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Tag: Winter Sports Program Chaperones

Winter Sports: The Challenge and the Benefits

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Community News.

Yes! The first two weeks of FMSL’ Winter Sports Ski and Snowboard lessons have gone well. Thank you to all those staff and parent volunteers who are making this program so successful and organized.

Why skiing and snowboarding, you wonder? It has always been a goal to be able to give each elementary student the opportunity to explore the sports as part of our great Wasatch Front, and world-renowned mountain slopes.

Transporting eighty plus students, with gear, snacks, and equipment is no small feat. There is a lot of preparation, practice, and patience involved. There is nothing quite like the panic of missing snow-pants, a broken clasp on a helmet, or the confusion of 4 sets of skis that all look alike and the label has rubbed off.

However, and whatever the new challenge is, the buzz and nervous excitement of the students makes it all worth it. Our students are challenged in every way, taking on Winter Sports. They are leaving their regular school day schedule with several tricky transitions from eating lunch earlier, changing into proper clothing and gear, keeping track of gear and bags, moving to and from proper busses, meeting up and working with different groups of peers and instructors, developing new skills, and so much more.

You have probably noticed your students are exhausted by the end of the day! Not only are they getting such a great physical workout with carrying their gear back and forth, staying on their feet for the two- and half-hour lesson, and all the muscle groups in their legs, they are receiving many social and emotional benefits as well.

Some of the added benefits for this kind of activity are as follows:

  • Increased circulation equals increased endorphins and adrenaline: this can elevate the mood and provide an overall sense of wellbeing and contentment.
  • Greater sense of spacial awareness: being able to judge speed, distances, and body position begins with your mind and its’ ability to interpret surroundings.
  • Better Sleep: at the end of the day with so many charged interactions between brain and body, you might notice the Sandman comes to your home and a deep, healing sleep will come.
  • Improved concentration and thinking capacity by making strategic decisions like the best route and considering other moving objects around you. This means a greater capacity to learn in all areas of life flexing the correct brain muscles to decrease chances of suffering from mental decline in old age.

We look forward to the remaining lessons this season. Please don’t forget sunscreen and NUT-FREE snacks and water bottles for the bus rides. If you have any questions, feel free to contact the FMSL Office.

Winter Sports: A Group Experience

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Announcements, Blog, Community News, Get Involved (P.S.A), Parent Education.

The intent behind our Winter Sports Program is that these lessons and experiences let our students have a real-life group driven experience where there is crossover between programs; where there are great opportunities for the students to practice the life skills they have been learning and practicing in such a safe environment here at MCS. It is an opportunity to let our students explore one of Utah’s greatest beauties- the mountains and our incredible snow.

Please keep in mind that these lessons are peer-oriented and group options are bound to contain a number of skill sets being presented, developed, and learned amongst the students. Some students are at the peak of that skill set and some are at the base of that skill set. However, those students are all within the same level. It can become very frustrating when friends ski/ board together on the weekends, but are grouped apart for the lessons. However, we ask that you place your trust in the ski program to group our students as they see fit and ask that you remind your children to do the same.

We really want to enforce that as these lessons continue on, it really is a collaboration as a group to learn and practice. Snowbird has hand-picked instructors specifically for our school, and instructors go through intense training on how to meet the needs of each student in the group.

A successful day may not be or mean that your student was the fastest, moved up a group, etc. A successful day should be evaluated on whether or not your student was safe, having fun, in an environment where they can learn without frustration, were able to communicate their feelings appropriately, follow instructions, and engage appropriately with their chaperones, instructors, and peers. Ultimately, when a student is feeling comfortable and safe, there will be more detailed, controlled progress. One of the reasons we appreciate Snowbirds Ski Program is that they take an approach to individualized instruction that is similar to our approach here at MCS.  However, their ability to separate every single skill level is limited by a number of factors.

Potential Winter Sports Program Chaperones

Written by Foothill Montessori on . Posted in Blog.

Dear Potential Winter Sports Program Chaperones,

Please keep in mind, as we love to have your support and help during Winter Sports, we have found it is best if we can have consistency with our chaperones. The students do better seeing familiar faces. This helps the students have a greater sense of surrounding and comfort.

This will also help with consistent group support on the hillside and getting on and off the busses.

Please, only sign up if you are able to attend at least 4 out of the 5 weeks and note we need our hillside chaperones to be able to efficiently ski/board with the little one and help out with lift riding. We also need chaperones that are not skiing, but help out on the busses and with keeping track of and leading students to the correct places.

Thanks,

Admin