Can children who don’t seem good at physical activity do without physical education? Absolutely not, let’s see why
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Runningcharlott
When we adults talk about sports for children, we are led to think that they exist more physically gifted children who will almost spontaneously choose a discipline, in which they usually excel, and less gifted children, due to physicality or nature, who will therefore prefer other recreational activities. According to this thought, there will therefore be children who will practice a sport and others who will not practice any kind of physical activity, as they are simply not gifted. This thought is completely wrong for several reasons. Let’s see them.
No sports for children who are not physically gifted?
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This thought is completely wrong for several reasons. First of all we must take into account that in the 6-10 year category there are very few sports disciplines that already require specialization of the gesture such as to decree that a child is more or less gifted for that sport. Disciplines such as artistic gymnastics, diving and skating begin to specialize very early, but for all other sports we talk about preathleticism. As regards pre-athleticism, the abilities that develop in the child are basic, therefore they do not require a particular level of skill or “natural gift” to be developed. Let’s talk about activities halfway between play and sport, such as running, jumping, kicking, throwing, rolling, climbing.
Obviously there are cases of particularly gifted children at an early age, so it is possible to observe a particular predisposition of some elements towards some characteristics already in elementary school. This though it doesn’t mean everyone else isn’t capable of completing the task correctly nor that that child, who appears particularly gifted, is entitled to greater attention than others.
Gifted children and non-gifted children?
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It is not uncommon to observe how parents and teachers relate differently to children who appear more physically gifted compared to the other. We do an example. A child who already at 6 years old proves to be very skilled at kicking the ball because he has excellent coordination is generally considered a future footballer. Therefore he is enrolled in a football school, taking advantage of the idea that he will thus develop his ability. This way though other possibilities of motor development are precluded and above all his will is not followed. Similarly, if we see an unskilled child, we tend to classify him as unsuitable for sporting activity and therefore we subject him to fewer motor stimuli. That is, we judge children’s abilities as fixed characteristics that must be developed or not, thus eliminating the correct idea that motor skills are evolving abilities that can be stimulated.
motor activity as “fundamental”
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Primary school age is fertile ground for the development of those who are called the “fundamentals”, that is, the basic motor patterns that will influence our motor skills throughout our lives. Often what we think instead is that the separation to be made is “good at a sport” or “not good at a sport”, when at this age the objective is not to give birth to future national champions, but rather give children the tools for correct physical and cognitive development. Learning to run, throw, jump, kick, climb does not mean becoming more or less good at a discipline, but growing with a good command of the functionality of your body.
the importance of involving all children
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So what should parents and teachers do? Promote basic activities, with educational but also recreational purposes, trying to involve all children. Being able to throw a ball means not only throwing it more or less far, but above all building muscle strength, coordination and dexterity which will be useful for that child, but also in the activities of the future adult. If we were talking about a 15-year-old boy training in handball, obviously the evaluation would be more specific: that is, we would evaluate his throwing ability, distance, precision. If, however, we are talking about an elementary school child we should refrain from these assessments knowing that that throw would have among its “secondary effects” even more important learning than the throwing technique itself.
In essence, when it comes to sports for children aged 6 to 10 we must consider not their ability, but the fact that learning basic motor patterns is a fundamental step in growth. Therefore at this age it is best not to preclude any path and choose activities that are as varied and non-specialist as possible. Refraining from evaluations of technical skills which we will eventually develop at later ages.
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