By Heather Monahan
Staff writer
Learning how to throw and catch a ball is not only a rite of passage for children, but it also gives them the basic foundations of perseverance, cooperation and teamwork.
Kinder Kinetics provides local preschool children with a fun opportunity to learn these basic skills from Bonaventure students.
The program takes place every Tuesday from 11:45 a.m. to 12:45p.m. in Butler Gym.
Kinder Kinetics runs for two four-week sessions. Children age 3 to 5 from the Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) program at Washington West Elementary School attended four weeks before Bonaventure’s midterm break. After break, 4- and 5-year-olds from the Montessori and Southern Tier Catholic schools have their turn.
The program was originally started in the 1990s by CraigZuckerman. Paula Scraba, associate professor of physical education and current head of the program, said although the program is more than 20 years old, its main goal remains the same: providing kids with a preschool physical education program.
Scraba said each four-week session is divided into two parts. The first two weeks, she said, are dedicated to the perceptual motor skills. In these two weeks, the children’s motor skills, such as directionality, balance and coordination, are assessed. The following two weeks are dedicated to analysis on skills like running, throwing and catching balls.
Lance Hardy, a senior sports studies major, said the program greatly benefits the children involved.
“The biggest benefit the children get is the practice of motor skills that they wouldn’t normally receive at home or even in the classroom setting,” Hardy said.
Kinder Kinetics is valuable not only to the preschoolers involved, but also for the students in the PHED 105 class who teach the children.
By putting the PHED 105 students in an actual classroom setting with young children, Scraba said it gives them real experience and tests their teaching, communication and teamwork skills.
Students enjoy the experience of working with the preschoolers and feel it is important to continue the program.
“This class doesn’t compare to any other class I have taken because in this class we have to come up with lesson plans, task cards and then we are in charge of our children completely,” said Karly Kocis, a sophomore sports studies major.
Kocis said the Kinder Kinetics program has helped her develop and improve her teaching skills.
“It allows us to work with children that are developmentally delayed to children that are very responsive,” she said.
She also mentioned the adaptation to different, necessary styles of teaching.
“It gives the physical education majors the opportunity to get a head start on how to deal with certain students, as well as how to reward them,” Kocis said.
Hardy agrees it is a good experience to have before getting a job in the field.
“It’s a firsthand experience at what the future holds for us,” Hardy said.
Kinder Kinetics’ graduate assistant, Tim Gallagher, said the program is a good first teaching experience that provides getting hands-on experience with students with disabilities.
“There aren’t too many freshman education majors at other schools who have experience teaching,” Gallagher said.
PHED 105 students past and present said the best part of the program is seeing the children having fun.
“It was very nice to see the children coming into the gym and leaving with smiles on their faces, knowing we did our job and they had fun doing it,” Kocis said.
Gallagher agreed.
“When they are having fun at Kinder Kinetics, you know it, whether it’s them giving you a hug or the grin on their face,” he said.
monahahm10@bonaventure.edu
