[quote=SD Realtor]”A military academy style public school system would serve us very well, I believe.”

Brian I would definitely agree with that.

As a side note I also believe that more physical activity would improve academic achievement dramatically. It is bad enough that pretty much any normal 7 year old boy is classified as ADD cuz he cannot sit still. I think that in most cases this is simply a boy being a boy. They need to be running around. Tire them out and you find they are a hell of alot more attentive. Adding more physical activity and maybe scaling back a bit on the academics may serve to INCREASE attentiveness and the quality of what the kids learn. Just my two cents. I do like the military style idea though. Lots of physical activity and more of a focus on respect, discipline, and other intangibles that will accelerate learning in the future. [/quote]

SDR: There are plenty of studies that back up what you’re saying as well. The dearth of physical fitness programs at the elementary school level is disheartening, to say the least.

Kids get little to no PE time anymore and nearly all of their physical fitness is derived from extracurricular activities like group sports. On top of that, kids nowadays are driven everywhere, rather than walking or riding bikes to their destination.

I start out every fall football season with entire groups of kids for whom running a single 1/4 mile lap is nearly impossible. No joke. I have kids falling out on the run or staggering in, gasping for air. Talk about alarming.

Another interesting corollary is the connection between physical and mental fitness, as well as physical fitness and good self-image/self esteem.