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The Many Benefits of Participating in Pre-school Gymnastics

Most people think of gymnastics as �the star� of The Summer Olympics. What people don�t know is that it is one of the most beneficial activities for children of all ages and abilities with fitness, academic and social benefits.

Fitness/ Sports Readiness Benefits:
Gymnastics requires strength, balance, flexibility and coordination. These are the cornerstones to sound physical fitness and athletic performance in all sports. Core strength is the �buzz� word in fitness and sport specific training these days. Core strength in childrenpres can help maintain proper posture while sitting in a classroom. Gymnastics is all about core strength. The simple skill of performing a forward roll requires core strength in maintaining a �rounded body� throughout the movement. Walking across a 4� beam requires balance and an ability to use the core muscles to maintain that balance. What seems like the simple task of running and jumping onto a springboard to vault onto the table requires the coordination of combining running, jumping and squatting onto a raised surface. Hitting a ball, kicking a soccer ball are both enhanced with improvement in balance and coordination. These are all elementary skills that are repeated over and over in a 45min pre-school class.

Academic Benefits:
Movement can be the architect of a child�s brain. Bilateral movements commonly found in basic gymnastics activities help in the communication between the left and right hemisphere of the brain. Reading is a balanced coordination of the left and right hemisphere. The left hemisphere sees the letter and the right side comprehends what it sees. Gymnastics requires a similar coordination of building simple movements into a complex skill or routine. This early learning transfers to the classroom helping your child with sequenced instruction from a teacher.

Social/ Organizational Benefits:
Participating in a class environment at an early age is crucial to helping a child adapt to a school setting. Gymnastics participation is no different. Your child will learn to move from station to station in a sequence without getting lost. They are required to sit and listen while getting instructions. Children are taught how to wait for their turn and that they are now always going to be first in line. Learning a new skill helps to show a child that success requires repetition. The joy of mastering a skill after multiple repetitions is the ultimate benefit in helping a child gain the confidence needed to succeed.

So the next time you see high level gymnastics, remember that it is the basics of rolling, jumping tumbling and running and swinging that will help your child build a foundation for a strong future in whatever they do.



Leo Doren operates Mass Gymnastics Centers. For more information on their preschool gymnastics program, visit them online at: www.massgymnastics.com or contact them via email at: leo@massgymnastics.com

Benefits of Preschool Gymnastics

Can Music Lessons Make Your Child Smarter?

This is an interesting article on the benefits of music for your young child. We though it might be informative and that you would enjoy it! More information id available from the website that we borrowed this from at  http://www.raisesmartkid.com/all-ages/1-articles/16-the-effect-of-music-on-childrens-intelligence


Studies after studies are showing that learning music can make kids smart.  When your child learns to play a musical instrument, not only does he learn how to make tunes, but he also enhances other capabilities of his brain as well:

• A 10 year study involving 25,000 students show that music-making improves test scores in standardized tests, as well as in reading proficiency exams (Source: James Catterall, UCLA, 1997). 
• High school music students score higher on the math and verbal portion of SAT, compared to their peers (Profile of SAT and Achievement Test Takers, The College Board, compiled by Music Educators Conference, 2001). 
• The IQ’s of young students who had nine months of weekly training in piano or voice rose nearly three points more than their untrained peers (Study by E. Glenn Schellenberg, of the University of Toronto at Mississauga, 2004.)
• Piano students can understand mathematical and scientific concepts more readily.  Children who received piano training performed 34 percent higher on tests measuring proportional reasoning – ratios, fractions, proportions, and thinking in space and time (Neurological Research, 1997). 
• Pattern recognition and mental representation scores improved significantly in students who were given a 3-year piano instruction (Dr. Eugenia Costa-Giomi study presented at the meeting of the Music Educators National Conference, Phoenix, AZ, 1998).
• Music students received more academic honors and awards than non-music students.  These music students also have more A and B grades compared to non-music students (National Educational Longitudinal Study of 1988 First Follow-Up, U.S. Department of Education). 
• More music majors who applied for medical school were admitted compared to those in other majors including English, biology, chemistry and math. (“The Comparative Academic Abilites of Students in Education and in Other Areas of a Multi-focus University,” Peter H. Wood, ERIC Document No. ED327480; “The Case for Music in Schools”, Phi Delta Kappan, 1994)
• Another study has found that music lessons for kids make their minds sharper when they grow older. According to study researcher Brenda Hanna-Pladdy, a neurologist at the Emory University School of Medicine,"Musical activity throughout life may serve as a challenging cognitive exercise, making your brain fitter and more capable of accommodating the challenges of aging. Since studying an instrument requires years of practice and learning, it may create alternate connections in the brain that could compensate for cognitive declines as we get older."

Cutting Edge Education For Grades K-12

Dear Parents,

If you are one of the many that is considering Oklahoma Connections Academy for your child's K-12 education this year, we would encourage you to visit their website at www.connectionsacademy.com/OKCA and also watch this video. OKCA offers a cutting edge education that is geared towards the future. More one on one time with teachers and learning coaches make this a wonderful situation.

Coupled with our performing and fine arts programs, and sports programs, OKCA will be the right choice for may families. Whether you want your child to have more time for their fine arts, fine tune their sports or spend more time with their animals or family, OKCA is worth taking a look at and give it high consideration.

Years ago, it was though that if your child did not participate in school sports, they did not have a chance at being looked at for collegiate sports. That is NOW NOT THE CASE. In our own family, we experienced a child not having time for a sport in Jr and Sr High due to academic struggles. But with coaching outside of school, and after all home work was completed, she was able to participate in her sport of choice at a four year university with no problem.

AS I stated before, OKCA may be worth your time to explore. And even if you are just now in our Preschool, Pre-K or Jr Kindergarten, you might want to take a look at Oklahoma Connections Acadeny as your child's next step in their education.

Here is the video. Click the link to watch and then I do hope to visit with you in person or by phone.

Thank you,

Mary Myers, Director
Academy Of Fine Arts

You Still Have Time To Join Us This Summer!

Academy of Fine Arts Now Offering Free Education Option

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE-----  May 2013

Academy of Fine Arts , in collaboration with Oklahoma Connections Academy, will now be able to offer an academic program for ages K-12. Students of Academy of Fine Arts in Woodward and Enid  now have a choice in education delivery styles that can include their performing and fine arts training.

Oklahoma Connections Academy is a public virtual school that offers Oklahoma State Certified Teachers for your child's success. Any student that has resided in the state of Oklahoma and attended public school this past year can transfer into Oklahoma Connections Academy, according to OKCA Principal Tammy Shepherd.

OKCA requires that the student enrolled has a trained Learning Coach during their time for studies. This can be the parent, or can be outsourced to another person or situation, such as Academy of Fine Arts. This means that your child can study and work on their schooling throughout the day, and also continue to train in their performing and fine arts classes while at AOFA. Leaving the evening hours open to other things such as more family time.

This type of learning environment/situation has actually been around for generations. Children on Broadway, on movie sets in Hollywood, or in Olympic training have always had on site tutors available to them for their school studies, and yet be able to work on their sport or craft. Oklahoma Connections Academy's public virtual school offers the same freedom and convenience, the delivery system has just changed to the internet.

AOFA students interested in sports will also enjoy the classes tailored for athletes that will enhance their athleticism that AOFA offers. AOFA is also in the process of changing and broadening their sports offerings to their students.

So no matter if your child has a passion to be the next great prima ballerina, a great violinist, compete in rodeo, baseball , soccer, basketball, swimming or softball, there is a place with them at Academy of Fine Arts and Oklahoma Connections Academy.

Please visit our website at www.academyoffineartsok.com for more information as to how you can blend your child's education with us and Oklahoma Connections Academy. We also highly recommend that you visit the Oklahoma Connections Academy website at www.connectionsacademy/OKCA for more details of the academic offering from this public virtual school that does not cost you any tuition.

*Academy of Fine Arts does charge a fee for their services as Learning Coach and their classes offered to your child.