Learning new skills can be a lifelong pursuit. But whether you're a kid or an adult, it isn't easy to perfect a jump shot or a karate kata.
And while specialized, competitive sports are a popular choice of extra-curricular activity for kids these days, a growing body of research suggests that perfection and competition are not what kids should be striving for.
"Really what kids need to be exposed to particularly from (ages) zero-six, but arguably even later than that, is just a really broad gross motor-development curriculum that exposes them to all sports and all sport elements in a very non-competitive environment," explains Jennifer Hood, a certified coach and owner of Jump Gymnastics in North Vancouver.
This different approach involves building physical literacy, and Hood, a former elementary school teacher, says the idea behind it is similar to basic literacy and numeracy skills kids learn at school. Physical literacy seeks to build a child's confidence in moving in a variety of sports environments, and also to give that child the tools and the skills needed to explore playing a whole variety of different sports.
The current sport system in Canada is built on picking a sport at a young age and pursuing that, says Hood, noting the original thinking was the more competitive a child was at an early age the more competitive he or she would be at a later age.
"But actually research has proven exactly the opposite of that," says Hood.
She explains that the core elements of many sports share similarities, so if kids are exposed to a variety of those elements at a young age, they will develop transferable skills.
"Once they have this really broad base then they can explore something that might truly interest them, and then later around puberty years is the ideal time to introduce kids to competitive sports," says Hood. "Research has found that kids that come out of a system like this that's a really broad-spectrum introduction to sports end up becoming more competitive on a world and international stage and generally more active for the rest of their lives."
The first step to teaching physical literacy is for parents and kids to embrace the concept of effort and not final results, says Hood. She says parents should praise a child's effort rather than telling kids they are good at something or they are smart.
"There's a really great research study released that talks about when you tell kids they're smart they actually end up performing poorer on tests because they feel that it's not something in their control. They're either good at it or they're not, and there's nothing they can do about that."
She says she talks a lot to parents about letting go of preconceived notions of what they or their kids may or may not be good at, and understanding that they don't know where their journey of learning is going to take them.
It's also important for parents and kids to stop caring about trying to be perfect at something, especially when it comes to movement and sport.
"There really isn't a perfect way to move your body," says Hood. "There are efficient ways to do it, there are esthetically pleasing ways to do. There are motor-coordinated ways to do it, but there isn't a perfect way to do it."
Look for a longer version of this story and practical tips for learning new skills in the Parenting section of the North Shore News website at nsnews.com.
