Physical Education

Nursery school through Pre-Kindergarten

The nursery through pre-kindergarten physical education curricula focus on encouraging our young learners to be active and develop positive attitudes toward athletic activity. Weekly classes include games, songs, and activities designed to promote the development of basic gross motor skills. In addition to directed activities, each class includes a “free play” portion, during which equipment such as balls, hoops, and ribbon wands are made available for student use.

Kindergarten through First Grade

In kindergarten and first grade, physical education classes focus on the development of good sportsmanship, fair play, and positive self-image. Starting in kindergarten, students engage in tagging games, ball games, and other simple cooperative activities. Through these games, kindergartners develop crucial locomotor skills (skipping, hopping, jumping) and manipulative skills (throwing, catching, kicking). In first grade, students master locomotor fundamentals like leaping, galloping, dodging, and changing directions, and manipulative skills like dribbling, jumping rope, batting, and balancing. By their second grade year, students exhibit refined motor skills and greater endurance for physical activity. Second graders also learn more complex sports, such as floor hockey, tumbling, and dancing.

Third Through Fifth Grade

What does it take to play on a team? Second, third, and fourth-grade students grow as athletes and classmates by participating in team sports. Over the course of the third and fourth-grade years, students learn the skills and rules for games such as soccer, volleyball, basketball, floor hockey, and lacrosse. They learn what it takes to play on a team: sportsmanship, turn-taking, confident participation, and leadership. Students further develop their fine and gross motor skills by engaging in aerobics, yoga, and track activities. The physical education teacher encourages good citizenship and the development of a positive self-image.