Who is ready for some cooler weather! I know I sure am! We are ending our unit on Badminton with a Tournament in Middle school. Lower school are using the net to hit over and are learning about the service line and the boundaries of the court. Middle school will be playing mini games this week in a round robin tournament. We will be playing to 10 points and rotating around.

Pictured above are some of our students playing exercise tag. Our excercises were working our core muscles and footwork.

Our Lower School students are doing station work to improve their balance and agility by hopping on one foot through the hoops, and working their core muscles by moving down the mat doing the inch worm.

Here is a picture of our Fun Friday! The students have a variety of equipment they can use to play games or practice on some of their skills.

Here we have some of our middle school students playing mini games of Badminton. They have playing courts that they have to stay in. There is a service line, side lines, and back lines to mark their court.

Here are some pictures of our PreSchoolers working on their pattern jumps. They are jumping together and apart, then galloping around cones that lead them back in line to repeat. The top picture are students working on their frog jumps. They are working on their hand placement, balance, and leg strength to jump forward.

Here are some of our 5th and 6th graders getting ready for our tournament by practicing mini games.

Come back soon to find out our next sport of the month and to see who wins our Badminton Tournament!

We have been very busy in class this month. As most of you know, this year was the year of the Olympics and Paralympics. Our 5th - 8th graders got to experience how it feels to play volleyball sitting down. It was very challenging. A lot of students had trouble serving the ball. We used scooters to move around the floor to play Volleyball. In the Paralympics, the athletes slid around on the floor while playing. We have a carpet floor so sliding wasn’t possible. The reason they slid around on the floor is because they had a disability of some sort, like missing a limb. The students said this was one of the hardest things they have done in PE. It takes a lot of upper body strength to serve and hit the ball over the net when you don’t have use of your legs. It opened up their eyes a little to see what it was like to have a disability.

Our PreK and Kinder classes had a ball day this month. They had some freedom to choose how to play using a ball. We had some working on their tossing and catching skills. Some sat with a friend and rolled the ball back and forth. We had several bouncing and catching. And everyone at some point was working on shooting their ball into the basketball goal.

In October we will have our first Fitness check of the year. Pictured below are some of our middle schoolers working on their leg lifts. Our students have become really good at sit ups, but weak on their lower abs so we are introducing new exercises to strengthen their core. Our game this day was exercise tag. Another great tool to work on strengthening our muscles and work on our endurance.

Pictured below are some of our Kinders playing Lion King Tag. This is a fun little game where the students are running away from the taggers, trying not to get frozen. When tagged, they freeze and hold up their thumbs so the Lion King can see them. The Lion King then runs over and taps them with a wand to unfreeze them. This game works the students muscles by running and works on developing the students spatial awareness. Spatial awareness is the ability to understand the relationship between your body and the space around you, and how objects and your body move in relation to each other. Spatial awareness helps children develop hand-eye coordination, balance, and motor skills.

Welcome back! I hope everyone enjoyed their summer break. It is so good to see so many old faces and NEW faces! Our 1st through 8th graders are starting the year off with Badminton and working on their throwing skills. Our Preschoolers are working on their balance, jumping with feet together, and hand-eye coordination. I managed to snap a few pictures during the first 2 weeks of school. Enjoy the pictures and come back soon to check out what we are working on next!

Where has the year gone! We are on the final stretch of the school year. As the spring time weather brings lots of rain, we continue to stay busy in the gym. We have a few activities planned for those sunny days outside. Hopefully we can get some good pictures to share with you.

Pictured below are some of our 5th and 6th graders working on their buddy stretches. They have learned that the older they get, the more important stretching is in their daily lives.

Here are some of our 4th graders enjoying a fun game of Dragon Tails. This game requires you to pull your opponents flag (tail) to be tagged. This is more challenging than just tagging your opponent. The students LOVED this activity.

Pictured here are some of our 5th and 6th graders during their work out day. We don’t just work on fitness during class, we also work on our footwork, agility, and speed.

Just look at those smiles on their faces!! What is more fun than relay races?? Scooter relays!!

Pictured here are some of our 2nd graders working on their basketball skills. We were working on dribbling with our dominant and non-dominant hand. It is important to work both sides of your body, not just your favorite side.

I hope you have enjoyed getting caught up with our class. Come back soon to see what we do outside when the weather is nice!!

Welcome back to the Physical Education page at St James Day School. Our 7th and 8th graders are working hard on their footwork, speed and agility. We have included plyometric training into our classes 1-2 times a week. Plyometrics are typically done as jumping exercises where the muscles are stretched as they contract. The benefits of plyometric training includes increased muscle strength, improved coordination, and agility. Our sports of focus this month are Volleyball and Badminton. We are practicing our passing in volleyball and our hitting in badminton. Coming soon are pictures of 3,4, and 5 year olds Action Based Learning labs. These are labs focused on their gross motor development.

Welcome back! I am so happy to see all of our student body back refreshed! We haven’t wasted any time getting back into routine in Gym Class. Below are some pictures to show how busy we have been.

1. Our tennis team are busy getting ready for their season to start. They are working out getting stronger, building endurance, agility, and working on their foot work.

2. Our Primary, Pre-K, and Kindergarten are starting their Action Based program. We are learning and reviewing our gross motor movements: galloping, jumping, hopping, and skipping. We are also working of visual tracking and hand/eye coordination. We are kicking, tossing, catching.

3. Lower and Middle school are beginning Badminton. We are learning and reviewing how to serve and the strokes to return the birdie. Kindergarten, 1st and 2nd are going to have a friendly competition to see who can have the highest percentage of their class able to tie their shoes by the end of the year. We have started off pretty strong! So if your child comes home with a new way to tie shoes, this is were they learned it from. I am showing them different ways because we all are different. What works for one may not work for another. 1st grade is working on their throwing and catching skills so I can introduce a new game to them. Games are so much more fun when you have learned the skills to play!

So enjoy the pictures and be sure to come back to see what we are doing next!

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a blessed Christmas break. This month in P.E, we are going to continue our focus on Basketball with our 3rd - 8th graders. We will work on lay ups, passing, dribbling, and free throws. We will play small mini games to start putting the fundamentals all together. Our younger students started today learning about and practicing right side lay ups. We will practice again tomorrow and then introduce the left side lay ups.

The students earn their grade in class by participation, sportsmanship, and conduct. Their athletic ability does not factor their grade. It is more important to learn how to persevere through challenges than it is to make a free throw. And athletes need to learn how to be good leaders, not just how to win a game.

Please come back and visit this page for pictures of the students. Im not a professional photographer but I do luck out sometimes in capturing some pretty good action shots!

October has come and gone and now it’s November! This school year is flying by. We wrapped October up with an introduction into doubles Badminton. The students really enjoyed our little tournament we had. We began our first Fitness Checks. There are a few more classes that need to finish before posting the results in the gym. As far as I can tell, no records have been broken yet. When we return from Thanksgiving break, we are going to finish the Fitness Checks and start on Basketball. The students are really looking forward to that.

As Christmas is approaching and your children are making those wish lists, think about yard games that the whole family will enjoy. Badminton, Basketball, Corn Hole…… these are great activities and any age can enjoy!

I am going to close with a few pictures from the last month. Pictured below are students enjoying Badminton games and some classes lending helping hands to set up for our Fall Festival.

Welcome back everyone! Oh how I missed all our students. We haven’t wasted any time getting back into routine. Pictured below are some of our PreK and Kindergarten students working on their tossing, crawling and jumping skill. That is just part of what we are doing this month. Our 1st through 3rd graders are working on their throwing and catching skills for a new game that I will be showing them soon. Our sport this month is Badminton. We will learn how to serve and work on returning the serve. Our middle schoolers will be learning the rules to the game and will play mini tournaments to practice their score keeping skills. Come back soon to see our progress with Badminton.

We had a good year in P.E. Middle schoolers learn a lot about Basketball and Volleyball. We didn’t get to do much on Badminton and Flag Football like I wanted to. So after summer break, we are going to start off with Flag Football and Badminton.

We had a very successful Field Day with our 1st graders winning the Ralph Dunn Track and Field Day Sportsmanship award. Very proud of them. The weather was perfect and we had plenty of help. The students really enjoyed themselves.

Our Pre Schoolers progressed very nicely with their gross motor skills. We will continue to build onto their foundation in August when we return. Their space awareness improved along with their listening and following directions. They learned new games and new skills. We had a lot of Fun!

I hope everyone has a fun and safe summer break. I hope to see everyone in August!

God Bless you all

Coach Nicole

As the weather warms up, we will be going outside more for class. This month in Middle school, we are going to wrap up our volleyball unit and begin flag football. We are also going to throw in some kickball, badminton and of course…basketball.

In PreK - K we are going to finish our ball unit and work on balance. We will walk and crawl on a balance beam, jump and land with control, and spin. There will be obstacle courses set up to make this even more fun!

This month in Pre School we are focusing on our ball unit. We are using a variety size of balls to kick, bounce, roll, and throw. We are learning some new games that include balls. We are practicing our hand-eye coordination, visual tracking, and eye-foot coordination. It is so rewarding to see a child learn something new and be successful. Pre School are posting some pictures of some of our activities, please stop by their page and check it out!

In Middle School we are continuing our focus on Volleyball. We are now working on our serves and learning how to keep score. We played a practice game this week and it went great! The students are using their skills that they have learned and expanding their knowledge of the game.

Hey everyone! Im glad to see the weather is warming up. The students are ready to do class outside in the sun! We are progressing nicely in Volleyball. The students are passing well, learning how to use the set, and some are even able to spike it! It warms my heart to see their skills progressing and the smiles on their faces. Next sport will be flag football. We will divide up into 4 teams, learn the positions, rules, how to catch and throw. We will play small games outside. We will be rotating Volleyball, Badminton, and Flag Football into the months schedule.

We have been moving right along with our Volleyball skills. Our 5th - 8th graders have been practicing their passing skills with a Volley Trainer, which is a bigger version of a volleyball and much softer. We just transitioned to a SOFT volleyball which moves a little faster and response a little different when hit. We will practice with the new ball then will divide up into teams for mini games. The students are improving everyday and are enjoying learning about the sport. This is a good leisure family activity that can be enjoyed in your backyard.

Welcome back! Hope everyone enjoyed their Christmas break. With illness in the air, we are taking precautions by sanitizing our hands before class and equipment before and after class.

This month we will be focusing on a mixture of activities. In Middle School we are playing Volleyball, Badminton, and going to start flag football. I will have pictures of some of our games on my next blog. Today I am posting some pictures of an older game we played this week. The weather was nice so we took advantage of the fresh air and open space and went outside for class. Pictured below are some of our 4th and 5th graders enjoying a game of Capture the Frog. It is a cooperation game that requires a lot of team work and strategies. This is one of those games that progress with age. The older the students get, the more they figure out. It is so much fun to watch as a teacher, watching their minds develop and figuring out problems. Enjoy the pictures!

Now that the temperature is cooling off, we are starting to take class outside more. Pre Schoolers are working on space awareness, tossing, catching, kicking, and all of their gross motor skills. Lower Schoolers are working on their aiming and throwing skills, and Middle Schoolers have been introduced to an old game……KICKBALL! Pictured below are some of our 6th, 7th, and 8th graders enjoying a nice game of kickball. Enjoy the pictures!

As the weather is cooling off, we are starting to carry our classroom outside. Lower School has learned a cooperative team game that they LOVE! We played it outside Friday and they said it was even more fun outside! The game is Capture the Frogs. It requires team work, communication, strategic planning, and of coarse running, lol. I play this game with all Lower and Middle school. The strategies change according to age level. This game grows with the students.

Middle school is progressing in Basketball. Our shooting is improving, passing skills are looking better, dribbling and guarding still needs work, but we are improving. Pictured below are some our of 1st graders enjoying a game outside and our 6th - 8th graders are enjoying a game of basketball.

For those who do not know, we have an amazing After School Care Program. This program is available to any St James School student. The students get help with homework, enjoy visiting and playing with friends, and sometimes they even have popcorn and a movie. So if you have to work late or have a dr appointment. please know that this program is available to you. Pictured below are some of our NJHS students volunteering their time to help our younger students with homework and thier social skills.

This week we have been working on tossing and catching. Pictured below are some of our pre K students practicing tossing their turtle bean bags into their hula hoops (pond). They also practiced tossing and catching their turtles while standing in their ponds. This is a good activity to practice eye tracking and hand/eye coordination. We have also practiced this concept with balls. Enjoy the pictures below and come back to see more!

Welcome Back! Hope everyone had a fun and safe Summer break. We haven’t wasted any time getting back to work. Middle school (5th - 8th) have been working on Basketball skills. We are reviewing with lead up games like Hoop Guard to practice team work, passing, and communicating with one another. We are also practicing dribbling, passing, and shooting getting ready to play some Basketball games. The students are really excited about playing real games. And I must say, I’m pretty excited myself! Enjoy the pictures below and come back to see what else we are doing in class.