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Well...
The program that I have been involved with is called "Foundations for All" (the program that we offer based off this through our partnership with the NB provincial government is called "Active Kids"). Basically, it is a program that is aimed at increasing physical literacy in children, thereby combatting the increasing physical inactivity of children, increased obesity rates (in NB we have some of the highest in the country), and furthermore to train community leaders to run physical literacy programs in communities and other areas where these programs do not exist. It has been developed to reach as many different ages of children as possible, and in as many different places as possible (i.e. communities, schools, daycares, homes, etc.). Currently, the program that we have developed covers ages from 0 years (newborn) to 9 years old or so, and is subdivided into appropriate age categories.
We have used a lot of different resources and tried to "pool" these resources into one working (and wide-ranging) program. Some of these resources include:
- JumpStart (Nova Scotia's school-age program)
- GCG Preschool Program
- Keith Russell's "Up, Down, All-Around"
- GCG CanGym
- and many others
Basically, we train people (parents, teachers, daycare workers, community leaders) and provide them with lesson plans, while also providing on-going support to them throughout the length of the program. "Toolkits" are available to participants of our training courses which include all of the items used in lesson plans (i.e. bean bags, hoops, ribbons, balls, etc, etc.), and all items have been passed by the provincial Health and Safety board.
From ages 0 - 5, the program includes: lesson plans and parent activity books (which include easy and fun activities to do with their children at home). From 0 - 3, the lesson plans are aimed more at parents and homecare workers, and the activites included are easily done with articles found within the home. From 3 - 5 more of the activities rely on the items included in our Toolkits.
Ages 6 and up are developed with more of a school-setting (or community centre) in mind. Again, many of these activities rely on the items in our toolkits.
The program, as a whole, is "based" on gymnastics, but is not a gymnastics program. The G-word can be a little bit of a turn-off for some people, so we try to not use it too often.
So far, we have had really great feedback on the program. Other provinces are doing the same sort of thing, and I would expect to see GCG "nationalize" a program within the next 5 - 7 years, or sooner.
Sorry for the length...
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