Benefits Of Swimming Means Smarter Kids
We are always encouraging parents and schools to get their kids in the water at Swim For Your Life Billinudgel. Having your child participate in swimming lessons for water safety and fun is a given. Research from a number of studies shows that children that participate in swimming develop a wider range of cognitive skills sooner than those who don’t swim no matter what socio-economic background is.
This shows the value of swimming lessons in the transition from pre-school to kindy. The information below is courtesy of Griffith University’s Griffith Institute For Educational Research. For those who would like more information please contact the team: earlyyearsswimming@griffith.edu.au
Children who learn how to swim at a young age are reaching many developmental milestones earlier than the norm.
Researchers from the Griffith Institute for Educational Research surveyed parents of 7000 under-fives from Australia, New Zealand and the US over three years.
A further 180 children aged 3, 4 and 5 years have been involved in intensive testing, making it the world’s most comprehensive study into early-years swimming.
Lead researcher Professor Robyn Jorgensen says the study shows young children who participate in early-years swimming achieve a wide range of skills earlier than the normal population.
“Many of these skills are those that help young children into the transition into formal learning contexts such as pre-school or school.
“The research also found significant differences between the swimming cohort and non-swimmers regardless of socio-economic background.
“While the two higher socio-economic groups performed better than the lower two in testing, the four SES groups all performed better than the normal population.
Benefits Of Swimming Are Improved Learning Skills & Cognitive Function
The researchers also found there were no gender differences between the research cohort and the normal population.
As well as achieving physical milestones faster, children also scored significantly better in visual-motor skills such as cutting paper, colouring in and drawing lines and shapes, and many mathematically-related tasks. Their oral expression was also better as well as in the general areas of literacy and numeracy.
“Many of these skills are highly valuable in other learning environments and will be of considerable benefit for young children as they transition into pre-schools and school.”
The study is a joint project between Griffith University, Kids Alive Swim Program and Swim Australia.
Source: Griffith University News
