Gravity Preschool Recognition Chart
A Gravity Preschool gymnastics class is more than just practicing rolls and cartwheels. Our curriculum is built to help children grow in three areas of development.
In every gymnastics class, we are practicing skills that will help your child physically, cognitively, and emotionally. To celebrate each child's efforts, we built a recognition chart!
Why do we have a recognition chart?
We are celebrating the learning process and development of your little one!
In every class, your child is constantly learning and developing, and we'd like to recognize their hard work! Every 2-3 weeks we highlight an area of development by rewarding your child with a special Gravity sticker. This sticker goes on the Recognition Chart. When they fill up their Recognition Chart, they receive a prize! By attaching rewards to learning, we increase motivation, boost engagement, and instill a sense of accomplishment.
We would also like to recognize YOU! You are giving your child a head start in their journey from infancy to adolescence. We'd like to thank you for making Gravity a part of your child's development!
Below you will find our recognition chart topics with quick videos showing these areas of development in action.
MOVE
In The Gym:
Understanding the body positions is important when learning and breaking gymnastics skills into parts. In your child's class, we often practice our body positions during the warm-up and stretching. We are constantly repeating these positions to prepare them for bigger gymnastics skills!
Benefits Outside Of The Gym:
- Helps create body awareness
- Improves coordination
- Feels more in control of body
- Helps reduce the likelihood of injury
Body Positions
In the Gym:
In gymnastics, coordination is a key component because it relies on precise timing and body control.
We practice hand-eye coordination during our:
- warm-up activities using props
- stations that involve throwing, rolling, kicking, bouncing, object manipulation
- gymnastics skills
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Hand-eye coordination is not just for sports. It is important in your child's everyday tasks! When we grasp objects, write, eat, dress, brush our hair, and play, we use hand-eye coordination!
Hand-Eye Coordination
In The Gym:
In your child's gymnastics class, you will see us repeatedly practice locomotor movements in our warm-ups, games, or even in our obstacle courses.
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Developing these locomotive skills can help your child's ability to do more complex movements in the future. Locomotive skills are the starting point, or building blocks, for many sports and leisure activities!
Locomotive skills help us develop and improve:
- spatial awareness
- coordination of larger limbs
- strength in muscles and joints
- cardiovascular fitness
- muscle memory
Locomotive
In The Gym:
In every gymnastics class, your child is learning gross motor skills. They are building strength in their muscles and bones, as well as improving the balance, coordination, and body awareness needed for more complex movements.
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Gross motor skills are important to everyday physical movements, such as, walking, running, lifting, kicking, etc. They also help form the basis for fine motor skills. Your posture, writing, self care activities, all come from having strong motor skills!
Gross Motor Skills
THINK
In The Gym:
Your child is working on their listening abilities in every Gravity gymnastics class. Oftentimes this class is their first structured environment. Our obstacle course stations introduce multi-step instructions and require children to process, comprehend, and remember instructions minutes later or even into the following classes.
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Children who are good listeners tend to be successful in speaking, socializing, and communicating with others, which can build trust and respect among peers. Being an effective listener will help you become a better student and enhance your interpersonal relationships.
Listening
In The Gym:
In every Gravity gymnastics class, your child is practicing their communication skills! They are being immersed in a world of formal and informal learning with exposure to different types of communication such as verbal, non-verbal, and visual.
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Speech, language, and communication are critical areas of development for children. They play a vital role throughout our lives, helping us to:
- Understand what is going on around us
- Communicate our basic needs and feelings
- Hold conversations
- Think and learn
- Develop relationships
Communication
In The Gym:
Did you know your child is learning problem-solving skills while completing stations in the obstacle courses?
They are:
- recalling the instructions
- making decisions
- taking the initiative to finish the activity
- listening and implementing the teacher's corrections
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Having great problem-solving skills allows one to identify a problem at its earliest stage so that you can prevent it from escalating into something more serious. Your child will know how to find solutions through reasoning and creativity, rather than relying on others for help.
Problem Solving
In The Gym:
Class activities that help improve Pattern Sequencing:
- Creating a routine (warm-up, obstacles, water breaks, then sticker time).
- Asking questions "What is first?" "What comes next?" Where is station three?"
- Repetitive songs and instructions.
- Remembering the direction or order of obstacle course stations.
- Activities that involve shapes, letters, organizing
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Knowing pattern sequencing helps children understand change and see how items repeat logically. Learning to sequence items and pictures also helps with academics. Reading, mathematics, reasoning, and spatial thinking all are dependent on the ability to see patterns and understand sequencing.
Pattern Sequencing
GROW
In The Gym:
In every gymnastics class, your child is learning to interact with others and practice the life skill of friendliness. In addition to socializing with children their own age, we work on:
- taking turns
- sharing objects and stations
- teamwork
- helping each other
- celebrating each other's accomplishments
Outside of the Gym:
Teaching kids to be a good friend will be a source of childhood joy and help build future adult relationships! Friendships benefit children by creating a sense of belonging and helping them feel less isolated and stressed.
Friendliness
In The Gym:
Each gymnastics class helps your child develop the ability to focus. When we are in class, your child learns to listen attentively, process and comprehend information, and remember instructions to implement them. All this is no easy task! Building the ability to focus takes time and a great deal of effort!
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Focus is essential in academics and success in the classroom. Being able to focus helps students to:
- remain seated throughout class
- listen to instructions attentively
- comprehend information
- think independently
Focus
In The Gym:
During class students face multiple achievable challenges. Stations are designed so that students can accomplish their goals after multiple attempts. Skills are rarely mastered on the first attempt; gymnasts understand that accomplishing a goal takes a great deal of effort, hard work, and the perseverance to never surrender. Gymnasts know that hard work pays off!
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
Perseverance is a skill that we all need to achieve our goals. We must be resilient and not just seek immediate pleasure. Learning perseverance will help your child in believing they can achieve their long-term goals; having a clear understanding that success is only achieved with dedication and hard work!
Perseverance
In The Gym
Our preschool classrooms allow your child to begin their independent learning while still being able to see you nearby. They are practicing asking questions, problem-solving, and interacting with peers, all without your assistance. Don't forget to cheer them on! It helps boost their confidence and encourages them to continue to think for themselves.
Benefits Outside of the Gym:
By practicing independence your child will grow into a more authentic person who is in control and confident in their abilities. Independence helps:
- build confidence
- give children a voice
- overcome fears
- learn new skills
Independence
