Do you feel like your kids have a lot of free time? As a result, screen time is starting to go out of control. Perhaps, worried that your kids are starting to fall apart and probably hitting some kind of emotional stress. If all of these sound familiar, you are not alone. Several homeschoolers and non-homeschoolers are feeling the remnants of the pandemic rush that put almost everyone at gridlock.
If you have been away from the news limelight lately, or probably too focused on the political events happening in the world, you might have missed the several weeks wherein sports have been trending. To name a few are Tennis Australian Open, Winter Olympics, World Cup, American Football, and so much more.
While looking at your child’s play, dribble a ball or make those flips, did it ever cross your mind that your child can be the next sports professional GOAT (Greatest of all Time)? It is not far from possible. Observant parents were able to catch that gift in their child and have turned that gift into a professional career.
What if you are not an observant parent? What if you don’t know how to spot a gift? Well, then, it is time to think about including sports in each of your child’s learning. So that in case you have missed it or do not know how to spot one, coaches or someone watching your child play can see that gift.
Having sports is one of the many ways to enhance learning in your homeschool space. Since homeschooled kids are most flexible with their schedule they have more time to practice which gives them more (unfair) advantage than other kids who goes to regular school.
Not only sports can enhance your learning space, but it also brings tremendous benefits.
Physical Activities
According to this article by health.gov here are the key guidelines for physical activities per age bracket:
Pre-School to Aged Children (ages 3 to 5 years) should be physically active the entire day for their skills development and growth.
Children and adolescents (6 to 17 years) are recommended for medium to vigorous physical activity for at least one (1) hour a day. This includes a variety of cardiovascular, strength, and resistance training.
Sports activity can sustain these key guidelines towards physical activity.
Chances to go Outdoors
Most sports are done outdoor. Not only that it gives your child the much-needed Vitamin D, but it also allows your child and yourself to get rid of cabin fever, especially during colder or rainy seasons. Establish a routine applicable to the type of climate you have in your area. If you live in a temperate climate, you can schedule outdoor sports activities during the warmest hours of the day during winter and colder hours of the day during summer. Since you are homeschooling, it gives you that flexibility, hooray!
Yes, you can smile knowing you have flexibility with your schedule when homeschooling.
Enhancement of Child’s Concentration
Sports are regarded also as a mental activity. Behind a physical action is a mind that is calculating. When should I swing to hit the ball? How hard should I swing to hit the ball? How hard should I kick the ball? Which direction should I kick the ball? That is an entire calculation happening to your child’s mind before hands and feet coordinate with the entire body. Once it has that basic muscle memory, your child’s mind will continue to calculate. It’s a Math thing!
On the physical side, sports thus make your child’s blood flow. With more oxygen getting distributed to the body more happy hormones are produced – endorphins, dopamine, serotonin, and oxytocin. Take a closer look at serotonin, which is the hormone that improves your child’s learning ability and memory.
Sportsmanship
This is true espcially when your child competes. Sportsmanship can’t be learned without being part of a game where there is a winner, and a loser. It is like you can’t learn to bike without a bike. To learn the art of winning and losing, it doesn’t only happen once, it has to be happen again and again and again to get to the rhythm of losing or winning.
This covers several character development in your child. It teaches humility during victory and defeat, integrity when there is a call, to tell the truth, and courage when there is a need to deal with disappointments. Your child will learn that life is not always about winning, but also about losing. Comes greater battles when they grow older, your child’s mind has been trained to accept outcomes.
Leadership
The younger child rarely gets an opportunity to lead. When they do, seize the opportunity. Opportunities are happening in the world of sports. They can be a team captain for younger ones or a coach for older ones. Sport is a safer place to start learning about leadership because there is not a lot at stake. It is leading while learning and having fun.
Opportunities to put others first than themselves, opportunities to decide what is best for the team and not for themselves. Leadership allows your child to make decisions for team’s benefit, and not for personal gains.
Team Spirit
There is no “I” in a team. Exposing your child to be a part of a team is a big game-changer in the way they accomplish some of their milestones. This is integral to their learning experience as they get connected through a team with a common goal. Some would realize that being in the team makes it easier for them to accomplish a bigger goal versus doing it by themselves. They are part of a bigger ecosystem where each person has a role to contribute. The spirit of the team prepares your child when they embark on their careers or when they decide to start their own company.
Opportunities for the team can also happen in individual sports. Note that individual tennis players have their team, too. Keep that team spirit alive.
Opportunities to Meet Other Kids of the Same Interest
Socialization does not only come to play here but deeper than that. It is about friendship, sometimes a brotherhood or a sisterhood. The game played in a great common ground. Looking towards common love for the sports played elevates the relationship. Parents also have opportunities to establish friendships with other parents. Now, please don’t get to the point of comparing your kids to others. Each one has his own rule. There should be no competition among their teammates and don’t encourage one either. Learn by doing
Learn by Doing
Have you ever learned something just by doing it? Like riding a bike. You simply have to get on the bike and learn. No books to read. No step-by-step process. Just learn. This goes the same way as sports. All you need is to pick up the right ball and play. This opens up a new learning pattern to them wherein learning can happen without a book. This same learning pattern can be used later in their lives.
Do they want to learn to write a story? Just write.
Do they want to learn how to add? Just add.
Yes, there are a set of rules but that comes in later. For now, you know they can learn a skill just by doing.
Oppotunities to Work With Coaches or Masters
Being able to learn with coaches or masters gives a child a sense of respect for those who know the sport. They will learn that they don’t have to learn everything by themselves. There is someone called a coach or master who can guide them in their learning. Unknowingly, they develop another aspect of respect and humility that there are “older” people who have learned before them and can provide real-life guidance into their learning. No book can ever replace having a real-time coach or master in their learning journey.
Athletic College #scholarship Opportunities through Sports
How about some savings in your child’s college expenses? Yes, a sport in their portfolio can provide this opportunity. They must, however, possess the skills of being hardworking, serious about the sports, and competitive to win. On a more advantageous side, most athletic scholarships require a certain grade academic average to continue receiving the benefits of scholarship. So win-win! Your child gets a free ride in college and still maintains a good grade. Yes, include this in one of your aha moments.
Possible Opportunities to go Pro
You will never know if your child has a gift for certain sports skill if you don’t try. The fortunate ones were able to find this gift as early as 4 years old. So if your child looks to have a lot of energy, or you think they need some kind of physical activity, enroll them in sports. Have them try several sports until they find their right coordination. If you live in the United States, several sports learning opportunities are free. Sites like Usta.org, usga.org, your county or town sites have these opportunities.
If your child finds its gift in sports or someone spots your child’s unique sports skills, you might be on your way toward supporting a child who wants to go Pro.
Long-term Impact
Sports provide a long-term impact on your children’s learning. It is one of the activities wherein someone needs to exert discipline to get it right, hit milestones, and be great at it. Like practicing at least an hour every day, hitting x number of balls every day, or waking up early in the morning. They also learn ways how to have optimal concentration during the game, mental toughness and bouncing back after a defeat, humility when they win, and several other character-building opportunities. They would learn that once in their lifetime they learned something by doing, and through constant practice, they got better. As they grow and learn about the discipline in their game, they unconsciously use this kind of approach when learning new skills.
Family Bonding Opportunities
Since homeschooled kids do not require to be in school for seven hours a day, there are plenty of opportunities to bond. Instead of sitting around to bond, try sports. The memories of you playing with them leave a longer impact. It is probably one of the memorable moments they will have. Use it as an opportunity to learn with them, practice with them, while you observe how they learn.
Learning sports with your child is one of the activities you can do to know them more without the pressure. It puts you on a more relax environment while observing how they learn, and how you can learn together. This same principle can be applied when learning academics with your child.
You will be amazed how much confidence your children can build along with these family bonding moments. Those moments can fill their love tanks, and they use that same tank when serving opportunities come along to your children’s life.
The list of sports is endless. Most areas in the US also have free clinics for most sports. You don’t have to look far, see which sports facility is near you and start trying. If your child has a gift for sports, he or she might choose to be a professional player one day. Even if your child does not end up as professional, other benefits listed above give your child advantages in life.
Then slowly realize that your child NOW has more time outside, is more confident, more energetic, more decision-makers, and is slowly becoming a lifetime learner.
