aplusathletics

How can gymnastics improve your child’s academic performance?  Studies indicate that skills learned in gymnastics classes translate into better academic achievement and behavior in school.  My 5th grade son has been in gymnastics classes since kindergarten and I believe it has helped him significantly in developing his sense of fairness, cooperation, self-esteem and focus.  During gymnastics classes, kids learn to control their impulsivity by waiting turns, develop confidence and an “I can do it!” attitude as they learn new skills, work on memory skills by remembering how to perform specific skills and what to do at each station, and independence by performing drills throughout various stations on their own.  I also believe that his ability to listen to and then carry out complex, multi-step instructions has benefited from gymnastics.  Gymnastics offers many opportunities for kids to practice following complex, multi-step instructions from new skill development to learning routines.  Young students will benefit from the improvement in coordination that gymnastics brings with greater hand control resulting in more legible writing and beautiful art projects.  And the sequential, rhythmic progressions used in gymnastics to master new skills contributes to quicker processing of academic information, especially in reading fluency and comprehension.  Also helpful to the young reader is gymnastics’ constant reinforcement of directional terms.  During a preschool gymnastics class, all activities include some sort of directional term, such as, over, under, next to, between, left or right.  An increased familiarity with these directional terms helps young readers follow the left to right sequencing needed to follow words across a page and helps them distinguish between similar letters such as b, d, p and q. As you can see, gymnastics provides many benefits to your child’s academic success.  A Plus Athletics, the gym in which my son takes classes, strongly believes in these principles and incorporates them in their class planning and coaching.  So if you are looking for a sport for your preschool, elementary, or middle school student to participate in, gymnastics at A Plus Athletics is great place to start.  They offer preschool, beginner, intermediate, and advanced gymnastics classes for boys and girls, as well as, a boys team and tumble and trampoline.  Contact A Plus Athletics at www.aplusathletics.com or call 303-953-7320.

Sports are so important in the lives of today’s youth.  Soccer, basketball, baseball, wrestling, and football are the traditional sports that come to mind, especially for boys, but what about gymnastics.  Gymnastics is a well-rounded sport, conditioning the core mind and body and developing strength, balance, coordination, flexibility and agility.  My son began gymnastics classes at the age of 5 and now, at the age of 11, is one of the strongest, if not the strongest, and most fit boys in his class at school. By the time he was in 1st grade, he was outperforming  6th grade boys in pull-ups.  As a Level 6 team gymnast at A+ Athletics, his coach, Erik Oldham, strives to ensure that each of his gymnasts remain healthy, not only physically but also mentally.  Erik’s goal of maintaining great physical health and avoiding injury is achieved through proper skill progressions, workouts and conditioning.  The A Plus Athletics Boys Program includes pre-beginner boys from age 4 through intermediate and advanced boys up to age 18.  The boys train on all six Olympic events — floor, vault, high bar, pommel horse, rings, and parallel bars — as well as trampoline.  A Plus Athletics also has a Boys Team currently training levels 4 through 8.  Since gymnastics builds strength and coordination better than any other sport, it transitions well and is beneficial to all of the above mentioned traditional sports, as well as diving.  Of course, your son may decide that gymnastics is his sport of choice and stick with gymnastics through college.  Contact A Plus Athletics at www.aplusathletics.com or call 303-953-7320.

Gymnastics for Preschool

Have you been looking for an activity to exhaust some of your preschooler’s unending energy?  How about gymnastics for your preschool boy or girl? Our 11 year old son began gymnastics at the age of 5 and loved the movement and challenge of the sport. Gymnastics is just plain fun for little kids, not to mention what an amazing workout gymnastics provides to build core strength for all kinds of sports in their future. The  A Plus Athletics preschool gymnastics program focuses on a noncompetitive approach to the learning process, as they promote the feeling of “I Am A Champion” in each child.  These preschool classes maintain a low teacher to student ratio in order to ensure each gymnast optimal instruction from certified gymnastics instructors.  The instructors set the gymnastics apparatus into circuits around the gym which allows the children minimal downtime as they learn by doing during their class.  Creative lesson plans are used to present gymnastics and motor skills in a fun and unique way. Classes are 50 minutes long and offered a variety of days and times to fit your schedule.   A Plus Athletics is one of the cleanest, well-managed, gymnastics studios in Colorado and is located just south of Arapahoe Rd. and Parker Rd. — a convenient location for anyone in Centennial, Aurora, Parker, Greenwood Village, or Lone Tree.  They also offer beginner through advanced boys and girls gymnastics classes, a boys team, and trampoline and tumbling classes.  I would definitely recommend A Plus Athletics.  Visit their website at:  www.aplusathletics.com.