How to

Is More Learning, More Knowledge for Children? Stanford Research Finds a Different Truth.

To determine whether children excel academically by learning more, parents can refer to research studies for insightful information.

Administrator

21 September, 2024

Professor of Economics John Pencavel of Stanford discovered that if a person works more than 50 hours a week, their hourly productivity will significantly decrease.

Researchers at the University of South Florida and the University of California, San Diego, found that while excessive studying has short-term benefits, it is ultimately futile in the long run.

Does studying more make children smarter?

The experiment was conducted in the form of a vocabulary card test. The first group of participants completed a total of five rounds, and no participant could master all the words in one round. The second group was the “overstudying” group, who completed ten rounds, with each participant achieving at least three rounds.

A week later, in the second experiment, the overstudying group was still ahead. But when the experiment was repeated four weeks later, there was no difference in scores between the two groups.

Within just four weeks, the benefits of overstudying had diminished significantly. Since then, several different studies have produced similar results, and researchers believe that if the goal is long-term memory, overstudying may not be a good strategy.

At this point, some parents may be wondering if they can avoid the negative effects of overstudying by having their children learn something different and change their brains?

Children need guidance to manage their study time reasonably.

A particularly important area of the brain is the prefrontal cortex, which has three functions closely related to learning: maintaining attention and motivation, controlling impulses and ignoring distractions, and enabling people to make and execute plans.

However, the capacity of the prefrontal cortex is not unlimited. When it is overworked, it cannot perform these three essential functions. This is why when children are tired, they find it hard to concentrate and easily lose their temper.

For extracurricular activities that seem relatively easy, it is also important to note the significance of not going overboard.

This year, researchers at The Ohio State University found that students who participated in one school sport and one non-sport extracurricular activity were more likely to attend highly selective colleges than those who did not engage in these activities.

In other words, it is good to let your child play soccer after school, but letting them play basketball and swim at the same time will not bring any additional benefits.

The researchers believe that there are two possible reasons for this. First, achieving a certain level of advantage from an extracurricular activity consumes a lot of energy. Second, by devoting too much energy to these activities, children lose interest in their studies.

Learning to rest makes children’s busy lives more effective

Manage the busyness of both parents and children

As the primary planner for their child’s education, parents must first prioritize the numerous pending issues.

Daria Long, an American emergency doctor, once shared on TED how she manages her busy life. The first and most important step is to prioritize everything. The method of categorizing emergencies in hospitals can also be applied to various situations in life.

Red incidents – immediate life-threatening situations that require urgent resolution.

Yellow incidents – serious but not immediately life-threatening situations.

Green events – minor issues that can be dealt with later.

Black events – worst-case scenarios, things that cannot be done, or things that must be given up.

Manage the busyness of both parents and children.

Daria Long had a busy day: Her house was leaking, her one-year-old child was in the emergency room, her four-year-old was waiting for her to organize a fundraiser at school, and her laptop contained drafts that needed to be submitted soon.

After some thought, she arranged her priorities: Prioritize the one-year-old in the ER, then go home and fix the leak, mop the floor while rushing to get the drafts, and then think about spending time at school with the four-year-old.

Studies have shown that if we treat everything equally and react to them as red incidents, our stress levels will double. This will make parents feel more stressed, and their brains are more likely to make irrational decisions due to irritability and anger.

Rest scientifically

Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, a former visiting scholar at Stanford University and the University of Oxford, believes that busyness is not a means to achieve success but an obstacle to it.

Without scientific rest, excessive and persistent busyness will lead to decreased efficiency.

He mentions a study on violin students at a music academy in Berlin, which revealed the reason for the gap between excellent and average students. In reality, these academy students did not practice significantly more hours than many average students. Still, they excelled in two aspects.

First, their deliberate practice was more effective. Deliberate practice is not fun, but during the four hours of deliberate practice each day, the academy students did not merely repeat or play randomly. They intensely focused on a targeted movement and wholeheartedly practiced a specific technique.

Rest scientifically.

Second, they rested better. Academy students also faced a dilemma. Deliberate practice demands a lot of energy. The energy to support deliberate practice every day is limited. So, they carefully planned their practice and rest schedules. Compared to average students, they practiced more regularly but for shorter periods of 80 to 90 minutes each time, followed by a break of at least half an hour.

The researchers at that time concluded that deliberate daily practice does not mean that students must spend countless hours on it. Instead, they must devote all their energy and focus to practicing with utmost effort. After all, besides practicing, students also have classes, homework, and various other activities.

To help children rest more scientifically, parents can design a reverse timetable. First, consider the essentials, such as sleep, homework, and leisure time to relax, and then arrange the extracurricular activities…

There is no shame in taking a break. On the contrary, some studies show that reasonably organizing deliberate practice and rest helps children practice effectively and make the most of their downtime. This is because they understand that time is precious, and its value is maximized only when used sensibly.