how to choose a preschool program

I'm biased; I'll get that out of the way first, but as a former preschool director at a large gymnastics academy, I think that gymnastics is the PERFECT beginning sports activity for your preschooler!  A good preschool program should be heavy on movement and positive reinforcement; low on waiting turns and technique development with safety on top.  The goal of preschool gymnastics should be in growing the child's confidence to try new things and developing a love of movement.  We are not training 3 year old Olympians.  Teaching the preschooler to love being physical, try new things, and develop strength and flexibility along the way provides the foundation to not only progress in gymnastics, but in any sport the child wants to try in the future.  The classes should have a concentration of skills that teach concepts - up, over, down, around under; eye hand/foot coordination - put your hands here, step there; body awareness - point your foot, stretch your arms, arch your back; directionality - forward, sideways, backwards; and how to do all of this safely.  I think the best teachers constantly reinforce the correct movements with positive comments.  There should be a minimum of corrections that make a child feel that they have done something wrong.  Reinforcement is much more successful when a coach can point out what a child has done right.  Classes should be progressive and build on activities as the weeks go on.  As much as possible, again with safety being paramount, classes should allow the preschooler to move, move, move!  There should be very little instances where the entire class sits and waits, while each child takes an individual turn at an activity.  Inactivity breeds boredom which can have all kinds of negative consequences!  Even though a teacher may need to work one-on-one with a student; as often as possible there should be other safe activities for the rest of the class nearby so that the teacher can monitor them but allow them to keep moving.  Great coaches are creative, give lots of praise, and above all, make preschool gymnastics classes FUN.  (Of course, I also think that cute, comfortable leotards make the class more fun and inviting so visit www.flipflopgymnasticsleotards.com often!)

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