Changes Made to the Morning Exercise Program
Research shows that students who exercise — even a scant half-hour a day — almost immediately show improvement in their school performance. Not only that, but they show fewer signs of depression and they often sleep better at night.
These in part explain why we’ve changed our morning exercise program from twice a week to four times a week. In addition to our Monday and Friday gate run (where students complete a nearly 3-mile run from the Eagle Rock School to the gate at the bottom of our driveway, and back), we’ve now added half-hour exercise programs on Tuesday and Thursday mornings.
When students were asked if they found morning exercise to be beneficial, their responses included:
“I have come to lean on it as a stress reliever.”
“It forced me to push myself.”
“I gained skills.”
“It helped me become more of a leader.”
Although being up, dressed, and ready to exercise at 7:15 am can be challenging for everyone, we’ve framed our morning exercise program around motivational theory to help get students up and ready to go. Self determination theory states that there are three major components to motivation, including: Continue reading…