Kinderdance invites you to fight Obesity

We received a wonderful e-mail from one of our franchisees Nancy Simons in Lisbon Wisconsin. This might be helpful information for anyone who would like to join in...


March 8, 2010 Hello from IDEA,We hope this finds you well and doing what you are best at: inspiring the world to fitness!We are encouraged that there has been much positive news in the headlines lately on the obesity activism front from the highest office in the nation.
First Lady Michelle Obama, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin announced plans earlier this month to help Americans lead healthier lives through better nutrition, regular physical activity, and by encouraging communities to support healthy choices.
The First Lady followed up by establishing a task force on childhood obesity, vowing that she would do all she could to lead the charge to eliminate it in one generation. Read more about the task force here: http://links.mkt1391.com/ctt?kn=1&m=34685369&r=MzA2NTM2MTg2NgS2&b=0&j=Njg2Mzg5MTAS1&mt=1&rt=0
The First Lady also announced her Let's Move initiative, which provides a clear 4 pronged approach toward how we as a nation will accomplish wiping out childhood obesity. This is where IDEA members can do the most!
HHS released The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation. In her first release to the nation, Dr. Benjamin highlights the alarming trend of overweight and obese Americans, and asks them to join her in a grassroots effort to commit to changes that promote the health and wellness of our families and communities. Read the complete document here: www.surgeongeneral.gov
IDEA recently sent a letter to the First Lady pledging our support of these initiatives, emphasizing that we share the same mission and recognize the dire consequences of inaction. We encourage you to also show your support as an IDEA member and/or fitness professional by personalizing this letter template to send a letter to the First Lady and let her know you are well-prepared as an IDEA member and eager to help. You can e-mail the text of the letter by using the organization template on The White House website: http://links.mkt1391.com/ctt?kn=5&m=34685369&r=MzA2NTM2MTg2NgS2&b=0&j=Njg2Mzg5MTAS1&mt=1&rt=0. Be sure to fill in the appropriate organization blank with "IDEA Health & Fitness Association" and member@ideafit.com in the organization e-mail blank. You can mail a hard copy of your letter to: First Lady Michelle Obama, The White House, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW, Washington DC 20500 On a final note, we wanted to let you know that Surgeon General Dr. Regina Benjamin has been invited to attend the IDEA World Fitness® Convention in Los Angeles this summer (August 5th), and will accept the IDEA Leadership Award for her work on Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation. Dr. Benjamin will also lead an important health and fitness summit panel discussion, which is open for all delegates to attend. She will see and hear first-hand the passion of IDEA members—we hope you will be there to demonstrate your commitment to help with the First Lady’s critical initiative. Learn more about the Health & Fitness Summit and the IDEA World program by linking to our online brochure. Yours in health,Peter & Kathie Davis

IDEA Health & Fitness Association, 10455 Pacific Center Court, San Diego, CA 92121-4339 800.999.4332 800.999.4332 ext. 7, 858.535.8979 858.535.8979 ext. 7, Fax 858.535.8234 info@ideafit.com www.ideafit.com

KINDERDANCE MEMORIES

The Kinderdance program has been around for 30 years now. We have taught many children all over the world and we want to hear what they have to say. If you are a part of the Kinderdance family, we are interested in hearing your memories and stories.

We have started a discussion on Facebook to hear your memories. To contribute, please go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kinderdance-International-Inc/76776864786

Also be sure to add us and become a fan!

Philosophical Foundation

Part 3

Glasser (1969), author of Schools without Failure, strongly postulated that love and self worth may be considered the two pathways that lead to a successful identity. It is a well established fact that individuals able to develop a successful identity are those who have learned to find their way through the two pathways of love and self worth, the latter dependant upon knowledge and the ability to solve problems of life satisfactorily. For most children only two places exist where they can gain a successful identity and learn to follow the essential pathways. These places are the home and the school.

Maria Montessori, physician and educator, was well aware of the need to integrate movement and education in regard to self-actualization. Montessori stated:

• One of the greatest mistakes of our day is movement by itself, as something
  apart from the higher functions...Mental development must be connected with
  movement and be dependant on it. It is vital that educational theory
  and practice should become informed by this idea. (1967, p.140)

Montessori earlier remarked:

• If movement is curtailed, the child's personality and sense of well being is threatened. Movement is a part of personality and nothing can take its place. The man who does not move is injured in his being and is an outcast from life. (1963, p.103)

In summary, the number of children involved in early childhood education programs in nursery schools and day care center settings is on the rise. At a time when parents are looking to early childhood education programs to ensure their child a positive educational start, there is conflict as to the changing role of the kindergarten setting. Alternative methods in education, for 3-5 year old children are needed in order to blend different levels of early educational experiences while addressing the individual needs of all children. Those who have had early childhood education opportunities and those entering kindergarten as their first educational experience need new challenges which will give each child a positive sense of self. This recent problem affords an opportunity to examine the educational needs of young children as they face a new world which requires a greater sense of self in relation to the world they will be instrumental in shaping.

At a time when creative solutions are being sought to solve many problems, it seems only fitting that encouraging and guiding thinking in young children be of top priority. Glasser strongly supported the idea that unless we can provide schools where children, through a reasonable use of their capacities, can succeed, we will do little to solve the major problems of our country. Creating environments and curriculums which encourage children to think, act, create, explore, and share with all of their sense, especially in the early stages of education, is essential for the development of creative minds. We are born with the desire to create but it must be nurtured and allowed to develop through a conscience effort on the part of educators, parents, and society. There are many ways to learn but a 3-5 year old child must be allowed to lean in the most natural, creative fashion-through movement.

Philosophical Foundation

Part 2

Kindergarten curriculum need to be viewed as an opportunity for children to expand developmentally on the already acquired skills gained through early education programs. The children's need for continued exploration of the world around them, through all of the senses, does not diminish because of early experiences. In fact, children's curiosity and energy levels increase through instruction in early childhood programs, and their greater capacities need satisfaction. What a perfect opportunity to teach these young, absorbent minds cognitive skills through the children's natural need for movement. In 1942, Piaget wrote:

• Sensory-motor intelligence lies at the source of thought, and continues to affect it through perceptions and practical sets. The role of perception in the most highly developed thought cannot be neglected, as it is by some writers. (Piaget, 1966, p.119)

Arnheim, Professor of Psychology of Art at Harvard University wrote:

• Artistic activity is a form of reasoning in which perceiving and thinking are indivisibly intertwined. A person who paints, writes, composes, dances...Genuine art work requires organization which involves many and perhaps all of the cognitive operations known from theoretical thinking. (Cited in Lillard, 1972, p.27)

Arnheim contends that genuine art work requires organization which involves many and perhaps all of the cognitive operations known from theoretical thinking. Arnheim does not agree with our educational system which has separated the development of reason and sense perception.

In education the child studies numbers and words; the arts are presented as entertainment and mental release. Arnheim therefore calls for a re-emphasis on perception in the education of the child's mental powers. Arnheim contends that the cognitive operations called thinking are not the privilege of mental processes above and beyond perception, but essential ingredients of perception itself.

Since movement is a natural form of expression for children, dance can expand the learning process. Movement affords the preschool and kindergarten teacher an opportunity to individualize the curriculum in order to enhance the probability of each child developing a positive self-esteem. Within are forms, dance happens to be a vehicle whereby a child can feel a sense of accomplishment in a short period of time.

Final part 3 will be posted on Friday...

Philosophical Foundation

PART 1

Friedrich Froebel, noted German philosopher, educator, and founder of the kindergarten, asserted that every child is unique and believed that children can best develop the uniqueness through action. He held that all phases of the personality develop through action, asserting that in childhood this action is called "play." Frobel claimed that play should be considered appropriate basis for all childhood education and therefore established the kindergarten as the child's bridge between home play and school life (cited in Ransbery, 1982).
Today there exists a gap between prekindergarten educational programs and the functions of the kindergarten setting. The role of the Kindergarten teachers is also changing, and new curriculum objectives are being sought. Many children have had at least one year of early childhood education before entering kindergarten. As a consequence, kindergarten teachers feel pressured by by parents to provide a cognitively oriented curriculum. Unfortunately, this often causes conflict between kindergarten and primary teachers over educational prerogatives. Another factor contributing to the kindergarten teachers' already difficult task and producing further tension is the Independence gained by children in early education programs. The increasing number of kindergartners entering first grade from formal early childhood programs has prompted teachers to recognise that some curriculum changes may be appropriate (Elkind & Lyke, cited in Nall, 1982).
While approximately 50% of the children attending today's kindergartens have attended prekindergarten programs, the need for reinforcement and expansion of the basic transitional readiness skills still exists and to an even greater degree than formerly. Instead of involving kindergartners in a slowed down version of cognitive exercises that are introduced in the lower elementary grades, expansion of preparatory cognitional aptitude should be developed.



part 2 will be posted Wednesday...