The Athlos Athletic Curriculum (AAC) is a new and innovative approach to physical education. The curriculum acts as a framework that introduces new skills in a developmentally appropriate way and embeds opportunities for simultaneous social emotional growth for kids.
When you think of physical activity, what goes through your mind? Maybe a “tenured” football coach rolling a few basketballs out onto a court and saying “have at it?” Or maybe a completely empty gymnasium and a non-existent physical education program that seems to be plaguing so many public schools today?
Sadly, all of these are now considered norms in the public educational system. With a larger emphasis being placed on academic achievement in our country, physical education has been reduced to a hollow shell of what it used to be.
While systematically removing things that appear to be “unrelated” to academics and increasing class time may seem intuitive and yield better academic results, it actually decreases students’ classroom performance.
Researchers have been studying the effects of physical activity on brain function and learning capacity for years now. They have found that daily physical activity can help you be at the top of your game mentally. Not only that, it’s necessary to create healthy, active, fully functioning adults.
The What and The Why of Physical Activity:
Athlos is not trying to create superstar athletes, but instead, to open up doors for students they did not know existed, and allow them to experience joy in physical activity, sports, teamwork, and hard work.
The program is designed to be all inclusive for children of all athletic levels. The AAC strives to help children start their journey learning fundamental movement, body control, and awareness with activities requiring them to work together to overcome set challenges.
Progressing in levels, students can continue to build on their movement literacy and immerse themselves in challenging, dynamic activities that not only teach them sport-specific skills but movement efficiency and proper movement patterns throughout their journey as a young athletes.
The ultimate goal of the program is to prepare the students for a life full of physical activity.
Why put so much effort into creating a program that will create active, fit, and efficient movers? We feel strongly that physical activity is the missing piece in our educational system that can provide the support children need to establish healthy lifestyle habits.
Childhood obesity is still on the rise and society’s push for greater simplicity and subsequently, inactivity has no end in sight. Children (and most able-bodied adults) spend more time sitting than they do being active. All the while more and more research shows that many issues could be diminished by simply increasing our physical activity levels.
So why create a program like the Athlos athletic curriculum? To make sure that the next generation can lead happy, healthy, active lives.
Guest post by: Rob Bawol