PHYSICAL LITERACY
What is Physical Literacy?
Physical literacy is confidence and competence in movement and physical activity. But what kind of movement and physical activity, you may be wondering? The answer is any and all. Think about literacy for reading, one must read throughout their whole life and sample different genres to become proficient readers and maintain a high level of literacy. To become physically literate, one should do the same. Always be open to trying a new activity, scaled to your ability level, of course, as it enhances your ability to continue learning skills and improving/maintaining motor function throughout your life.
Why should Physical Literacy be Important to Me?
Confidence in oneself to learn new motor skills sounds nice, but why should that matter to you? To put it simply, because movement is important, and life happens, which can keep us from moving as much as we should. Being confident in your ability to learn a skill removes barriers between you and getting moving.
Another word for learning skills and being adaptable is being plastic. Plasticity is the ability to be easily changed or molded, a crucial quality for our bodies. As we age, our bodies (skeletomuscular system, nervous system, etc.), lose their plasticity if not challenged, which may be problematic if we then have to face obstacles like injuries or illnesses. By engaging in physical activity and challenging yourself to be physically literate, your body can better retain its plasticity.
Parents should strive to be physically literate as it does foster resiliency. The more you go through the process of learning a new skill, the more confident you become in your ability to do so. When children observe parents striving to challenge themselves and get moving, it fosters the same value for physical literacy and sets them up for long-term physical success.
Physical Literacy Classes at PFP
To encourage physical literacy in our own community, we have designed a small group class for parents and children. The classes will have meeting times for two age groups 18 months- 3 years and 3 years - 5 years. This is a parent AND child class. We expect parents to be engaged and participate in the class alongside their kids to build a strong relationship with physical literacy that is shared by the whole family. Each week, a different movement component will be focused on developing a well-rounded base of physical literacy that may be built upon. The class structure is as follows:
The classes will focus on proprioception and coordination, balance and stability, strength and mobility, and speed and agility. Each class will begin with a group warmup that will get everyone moving and comfortable in the space and around one another!
After we are warmed up, parents and children will work together to build competency in a set of movements/skills that tie into the theme for the week. This is where we want parent engagement to shine! If we are teaching log rolling, the best encouragement to get your child to log roll is to see you do it!
After everyone feels comfortable with the new skills, we will aim to build confidence in those skills through a group game. The games are designed to allow kids a safe environment to put their new skills to the test. Through these games, we will build positive experiences around learning new skills and finding success with them!
Let’s Get Physically Literate!
Our physical literacy classes will start in February (the first class is on February 7th for 18 months - 3 years and February 9th for 3 years - 5 years, meeting time will be 11:00 AM - 12:00 PM for both). If you have young kids and want to be involved with ensuring they are physically literate, check out our classes here. It is a great way to foster a positive relationship with physical activity for you and your family!