Gymnastics

This fall I decided to enroll Everly in the rec centre "kindergym".  Which is basically a really laid back gymnastics class.  She loved it so much I decided to enroll her in a "real" class at a gymnastics club.  The rec centre class is pretty much a free for all.  The kids do what they like and play together.  I love that about it.  The club class is very structured and the children must do a warm up together and then do different circuits.

The first few times I took her to the club class she really didn't listen at all, and I had to constantly keep her on track, while keeping it all fun.  On Monday we had our last class and it was so amazing to see the difference.  She didn't take her eyes off the instructor and did the whole warm up with only one reminder (to do bunny hops instead of runs).  She was just so fully engaged.  

She gets so excited for both classes now and it is amazing to see what she is able to do.  She is so coordinated - much more so then many of my 4 year old students.  It will be interesting to see if she is just an early bloomer or if she will always be so coordinated.  She can do the beam all by herself and she does it quite quickly.  Her forward rolls are easy for her now.  I am just encouraging her to stand up right after, because that does take some strength on her part.  On the trampoline she is starting to be able to land on her bum and back on her feet, which I don't think they even bother teaching for another year or two.  

She is always asking about taking ballet lessons.  We are holding off on those until next year because for one there isn't a convenient class with a good teacher, and two I just don't think she is ready to follow that much structure.  We dance at home most days, and for now that is enough. 

I never thought I would put my kids into ballet, but Everly is totally taken with it.  I also get almost free classes at the studio's I teach at, and with money being tight it means she gets to do something she loves without breaking the bank.

I think it is really important for kids to develop their coordination, strength and flexibility right from the start.  Enjoying being active is really important to me and I hope both my kids find something that they love participating in.  That way they are more likely to want to stay active as adults.

Gross Motor Skills

It just dawned on me that Everly seems to be focusing on improving her gross motor skills.  Once she mastered walking, she became very interested in fine motor activities.  Now she has mastered many of those activities and seems to be moving back to gross motor.  Of course I always try to offer her lots of opportunities to use both, but since the GM seem to interesting to her, I have been trying to come up with fresh activities for her.

Being a ballet teacher I have been the huge difference in motor skill abilities of children.  Especially very young ones.  I have had 4 year olds who can barely jump off the ground, or run, and 4 year olds who can do single skips easily... and with pointed toes.  I think as with most things part of this is nature and part is nurture.   Being well coordinated and athletic to some extent are important to me and I want give Everly a chance to develop these skills.  

Here are some ideas I have come up with to do with Everly.

1./  Couch Balance Beam - I remove the back pillows of our basement couch and let Everly walk along the narrow (about 2 inches) hard back of the couch.  I hold onto her pants so she can basically do it on her own.   This is obviously great for developing balance and core muscle strength.  As well it works on trust between us because she has to trust that I will be there to catch her if she loses her balance.

2./ Forward Roll - A year ago my young cousin showed me the way the gymnastics couch taught her to do a forward roll (somersault).  I put down a mat and tell Everly to reach to the sky.  Then she puts her hands on the floor near her toes and I tell her to look at her belly button.  I assist her with the impetus to get the roll started.  By using the hands on the floor it protects the neck.  She did about 10 today.  She especially likes watching me show her! 

3./ Scissor Kick - I showed her how to put your hands on the floor and then kick your feet one at a time off the floor, so that for a brief time both feet are off.  She loved doing this one.  This is great for upper body strength and will help with learning a cartwheel later on.

4./ Pony Galops or double skips -  This is a ballet step, and is how most children "galop" when they are little.  Basically you jump into the air and one foot and then the other come up a kick your seat (or in the case of little ones come just off the floor).   With young children we pretend to ride pony's and jump over fences.  I usually say "up up" to help them get the rhythm.  I was surprised to notice that Everly is starting to do pony galops. 

5./ Run and Jump - She LOVES this!  I throw on some ballet music, roll up a small rug and have her run and then LEAP over the rug.  At first she just ran over the rug but after a day of practicing she started really jumping over it.  She has been requesting to do this one daily.

6./ Basketball - All you need is a laundry basket and a ball.  I also use a  little chair on its side and have Everly stand behind it.  She just throws the ball in and then I throw it back and encourage her to try catching it.  It is important to set it up so that they get the majority in.  Once she gets 3 or more in a row, I move the basket a bit further away.  This one was great fun!

More to come!

Wheel Barrell

I was reading something on the internet and it mentioned wheel barrells were good for pre-schoolers to do.  I thought I would see if Pooks could even do it.  She could and really enjoyed it.  When we first started I could hold her around her knees but by the time we took the picture she was tired.  She can go about 10 "steps" so far.  I also thought I would start working on somersaults with her too - you can see the mattress we can use for doing them and it is great for jumping on too.  She has always enjoyed doing gross motor things.  She loves galoping, doing plies (knee bends), "skips" (she actually is marching), developes (lifting her leg in the air)  and tip toe walks.  I also started showing her how to slither like a snake since already has a bit of a fascination with snakes - we make them when we do playdough.