How Do My Child’s Lifestyle Choices Affect Their Education?

This is a collaborative post

What we choose to eat, when we fall asleep and the number of hours that we spend behind our screens all has an impact on our health and inadvertently our brain’s capacity to learn. All of these factors, and more, are key determinants for your child’s academic success and the grades that they will walk away with when they leave school. Here is a list that was created by a nursery in Shoreditch on the lifestyle factors that can affect your child’s education and what you can do to help.

Getting Some More Kip

Sleep beats food in the severity of its effects on the body and mind. It’s what recharges our body’s metaphoric batteries to give us energy and concentration. With a lack of it, it will be hard for your child to pay attention in class, absorb and process information and retain any of it once class is over. The ideal amount of sleep that should be aimed for is around 8 to 12 hours for children but does vary depending on age. 

Digital Detox 

Researchers, when examining the impact of screen time, found that spending over 3 and a half hours on social media can significantly harm mental health in children. Also, with the instantaneous dopamine rush that social apps give us, our concentration and attention spans have seen a decrease. Cutting down on the number of hours that your child has to use their devices can help them to achieve better mental health, a greater attention span and improved eyesight. 

Eating Right

Food is a source of power and the quality of it can determine how much energy our body has and our mood. While consuming food that’s high in sugar might feel great and give you a boost of energy, it does a very poor job at sustaining it as we experience a “crash” shortly after. This is a feeling of sluggishness and tiredness that can impair your child’s ability to concentrate and take new information on board. To help your child start the day right, ensure that they have a breakfast that is full of nutrients and fibre that will give them a long release of energy throughout the day. This might be porridge with berries and other fruits or Weetabix.

Socialisation

Spending countless hours studying while applaudable isn’t the best for creativity and quality of thinking. Socialisation can give your child the break that they need to study harder without burning out and inspire them in ways that learning theory can’t.