| Author |
Message |
Mel Spenrath
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 1:41 pm: |       |
I am interested in any suggestions that anyone might have regarding adapting a gymnastics class/lesson for obese children (age 6-12)
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Isobel Kleinman
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Monday, March 15, 2004 - 1:41 pm: | |
I would suggest using the English Gymanstics /Movement Education program which is a thematic approach to exploring gymnastic activity, gymnastic equipment and dance based on Laban's principals of Space, Time, Weight or Flow. The approach allows students to discover what they can do movement wise without fearing failure or injury because they can choose how they want to move or position themselves based on cues you give. For instance, if you have them focus on space, you guide their activity by asking them to be big or small or symmetrical or balanced on different levels or use more parts of their body to support themselves or less, . . get the idea?
As a teacher, your job will be to guide their exploration, teach them to appreciate and improve quality movement and keep them moving.
There should be some good material out there. I know Canadians use the system. I used it with my junior high kids and sometimes, even in the high school. The response was fantastic. I cannot imagine why younger kids cannot work within the range of their own physical limitations and at their own maturity level.
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Maria Moriarty
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 2:35 pm: | |
Dear Mel,
Teaching gymnastics to an obese child can be particularly difficult because as I’m sure you already know these children are incapable of doing many of the activities.
When teaching gymnastics I do not focus on specific skills I instead give the class a theme and within that class we explore different movements students can perform inside that theme. Different students have different abilities and no one is signaled out by doing it this way.
I find that the obese students particularly like the team balancing classes I do. This is due to the fact that all the other students in the class want them in their group as they are usually very good at being supporters. This tends to lift their self confidence and I find I'm constantly being asked to repeat these lessons.
Hopefully you can take something from this Mel,
Regards,
Maria
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Aoife Lynskey
Unregistered guest
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 01, 2005 - 2:39 pm: | |
Being from ireland we have a very limited PE curriculum in our classes. Its only when i went to college i gained a broader knowledge on this and children with obesity. We were always told that children with obesity completing gymnastics had to be spotted and to always modify the movements/exercise so that they dont hurt their neck and back especially.When doing the foward and backward rolls sometimes if the child is very obese its best for the childs safety and to prevent any injury that maybe they could do a side roll. When i was on teaching practice i did have a guy or two from the same family that was very overweight and was more embarresed about his weight than not being able to do the gymnastics.. I do find we have to be very sensitive with children in this topic and should never tell a child that h/she cannot do gymnastics rather change around our words and encourage the class as a whole to land very gently and to do every thing as light and graceful as a feather.We also covered ''Labans'' movements in dance and i brought this into gymnastics and we got the children to perform their own sequences using gymnastics and dance .. this i found worked excellently as the students got to choose what they wanted to do and it worked out that the heavier children assisted in lifting and were bases of the gymnastics sequences which they were very happy to do.. hope this helps you in any way
Aoife Lynskey |
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