A Letter to Parents

What are we doing in gym today? This is what many physical education teachers hear each day as their classes come into the gym or out onto the playground. Many of you might be surprised at what your children are doing in today's physical education classes. In the Southern Berkshire Regional School District we have been working very hard to educate our students in what it means to be healthy and fit. It means much more than being a good athlete or being on a winning team. We teach them not only how to stay well, but why it is important to exercise, eat good food, get plenty of sleep and stay away from alcohol, tobacco and drugs. I will not bore you with a lot of statistics. We have all heard about how unfit our society is. We have too much fat in our diets and we don't exercise enough. As teachers and parents we need to try harder to teach our children lifelong fitness habits.

Here are some things you can do as parents to help your children lead fit and healthy lives.

Be a good role model. Cook and eat healthly meals. Exercise on a regular basis. Don't smoke.
Encourage your children to take part in activities, such as sports, dance and gymnastics.
Plan family activities which involve movement such as raking the lawn, biking, hiking or taking part in a walk-a-thon.
Limit the amount of time that your children watch TV or play video games.
Be a supporter of physical education at school. Recent educational reform has put pressure on administrators to schedule more time for language arts, math and science and less for physical education and the arts.

Want to know more about the Massachusetts Frameworks for Health and Physical Education. Go to the DOE web site, click on the "select program area" drop down list and choose curriculum frameworks.

Visit the SBRSD web site to find out more about our district.

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