Gymtrail programme of exercises

[AttilaTheMeerkat]

I have been taking my son to the above school run programme for a couple of years now but I do sometimes wonder how effective it all actually is. The school tell me that their one is based on what the physios/OT advise. I'm not saying it doesn't help at all (it has helped my son to a certain extent but then he also has a Statement which gives him a set number of hours of support per week which undoubtedly has also benefitted him). School place a lot of emphasis on GT and invite parents to bring their children to it.

I do wonder whether such programmes have been evaluated at all as actually helping children with various co-ordination difficulties. I'm thinking here of the various criticism levelled against the Dore programme of exercises. Part of me also thinks that these children could be also served well by giving them more and better support in class but that's another matter entirely!.

For those who don't know what this is Gymtrail (probably has several different names) uses physical activity and fine motor skills work to help children with co-ordination difficulties. The one we do is a 15 minute programme done most days during the week. This may involve throwing tennis balls at a sticky target, threading beads, using a hockey stick to push along a ball between cones etc.

This particular programme we attend also starts before school. I know of people who have declined to send their kids to gymtrail for this very reason. I presume though it cannot be done after school due to time constraints.

Thoughts on all the above are welcomed.

[Blu]

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