Gym and Health Program

 Objectives

Students at St. Thomas Christian Academy have gym class every Tuesday and Friday throughout the school year.  Gym uniforms are required to be worn on both days along with sneakers.  The first half of every Tuesday’s period is devoted to a health lesson.  The main objective of physical education class is to provide equal opportunities to all for physical, mental, and social development by involving students in games that require exercise and problem solving skills.  Health education provides the opportunity for the students to understand the meaning of wellness, nutrition, training, and keeping the body in optimum shape.

 What We Have Covered So Far

We have already done so much this school year!  The Nursery, Preschool, Kindergarten, and First Grade have learned games such as Duck Duck Goose, Parachute Games, Freeze Dance, Simon Says, and Hot Potato.  Along with these games, the students practiced skills like tumbling, skipping, hopping, jumping, galloping, and running backwards.  We also practiced kicking and dribbling a soccer ball and bouncing, shooting, and passing a basketball!!!  In health, these students learned about the importance of going to the doctor, exercising, fire safety, seeing the dentist, and eating nutritional foods.  We also talked about getting rid of some bad habits we might have such as biting our nails, eating junk food, watching too much television, and not washing our hands.

 The older students, Second Grade through Eighth, have also kept busy.  We started the year with the presidential physical fitness testing.  This included testing and measuring the students’ abilities in the shuttle run, sit-ups, push-ups, and flexibility.  The student’s will also be tested at the end of the year to see improvements.  We have played many organized games such as basketball, soccer, floor-hockey, Guard the Castle, Flag Tag, Steal The Bacon, and Capture the Flag along with many more fun games.  In health, students learned about the importance of exercise, eating healthy, recognizing the new Food Guide Pyramid, portioning food, fire safety, and reading food labels.

 What’s Still Too Come

This winter, the lower grades will be having relay races, running bases, learning how to stretch, and play T-Ball.  In health, the younger students will be learning about the functions of their different body parts such as their skin, bones, muscles, and major organs.  They will also be reading books about sharing and friendship.  Along with these lessons we will discuss how to keep warm this winter and how not to spread germs.

 The older students will be playing games such as kickball, whiffle-ball, bad mitten, and volleyball.  They will also be having relay races, stretching, practicing their sit ups and push ups for the presidential physical fitness test in the spring.  In health the students will be discussing and having lessons on different topics including materialism, cliques, saying no to drugs, beating the winter blues, and dealing with a “crush”.  They will also read about different illnesses such as diabetes and the common headache along with a lot more!