Learning Life Lessons from Organized Sports

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The life lessons your children will learn from organized sports are invaluable. Kids are taught how to actively partake in team building exercises, while learning the value of participation, goal setting, and responsibility. Concepts such as competition and commitment are instilled in children, allowing them to carry some of those lessons with them for the rest of their lives. Below is a list of some important developmental characteristics kids are taught when partaking in team sports and activities.

Socializing and Getting Along with Others

Kids of different backgrounds are often put together in the same teams. Children who go to different schools, or live in different towns are placed together to learn and grow. Team sports foster social behavior among kids, despite any differences between them. Interacting with kids of different personalities or skills, and social or ethnic backgrounds provides kids with invaluable life lessons they can carry with them well into adulthood. Kristin Chessman of She Knows suggests enrolling kids into organized sports in order to foster in them an understanding of diversity.

Competition

Winning isn’t everything, but it is important. Life is somewhat about competition. In competition, an individual either wins or loses. Placing kids in an environment where they can potentially feel the euphoria of winning, or the heartbreak of losing is important for character development. If children hope to compete and succeed, they will inevitably need to understand how important effort is in order to achieve their goals.

Hard Work and Dedication

Once your children are a bit older, they’ll realize that it is difficult to succeed without hard work. Kids eventually realize that hard work can make them play and perform better on and off the pitch, court, or rink. Developing a hunger for success can only be created by understanding that goals are met with exceptional effort. Participation is simply not enough.

Breaking Entitlement

It’s in kids’ nature to feel entitled – especially when it comes to fun. Nothing is a more entitlement-breaking experience than having to sit on the bench during games. In organized sports, children learn a very difficult lesson: kids with more skill naturally earn more playing time. According to Annette Christiansen of Education Week, the concept of earning playtime is a difficult, but absolutely necessary lesson. This will push kids to practice and work harder in order to achieve their goals.

Problem Solving

Organized sports presents an array of problems that require millisecond decision making. Observing the manner in which another team plays, and adapting to that style is an important manner in which kids learn on the field. Figuring out how to defend against certain attacks, or how to penetrate an opponent’s defense allows kids to apply problem solving skills in competitions. This stirs kids to use creativity to solve problems as well.

If you liked this post and would like to read more on child development news and information, check out my twitter @TerryFebrey. Thanks for reading !

Get Your Child Active with these Valuable Tips

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The CDC recommends that children and adolescents spend up to 60 minutes a day undertaking aerobic physical activity. Reports have shown however that children often fall short of this goal. According to the American Heart Association, the obesity rate among children and teens has risen dramatically over the past twenty years.

Among children ages 6-11, about 15 percent of children are overweight. Among children and adolescents between the ages of 12-19 on the other hand, 16.1 percent are overweight. Children are naturally more active than adults. However, as they approach adolescence, children become increasingly less active. Now more than ever with the advent of video games and computers, children are becoming less attracted to the draws of physical activity in the outside world. If you’re looking to get your child more physically active throughout the week, try some of these tips from Sarah Henry of WebMD.

Enroll them in Sports

An obvious choice to getting your child more active is enrolling them in a sports program. Sports like basketball, hockey, and soccer are great ways for children to engage in physical activity while also socializing with other children. Teamwork and collaboration are important aspects to any character building process, therefore making team sports a great way of promoting proper physical and mental health.

Have them Perform Other Activities

If for whatever reason your child is not adapting well to team sports, or simply dreads the sport you put them into, get creative. Conventional sports may simply not interest your child, so it’s important that you try something different. Martial Arts, swimming, and wrestling are some great activities that stray away from the traditional organizational fabric of conventional sports. Other activities like dancing, rock climbing, and biking can be especially good ways of promoting physical activity.

Make Exercise Part of their Routine

By making exercise and physical activity as important as going to school, working, eating, and sleeping, it will be difficult for a child to ignore the importance of exercise. Instilling in them that sense of routine makes it much easier for children to pursue regular physical activity, even once they’ve strayed from the nest. Yet for this to work, it is vital that you:

Join In

Children love playing with their parents. Playing with your children has lasting social and emotional benefits. Encourage your child’s physical and mental wellbeing by actively engaging with them in physical activity. Whether this means taking your family on a hiking trip, or simply playing catch with them in the backyard, parents can act as catalysts to their own children’s physical activity. This is vital to the development of children.

Don’t Forget to make it Fun!

For young ones with developing attention spans, fun is priority number one. Make sure that you don’t turn a physical activity into a chore. Therefore, don’t be forceful, and make sure they (and you) are having fun.

If you like this post and would like to read more on youth physical and academic education, check out my twitter @TerryFebrey for more. Thanks for reading!

Sports Education Across The Globe

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Physical education in the United States is regulated on a national scale. According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education, a PE program must be taught by a certified physical education specialist, teach curriculum that can be learned by all students, and offer material that is educational and appropriate. Also, NASPE states that elementary classes should have at least 150 minutes of PE per week and 225 minutes for secondary classes.

These regulations made me think about other countries and their physical education programs, and I was curious about what that looks like. So, I did the research and found out about PE across the world!

china terry febrey

CHINA.

The China Law of Physical Education and Sport states that schools must allocate time for students to have PE in order to meet national fitness standards, offer after-school physical activities, training, and competitions, and conduct a physical examination of each student.

scotland terry febrey

SCOTLAND.

There are no national regulations for PE in Scotland. However, there is a non-departmental organization, Learning and Teaching Scotland (LTS), that is sponsored by the government to support and develop public education curriculum. At the elementary level, PE is movement based. At secondary level, PE changes to focus on specialized skills and fitness.

new zealand terry febrey

NEW ZEALAND.

The New Zealand Ministry of Education combines health education, physical education, and home economics to achieve 4 goals of the curriculum framework. The 4 goals are: personal health and physical development, movement concepts and motor skills, relationships with other people, and healthy communities and environments.

Hungary terry febrey

HUNGARY.

PE is 1 of 10 Core Domains of Education in the Hungarian National Core Curriculum (NCC). There are 4 key concepts: health improvement and healthy physical development, improving fitness and mental adaptation and condition, transmission of knowledge about exercise, and entertainment, joy, satisfaction, and the desire to compete.

Top 5 Reasons Physical Education Is Important For Your Child

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peclassWhen discussing how to have a healthy life, the balance between diet and exercise is something to think about for your child. Diet is a conversation always up for a debate, but exercise is an equally important conversation to have. It is an intricate part in educating the whole student. Physical activity can have effects on both the body but the mind as well. Thus it can help improve your child’s ability in the academic world too. Here are the top 5 reasons why P.E. class is something you child should not go without during their day at school:

Skill and Motor Skill Development
For young children, physical movement is crucial to the development of their motor skills and awareness. Physical activity allows for safe and successful participation that will leave them feeling satisfied once it’s over. It will aid in their fundamental motor pattern and motion memory by repeating basic movement forms. It also provides another opportunity and environment for them to get out there and interact positively with other children their age.

Self Discipline
Sports and P.E. helps instill self-discipline in your children. They will begin to connect and understand how physical activity is linked to the wellness of the body.With that knowledge, they will begin to develop a responsibility and respect for health and fitness. This can aid in focusing the mind which can translate over to the classroom.

Stress Reduction
Going to their P.E. class will provide an outlet for any frustration they may be having. Math, reading, science can be confusing and frustrating subjects for them, but when they reach the playground or the field, they can let loose for an hour and recharge their minds.

Setting Goals
P.E. class gives your child the opportunity to set personal and achievable goals. Achieving these goals will improve their self-confidence and their self-esteem too.

Respect
Respect might be the most important thing children can obtain from sports and P.E. They will learn to have respect for themselves and their own self expression while respecting others and resolving conflicts. This is the most important thing that they will be able to carry on with them throughout their lives.

Engaging in physical activity also has been proven to help prevent and protect from diseases, illness, and injuries. At the end of the day, the physical, cognitive, and affective benefits from physical activity are vital to your child as they grow.

Info courtesy of palmbeachschools and veanea.