Why are breaks important for all of us?

Have you ever wondered why a break from school is necessary? Some studies show that breaks and exercise may actually improve grades and test scores for students. Here are five reasons why you should take a break.

IMPROVE ATTENTIVENESS

The longer the lesson goes, the harder it is for a learner to stay on track.. Longer teaching periods lead to fewer students paying attention, according to a 2014 study released on Science Direct. Researchers found that as instructional time increased from 10 to 30 minutes, “on-task behavior declined.” Their minds get a much-needed rest when students get a quick break or a chance to go to recess. Their attention span resets when they come back, and they’re eager to learn.

BOOST LEARNING PRODUCTIVITY

Students who need a break tend to pause and get off-task easily and those non-attentive learners have an effect beyond their own efficiency in learning. If they show distracting actions, then the ideas introduced in the lesson will make it difficult for other kids to understand. The capacity for destructive behavior is lessened by regular breaks. Since students have the chance to burn off energy during a break, when it’s time to study, they are less likely to be distracted and disruptive.

REDUCE STUDENT STRESS

When they are forced to spend the whole day concentrating on classroom learning, students may get frustrated. They have no time to enjoy playing, dreaming creatively, or putting their minds back together. This combination can lead to tension, which has short-term and long-term effects on their capacity for health and learning.

Once they have regularly scheduled breaks, until it’s time to concentrate on studying again, they will use the time to de-stress and relax.

FOSTER SOCIAL SKILLS

When kids don’t have time to be children, it’s hard to learn social skills. At lunchtime and recess, several schools have pauses, which can be merged into one hour. During that block, they will not have time to connect, along with anything else they need to get done before going back to class, so they may not be able to improve social learning. Getting time for proper breaks can boost children’s social skills.

HELP/INCREASE MEMORY

Digesting new knowledge and actually storing it for potential use will take some time. If students do not have the chance to store this information in their brains, they will suffer from memory retention. According to New York University researchers who published a report on WorldHealth.net, a short break makes it possible to optimize memory. “For recent experiences, these results show the significance of post-experience resting brain correlations for memory,” the researchers conclude.

Not Sure how to incoperate breaks?

As students are now learning from home, there is more flexability than in a physical school. Parents, depending on what works best for their kids, can set timers for instruction times versus break times. As some students can respond better to brief, regular breaks, while others need extended breaks with less frequency, they may experiment with different break frequencies and lengths.

Breaks have a lot of benefits. So dance, jump around, have some fun or even join one of our many clubs available at www.jatutorstt.com. You will love the results!