Children to learn to the optimum

If you want children to learn to the optimum,

then you have to mix formal learning with play.

The current,

and former,

governments believe

that if you keep a child's nose

to the grindstone

hour after hour,

then they will learn more

than if you have them

on a work, play,

work, play,

work, play,

work, play rota.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

If you self assess your own work routine,

you will discover that you work best

where you alternate work with relaxation.

The time spent working/relaxing

varies as you get older.

For the youngest children in school,

bursts of work and extended periods

of play are best,

whilst by the time we become adults

then those times can be swapped round

- long periods of work

and relatively short periods of relaxation.