Personal health: we talk about how important it is, we praise its benefits, we even toast to it. These days, however, health tends to fall by the wayside more often than not. Sometimes, that might just be due to a full schedule. Where can you fit in a workout when you work overtime on a regular basis? Other times, health is just ignored out of pure negligence.

Kids don’t have much of an excuse either way, but they seem to be suffering even worse than adults. Childhood obesity is a rampant issue. About one third of the children in the nation are overweight. Obesity puts kids at risk for numerous medical problems, including asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, and even cancer, not to mention low self-esteem and low self-confidence.

As a parent, your job is to keep kids from reaching that point and ensuring that they stay healthy and physically active. I know, this isn’t an easy task, so here are some tips to encourage kids to lead an active lifestyle and help them prioritize health.

Keep It Simple

Many kids spend their time after school playing video games, watching TV, or sitting in front of their computers, which isn’t entirely wrong. Kids, like adults, need to unwind. However, children need about an hour of physical activity each day to stay healthy.

Remember that simplicity is often the best avenue. Not every kid needs to be a superstar or Olympic-level athlete, and not every child will necessarily enjoy organized team sports. Whether it’s jogging, biking, shooting some hoops, or just playing outside with friends, there’s something for everyone.

Breaking It Up Into Parts

With school, homework, and extracurricular activities, kids’ schedules can often fill up quickly, so 60 consecutive minutes of exercise is not always easy or plausible.

To simplify things, make sure your kids are accumulating 60 minutes over the course of the entire day. Walking 10 minutes in the morning, riding a bike around town for 20 minutes after school, and then ending the day with a half hour of basketball or tag after dinner.

Breaking things up into smaller increments ensures that your kids get enough exercise without interrupting their normal schedules. This also works for the adult with a busy schedule looking to get some exercise.

Get Involved

As a parent, you are the role model. If you lead an active life, your kids are sure to follow suit. Even better, you should try to get involved in your child’s physical activities. There are all sorts of simple, fun activities that you and your kids can do together.

Something as simple as a walk in the morning or evening is enough to impact a child and push him or her to stay active. This is great motivation and a great chance to get in some exercise for yourself, not to mention the quality time you will get to spend with your kids.

Going from Point A to Point B

If you are like any other modern family, chances are you get to places by car, which makes sense. It’s convenient and saves time. However, when time isn’t as much of an issue, schedule to walk or bike on various errands. This will add a sense of adventure to a simple, everyday errand.

Furthermore, we all know that gas prices are through the roof. Walking, biking, or rollerblading will save you some money and help benefit the environment.

Monitors and Limits

The best way to encourage kids to stay active is to closely monitor the time they spend doing sedentary activities.

Sedentary activities are perfectly fine for those times when your mind and body are just too pooped out, but you should definitely make sure to limit the time your kids spend watching TV or playing video games. Both tend to rot the brain and are not especially conducive to health. Experts suggest no more than two hours a day of TV and video games.

Try not to be too restrictive or domineering, but make sure your kids understand the importance of physical activity. Stay positive and supportive of your kids and they will soon enjoy the fruits of playing outside.

Food keeps us going. We need it to survive, grow, and stay energized. We eat to live, though some of us live to eat. Whether you are a gourmand with a well-trained palate or just an Average Joe who enjoys burgers and fries, there’s no denying the communal joy of good food.

Kids probably have the most discerning palates. If there’s something a child does not like, they will make it known. Unfortunately, parents often inundate kids’ diets with excessively salty meals and sugary treats. Aside from completely ruining the tastes buds, most of these foods don’t contain the necessary vitamins and nutrients that a child—or any human being—needs.

This, unfortunately, leads to overweight or even obese children. Believe it or not, one in three kids in the United States is overweight. Obesity puts kids at risk for asthma, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, and cancer. Furthermore, obesity often causes low self-esteem and low self-confidence.

Snacking between meals is completely fine and, at times, necessary, but there are right and wrong ways to provide your kids with snacks. Here are some tips for healthy snacks to pack your kids for school and other fun outings.

Smart Snacking

First off, look through your pantry and clean out all those unhealthy junk foods. Throw out the cookies, chips, candy, and soda pop. Sugary, high-fat junk foods are just that: junk. They don’t provide any health benefits and are overall detrimental to a child’s insides.

When done smartly, snacking is a great strategy for introducing nutrients into a child’s diet as kids have smaller stomachs and often have trouble finishing large meals. Healthy snacks give kids energy between meals and help focus attention and regulate mood.

As bad as junk food is, under certain circumstance, it’s okay to indulge, but this should be a rare treat.

Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

This should be your main focus and the crux of the snacking menu. Buy raw vegetables, clean and cut them, and keep them in your fridge for easy access.

Fruits don’t need much preparation. Just make sure to buy organic fruits that are in season. For even more flavor, you can slice up apples or bananas and serve them with almond or peanut butter for dipping. However, make sure to read the labels on peanut butter jars. Many peanut butters contain excess sugar or preservatives—look for “all natural” variations that contain just peanuts—no sugar, hydrogenated oils, etc.

Fruit smoothies are delicious and healthy, making them perfect alternatives to sodas and overly sweet drinks. Don’t forget about water. Let your kids choose their own reusable water bottle that they’ll be excited to use. Add a splash of 100% juice such as apple or orange to add refreshing flavor.

Include your kids in the process. Teach your kids to make healthy vegetable dips, hummus, and salad dressings. When visiting your local grocery store or farmer’s market, have your kids pick out a new fruit or vegetable that they would like to try.

Lean Proteins

Of course, even with all those fruits and veggies, your kids still need some protein, but chicken nuggets and hot dogs are not the healthiest options.

For kids on the go, low fat cheese sticks make a great, pre-portioned snack. Serve yogurt topped with low sugar cereals or fresh fruit bits. Low fat sliced deli meats can be wrapped around a breadstick or stalks of asparagus. Have your kids make their own trail mix with different assortments of nuts and dried fruits.

Healthy Grains

Rounding off the healthy snack diet are the grains. As with all other snacks, stray away from junk foods. Most junk foods—chips, pretzels, cookies, and such—are made up of refined grains. The calories from refined grains can stack up very quickly, while the lack of fiber will keep your kids looking for more snacks. There’s nothing good about any of this.

Healthy grains give your kids tons of fiber, vitamins, and minerals and consist of foods like:

• Whole wheat bread or English muffins
• Whole wheat tortillas
• Rice cakes
• Popcorn
• Cereal

When it comes to popcorn, avoid those heavy in butter and salts. As for cereals, keep away from the sweet stuff. Cereal should not taste like candy.
A fun, healthy snack for kids is English muffin pizzas. Top whole wheat English Muffin halves with tomato sauce, low fat cheese, and their favorite vegetables. Your kids won’t even know that they’re eating healthy.

Whether you send lunch from home or your kids eat school meals, you know how important it is that kids’ brains and bodies get healthy meals at school. In the morning rush, sometimes “healthy” gets overlooked when packing lunch at home, and “convenient” wins the race. Or you’re just plain out of ideas!

Consider this: with new healthy guidelines for school meals, and chef-inspired recipes being cooked up, now is the perfect time to have your kids check out the school meal program. Whether lunch comes from home, or at school, kids need to be well-nourished so they can perform well everywhere they live, learn, and play. So here are 3 tips for your kids to try from a school meal OR from home for lunch:

• Veggies – The Tasty Way. Most kids need to eat more veggies, so send low-fat ranch for dipping. Ask the school meal program director if they offer or will offer any kind of dip when they serve veggies.

• Fantastic Fruits – Every day. Apples, bananas, and oranges are nature’s fast food! The school meal program always provides at least one serving of fruit so why not give it a try? When shopping buy fruit that is in season, and on sale, and include some peanut butter or yogurt for dipping.

• Drink Think. Encourage kids to drink only water or milk every day at lunch. All schools now offer water in the cafeteria during lunch, as well as low-fat and fat free milk. If you send drinks from home, remember the best thirst quencher is water!

Each year, the Carol M. White Physical Education Program (PEP) awards millions of dollars to schools and community-based organizations to initiate, expand, and improve physical education programs. The winners for the 2011 Pep Grant  were just announced… congrats to all who won!

Here’s some information for 2011 PEP Grant Winners:

1. New: Resource Guide for PEP Winners Click Here
2. SPARK alignment with national & state standards Click Here
3. PECAT Reports for SPARK K-8 PE  Click Here
4. SPARK Assessment Tools Click Here

Also, we’re proud to share the story of Denver Public Schools, a previous PEP Grant recipient. Through the use of their PEP Grant funds they were able to implement programs that resulted in the following improvements (Click Here to read how they did it):

1. Class time spent in activity increased from 29% to 66%
2. Fitness scores increased
3. Percentage of students active during class time increased
4. Significant increase in the # of teachers that encouraged students to be physically active outside of class

Other Recent PEP-Related News:

• $2.2 million PEP Grant helps Pittsfield Public School (Massachusetts) SPARK-Up their Physical Education program! Click Here…
• Washington DC Public School District uses PEP funding to implement SPARK across all K-12 schools district-wide! Click Here…
• Want to hear how Colorado is using PEP funds to get kids active? Listen to this podcast by Colorado Public Radio: Click Here…

SPARK is proud to announce a partnership with GenMove, a fellow movement and health education solutions provider out of Charleston, South Carolina.

GenMove, now a SPARK “Recommended Resource”, was developed by the creators of Socci, the multi-sport system used by youth in schools, adapted PE, after-school programs, and early childhood education since 2005. This partnership hopes to foster greater access to innovative and versatile equipment for schools and community-based organizations nationwide.

SPARK Executive Director Paul Rosengard adds,”The GenMove team provides an excellent supplemental product for all physical activity providers. Their games align support SPARK’s core philosophy by being inclusive, highly active, and fun for kids.

GenMove’s innovative product lineup is designed to level the playing field and enpower students of all abilities to enjoy physical activity and good health.

• The GenMove goal, the only four-sided goal used in education, allows for multiple scoring opportunities so =all students experience success and increased self-confidence.
• Adjustable for better grip or better foot control, GenMove balls can be easily inflated or deflated to help students develop particular sport skills.
• Additional products include colorful polyspots, noodles, and domes that can be incorporated into GenMove programming or other classroom activities in a variety of ways.

Click Here to browse or purchase our featured GenMove products.

For more information on GenMove please visit www.socci.net.

States: Apply for the RTT-ELC funding

The Race to the Top Early Learning Challenge Fund (RTT-ELC) grant competition will focus on improving early learning and development programs for young children by supporting States’ efforts to:

1. Increase the number and percentage of low-income and disadvantaged children in each age group of infants, toddlers, and preschoolers who are enrolled in high-quality early learning programs
2. Design and implement an integrated system of high-quality early learning programs and services
3. Ensure that any use of assessments conforms with the recommendations of the National Research Council’s reports on early childhood.

Deadline: October 19, 2011

Awards Announced: December 2011

Estimated Range of Awards: $50 million-$100 million

Eligibility: States (Governor’s office).

Please see links below for more information:

• Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge Executive Summary
• Full Application
• Ed.gov grant homepage

BEFORE YOU APPLY:

SPARK can help you meet the requirements outlined in the RTT-ELC application!

SPARK Early Childhood (EC) is an evidence-based Physical Activity program targeting children ages 3-5 that has been proven to WORK and LAST.

Click Here to download a detailed document that will explain how you can use SPARK to align with the goals of the RTT-ELC. This document includes information that shows:

1. Role of Physical Activity in Early Learning
2. SPARK alignment with RTT-ELC Priorities & Focused Investment Areas
3. SPARK Deliverables, Evaluation and Assessment

Next Steps:

Contact SPARK. We’ll ask you a few questions, learn about your current early childhood programs, and listen to your vision for creating a healthier community. Together, we’ll create a program that will WORK and LAST.

The SPARK Programs

1-800-SPARK-PE (772-7573)   -   spark@sparkpe.org -   www.sparkpe.org

SPARK is proud to announce a partnership with GeoMotion Group, a leading fitness and learning company based in Orlando, Florida.

GeoMotion Group, now a SPARK “Recommended Resource”, was founded in 2002 by Dr. Debby Mitchell, Ed.D., a retired Associate Professor at the University of Central Florida. Dr. Mitchell started GeoMotion because of her passion to get children more physically active while learning.

Dr. Mitchell adds, “As a former teacher of pre-service physical educators, I utilized the SPARK program and recommended it to practicing teachers.  It is an outstanding program and we are very excited to form a partnership.”

GeoMotion Group provides fun, safe and easy methods and products to encourage learning, physical activity and fitness. GeoFitness, Dance and Learnercise products are movement-based products and curriculum that are developmentally appropriate, easy to use, and cost effective to increase fitness and academic achievement.

From pre-school to active seniors – GeoMotion Group offers a variety of programming including:

• Nutrition Education
• Active Learning with Learnercise for early childhood
• Children’s Choreography, Integrated Academics and Games
• Hip Hop, Partner and Latin Dance
• Cardiovascular Activities including Aerobics & Kickboxing
• Functional Integrated Training and Fitness circuits
• Athletic – including Speed and Agility, Plyometrics (GeoMetrix) and Sport Specific Training
• Fitness after Fifty

Click Here to browse or purchase our featured GeoMotion products.

For more information on GeoMotion please visit http://geomotiongroup.com/.

The First Lady, Michelle Obama, decided to use her influential position to help create and promote a program that could potentially take a massive step in the right direction for controlling the childhood obesity epidemic. The “Let’s Move” program has the First Lady, pop stars, large corporations, healthcare providers, and most importantly, schools all supporting the cause. Let’s Move encourages a healthier diet in and out of school, better food labeling, and increased daily physical activity for children.

Let’s Move strives to get the entire community involved to promote a healthy lifestyle and fun physical activities including being active in the community, in school, and with family. The combination of healthy food choices and physical activity is what Task Force on Childhood Obesity has stated as the best strategy for tackling the epidemic.

Let’s Move – 5 Simple Steps

1. Move Everyday: A minimum of 60 total minutes of physical activity per day for every single kid will get them moving in the right direction. They will feel better, be less stressed, more attentive in school, and get a better night sleep, all because of one hour of physical activity.
2. Try a New Fruit or Veggie: There are thousands of fruits and vegetables available that most kids have never tried. Fruits and veggies are vital for a healthy diet and kids can have more fun eating them by trying new things. Let the child come grocery shopping and pick out their own fruits and veggies to try, turning a healthy lifestyle into something fun for them. Challenge the kids to make the most colorful salad possible which will increase the amount of nutrients they will get from it.
3. Drink Lots of Water: Stop stocking the house with soda and increase the consumption of water. Only purchase 100% real fruit juice. If the kids want something similar to a soda then add a splash of juice into some sparkling water.
4. Do Jumping Jacks to Break up TV Time: The statistics for how much television kids watch per day is sickening but is also a good opportunity to make some big changes. TV has a lot of negative side effects, but those can be stymied by doing jumping jacks during commercial breaks and in between shows. Same thing goes for kids that spend all day on the computer, have them run up and down the stairs, do sit-ups or push-ups, stretch, or come up with their own physical activities to break up the time in front of a computer screen.
5. Help Make Dinner: Plan the daily dinner menu with the kids and have them help decide and do the shopping with you. If it is a made into a fun experience that they have control over, they will not just learn about making healthy choices, they will be excited to do so.

Staying Active

• With the Family: The family has the largest influence on the child’s lifestyle and could easily plan a fun active hobby or daily activity that kids will be excited to do when they come home from school. A few ideas include giving the kids toys that promote moving such as balls, kites, and jump ropes, encourage kids to join a sports team, create a family park day a few days per week, and even make some house rules like no sitting still during TV commercials.
• At School: Schools have an amazing opportunity to both teach the kids about the importance of physical activity and also let the kids be active with all of their friends. The most effective way to promote activity at school is through a strong P.E. program where 50% of the class time is spent doing vigorous activity. The programs should have a variety of options for kids and should be a fun environment rather than a forced exercise regime. They will burn twice the calories when they are having fun and are more likely to transfer over the daily school activity habits into their lifestyle.
• In the Community: The entire community should get involved in helping to reduce childhood obesity. The community could dedicate some funds to building and improving parks and playgrounds, creating safe trails for kids, and getting the kids involved in outdoor environmental programs.

SPARK: Countering Childhood Obesity Since 1989

SPARK is a research-based organization that disseminates evidence-based Physical Education, After School, Early Childhood, and Coordinated School Health programs to teachers and recreation leaders serving Pre-K through 12th grade students.
Each SPARK program strives to foster environmental and behavioral change by providing a coordinated package of highly active curriculum, on-site teacher training, extensive follow-up support, and content-matched equipment.
Since 1989, SPARK has provided curriculum, training, and consultation to over 100,000 teachers and youth leaders, representing many thousands of schools, organizations, and agencies worldwide.
On our website, you can download sample lesson plans, find grant opportunities for YOUR program, and register for FREE educational webinars and monthly eNewsletters.

photo courtesy of: Amanda Bossard/Medill News Service

If you want to make some tough, grizzled, veteran physical educators cower like puppies, just ask them, “How do you assign grades?”

For many, grading continues to be a mystery unsolved.  Why?  Because good grading is based on obtaining evidence!  Prove it counselor – “Tell me why my sweet little Brittany got a “C” in PE. “

So, you see where we’re going here.  Now, let’s consider a few variables related to grading:

1. Report cards: Have you ever seen two the same?  Every district has their own format, style, parameters and protocols for grading.  Some allow one grade for physical education (e.g., Scholarship??  Does that even apply to our profession?) while others have two and add citizenship.  But there are many variations on this theme.

2. Mission statement: Does your department have one?  If not, Click Here for a helpful article on why you need one and how to begin drafting it Everything you do should align with your mission statement, including your system for assigning grades.

3. Standards: Do you use NASPE national standards; or does your state have PE standards; or even your district?  If you’re using a standards-based approach to instruction, then your grading is based on how/what your students achieve and/or their progress towards those standards.  Assessment is a critical component to demonstrate student learning of a standard(s).  Then, selecting the activities that will help them improve their fitness, skills, and movement related knowledge so they will be successful when assessed.  So, mystery solved!  Change your sequence to this easy 1, 2, 3.  And let’s play a little baseball while we review:

• First Base:  Lead with the Standard.  What do you want your students to know and be able to do at the end of their (e.g., 3^rd grade year)?
• Second Base:  Select your Assessment.  What tool and/or style will you use to demonstrate student achievement/progress toward that standard?
• Third Base:  Choose a sequenced pathway of lessons to develop the movement skills they need to be successful.
• Bring it Home:  Develop a grading system that converts assessment scores to a numeric value, then to a letter grade.

4. Example: I began teaching future teachers how to teach physical education at UCSD (University of California, San Diego) in 1996 and continued for 11 years.  When I developed my syllabus, I created a grading scale that reflected my philosophy and was as objective as possible.  The course was lecture and lab, but I placed heavy emphasis on the lab and moving – a lot.  At its core, not that dissimilar to a physical education class at any level.  Here’s the section of the syllabus that pertains to grading:

COURSE MECHANICS

• Attire:  To ensure student safety, proper activity shoes (non-scuff, rubber-soled, and firmly attached to the foot) must be worn during activity periods.  Comfortable and loose fitting clothing (shorts and casual shirt, warm-up suits, sweat suits) are mandatory.  For religious or medical reasons, safe, loose fitting slacks may be worn.

• Food and drink:  It is recommended that students drink liquids prior to class and bring water to class.  For student safety, chewing gum or consuming food and/or beverages is not permitted during class.

• Participation:  As class sessions involve laboratory experiences that cannot be replicated, attendance and active participation are imperative.  Students are expected to:  attend each lecture and lab (and stay for the duration), arrive on time and dressed for movement (see “Attire”), and be ready and willing to participate in class discussions and activities.  Students should arrive to class with appropriate materials to take detailed notes.

Each class meeting, students may earn up to 5 points. Students earn 2.0 points for coming to class on time (by 10:35am), 2.0 points for their active participation and/or staying the entire session, and 1 point for wearing athletic shoes and proper clothing for physical activity.  It is each student’s responsibility to sign in and out each session.

Students with excessive absences (3 or more) will fail the course.

• Assignments:  Students are expected to complete assignments on time.

a.  Two papers worth 25 points each:  22 = content; 3 = grammar/spelling/typo’s.

b.  Two school observation papers worth 25 points each:  22 = content; = 3 grammar/spelling/typo’s.

c.  Two peer teach days worth 25 points each.

Assignments are due when asked for during class.  Reports turned in after this request (but during class that day) will have 10% of the possible points deducted.  Assignments not submitted until the beginning of the next class will lose 20%.  No assignment will be accepted more than one class period late.

d.  A comprehensive portfolio of work will be due near the end of the quarter. The portfolio should consist of all handouts, assignments, student work, *article reflections and **key points writing tasks. The portfolio is worth up to 50 points.

e.  **Key Points Writing:  Students are responsible to write their thoughts on the most important content and instructional strategies presented in class.  This process assists each student in organizing notes and helps create a study guide for examinations.  This assignment must be typed and should not exceed 1 page double-spaced.

f. *Article Reflection:  Each week an article will be provided for students to read/summarize.  This 1/2 page/typed reflection on the article’s content should specifically mention what value the article has in terms of practical application for either students or parents.

• Test:  There will be one examination, (pop quizzes for extra points may be given) scheduled during finals week.  It is the student’s responsibility to contact the instructor to make up the final examination due to absence.

EVALUATION

The grading scale in TEP 109 is based upon a point system.  A total of 300 points is possible.

Grading scale:

90-100% = A =                    270-300  (270-275 = A-; 290-300 = A+)

80-89% = B =                      240-269  (240-245 = B-; 260-269 = B+)

70-79% = C =                      210-239  (210-215 = C-; 230-239 = C+)

60-69% = D =                      180-209  (180-185 = D-; 200-209 = D+)

Below 60% = F =               below 180

Grading parameters:

Participation:                     50 points (5 per class meeting)

School observations:      50 points (25 each)

Peer teaching:                   50 points (25 each)

Papers (2):                          50 points (25 each)

Portfolio:                             50 points

Final examination:           50 points

Total:                                    300 points possible

So what do you see?  No negative points.  All points are positive even those related to class attendance, timely arrival, appropriate dress, etc.  Students earn them or they don’t.

They know all along exactly how they’re doing in class.  Students earn their points, at the end they’re totaled, and a grade has been earned.  I could say, “I don’t assign grades, I just add the points YOU earn.”

Of course, not all the components of this example will work for you.  However, consider the concepts, and if you like them, how might you make them applicable for your classes?  Your students?

Now if a parent comes to you and asks, “Why did my Brittany receive a “C” in PE?  You’ve got your answer ready.