Category Archives: Research

Fitter bodies have larger grey matter

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Dyscalculia: News from the web:

Researchers from the University of Granada (UGR) have proven, for the first time in history, that physical fitness in children may affect their brain structure, which in turn may have an influence on their academic performance.

More specifically, the researchers have confirmed that physical fitness in children (especially aerobic capacity and motor ability) is associated with a greater volume of grey matter in several cortical and subcortical brain regions.

In particular, aerobic capacity has been associated with greater grey matter volume in frontal regions (premotor cortex and supplementary motor cortex), subcortical regions (hippocampus and caudate nucleus), temporal regions (inferior temporal gyrus and parahippocampal gyrus) and the calcarine cortex. All of those regions are important for the executive function as well as for learning, motor and visual processes.

Read all about it: HERE

Let teens sleep some longer

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Dyscalculia: News from the web:

A later school start time could mean teens are more likely to get adequate amounts of sleep, according to Penn State researchers.

In a national study of urban teenagers, researchers found that high school start times after 8:30 a.m. increased the likelihood that teens obtained the minimum recommended amount of sleep, benefiting their overall health and well being.

“Teens starting school at 8:30 a.m. or later were the only group with an average time in bed permitting eight hours of sleep, the minimum recommended by expert consensus,” said lead author Orfeu Buxton, associate professor of biobehavioral health at Penn State. “Later school start times were associated with later wake times in our large, diverse sample.”

Read all about it: HERE

More baby math

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Dyscalculia: News from the web:

New research found that from as young 14 months, babies who hear counting realize that counting indicates quantity.

Read all about it: HERE

Math is everywhere

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Dyscalculia: News from the web:

The Development and Research in Mathematics Education network shares a wonderful summary of how you can bring your child to realize that math truly is everywhere around you.

Read all about it: HERE

Move to remember

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Dyscalculia: News from the web:

From the LDA newsletter we bring this wonderful story about ways to more effectively have children remember their math:

In their book The Kinesthetic Classroom, Traci Lengel and Mike Kuczala cite studies that show us how learning certain concepts through movement is efficient and long-lasting.

Movement gives learning experiences something fresh and new, which the brain likes. This novelty helps keep the attention of the students, making their learning efficient. It’s been my experience over years of using movement in math class that even those students who are timid and reluctant to participate at first are nevertheless paying attention and are interested in what’s going on around them. Their brains are still activated.

Read all about it: HERE