Exercise before starting school may be the key to Finland’s excellent PISA results

Reunamo and his research group participate in an international project to study physical activity in children and its connections to learning. Physical activity may be the key to increasingly high PISA rankings, even though the real story is that joy and wellbeing experienced in childhood produce excellent academic results as a side effect.  Physical activity is also a good support for developing childhood friendships, improving self-esteem and creating experiences of success. 

“Children must be provided with ample opportunities for different types of physical activity and for learning basic physical skills before they start school,” Reunamo states. “Our results lead to practical measures, which can be very simple. For example, when teaching mathematics, children can count sand bags instead of using pencil and paper.”

Clumsy and shy children are left out from physical activity

Researchers observed children in Finnish and Taiwanese early education in terms of exercise and development of motor skills. Children in need of support for their gross motor skills, who have, e.g., difficulty learning to ride a bicycle, are more likely to be excluded from physical activity. This is particularly true for clumsy boys. Clumsy children experience little success in exercise, and will often begin to avoid physical activity even more.

On the other hand, the research indicated that many girls are also often excluded from physical activity. Adults have a tendency to direct girls towards less strenuous activities, which means that girls are often less active than boys.

Children’s different personalities and experiences also have an impact on their physical activity. Shy children often withdraw themselves from physical activity, which means they get less exercise. It is very difficult for adults to notice children quietly withdrawing from activity.

Singapore joins the project

Established in Finland and Taiwan, the project was joined in March 2014 by Singapore. The Asian countries are realising the significance of early physical activity for learning, and there is increasing awareness of the pressures even very young children face to excel academically and the resulting stress they suffer from.

The project has a Finnish-language blog at http://blogs.helsinki.fi/reunamo/ and an English one at http://blogs.helsinki.fi/orientate/

More information on the research:

Jyrki Reunamo, tel. +358 50 3609113, email jyrki.reunamo@helsinki.fi