Saturday, August 15, 2015

25. The 4Rs of Education

 Book Review ala Borges*:  The 4th R by Emiliano Cruz, Phd  (New Studies Publications 2014)
 

Reading, 'Riting, 'Rithmetic, and, what is that?A fourth R: Running. While the net savvy world is gradually embracing an international school curriculum that will include computer software coding, this book proposes half the time of Filipino children in school be spent on human kinetics. The thesis is simple: kids in elementary and high school should spend four hours a day in academics and another four in P.E.. Emiliano Cruz, Ph. D. in Education from St. Petersburg-State University, proposes that we follow the former Soviet model of education emphasizing the development of the body as much as the mind. He cites various studies that show healthy children learning better and quicker in academics after rigorous physical activities. He also goes through the educational histories of ancient Spartan society and communist Russia's as case studies to highlight the qualitative effects of such a system. He concludes his book with the argument that his proposal is also a counter-measure to the growing obesity epidemic among children and the increasing risk of sedentary life that may actually shorten the average Filipino lifespan in the future.


*Books that have not been written by authors who have not been born.

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