Young Children - March 2008 - (Page 51) Guidance Matters Dan Gartrell and Kathleen Sonsteng Promote Physical Activity— It’s Proactive Guidance Five-year-old Jacob attends the preschool where I (Jackie) am student teaching. Jacob often instigates rough-and-tumble play, which sometimes gets him in trouble. One day during outdoor time, Jacob wanted to play catch with a foam football. Even though I am not athletic, I took the opportunity, hoping for a oneon-one conversation. Jacob: Jackie, do you want to play catch with me? Jackie: Sure I would love to play catch with you. (We start tossing the ball.) Jackie: You like to play catch. Jacob: I play with my dad all the time. He is really good. (Jacob throws a really nice spiral.) Jackie: Wow! That was a nice throw. How did you do that? Jacob: You put your fingers across the laces. (Jacob comes over and shows me where to place my fingers on the ball.) Jacob: You do it like this. Then you throw the ball. My dad taught me how to throw like that. That is how the quarterbacks throw the ball. (Jacob tosses the ball really hard at me.) Jackie: Hey, you threw that really hard! Jacob: Yeah, I did. I work out my muscles. I do push-ups like this (shows me the arm movements) and I do these things (does an impression of a sit-up). My dad does them too. He does them all the time. Jackie: So, Jacob, what else do you like to play? Jacob: I play football, baseball, soccer, and basketball. (I wait for him to talk again.) Jacob: I like to play games. I like to play checkers. It’s a game where you have little round disks, and they are red and black. You go and jump over other people and take their pieces away from them. (He jumps.) (We continue playing catch for a while.) Jacob: Do you want to sit down and play catch? Jackie: Sure, if you want to. (I sit on the bench and Jacob sits on the play picnic table and we start to play catch again.) Teacher Emily: OK, everyone, come in and wash your hands! ® Jackie understood here what early childhood educators increasingly recognize: healthy child development relies on physical activity. From enjoyment in using movement skills to blood circulation that builds brains and bodies, to obesity prevention, to concept formation, the benefits of physical activity make it a must in the schedule every day. In one interaction, when Jacob describes playing checkers and suggests sitting down, he showed cognitive, linguistic, and even social-emotional learning—complete with a physical demonstration. Because Jackie ventured outside her comfort zone in joining Jacob in physical activity, she made this situation richly educational—for herself and for Jacob. Through their shared experience, Jackie got to know Jacob better. In the future, she can use games and increased physical activity to help him and his buddies become more consistently engaged in the center program. Rough-and-tumble play Some teachers worry that vigorous activity, if permitted, will degenerate into rough-and-tumble play and someone will be hurt. Many teachers have witnessed the superhero phenomenon in which children assume the role of makebelieve heroes and become overly aggressive. Problems can be reduced, however, by using class meetings to set limits for rough-and-tumble play: 2, 3, 5 Dan Gartrell, EdD, is director of the Child Development Training Program and professor of early childhood and elementary education at Bemidji State University in northern Minnesota. Kathleen Sonsteng, EdD, is assistant professor of early childhood and elementary education at Bemidji State University. Thanks to student teacher Jackie McDevitt for sharing her anecdote and to Chris Amble, Jami Eischens, and Emily Erickson of Child’s Garden Preschool in Bemidji. Please send your guidance anecdotes and other comments to dgartrell@ bemidjistate.edu. Children’s names in all anecdotes are changed. This column is available online in Beyond the Journal, March 2008, at www.journal.naeyc.org/btj. Young Children • March 2008 51 http://www.journal.naeyc.org/btj
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