|
Having trouble finding something?
Click on the word "Site Map" above to open alphabetical listing of website pages
Home
Blog
Location of The Stunt Gym
Schedule
Curricula
Class Levels
Policies of ASA
Clinics
Acro Team Archive
Exhibition Archive
About Us
Contact Us
The Vision
Stunt Gymnastics is a coed program. As a gymnastic discipline all students train skills
that develop strength and flexibility. The training develops individual characteristics for the
body, soul and spirit:
|
Learning Abilities
as Children Grow
Body Growth
The body grows the same for everyone. When infants are born, the head is the most developed body part, for the obvious reason that the brain has to conduct the
growth of the rest of the body. As the child grows the torso develops rapidly so that the vital functions may fully operate. The legs and arms are not that vital. By about 5th or 6th
grade, the legs will suddenly shoot out, and after that the arms catch up.
What this means for athletic training of the children is considerable. Toddlers trying to learn gymnastics will struggle, especially with rolls, since their arms are not long enough to
clear their heads. The grammar school age kids suffer set backs when they hit prepubescence when their legs shoot out. They may have mastered many skills, then suddenly find they are
unable to do the skills. With the growth of their legs, their center of gravity shifts, and the increase leg length puts added leverage against their abdominal strength.
Comprehension
Home School families have in large part turned back to the Trivium as philosophy of instruction. Dorothy Sayer, a member of the Inklings [a literary group at Oxford
with members C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien], and famous mystery author, wrote an article entitled, "The Lost Art of
Learning". This article explains the underlying philosophy of Medieval education. The Trivium are the three subjects of Grammar, Logic, and Rhetoric. As Sayers explains, the subjects
are geared for different ages of students. Grammar is taught to children which are the facts of language. Even today, Grammar School is still for children before puberty. Logic is taught
to children entering adolescence, which today is Middle School, or Intermediate. Once the children learn the facts, they learn how the facts logically interrelate. By High School, the
children learn Rhetoric, or the art of speaking. They have learned the facts, understand how the facts tie together, and are now ready to express themselves.
As Sayers explains in her article, the topics are more related to the known growth cycles of children. Up until the beginning of adolescence, children can only comprehend facts. They do
not understand theory and abstract concepts, nor the elements of deductive logic. However, by the time of puberty, they begin to see how the facts relate to one another. As Sayers wryly
observed, they are naturally argumentive at this age, so why not teach them to argue logically? By high school, the children are entering adulthood. By now they comprehend theory,
metaphors and abstract thoughts. Philosophy and theology become comprehensible.
Since Stunt Gymnastics is a multi-generational activity, these differences in learning abilities are kept in mind as the coach works with each child. Older children take responsibility
for helping the younger children in training. The older kids will understand rules to the game, and the reasons for routine construction. The little children, are simply told what to do,
since that is all they can understand.
|
Grammar School:
Age of Facts
Middle School:
Age of Understanding
High School:
Age of Abstraction
|
