Sunday, December 13, 2015

week 12 - review

Wow, what another fabulous day with your kids!  We truly love working with them each week, and watching their progress.
With the excitement of the christmas party still in those little bodies, we worked some movement into our yoga class, with some dancing and freezing into a yoga pose. Their spontaneity and exuberance is contagious and so much fun.
When we come back in January, we will be back to work with circuit training.  I try to mix things up each time we do this, and not bore the kids with "exercise".  Building a life long love of physical activity is key to a healthy body for life.
Over the break, we hope you find active things for your kids to do.  A stop watch or kitchen timer can be used for circuit training at home.  30 secs each of burpees, jumping jacks, and plank position repeated a few times is a great way to add some exercise for your kids. If they get bored, add some lunges, or squats, walk around the block, or the house - just remember to move.  (i have used wall-sits as a time out)

Merry Christmas.
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Tuesday, December 8, 2015

week 11 review

ooops...looks like I have missed a few of these blogs lately.  sorry.  I know I was too late to post here a couple of times, and sent direct emails instead.  I do try not to miss completely. really.  :)

Okay, so last week we worked on ball play again.  This time I organized three different stations, and had the kids work in teams of 2.  Learning to play together cooperatively is important - helping each other succeed instead of being focused just on winning is a big part of this class.  The ball skills we worked on were throwing, aiming, catching and dribbling (foot work).
The kids enjoyed themselves, learned some new skills and had fun.  At the end of class, we played a short game of soccer.  What a day!

This Thursday we will be focused on our flexibility and strength with yoga.  We will be indoors, so if you want to bring your own yoga mat, that's great.  Please remember - this is not a good day for dresses.  Bring your water bottle!

Thanks for your patience about the blogs. 
Teacher Mary and Teacher Kellie

Monday, November 9, 2015

week 8 review

oh my goodness!  I have seen so much improvement in this group of kids - wow.
Today we brought out the balls and worked on tossing with accuracy and catching.  It sounds like a simple skill, but the eye-hand coordination involved is actually quite complex.  And the improvement is awesome.  The games we play also involved teamwork and cooperation; both of these are skills that develop into life skills.  The kids don't realize all this; mostly, they are having fun.
This week we are planning on yoga - and based on the weather, we will probably be indoors....so if you want to bring your personal mat, that's great.  If not, the PE box has enough for us.  (I think...)

Again, as always, PE clothes and a water bottle.
Thanks,
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Sunday, November 1, 2015

week 7 review

Wow!  Circuit training is so much fun.  It is exciting to watch the kids push themselves and trying new things.  What great effort by all!
This week we will be playing with balls again.  Target practice, more dribbling and of course, catch.

Please remember good fitting shoes - we are still having a problem with shoes falling off during activities.  This is a safety issue.
And, don't forget - water bottles!
See you this week!
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Saturday, October 24, 2015

week 6 review

Well......as I posted, and so I thought, this week we were going to do yoga.  Good thing yoga practice teaches us to be flexible!
Blue skies and sunshine proved to be inspiring more movement than yoga could provide for our young students, and our activity quickly changed to movement runs across our grassy lawn.  Hopping like frogs, crawling like bears, running like horses...we did it!  And we finished off with a game of freeze tag.  The kids had fun in the sun!
Next week, we will resume our circuit training activity....1 minute exercises rotating around various stations.  Water bottles are super important, as this is a very busy activity.
As always, sturdy shoes and play clothes are mandatory. 
Thanks,
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

week 5 review

We have been very fortunate with the weather and had a great time this week playing outside.  This week we worked on eye-hand coordination in catching and dribbling balls.  Watching these kids having fun playing and practicing a new skill is so much fun for us as well.

Coming up this week is our yoga class.  If the weather is nice, we will yoga outside!  Don't worry, I have the puzzle mats for outside use, and your personal mats will stay clean.
Even though the sun is out, the air is still cool.  I highly recommend dressing in layers that can be removed if it does get warm enough.  and of course, water bottles!  :)

Thanks,
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Wednesday, October 14, 2015

week 4 review

Hi families.  Wow, your kids are great fun.  This week we held class in the fellowship hall and did circuit training.  This was a big hit with the kids, with lots of changing activity and movement.  We will do this again through-out the semester, changing activities each time.

This week the weather is supposed to be pleasant and we hope to go outside to our ball play activities.  Please remember to bring a water bottle.  Play shoes are extremely important for active kids - rain boots, sandals, and most dress shoes do not provide the support needed for movement exercise. Thanks!
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Friday, September 25, 2015

week 2 review

Hello Families!
We were so lucky to have such a beautiful day for our PE class.  We walked outside to play in the grassy area on the other side of the parking lot.  We practiced our ball skills - throwing, catching and kicking. This class is a bit younger than last year, so we will continue working on cooperation and what it means to be a good partner/teammate.  Good sportsmanship is important at all levels of play.

We had a couple of students forget their water bottles - they can get very hot and tired while we are playing and there is no water outside.  Some students offered to share their water bottle with another student, and while this is very kind, with cold and flu season coming up I am not sure you want this to become a habit.

Next week we will work on yoga /flexibility.  Please make sure your student has appropriate clothing.  If you have a yoga mat, please bring one.  If you do not, we have some flexible puzzle mats that can be used instead.

Thank you.
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Monday, September 21, 2015

week 1 review

Hi Families. It was great to meet our students this week.  We did a brief warm up/stretch and then talked about the importance of exercise.  We then combined our listening skills with our memory skills and ball control skills in a fun getting to know you ice-breaker.  Great Job everyone!

Weather permitting, we will hold class outside this week and practice our ball skills.  We will still meet in the fellowship hall and walk outside as a class.  Please, don't let your student go outside without a teacher.  If the weather is wet and we need to be inside, we will have class in the fellowship hall.
Please remember, as always: play clothes, athletic shoes and a water bottle.
See you Thursday.
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Thursday, September 10, 2015

open house day

Hi.  Welcome to PE class.
In this class, we will work on movement, balance and having fun.  For safety reasons, we ask that students have good fitting play clothes - it is hard to have fun if your pants are falling off, or your dress is over your head!  We also ask that students have proper shoes for playing - sandals and boots do not make running easy or safe.
And please, remember to have a water bottle for your student.  We keep the kids active and staying hydrated is really important.  There is no water fountain outside, and the one in the basement does not work. ( maybe this year it does?)
Thank you for joining us.  We hope your students enjoy the class.  Please feel free to post comments or ask questions at any time.
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Thursday, February 12, 2015

feb 12

Hey kids, great class today.  Circuit training is a lot of work, so you may have had some tired kids Thursday afternoon.  12 different stations and constant movement is a great work-out.  :)
The best part? They all seemed to have fun!
Next week is game day - if the weather is nice, we will be outside. if not, we will play in the hall.
As always, please remember your water bottle.
Thanks,
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Monday, February 9, 2015

feb 5

Hello!  Yoga was great this week; we had a great time with a yoga version of the name game.  I was impressed with everyone's patience as we went through each students name in various yoga poses.  Nice work,kids!
This week, we will do some circuit training.  It will be extremely important for your students to have sturdy athletic shoes and a water bottle.  This class is high energy and very active.
Thanks,
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Monday, February 2, 2015

jan 29

Hey kids - Thanks for another great week of PE.  It was nice to be back at school....  :)
And thank you for your understanding of the change in schedule.  Living here in the NW has taught me to be very conscience of the weather, and take advantage of every chance I get to be outside when I can.  So our yoga class was cancelled, and we moved to the grass area for ball play.
During this time, we will focus a lot on listening, following directions, and respect for our classmates. This sounds pretty basic, I know, but really, these are the foundations of team sports (and life in general, no?)
This week, the weather does look like rain, so we will aim for a yoga class this week.  Please, bring your yoga mats and water bottles to class.  No dresses, please.
Thank you,
Teachers Mary and Kellie

Monday, January 26, 2015

jan 22

Hey Kids!  I hope you had fun with Teacher Lisa this week.  I missed you all and am looking forward to being back in class this week.  Thank you Teacher Lisa for filling in for me.  :)
Yoga is our plan for this week.  If you have a yoga mat at home that you can bring to class, please do.
Girls, please no dresses as we will be doing a lot of bending and stretching!
and remember your water bottle.
Thanks,
Teacher Mary

Monday, January 19, 2015

jan 15

Wow!  Did my students ever impress me as much as they did today?  What a remarkable day....
I had such a high level of cooperation, and responsibility today; it was simply awesome.  Thank you!
We had some new, first time ever activities, and it seemed everyone was having fun.  and even learned a bit in the process.
I did notice that students are still coming to class without a water bottle.  Please, this is an important part of this class, for your kids health and safety.  Remember, this class is at the end of our day, and most of our kids don't drink enough water throughout the day anyway.  To ask them to be physically active, and mentally alert puts a strain on them at this age, anyway. (or so it seems in most cases.)  To ask this of them while they are running a quart low, is just not fair.  Your car does not run well without oil - our bodies do not function well without water.  The water faucet downstairs does not work.  Please, bring a water bottle to class.
We also had one pair of flip-flops in class.  Please, proper athletic footwear is essential.  Luckily, our activities today did not require the use of our shoes.  In the future, we will send students to the core room, if they are not dressed appropriately for the activity.
Thanks,
Teacher Mary

Monday, January 12, 2015

jan 8

What a great first day of class!  I was happy to see so many returning faces and a few new ones too.  We have a busy year planned again, so please remind your students that they need to bring a water bottle to class.  And proper shoes are a must.
This week, our movement skill focus will be jumping.  Think jump ropes, hopping on one foot, jumping over boxes, jumping jacks....what can you think of?
See you soon!
Teacher Mary