Physical Education & Sports

Physical Education & Sports:
The Physical Dimension of Education for Life

In Education for Life the first six years of a child’s life are known as the Foundation Years, the first of the four Stages of Maturity. This is a time when the child’s attention is keenly focused on learning through the physical senses, the core of our preschool and kindergarten programs. Research shows that crawling, running, and all movements involving the arms and legs are crucial for connecting the spheres of the brain. If you peek into one of these classrooms, you will often find the children developing agility and coordination, or just finding out what their bodies are capable of. A major part of their school time is spent outdoors—taking walks in nature, climbing trees, and having the chance to explore bugs, rocks, and leaves, perhaps inventing fanciful stories along the way.

The next six years—the Feeling Years—are a time when students focus on the feelings that accompany their activities. In the early stages, students focus on the simple awareness of how their emotions affect their behavior: a great day for hiking can be ruined by complaining, willingness can transform an imposing challenge into the experience of success. With our school located in the Sierra foothills, hiking, skiing and backpacking are great ways for students to tune into the feelings that the beauty of nature inspires. Gradually students learn how to adjust their feelings to make the best of every life situation. By the upper elementary years most students have a deep appreciation for the benefits of positive emotions. They are prepared then to successfully engage in group sports such as volleyball and basketball where issues of competition and inferiority can limit enjoyment and learning when these benefits are not cultivated.

Students in junior high and high school are now in their Will Years, a time where realistic but challenging goals must be set. This can take the form of bagging a peak (climbing a mountain) or running a mile. Students who come to our school without having had the opportunity to develop physical skills, thrive in this supportive environment. They find that energy, a positive attitude, patience and willpower bring success. Small successes soon build the confidence to play competitively and supportively at the same time. A game of volleyball can be a great way for the students to get to know the adults in a relaxed way. Or a student might express the leadership to turn the other students into a team and find other schools to play basketball with.

Hatha Yoga begins in preschool and can reach a point of mastery in high school. Through yoga, students learn tools for choosing between tension and relaxation, harmony and conflict, and finding the “middle path” of calmness that lies between stress and lethargy. This year our high school students are receiving leadership training in sharing yoga skills.

In our school the physical dimension of life is not limited to PE and sports, but also serves as the basis for introducing more subtle topics. The ability to focus energy is learned first through pursuing physical challenges such as climbing trees or using a hammer and nails. Later we can build on these first lessons to focus energy on emotional, mental, and spiritual goals. Moral courage begins with physical courage; emotional sensitivity begins with caring for animals. In this way the physical plane offers a wealth of opportunities for preparing children for most of life's key lessons.

Quotations from some of our teachers who work with PE & sports

Hassi Bazan Copley – preschool “On good weather days we run almost without boundaries or without stopping on the Village green in our pretend games.”

Balarama Betts – 3rd & 4th grade “During the feeling years, a lack of physical skills can lead to a diminished sense of self confidence and less willingness or even fear of new activities. John Orlowski – 5th – 6th grade boys “I have been lucky to have been able to verify the success that can come when a small class size makes it possible to have the time and attention it takes to teach these skills.”

Irene Schulman – high school girls “ At first students new to physical challenges like volleyball, can’t seem to understand why you would want to do something that causes pain. It is simply an act of will that allows someone to continue until they no longer register this feeling as pain. It seems that pain can change to fun if you focus on learning.”

Willow Kushler – girls high school yoga teacher “By the practice of Ananda Yoga they learn to release tensions from the physical body, awaken and direct their vital energy, and uplift their consciousness.”

Ingrid Holman – K through 4th dance teacher “Dance allows the children to explore their own unique, creative ways of movement; it meets the child where he or she is in that moment so it is child centered and not goal oriented.”

Gopal Sims – martial arts teacher “It challenges the students in many ways such as coordination, strength, flexibility, and endurance to name a few.”