Could Kids Swim Their Way to Better Vocabularies?

Kids Swim For Better Vocabularies?

Could Kids Swim Their Way to Better Vocabularies? There is new research that looked at an unlikely connection between swimming and learning the language in general, and enriching vocabulary in particular.

Kids Swimming and Learning

When introduced correctly to it, most kids love water and we should embrace this fact and have them swim from an early stage of their life. This new research may just be a masive bonus.

Scientists taught young kids several words that were unknown to them prior, and then tested swimmers and non-swimmers. Retention rate was higher with children who swam immediately after the lesson on words. It is believed that this was the result of increased mental effort needed for swimming which helped retain the new knowledge.

Wait... Get Your Lesson Plans Here

Key Takeaways:

• Swimmers did 13% better on follow up tests that the control group that did not swim.
• One of the reasons for this is that motor movement can help us encode and learn new words.
• Exercise helps to boost levels of protein in the brain that can help us expand our ability to learn.

"That's the takeaway from a study in which researchers taught 48 kids ages 6 to 12 a few new words before they swam, did CrossFit-type exercises or coloring."

Enjoy     
Richard