Skillastics

Win a Let’s Move in School Skillastics® Activity Kit!

sandyspin — Sat, 12 May 2012 14:10:55 +0000

What do your student’s think about Skillastics^®? Post a student’s comment or comment’s here before May 25, 2012. You name will be automatically included in a drawing to win a Let’s Move in School Skillastics^® Activity Kit. The winner will be announced on Monday, May 28, 2012.

Skillastics® Enjoyed at Field Day!

sandyspin — Fri, 04 May 2012 18:41:36 +0000

In honor of National Physical Education Week, Field Days all across America are happening with great success. One particular school – Lively Elementary in Irving, TX decided to REALLY go all out for their field day! All the children received t-shirts that stated; “Taking Bored Board Games to Another Level“, and introduced many fun, exciting “board” games including Fitness Skillastics^®! Congratulations Lively for your creativity and your passion in allowing all children to enjoy being physically active! This is what it’s all about!!!

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Playing Fitness Skillastics^® during Field Day

Now Available: Skillastics® / Peaceful Playgrounds Workshop

sandyspin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:04:23 +0000

Founders Sandy Spin Slade and Dr. Melinda Bossenmeyer from Skillastics^® and Peaceful Playgrounds respectively, and with a special session from the USTA, will present program overviews, philosophy, research and general hands on activities for:

Skillastics^® Activity Kits (Basketball, Volleyball, Soccer, Tennis, Fitness, Fitness Xtreme, Character is Cool, Halfpint and AAHPERD endorsed; “Let’s Move in School Skillastics^®”).
Peaceful Playgrounds – Program overview, research and overview games and instruction.
Fitness Fun Zone – The one-of-a-kind evidence-based permanent physical activity court that includes multiple game and activity applications that incorporate fitness and nutrition.
United States Tennis Association – Highlighting Kids Tennis Clubs, the Schools Tennis Program, Tennis Skillastics^®, and innovative, fun tennis games.

Date: July 19, 2012

Time: 8:30 am – registration / 9:00 am – 4:00 pm

Where: Bobby Bonds Gym, 2060 University Ave., Riverside, CA 92507

Price: $125 per participant includes; Workshop materials, Lunch, Backpack, Peaceful Playgrounds Guide, Skillastics^® Instant Activities Guide, Peaceful Playgrounds Sportsmanship Posters, Basketball Basics Instructional DVD, 4 Simple Steps to Shooting Booklet AND the opportunity to win many prizes including Skillastics^® Activity Kits, Peaceful Playground US Stencil Map, Tennis Equipment, Basketballs, and numerous additional physical education equipment.

Registration: Registration Form

E-mail registration form to Lisa Boerum at: lboerum@skillastics.com, or fax to (951) 279-3957

Call (951) 279-3476 for more information

Developmentally Appropriate Skills

sandyspin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:29:22 +0000

Fun, joy of movement, positive learning environment. What comes to mind when you read those words? For me, it’s what I tried to do each day in my teaching. But for the purpose of this article, it’s back to watching 5 year old children learning how to play basketball, and now soccer. After a little break due to some special events, I’ll continue this month with some thoughts from watching YMCA basketball and now soccer! The little ones spend half of their time working on developing their skills. As I’ve watched, the thought “developmentally appropriate” comes to mind! NASPE has documents that support appropriate practices and I know many of you that are reading this are most likely already familiar with those documents. However, if you ever need “proof” that what you are doing is the right thing, go to http://www.aahperd.org/naspe/about/ and click on the “Standards and Position Statements” tab. There are many great resources for you to use to help promote and support best practices.

I’ve also noticed that the kids are having fun; and everyone in the stands is cheering for both teams. Wow!! I would hope that each day our students have fun during their physical education class. And….I do think it’s important for us to teach good sportsmanship. NASPE Content Standard 5 addresses this concept and I believe it is something that should be assessed just as often as we assess motor skills and fitness.

Since I mentioned a while back the deep tradition of basketball in Kansas earlier I’ll close by saying it was a great season with the KU Jayhawks surprising everyone with their run to the NCAA Men’s Championship game and the WSU Shockers winning the Missouri Valley Conference. As adults we have fun supporting our teams and being active. Let’s do all we can to help our students have fun and to learn the joy of being physically active!

Skillastics® Grouping Strategies

sandyspin — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:23:14 +0000

In order to get students organized quickly to play Skillastics^®, try some of these “grouping” strategies:

As you call the colors of the six teams, have students go to the color that is most obvious on their shirt.
Call birthday months and send each month to a spot for their team.
Call out favorite fruits and have students go to a designated spot.
Have students line up in front of you in two lines, send the appropriate number from each line to a spot.
Call letters of the alphabet and send students whose first name starts with that letter to a spot.

There are many ways to get students into groups quickly other than “numbering off” so try some of these ideas. You may have to make adjustments to even up the teams but you will often find that using techniques like these will form fairly even teams in a fun and time efficient manner.

May is National Physical Education and Sport Month

sandyspin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:19:25 +0000

May is National Physical Education and Sport month and offers a great opportunity to showcase your program. It’s important that everyone looks for ways to advocate for physical education and by planning a special event during May (and specifically the first week of May) you can help support those advocacy efforts.

Here are a few simple ideas to consider:

Include a healthy quote as a part of each morning’s announcements.
Start one day with a 15 minute “all school walk”.
Ask your librarian to showcase physical activity or sport themed books.
Invite parents/guardians to observe or participate in a physical education class.
Send home physical education homework for families to be active together.

For more tips, check out NASPE’s “101 Tips for Implementing a Comprehensive Physical Activity Program”. Skillastics^® sponsored this document and we are proud to be a part of the “Let’s Move in School” initiative. If you are looking for a new product, check out the new Skillastics^® “Let’s Move in School” activity kit!

Just Released – A New Spin on Basketball Basics DVD

sandyspin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 19:02:04 +0000

Over 100 Skill-Building Activities for Children that Create an Atmosphere of Challenge and Fun!

A New Spin on Basketball Basics is an excellent resource of basketball activities that builds skills and understanding in a non-competitive environment. The activities are presented in a progressive format in which students demonstrate each activity based upon their ability-beginning, intermediate or advanced. Instructors love these three variations that allow for flexibility of instructing based upon the individual abilities. An added bonus includes Sandy “Spin” Slade demonstrating many of the advanced skills that will challenge those students wanting to improve their skills beyond the physical education class, recreation, or after school program. This 54 minute DVD is a perfect complement to your basketball unit and includes many of the activities included in the Basketball Skillastics^® Activity Kit.

Order Today

Helpful Skillastics® Tips

sandyspin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:43:20 +0000

There are many ways you can use the activities included in each Skillastics^® Activity Kit beyond the times when the kit is being used. Here are some ideas to get more use out of the 26 activities included in each kit.

Each week give 3-4 activities to classroom teachers to use as brain breaks.
Provide a few of the activities to youth sports coaches to include in the practice sessions.
Challenge students to do one of the activities during the commercials when they are watching a tv show.
Include a description of some of the activities in a parent newsletter or on your web site and challenge them to do the activities with their children.

Grants 4 Teachers Website Resource

sandyspin — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 18:22:12 +0000

Grants for Teachers is your complete online resource for information related to K-12 grants. You can search for grants by state, grant category and institution whether you are a public, private, higher education, faith-based, or non-profit. It’s Easy and FREE!

Click Here to Begin Your Search

Skillastics^® Grant Writing Template

Miami-Dade County Public Schools Implement Fitness Skillastics® District Wide

sandyspin — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 13:05:03 +0000

Miami-Dade County Public Schools are implementing Fitness Skillastics^® district wide in each of their Elementary Schools. “Miami-Dade County Public Schools provides a comprehensive physical education to all students through daily elementary physical education. We place a concerted emphasis on the fitness education model to ensure that all students have the opportunity to maintain appropriate fitness levels, while engaging in quality physical education”, said Dr. Jayne Greenberg, District Director, Physical Education and Health Literacy. “Fitness Skillastics^® provides the opportunity for us to meet our instructional objectives through quality and fun programing”.