Welcome back Parents!

The P.E. team at Walnut Acres Children's Center is excited to help foster and grow your kids into physically literate children. In a nutshell, physically literate people are individuals who have the physical competence, confidence, and motivation to be and remain active for a lifetime.

This year, the children will be learning eight fundamental movement skills to help build a strong foundation in their movement repertoire. The basics will help open doors for children to potentially pursue more active and challenging sports/activities for continued growth and remain active for a lifetime.

Learning physical movement skills is important, yet the P.E. program also provides tools that the children can use throughout their lives. As the children are focusing on these movement skills, the P.E. teachers will be creating an environment that is going to be emphasis on three values:

1. Teamwork
2. Perseverance
3. Choosing to be Active

We do this by allowing children to learn through failures, teaching an adaptable attitude to different situations, and making physical activity fun and thrilling.

"A child is a winner when they try their very best."

Hello Parents,

​Have you ever heard of the term "physical literacy" when it comes to physical education? It's a new concept and has gained a lot of attention in the physical education field as well as in child development. Experts agree that physical literacy is just as important as reading, writing, and arithmetic. Physical literacy helps children to become physically active. Evidence shows that physically active children get higher grades in school, have better social skills, and are happier and more confident individuals. 

​Well, what is physical literacy you ask? In a nut shell, physical literacy is the competence, confidence, and motivation to stay active for a life time. It is the competence in a wide range of fundamental movement skills. Children develop skills such as running, skipping, jumping, catching, and throwing during their childhood.

​Children who are physically literate have the confidence and ability to do a wide range of physical activities, not just one or two sports, within different environments. Having the capacity and competency to be able to do many different skills will allow an individual to participate in a variety of activities according to their interests. This means they are more likely to enjoy healthy physical activity throughout their lives.

​As part of our physical education program, we are providing children with many physical literate experiences with an introduction to a wide range of fundamental movement skills for exploration. This month, the children are being exposed to catching, a skill that will open doors to many recreation and sport activities.

Hello Parents!

I can't believe that it's October already! Time sure flies by fast! Before you know it, the month of December is going to hit and the holidays will be just around the corner. But let's take it one month at a time. For October, the children in P.E. are learning a fundamental skill that plays a major role in many active lifestyle activities. From biking to doing gymnastics, if you know how to balance, you can do many amazing things with your body. Balancing is stability produced by even distribution of weight. They say that if you want to be competent in balancing, join a circus!

I encourage you to do some cool balancing activities with your children or even take them to a circus or a show that involves a lot of balancing acts. Spark their interest in balancing! 

​Steven

Hello parents!

Welcome to another wonderful school year! Walnut Acres Children's Center continues to provide a quality P.E. Program for the Junior Kindergartners, Transitional Kindergartners, and Kindergartners that attend our center after school. Our program offers children the opportunity to explore and learn the fundamental movement skills necessary to maintain an active lifestyle for a lifetime. This program is offered every Mondays and Fridays from 1:30 - 2:15 PM.

This year, our monthly P.E. is space themed. Children will be exploring eight fundamental movement skills each depicting a planet and pictures of children in action will be placed on the wall. Come check out the P.E. wall when you get the chance at the backdoor of our center.

Steven

In May, children are reviewing all of the skills that were taught to them this year. They are getting their heart rates up and remaining active for the entire P.E. session by playing engaging and fun activities!

Before the school year is over, the children will be taking home a P.E. Book. The P.E. books convey what they learned in P.E. that includes their favorite activities and interests. Each child gets the chance to design their very own book to represent who they are and what they have learned throughout the year. It also allows the teachers the opportunity to check for children's understanding of what was taught. 

In addition, we are having our annual P.E. Carnival as the last fun event we do in our program. Children get to participate in exciting skill-related activities that revolve around a theme. This is a highly anticipated event for the children and this year's theme is Dinosaurs!

Last month's P.E. was a very unique time for the kids. The children were all learning how to strike with a variety of implements in April.
 
Striking with Implements is a fundamental motor skill that uses a swinging pattern in horizontal or vertical planes with the use of a long implement. The implements used to accomplish these swings vary from bats to hockey sticks to golf clubs to polo sticks, yet all focus on the underlying challenge of coordinating hands and eyes when striking with a long implement.
 
All the children in P.E. had the opportunity to explore, try out, and play awesome games using different implements:

• Hockey Sticks
• Bats
• Golf Clubs
• Tennis Racquets
• Lacrosse Sticks
• Badminton Racquets
• Pool Noodles
• Ping Pong Paddles

*Click to enlarge photos*

Hello Parents!
 
Children are having a great time with this month’s skill: Kicking. Kicking is striking of an object with the feet. The movement of kicking requires accuracy, body control, point of contact, force, and direction. Our P.E. program gives children the opportunity to explore kicking with a variety of balls, kick balls just for fun at large targets, and tap/dribble a ball as in the beginning skills of soccer.
 
Cues for Kicking:

Point of Contact:

• Instep (shoelaces)

Dribbling of a Ball:

• Inside of Foot

Help your child practice their kicking! We recommend going to a park and kick a ball back and forth with your child. The more practice they get, the better they will become. Learning to kicking is a fundamental motor skill to learn. It will open many doors for a child to be and remain active for a life time.

For the month of February, the Jr. K - Kindergarten children are learning how to catch. Catching is the receiving and controlling of an object by the body or its parts. 

Cues for Catching:

Low Level Catch:

• Thumbs in for catch above waist

High Level Catch:

• Thumbs out for catch at or below the waist

We encourage you to help your child practice the skill of catching by participating with your children in activities such as football, basketball, and just tossing a ball back and forth in the backyard.

Happy New Year everyone!

For the month of December, the Jr. K - Kindergarten children are learning how to throw. Throwing is a basic movement pattern performed to propel an object away from the body. Children who learn to throw effectively are able to particpant confidently in a wide range of activities such as baseball, football, and basketball. 

Cues for Throwing:

Underhand Throw:

• Back Straight
• Step with Opposite Step
• Tick-Tock Motion arm
• Follow-Through

Overhand Throw:

• Shoulder/Side to Target
• Throwing Arm Way Back
• Step with Opposite Foot
• Follow-Through

We encourage you to help your child practice the skill of throwing by participating with your children in activities such as catch in the backyard, beanbag toss, carnival games at an amusement park, basketball, bowling, and hot potateo.

For the month of November, the Jr. K - Kindergarten children are learning how to jump and land. Jumping is a locomotor pattern in which the body propels itself off the floor or apparatus into a momentary period of flight. Children who learn to jump effectively for height and distance are prepared for the multitude of game, dance, and gymnastic activities.

Cues for Jumping and Landing:
​*Bend your knees while you land to absorb the force
* Swing your arms upward for good height
​*Keep your head and shoulders up for good balance

We encourage you to help your child practice the skill of jumping and landing by participating with your children in activities such as hop scotch, hurdles, jump roping, and everyday obstacles they can jump across and over.