Are you interested in Kids Health & Fitness?
I had a great brainstorming session yesterday
with Caroline Newman a.k.a Dancelady
and how we can move forward with kids fitness.
Over the years many of you have done the Teaching Teens
course I wrote and many Fitpros go into schools
but with all the new emerging tech is it
time for a radical new approach?
We are trialling BRAINFIT in several school this January
so I will report back.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Working with the next Generation – Caroline Newman
I often hear instructors comment that “they couldn’t work with kids “and too be fair it’s not for everyone BUT! If you haven’t tried it, or you haven’t done it in a while take a moment to consider it during 2017 .
We as fitness professionals have the power to effect the next generation. Yes that is a sweeping statement and there are so many other factors to consider but it only takes one small action to effect or change a pattern for the rest of their lives.
By the age 11 33% of children will be overweight costing the NHS millions and effecting employment, lifestyle, and the environment
So why work with children ?
Because you can!
To successfully teach kids you will need:
Enthusiasm.
Knowledge and adaptable skills.
The ability to change your lesson plan instantly and have a box of tricks at the ready for changing circumstances.
To be able to communicate at many different levels and have different communication skills for younger children and teenagers.
You must have some understanding & compassion of learning needs and perhaps factors such ADHD.
Oh gosh ..guess what … you posses all of this skills already if you already currently teaching group fit, or taking PT sessions !!
But perhaps most of all if you have drive and the passion to be able to make an impact on young people’s lives ,that simple Dance session or Fitness circuit you deliver may be the only thing that child has enjoyed or excelled at during that day or week.
I have been told frequently that a certain child has had a really good learning experience via an active session. I was one of those kids, the only time I excelled in school was during PE sessions if you identify with that, then you may be the best person to be delivering to children.
So where is Kids Fitness going in the future?
The Government provides funding for PE in schools with a view to employ fitness/sports professionals to deliver sessions .
School and Fitness professionals will create stronger links as schools and teachers will want to use the professional expertise of our services. Increasing evidence of fitness activates, impacting and effecting on the learning day and learning ability of pupils will encourage these links. During 2017 schools will receive a second amount of ring fenced funding commonly refereed to as the “sugar tax money “ most schools will have a total funding pot of £16,000 (£8k current Sports Funding plus the sugar tax money ) which has to spent and accounted for via Ofsted requirements .
Increase in demand and industry recognition of fundamental under 5 programmes. Many families are time poor ,yet money rich parents will happily pay for active learning experiences for their younger children, especially if they deem it as wholesome and character building .
Yoga and Pilates for children will increase as parents worry about posture and stress level of their children .
Many specific Pilates programmes such as Smarty Pilates are now delivered within Pre Schools,/ Nursery’s
Emotional management programmes Mindfulness using relaxation techniques from Yoga Pilates and Mindfulness
Virtual Interactive technology will increase via current technology such as watches ,fitness trackers as well as wearable technology
Local authority/school collaboration Children’s Obesity programmes will continue . With specific nutrition and healthy eating programmes expanding .
Many of these schemes have been running since 2008
Existing named programmes such as Les Mills Born to Move will continue.
The good old no frills activities such as Cheer, Hooping, Dance and skipping will always be there as long as you the instructor have the creativity to keep them fresh.
Interestingly Joe Wicks aka Body Coach delivered a PE session in his former primary school just before the end of term .
Obviously his Instagram and Facebook posts received 1000s of requests for him to other schools etc .
I expect to see a Lean in 15 style Children’s programme to be coming out during 2017 .
In my option that’s no bad thing as he will create an increased interest.
So is it your job to look after the health of the next generation?
Caroline DanceLady
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