Keeping Parents Informed About Physical Education

Dear Parents:

Unfortunately, the headlines are true!

By eight years of age, 40% of children have significant cardiac risk factors like high blood pressure, high cholesterol and/or inactive lifestyles

• Most boys and girls, six to 17 years old, cannot run a quarter of a mile.
• Some 70 % of girls and 40 % of boys, six to 12 years old, cannot do more than one pull-up.
• The percentage of overweight youth in the has more than doubled in the past 30 years.
• There are escalating rates of Type II diabetes among children and youth.

Much of this problem is due to the additional fact that all Americans become increasingly less active with each year of life after 12 years of age. That is why the opportunity to learn about and participate in a physically active lifestyle is an excellent health insurance. Preparing every child in America to live a healthy, active lifestyle must be a goal of a quality education and a quality physical education program.

One of my primary goals as a physical educator is to teach every child in our school how and why they should keep themselves healthy and fit throughout their lifetime. In our physical education program, we provide learning experiences which are developmentally appropriate that will teach children how to be physically active in ways that increase physical competence, self-esteem and joy through lifelong physical activity no matter what their physical abilities may be. Here's how we achieve that goal:

Our physical education curriculum includes a balance of skills, concepts, fitness, rhythm and game experiences designed to enhance the cognitive, motor, affective, and physical development of every child.

1. We provide experiences that encourage children to question, integrate, analyze, communicate, apply cognitive concepts, and gain a wide multi-cultural view of the world.
2. Throughout the year we teach activities that allow children the opportunity to work together to facilitate development of social skills. These activities also help children develop a positive self-concept.
3. Fitness assessment is used to help children understand, enjoy, improve and/or maintain their physical health and well-being.
4. Children are taught exercises to maintain proper alignment, thereby allowing the muscles to lengthen without placing stress and strain on the surrounding joints, ligaments and tendons.
5. Grade decisions are based on multiple individual assessments of children as they participate in physical education activities, and not on the basis of a single test score.
6. Finally, our program is designed so that ALL children are involved in activities that provide the maximum physical activity possible in each class.

This school year I would like to invite you to come and visit our physical education class. By working together to encourage fitness, I am certain we will be able to help your children enjoy a lifetime of physical activity! I welcome your support!