More About Program Impact on Physical Literacy

Making physical literacy a priority requires changes from all involved in the care and education of children. Child-centred programs can be attained through the cooperation and joint action of care-givers, the education system and the recreation and sport community.

Working together

In the past there has been little communication between schools delivering physical education and school sport, and those community groups delivering elite or recreational sport. With a focus on developing physical literacy, these sectors need to work more closely together to ensure that there is a seamless pathway for the young person developing their physical literacy skills.

Early childhood educators

Since education in physical activity is not always a high priority in the training of Canadian early childhood educators, and many parents are not well prepared to deal with the Active Start activities of their young children there is a great need for help and guidance. HOP: Health Opportunities for Preschoolers documents are available through the Active Start section or from the School of Exercise Science, Physical and Health Education at the University of Victoria. 

Don’t forget to play

Introduce young children to new games and activities. Opportunities for unstructured play are important. Guidelines suggest 30 to 60 minutes of structured activity for toddlers every day, and several hours of unstructured play – with activities initiated by the child. These unstructured play activities are sometimes called “deliberate” play.

Let’s get rhythm

Basic rhythm skills are developed during the early years of life. They open up later possibilities for lifelong involvement in dance, music and other artistic activities. Rhythm activities also help develop fluid movement patterns that can help children perform many fundamental movement and fundamental sport skills with greater ease and efficiency.

When children don’t have physical literacy

Not being physically literate has consequences for the child as well as the schools, recreation programs and organized sports.

Schools: When students arrive at secondary school without having developed physical literacy, physical education teachers spend time trying to basic teach movement and sport skills. If the students have not had success in physical education in the earlier grades, they will frequently develop negative attitudes towards the subject that makes them unwilling to fully participate.

Recreation programs: Lack of physical literacy means children and youth are less likely to take part in recreation programs for fitness, health and enjoyment. This lowers potential enrollment in recreation programs and decreases associated revenues. This may lead to the closure of programs and even facilities. If children without physical literacy enrol in recreation and sport programs, it becomes difficult for instructors to provide equal instruction to those with good movement skills and those needing remedial assistance.

Sport organizations: Lack of physical literacy leads to fewer potential athletes. This means local, provincial and national teams have fewer athletes to choose from, which ultimately leads to poorer performances on the international stage. Coaches in the Train to Train, Train to Compete, and even the Train to Win stages of Long-term Athlete Development must spend time working on fundamental movement and fundamental sport skills that their athletes should have already mastered.

Developing Physical Literacy in Every Child

Ensuring every child has the opportunity and instruction to develop physical literacy will be a challenge. Parents and care-givers must both hold organizations accountable and support those programs that foster physical literacy.

To ensure every child has the opportunities and quality instruction necessary to develop physical literacy will be a challenge, particularly for those growing up in difficult circumstances or who come from traditionally under-represented populations. They have included:

• Aboriginal youth
• Youth with a disability
• Girls; especially those from ethnic groups that have not traditionally valued physical activity
• Disadvantaged inner-city youth

Parents and care-givers must demand that schools, pre-school and day care centres, community recreation centres and sport organizations make physical literacy a priority. Programs should be child-development centred rather than sport centred.

Parents also need to support programs and organizations that foster physical literacy, and, where possible, avoid those that either do not offer sufficient physical activity, or offer activities that are far too specialized too early in life.

Canadian children have the opportunities to learn the physical literacy skills necessary for engagement in health-enhancing sport activities or pursuit of athletic excellence. Each sport organization that offers a program will cover different physical literacy skills. Figure 16, below, can act as a guide.

It will be a challenge to ensure that every child has a wide range of opportunities and the quality instruction to develop physical literacy. The challenge will be particularly difficult for those children growing up in difficult circumstances, or those who come from populations that have traditionally been under-represented in physical activity, recreation, and sport.

Those under-represented groups have included:

• Aboriginal youth
• Youth with a disability
• Girls; especially those from ethnic groups that have not traditionally valued physical activity
• Disadvantaged inner-city youth

The challenge of ensuring that children from these disadvantaged groups develop physical literacy will only be met when parents and care-givers demand that schools, pre-school and day care centres, community recreation centres and sport organizations make it a priority.

Programs should be child-development centred rather than sport centred. Parents and care-givers need to hold the organizations that work with their children accountable for delivering activities and programs that develop fundamental movement and fundamental sport skills from birth to the onset of adolescence.

Parents also need to support programs and organizations that foster physical literacy. Where possible, they should avoid programs that either do not offer sufficient physical activity, or that offer activities that are too specialized too early in life.

Programs that develop physical literacy need to be child centred, parent driven, and club, school and community supported.

Where in the Canadian sport system can children learn physical literacy skills?

There are unlimited opportunities for Canadian children to learn the physical literacy skills that will enable them to engage in health enhancing sport activities or to pursue their dreams of athletic excellence. Many national and provincial sport organizations have programs – and more are being added all the time. Sometimes it is not easy to work out what physical literacy skills your child will learn from programs in a particular sport. Figure 16 will help you.

This is not a definitive list since programs change all the time. Use it as a rough guide only.

Not everyone agrees on exactly which sport programs best develop which physical literacy skills. Our aim is to be roughly right about the “Big Picture” rather than exactly right about any specific skill or sport.

Figure 16: Types of Fundamental Skills