Last month, our high school students went on a hiking outing. A day of active exploration eased their minds as most students reported feeling better when showing up for classes over the next few sessions. At Académie Marie-Claire, we put lots of emphasis on sports and the importance of staying active. Students can practice and get accustomed to a wide variety of sports including basketball, badminton, volleyball, tennis, gymnastics, intercross and a variety of outdoor activities like snowshoeing.
Académie Marie-Claire’s athletic team, the Titans, have been training and competing at the highest athletic standards. Elementary school students can also compete with top athletes from other schools during sporting events for cross-country skiing, flag football, kin-ball, mini-volleyball and dek hockey.
We have also partnered with mount Saint-Sauveur to offer an outdoor sports program, in which students learn how to ski and snowboard with qualified instructors. Our institution is affiliated with different programs, such as the Terry Fox Run, offering students the opportunity to be active while contributing to a good cause. Parents can also assist us in this mission by keeping in mind the following tips.
Before theorizing too much about the role of physical activity in children’s development, we must first find practical ways to keep them engaged. Due to their limited attention span, younger children can lose interest in things quite rapidly. Therefore, it is important to make physical activities fun and interactive. Considering the temperamental difference in different age groups, parents will need to take age into account when trying to find the activities their child will enjoy the most. Surely you can’t expect children before the age of 4 or 5 to take part in organized sports, but you can at least play with them in a rough-and-tumble manner, throw balls and help them learn the basic rules of the game.
The problem of excessive screen time arises when it threatens the time your child spends being physically active. Monitoring and managing screen time for older children can help them in maintaining a healthy dose of daily physical activity. As parents, you have a crucial part to play in helping your children figure out what sports they can flourish in. It is important not to get discouraged even if, after all your efforts, your children still don’t seem to be caring for physical activities. By the time they enter their teenage years, most children start to realize and understand the importance of physical and mental health.
It is important to make the distinction between organized sports (whether played alone or in a group) and free play. The balance between the two is delicate and should be maintained at all times. As children grow up, they may become more interested in organized activities yet they will always crave the freedom of play. Even in adulthood, people still can’t find the joy of playing with their friends in regularly attending the gym. In other words, it is safe to say that one of the aspects that helps children in implementing sports and physical activity as a regular part of their lives, is the companionship of the group of friends they associate with and the value they find in staying healthy together. Thus, enrolling children in organized sports where their friends already participate in, can help them stay motivated and excited to lead an active lifestyle.