About the Class

The North Hills School Physical Education

Pre-K to 2nd Grade

Movement is such a crucial part of human physical and mental development. Our program is dedicated to instilling a love of physical activity within our students and having that translate to their everyday life. Our objectives will be to improve body control, spatial awareness, object manipulation, and visual tracking. Learning the basics of movement will allow students to progress on to more challenging skills and tasks fluidly. This will give them the confidence to participate in various physical activities. Some skills we focus on are throwing, dribbling, and striking using short or long handled implements. Year to year we will incorporate multi-step skills that are both age and ability appropriate. To build social skills students will learn the importance of mindfulness, self-expression, cooperation and communication. Cognitively our goal is for students to apply their knowledge of health, nutrition, and fitness to create a safe and healthy environment. Through interdisciplinary lesson plans we will incorporate arts, math, science and more into our experience. Learners will be able to showcase all of their hard work in the gymnasium when they perform at the spring dance festival. It will take the work of the entire community to establish a love of health and fitness so we ask that family and friends join us at our annual Family Fitness night!

3rd Grade to 5th Grade
As our students progress through their physical education program they will be introduced to new skills, activities, and sports that will help them grow physically, socially, and cognitively. Research shows that age and physical activity have an inverse relationship; where the older we get the less active we are. Keeping this in mind we have a responsibility to ourselves and our learners to motivate them to stay active now and in future years. We teach students the difference between physical activity and exercise, emphasizing that physical activity is the priority. Our program prepares students by focusing on the skills first, then adding structure i.e. rules and strategy. Games are also modified to fit the appropriate ability level for every individual class. A major focus is the importance of maintaining physical activity for health benefits. Our students are placed in an environment that fosters comfort and self-confidence. Lesson plans are diversified and always contain interdisciplinary focuses. This year we will have a strong focus on health related fitness & anatomy. Students will be proficient in career relevant tasks such assessing heart rate, step count, knowing major muscle groups and more. 4th and 5th graders will be assessed on all 5 components of fitness when they complete the NYC Fitnessgram. They will learn the importance of self-assessment and goal setting by beginning their journey to be in the “Healthy Fitness Zone.” Please see www.schools.nyc.gov/nycfitnessgram for more details.