Elementary Physical Education

All over the world, compulsory education is divided into three stages. The first stage is pre-school education. Pre-school education is followed by primary or elementary education. Secondary education or middle school is meant function as preparation for high school. Most of the countries around the world have compulsory primary education but there are some regions where they have granted permission to the parents to provide primary education to their children. The age at which a child transfers from primary to secondary or high school education is different in different places but mostly around age 11 or 12.

What is Elementary Physical Education?
The main aim of primary education is to provide children with the basic knowledge of literature, mathematics and lay the foundation of other social sciences like geography and history etc. Usually children receive their primary education in elementary or primary schools, where they consistently advance in classes and finally reach high school. Children are usually placed with one teacher who is responsible for their education for the whole year. That teacher is assisted sometimes by other teachers for the subject areas that don't come under the expertise of that teacher.

In the USA, primary school is more commonly known as grade school or grammar school. Primary education is comprised of either 6 or 8 grades and sometimes includes kindergarten as well. In elementary schools, teachers usually imply a looping strategy, in which the same teacher teaches the same group of students for two years. For example, if a teacher teaches grade 2 the whole year, then the teacher would go on and teach those students in grade 3 as well. And after that the teacher would revert back to grade 2 and repeat the whole process again.

Keeping the body active is important for the health of growing children; this may be done by offering recreational or sporting activities which may include jump rope or team sports like football, baseball or basketball etc. According to NASPE's recommendations school-age kids should avoid a sedentary lifestyle and should engage in physical activities lasting up to 60 minutes per day.

According to the National Association for Sport and Physical Education (NASPE), every child in USA has a right to have quality physical education and physical activity. Physical education is by far the best way to teach them the techniques and skills required for a healthy and active lifestyle by providing them physical activity. Teachers for Physical education assess different knowledge of the student and also their social and motor skills, and provide them the physical education accordingly. According to NASPE's recommendation, elementary school children should be provided with at least 150 minutes physical education per week, and as for middle and high school students the duration should be 225 minutes per week.

Compulsory Elementary Physical Education is the best way to ensure that school age children are getting the recommended daily exercise.