AerialGymStars

How We Teach Our Preschool Classes!

2009-12-10T11:28:00.000-08:00

Part 1

In this article I will attempt to give you some insight to how we run our preschool classes. I believe that this article will be especially helpful to our clients enrolled in our daycare/preschool programs. I will try to paint a visual of what a preschool gymnastics class is like. Our class is broken into two segments, Opening Activities and Skill Stations. Today I will talk about the first segment of class.

Opening Activities (10 to 12 minutes)

Class starts with the base mats clear. All students and coaches sit in a circle to take attendance and remind them of the Gym Star rules. This is achieved within a few minutes in a very active, fun, fast paced manner. We have 3 rules! Stay on the blue mats, as we pat the mats. Keep your hands to yourself, as we clap our hands in rhythm and finish by hugging ourselves. Listen when the teacher talks, as we turn on our listening ears and lock our lips closed. Rules are necessary to create safe and clear boundaries. Children need rules to feel safe in their environment. We keep it short and simple for them to understand.

Next we review or introduce the gymnastic positions that will be used for class that day. After the positions are established they explore ways to make the positions move and become active. Starting in a circle provides the spacing for all students to move at the same time safely and work at their pace. Starting on the floor gives them the security and time to learn how to maintain the body shape. Rock and Rolls are a good example of this. We then transition to movements that require full body activity and coordination. Donkey Kicks or Teeter Totters are examples of skills that stay in one place. Bear Walks and Hot Dog Rolls are examples of skills that move about the open mat area. These movements are slower and help them to learn spatial awareness and to coordinate the entire body into one goal. Everyone is moving at the same time while the staff moves to the individuals that need assistance. Next we work into faster movements like skipping or galloping. Speeding up the activity increases focus and attention span. As the students develop in skill level this open mat time may be used to review basic skills ranging from Rolls to Cartwheels and Handstands.

This portion of class is designed to be fast paced, highly active and quickly changing. At the same time it allows for all students to move at the same time and at their own ability level. The primary goal is to connect their mind to their body in a fun, positive process. The pace during this section of class serves two purposes. First, to raise their body temperature, which prepares their muscles to be strengthened and stretched. Second, is to increase the aerobic and anaerobic cardiovascular conditioning of our students. Moving and changing quickly gets the students to listen better and think quicker.

The Gym Star staff will get your child excited about movement, learning and accomplishment.

Why Progress Reports Are Difficult

2009-11-22T20:19:00.000-08:00

Parents some times ask us for a written report on their child's progress in their gymnastics class. We don't have a progress report or checklist, that we give to parents. It is not a useful tool in communicating what a student has learned! When asked we are glad to give a verbal evaluation and answer questions a parent has. Allow me to explain further!

In our programs that parents can watch a verbal report is much better because we can give a personal report. Parents can relate to what we say to them and see the progress that we point out. We can have dialog that is specific to their concerns and questions about their child. This has greater value if they have watched class over a period of time.

In our daycare programs the parents rarely get to see their children in class. This makes it hard for parents to follow their child's progress. As a parent, I understand the desire to have communication of how your child is doing. I have asked many coaches specific questions to understand how my child was doing at the time. As a program director, I have tried many different forms of progress reports over my 30 plus years of experience to communicate to parents the students progress. I have yet to find a format that is both comprehensive and understandable to a parent, especially when they do not watch the class. Typically such reports create more questions and confusion than answers. The end result is usually a personal conversation anyway! Even when a parent is a constant observer it is a challenge. Gymnastics is a complex sport. A forward roll looks easy! It sounds easy! You just roll over, right? Did you know that a forward roll has 8 different positions and movements. It requires 3 different body shapes and activates every muscle group in the body! Each skill has many stages and progressions when taught safely and correctly. Your student will experience between 15 and 20 stations with multiple variations to learn that forward roll. To effectively write this down in a manner that is descriptive without being highly technical is difficult and cumbersome. Who wants to read all of that! How many of us actually sit down to read the owners manual of anything we buy? Most of us would spend our free time in another way! I have learned that our time and your money is better spent teaching than stopping progress to evaluate. I prefer our staff to spend their time preparing a great lesson plan than writing a report. Our staff would choose to have a personal conversation instead of giving you a form. Our staff will know your child! They will know their skill level, their strengths, their personality and what motivates them! They will know how they have progressed and what has improved. Call us or e-mail and we will answer your questions.

Where Does Gym Star Staff Come From?

2009-11-08T20:09:00.000-08:00

We order them from the coaches store! Just kidding!! If it were only that simple there would be many great gymnastics companys out there.

We are often asked by parents about our staff. Were they gymnast themselves? Where do we find our staff? This is usually followed by some positive comment about the new coach.

Coaching preschool and school age children in gymnastics requires a special person. We have several key qualities that we look for!

1. They must be first and foremost good with children
2. They must be positive in their thinking and reactions
3. They must be of good character
4. They must be energetic and enthusiastic
5. They must have a passion for teaching children

Most of our staff has been in gymnastics in their school years and some have not. Teaching gymnastics to children at the basic levels in a recreational setting is more about a process of progressions than the coaches experience. In fact sometimes it is easier to train someone who has little to none experience in the sport, because we do not have to undue negative tendencies they have inherited from their coaches. We have been successful in developing great coaches because we start with quality people and teach them how to create a fun and positive learning environment. We have developed a system of progressions and mixed it up with fun exciting people. Our coaches have a wide range of backgrounds from high level club competitors to never been a gymnast.

Gymnastics is an interesting mix of physical, mental and emotional abilities. Teaching gymnastics skills is a scientific process when you come right down to it! If a person has the ability to understand this process along with the personality to get children to believe in them as a coach, they can be a gymnastics coach. Gym Stars finds the people that have these abilities and give them the knowledge and tools to become a great coach. In the end it is their drive and personal pride that completes the process of becoming a lead coach for our company.

Developing new coaches is one of our largest processes and consumes a large portion of my time and our lead staff's efforts. All new coaches start off as teaching assistants, regardless of their experience or background. Then they go through several stages of training before being allowed to lead a class. It will take a new coach three to twelve months to become a lead coach at Gym Stars. It is a large investment in training but a very important one to the parents of our students.

We all realize that the quality of our staff is one of the best marketing tools we have control over. Most of our growth can be attributed to positive referrals from parents. They like what they see in our gyms and the experience their child has with our coaches. They see results in their child's gymnastics skills and more importantly their overall developmental growth. We like to believe that we teach life skills through gymnastics.

The education of children is one of the most challenging and rewarding jobs a person can do. Teaching gymnastics to preschool children requires a special person and specific abilities. Teaching school age children requires yet another set of skills and understanding. Every age group has different needs in how they communicate and learn. We put a lot of time, education and effort into developing the very best staff to teach children gymnastics. The smile on a child's face when they walk out of their class is a great goal. The knowledge that they feel better about themselves leaving than they did when they come in is the best reward we can ask for.

Our coaches come from many different sources but all have the same passion of coaching children to positive outcomes!

Welcome to the Gym Stars Blog!

2009-11-02T08:05:00.000-08:00

We will be placing information on our blog about preschool gymnastics and recreational gymnastics.

We believe that gymnastics is the ultimate sport for all physical, mental and emotional development in children. Gymnastics challenges every coordination that will be used in any other sport. When taught in a positive and developmentally progressive style, it will build the confidence of a child like no other activity. Gymnastics also provides many of life's tools that children will use throughout their educational and adult lives. Most importantly gymnastics is fun! Where else can you swing, roll, balance, and bounce all in a padded environment. Like I said this is fun!

If you want to know more about us, you can find us at aerialgymstars.com