Any way to make PE bearable

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Hi,

I wondered if there might be any PE teachers here who could offer advice?

My ds is 6 and is having PE taught by a man who comes from the local professional football team. Ds says the lessons are really hard and he is worn out by them. PE day is his worst day of the week and it is starting to taint the whole school experience.

I wondered if any PE teachers could offer advice for a child who is just not really able to run very fast, on how to make PE a pleasure rather than a chore?

He got an E for excellent in effort, so I think the teacher knows he is really trying. He says he gets hot, but they're not allowed to take their tops off.

Thanks!

The problem is, if you don't do exercise, exercise becomes harder to do, and you end up in a spiral of it being too tiring to exercise etc. Once a week parkrun (which might be 9am near you, they're not all at 10!) isn't going to do a whole lot.

Dance is actually quite tricky, until you're skilled enough, it's can be quite a low intensity activity. Quite a few sports are like this, you don't get red cheeks and puffed out until you're skilled enough to keep working. But it's still better that he gets out doing things now to build up to that.

My 6-y-o DD was 10 weeks premature and had hypermobility and low muscle tone as a baby/toddler, yet she can now run a whole parkrun (5km) without complaining of tiredness later in the day. We’ve not ‘worked up’ to this with a fitness regime, and I very much doubt she’s above average at PE. She only does ballet/tap for exercise outside school.

I still think that OP’s son either has a PE teacher whose expectations are very unreasonable (are others in the class complaining?) or he has an undiagnosed medical condition.

My 4.5yo does ballet, gymnastics and swimming outside of school.if you're concerned that he is too tired after one extra curricular activity then it does seem that maybe he needs to work on his fitness? Does he eat and good diet and is he generally well? You seem to be describing energy levels much lower than I would expect.

I wonder if it's about different physical types. Is he relatively small if he enjoys dancing? My DD is very fit but is a tiny little gymnast and at 6 she really hated running and wasn't very fast at it. Up to a point, her legs were just much smaller than almost anyone else's

What helped with that was not making her run a lot, but starting to do more after school gymnastics. She loved it and it built up her fitness and stamina. Really chuffed in the Sports Day races to come second of the slow bunch rather than last of everyone.

I'd look at a dance or gymnastics class after school when you think he is ready, and as others have said find out when the class will be moving on from football. At DDs school it's a half termly rotation of different things, so there is hope!

My two children (5 and 6, boy and girl) have both recently started and infant street dance class. They both love it.

"He dances all the time at home though, so I think he's getting plenty of that."

That indicates he's getting enough exercise to use up energy, but not actually help him build up muscle to make him stronger.

My ds is stick thin boy due to chronic illness. He participated lots of ex-cul sports activities since 4(after he had major surgery).
He was dreadful back then, but he carried on, at 9, he has more stamina than most. Recently he beat lots of secondary children on long running session in the club.
If he loves dancing, I would enrol him on one of dance club that do regular basic muscle strengthening work.

Our 3 year old does gymnastics and swimming once a week as well as nursery 5 days a week. This 6 year old sounds very lethargic. Try to find something he enjoys and do it twice a week. Does he sleep well? What time does he go to bed? Our kids are in bed by 7.30pm.

"They shouldn't be doing anything too strenuous at 6!"

Really? Have you met a 6 year old?

I didn't mean they shouldn't be as in you shouldn't let them what I meant was they won't be doing anything too strenuous for them in PE! As they will be doing age appropriate activities not expected to run marathons etc. I own a 6 year old.

PPA for our Year 2s is covered ( in part) by a sports coach, with an emphasis on fitness. They do warm up exercises, before they learn skills like football, basketball, tennis, etc. It is a full-on 3/4 hour, but the kids seem to enjoy it. They have another PE session with the class teacher in the week, which is apparatus or gym or dance.
Perhaps it will make your DS feel the part with a proper kit, but it sounds like he just isn't sporty, and I don't think there is anything wrong with that. It sounds like dance is his thing, and I definitely think you should explore that for him. As long as he is trying as best he can in the sports lessons, that's all you can ask for, which it seems is the case.

I agree with irvine Ds2 (8) dances -tap and street - and it is only now (after 4 years) that he's good enough to get anything like a workout from doing it. How often is your ds ending up flushed, panting and sweating from his efforts?

It's surprising they are not allowed take their top off which l presume is some kind of hoody. In our school the tops are all off and they are really sweating. That must make it very uncomfortable for him. Think proper gear that cools him down might help. Does he bring water? I was always anaemic at school and often weak after exercise and turned out later to have low blood pressure.

Ballet is the best way to start in dance. It's a good foundation. It's much more refined than tap or street dance. Also, some ballet schools give discounts to boys.

I found the comment about him getting ill if doing to much rather odd. All the 6 year olds I know do several extra curricular things a week - gym, martial arts, footy, rugby, dance, swimming etc The ones who are good do more than an hour a day...

"He tends to wear out and get ill if we organise too much for him"

I think he needs to see the doctor.

The little fellow definitely needs dance lessons, and a trip to the GP if he can't manage them.