Gymnastics Can Help Your Child’s Early Education
Kindergarten can be a brand new experience for kids who aren’t familiar with the school process. Before a child can be enrolled in kindergarten, many students have to take screening tests. If you’re looking for simple ways to prepare your child for these tests, Gold Medal Gyms is a great way to practice these skills.
What Are Kindergarten Screening Tests?
While not required in every school district, these screening tests are a fairly common practice in America. The purpose of these tests is to ensure that a child entering kindergarten is developmentally ready to start school. They are also a great way to get your child familiar with their new school and the staff members. The main skills a school will evaluate are language development, cognitive skills, gross motor skills, and fine motor skills.
Gross Motor Skills
Gross motor skills are actions that use the body’s large muscles such as the arms and legs. Your child’s school may measure a child’s ability to:
- Run
- Catch a ball
- Walk up and down the stairs using alternating feet
- Walk backward
- Skip
By getting your child enrolled into gymnastics at an early age, this gives them the opportunity to strengthen their gross muscles and practice advanced versions of these skills. Stretching and gymnastics are great ways your child can learn these skills.
Language Skills
The ability to communicate is another skill your child will be screened on during this test. Your child’s ability to speak, understand, and follow instructions will be assessed. This can include:
- Communicate with a school staffer
- Answer basic questions
- Speak in complete sentences
- Follow directions
Gymnastics is all about listening to an instructor and being able to communicate skills and movements. Enrolling your child early into a gymnastics program gives them a chance to communicate with other children and interact with new faces.
Enroll Your Child at Gold Medal Gyms
Looking to prepare your child for kindergarten? Gold Medal Gyms has gymnastics classes catered to preschoolers and kindergarteners to help them practice the fundamentals of gymnastics and have fun! Learn more about our classes here!