Thursday, April 25, 2013

America's Intelligence Lag - Part One


America seems to be lagging behind other countries in the “smarts” department lately. I don’t know if it’s the schools and teachers that are the problem or the students themselves. I personally think that the students are the problem. I had an exchange student from South Korea last year and she said that they went to school seven days a week from six in the morning to nine at night; and still had homework! After gaining that information, it wasn’t hard to conclude that they’re smarter because they spend like four times as much time in school as us while learning extremely hard topics with a focus on math and science. I found an article on Yahoo that was titled eight ways to make your child smarter. Naturally I clicked on it and decided that I would be super gracious and share these tips with all of you folks reading this blog.

The first method was to make your children active and keep them in physical activities. Studies showed that “kids’ cognitive test scores and grades are higher if they have outlets, like gym class or recess, to blow off steam. “ So, get your kid off the couch and enroll them in a sport or force them to play outside. You can also be one of “those” parents that complain to the teachers and make them give your kid daily play breaks. I am currently in high school, and I think this is a completely fantastic idea. So, do it; complain.

The next study was about breastfeeding. Apparently breastfeeding has many benefits to it and kids that were breastfed tested better than those that weren’t. They don’t know if it was actually due to the breastfeeding or if it was because of other factors but still; if not for the possible intelligence boost, breastfeed your kids because the milk is good for them. (315)

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