poor children who have to sit still all day long in class and then they're sitting home with homework and if the parent says sit there at the dining room table and do your work and don't move that's what i would say that's what we've all said i've said it too but you know they deserve some movement and just simple things like um you know squeezing balls or rubber bands on a ruler okay anything a little bit of play-doh have you ever seen a child just with a little bit of play-doh moving anything they can do with their fingers it's really a good way for their mind to work so fidgeting you know it drives the teacher crazy when you have a classroom of 20 children and they're sitting in their fidget pockets rocking back and forth but we're talking at home one or two children however many children you have not a classroom not a classroom but at home okay um and one of the one of the main things though is to eliminate things that are true distractions like say the tv yes if you have the tv going the child is going to be drunk for the tv so eliminate any big distractions if you have a toddler around try to have a toddler out of the room doing something else um so you might just don't have the earbuds in and that's okay um believe it or not that's okay because um it's the right kind of music now they don't need that's why they have the earbuds in that's funny because the other night i got home i'm glad we're talking about this and why i did this on his own my oldest son he's 11 just started middle school and we had a meeting that night he rested last night i was like start your homework and i walked in and he was sitting at the table but he had his phone and he had like some jazz music playing and he was like it just helps me concentrate mom i'm like well rock out bud you know yeah that's right do you think it's good to have an area where you do your homework every day i think so i think routine is so important whether we're talking homework or bedtime or whatever you know have let them know what is expected of them and you always say homework is assigned to the children but it's the parent's responsibility to see that it's done and it's done correctly right so does that station have to be like a dancing chair can it be a chair in the corner you know like a relaxed type chair you definitely want a relaxed chair you know they sit in those hard chairs all day so what about a bean bag oh yeah yeah like a lap desk or some kind of that yes yes definitely nice to sit on the bed with a lap desk on my lap right so get comfortable um and you know have the supplies i like to have a supply box that has pencils crayons depending on what age your child is maybe scissors play sticks things that you know they use frequently so that mom i need my scissors i don't know where they are or you know it's 30 minutes yeah that's so true so everything's in a box where they like to do their homework but yeah comfort is it's so important now oh is there like a certain time that they need to do their homework i've always been on the thought okay you've been at school all day you've been sitting let's have a little free time before we start the homework is that wrong i think each child is different okay i had two daughters one the minute she walked in the door she wanted to get it done the other one had to have a break yeah no she had to have a break so it's okay you could watch one show on tv and then but you know by a certain time at night we have to make sure that it's all done because i'm going to go over it because it's not done correctly we're going to do it give yourself enough time to do those things exactly but yes i think each child is different so um just make sure you monitor how much time is normally needed for their homework and it's so important to start these skills early like i'm talking kindergarten make time to read a book every night with them before you know it go to high school i mean this is true homework will continue to grow as they get older so if it's a norm in your home they know they've got to do their homework they know you're going to check it and just start it on day one that's right something we run into in our house is they're starving i'm hungry so should we i mean you think it's okay to eat while you work i do i think i think so i mean i'd almost be not fidgeting but it's doing something else it is okay it is because your your body is putting something maybe something chewy in your mouth like um raisins celery carrots crunchy crunchy even chewing gum they can do this a little bit they can do it at home while they're doing their homework they can suck on a piece of hard candy you know their body's doing something so their brain is working extra maybe a smoothie with a straw and you know they're going to be thirsty give them water in a sports bottle a squeeze bottle see that's my fidget when i'm doing something i'm normally that water bottle is like yeah it's part of my fidgeting it's not that i'm thirsty but it's part of my fidgeting when i'm working it's also mine you obviously have a bottle of water or something like this because it's interesting this works for adults too so we talked about some examples of the fidget toys you know you said the play-doh ball um food can even you know we want to be healthy snacks do you think maybe if it's a night one of those nights where we're trying to work on that project or you know we've got our multiplication and test tomorrow and we're really hitting hard maybe take a break absolutely no take a break take a break and i can remember doing this with my girls who are both now grown um we would walk around the yard walk around the house lay on multiplication tables um just doing that incorporate physical activity in with your homework instead of sitting at the table and reciting them back on board get up and move and do it and you're circulating that opportunity your brain's really working well um do jumping jacks can you spell your words and it's good for us moms so we get some extra activity toss the ball i even i even do this with my toddler or grandson we're learning our learning to families we toss the ball so yes i love that maybe maybe your child's not that excited about math facts oh my gosh but he loves to play basketball you know what you can shoot those balls as your game that would be failing because we're doing here's teaching third grade and we're doing multiplication facts and she loves basketball i can see i was like one times one is that's right she would love that because even as adults we tune out when tasks be boring i mean when we're needing a break we tune out and i'm guessing the same thing with our kids sure and you know your attention span decreases when you are bored you know you can only listen to something or pay attention to something so long they've been in school you know six and a half seven hours yeah so their attention span is pretty well ready for something fun and different so the one thing family resource centers since the very beginning one belief i have personally and that i try to instill through the resource centers is that learning is fun now so many kids i don't want your room you know what you really want to find something you enjoy that's right i don't like math i can't do it well maybe they just don't understand so let's see why you don't like math and you know once we spend time that's the thing you have to know your child must be the time of being so i know there's some examples about seating arrangements too i know some classrooms they have what they call active seating you know a parent may not want to go buy those but is there a way that they can make some active seating at home and for those who don't know active seating just means seats that rock in some form um in some classrooms do have those for children who maybe if they have an official adhd diagnosis right um you know that fidgeting and it's hard for me to sit right so you know just um i could take up each ball and blow it up yeah you know um one of those exercise balls that you're not using and your children can get it yes that's a fish that's true they can sit there and do their work and they have some core balance too it does this would have to be a little bit larger child you know right old enough to sit up on the ball i think i would enjoy that though you wouldn't feel like you were going to have to be my homework and something else if you have a child who is major every night i don't want to do it i want to do it one thing to do get a timer just one of your time from your kitchen or set the microwave timer and okay let's see how much we can do in 10 minutes yeah okay let's see how many problems we can get done in 10 minutes okay they're going to try to beat that clock right and then increase the time as they go on that also will help when at the end of you when you're doing their time yes yes yeah but we're doing it fun we're saying how much can we do we also do that with housework for ourselves or whatever oh my mom's saying if everybody gives me 15 minutes that would be an hour's worth of work that's right i think what about in the car you know everybody's busy you know we're fixing to start scouts have started we're fixing to start stalker and some nights we just are not home to get it done so do you have any suggestions for like when you literally are on the move in the car to get your homework done i think the lab desk like you just said it's a great idea i had one of those in college i guess you can still purchase those yeah my kids have some any kind of tray it's a great idea and like you say hey we're on the way to the ball field let's see if we can get the math wiped out before we do okay i'm going to check it while you're practicing so you know make things set small goals for your child but remember they have been sitting still all day so let me move i really do feel like the teachers that i have encounter with my kids they appreciate that and respect that so they don't send home just a ton of homework that doesn't mean it will always be that way that's right that's right like i said we are stating preference for when they get older so you know personally why do 60 math problems if you can do 20 and know what you're doing that's what my daughter used to tell me and i have to say well because the teacher wants to do 60 we can use these tips to make the 60 math problems more variable that's what you're assigned to do that's exactly right just um looking up anything in their hand you know that's one of the big things if their hands are busy or their feet you know um you can um put a tennis ball obviously put a tennis ball under their feet and let them roll their feet on the tennis ball you know just any kind of movement and it really makes a difference so see yourself the next time you're having to sit through second meeting that last two hours do you have trouble sitting there yes and not moving so you say bring a tennis ball with them so i'm saying you can i'm making my own maybe some play on my husband used to have change in his pocket right double in church i knew what he was doing he was bored something quiet and quiet okay you know maybe we can't you know tap the pencil on the desk at that conference but you know we can do our toe exercises inside our feet or inside our shoes so anything that you can move um help your child to enhance their performance right that's that's great and you know can you know right last week and i had a sensory box on our table and it was for things to fidget and we're all adults it had like um like little pipe cleaners and things that you could play with pipe cleaners one of my favorite things wrap it around pencil kiss sit there and do that oh we did i think i still have it in my bag but it's true i did focus better and you know i was doing something so these are great tips they are thank you thank you for joining us for giving us information and hopefully it can help make homework time less stressful yes at the family resource centers anytime in haywood county we will help you help your child yes well thank you for joining us on this edition of bringing home with sarah and teneal in the words of bob marley we want you to live the life you love and love the life you live until next time