Fitness Education for Children: A Team Approach

Fitness Education for Children provides a multidisciplinary approach to teaching health-related fitness at the elementary school level. Much more than just a games and activities book, this comprehensive resource helps practitioners build successful programs that will meet the challenging health demands of the 21st century. Written by the coauthor of the nationally known Heart Smart Program, Fitness Education for Children emphasizes the need to make developing healthy lifestyles a team effort. In order to reinforce the benefits of physical activity both in and out of the school setting, the book presents ideas that involve not only physical education teachers but also -classroom teachers, -school lunchroom personnel, -health service professionals, -parents, and -community members. Loaded with ready-to-use information, Fitness Education for Children is a practical, time-saving resource. It helps you plan and implement a fitness education program by providing -a sample yearly plan and lesson plans; -a sample thematic unit; -17 learning activities for integrating specific fitness concepts into your classes; -more than 100 developmental exercises, games, and dance and rhythmic activities; and -11 school-wide events. You'll also find many other special features such as reproducible instructional materials, sample letters and contracts, authentic assessment instruments, a fitness education portfolio, task card samples, motivational strategies, and guidelines for including children with disabilities. Whether used as a blueprint for program development or as a resource to supplement and enrich an existing curriculum, this versatile guide gives you all the tools you need to promote healthy, active lifestyles to elementary school-aged children.