There are still many ways to use the momentum of the London 2012 Summer Olympics  to your parental advantage to get your kids' blood pumping with some physical activity and their minds strong with some education.

Physical Education

According to the CDC,  17% of all children and adolescents in the United States are considered obese - triple the rate from just one generation ago.  All of us need to do our part to help our kids get healthier and live a life of wellness! The recent Summer Olympics can be used as a catalyst  to inspire your kids to be fit and learn more about their health.  While the games gave our kids an opportunity to watch their favorite athlete, sport, or team compete, it also gave parents an opportunity to talk to their kids about physical fitness and discuss what it takes to be as good, if not better than their athletic idols. 

K¹² offers online classes that teach the importance of physical activity including injury prevention, nutrition, diet, and stress management.

No one needs to tell parents that nowadays, kids do a lot of sitting - playing video games, surfing the internet, reading books. All that down time can put a tremendous strain on their backs.  Encouraging daily physical fitness time will release some of that strain and give them more energy to focus. 

Want to help break up the day and re-energize your kids so they can focus on learning their lessons? Get them out of their seats and moving. Research has proven that brain activity and brain development are enhanced by physical exercise. What that means is that exercise can help kids learn.

One of the main goals of the UCLA Center to Eliminate Health Disparities is to get kids from all kinds of backgrounds physically fit because studies show they fidget less and focus more. According to its director, Dr. Antronette Yancey, "Kids pay better attention to their subjects when they've been active. Kids are less likely to be disruptive in terms of their classroom behavior when they're active. Kids feel better about themselves, have higher self-esteem, less depression, less anxiety - all of those things can impair academic performance and attentiveness."

In an interview with NPR, Dr. Yancey  pointed to a study conducted at an elementary school where "they took time away from academic subjects for physical education, and they found that, across the board, that it did not hurt the kid's performance on the academic tests. And in fact, in the condition in which the trained teachers provided the physical education, the children actually did better on language, reading, and the basic battery of tests."

Physical education and exercise are vital to our children’s health as they grow into adults. Like their Olympic idols, children need to not only know how to lead a healthy life, but be given plenty of time to lead it!  

Physical Education and Health courses at K¹² offer your kids the opportunity to learn life skills for everyday living. And, for all those kids out there, whose dreams are to become the next Olympian like Ryan Lochte, Misty May-Treanor or Kerri Walsh, these courses can be a great way to encourage and help them reach their goals.

Related Links:

• thinktanK¹² blog: Following Their Dreams: Olympians and Education
• K12, Inc.: Courses
• K12, Inc.: Request a Demonstration
• National Association for Sport and Physical Education: Why Children Need Physical Education
• CrossFit Kids