School has been underway for a little over a month and many parents are seeing early signs that their child is beginning to fall behind and struggle. This is the typical pattern for these families each year: school begins with high hopes and for the first month or so, students seem to be holding their own. Then the ‘academic slide’ sets in and fairly quickly students are underwater again and struggling. At this point, the return to worry begins and parents of athletic students wonder if all the after-school practices and games are a culprit in their child’s underperformance.
When parents ask me ‘are sports interfering with my child’s school success?’ I have a predictable answer: if your child has the OptiKode Learning Style of a natural born athlete, they absolutely need their sports; taking them away will only make matters worse.
The OptiKode of a Natural Born Athlete
The red, MOVING DOMINANT outer ring indicates this student needs sports and active learning techniques to be regulated and successful at school.
An OptiKode shows what keeps everyone regulated and for students it reveals how they learn best. MOVING DOMINANT OptiKodes like the one above absolutely need regular, strenuous activity to focus and engage in learning well. Taking sports away after school throws such an OptiKode into a state of dysregulation and this takes a huge toll on learning. Athletic students not only need sports after school, they also need active learning techniques while doing homework. I have developed a core set of techniques for these athletic learners I call BodyPlusLearning.
When I a new family with an athlete joins my practice, one of the first things I do is show them how to set up an active learning zone at home. We go over the BodyPlusLearning techniques. Mega athletes are always the most Moving Dominant in their OptiKodes - providing them with active learning techniques and a full plate of sports after school is the right combination for their school success. Take our free on-line test at OptiKodes.com and see if your learner has the OptiKode of an athlete who needs active learning techniques to thrive..