I am very proud and excited to talk about my involvement with this year’s Gymnastics Ontario (GO) Coaching Congress, happening this week in Toronto. In yesterday’s post, I introduced the four topisc I’ll be discussing this year. Today I would like to share more about my Ages & Stages presentation – another fundamental piece of the philosophy here at Gymtastics GymTools.
Ages & Stages of Growth
Do you remember what it was like to be a three-year old? How about four? Or five? Of course, none of us do! Teaching children, we can see that each of these ages and stages is unique, and the differences from one year to the next are monumental. Using this understanding, we need to start putting together really successful preschool programs.
Breaking down a program by age and stage means thinking about the whole child.
What stage are they at
- Physically?
- Emotionally?
- Socially?
- Mentally?
A two-year old finds it difficult to share. Generally, a three-year old can only remember three instructions at a time, not five, six or more. A four-year old can understand more words than they can speak (how frustrating for both you and the child if you don’t understand their needs!)
At this stage, it’s vital to find the best ways to connect and communicate with your little athletes considering their maturity level. When you succeed, and build your program on good communication, you’re increasing the odds for their success and rewarding yourself with children who will grow and learn before your very eyes.
Tomorrow, I’ll be writing a post on my third topic from this year’s conference: recreational warm-up ideas.
From Darlene “The Bean”
