Ready Steady Go Kids: Sports and Learning, Rolled Into One!

        

        My little Rainbow is already turning 3 this coming October. Most of the kids here in our neighbor, some even younger than Rain, have already started school in one of the nurseries in our village. And frankly I've been a bit pressured thinking I should also already send Rain to school. But at the same time, I also believe that the traditional schools focuses more on socializing. And I was worried that I might just compare Rain with other kids that might already know how to add. (exaggerating). But something inside me didn't feel that Rain is ready to start real school.

        I want Rain to go to a place where she can do some fun activities and at the same time have fun in learning. A learning place that she won't be "graded" yet with the number of alphabets or numbers that she memorizes. 

        So now I'm thanking my lucky stars that I discovered Ready Steady Go Kids through the invite of Janice (Mommy Mundo). She introduced me and other mommy bloggers to the people who brought this brilliant Preschool sport and exercise program from Australia, and is now operating in more than 150 locations in Australia and across Asia! And I was so happy Rain got to try it!

        Ready Steady Go Kids or RSG Kids is an awesome program that integrates sports + learning + fun all together. It's not your usual classroom and flashcard and blackboard set up. Since the program focuses a lot on sporty activities, the programs are held in covered courts, and two coaches facilitate each session. The dream is to introduce your kids to the world of sports so as to promote healthy lifestyle, for kids to develop a life long passion for sports, to help lessen childhood obesity, to give kids confidence, and more importantly for Rain, to prepare her for the real school. So she'll get more used to playing with other kids and to follow instructions from her teacher or coach. I think this will really give her an edge when she starts the real bigger school. 

        I was so interested that I signed Rain up for a free trial. First thing on my check list? Buy Rain rubber shoes!

        I picked this pair at SM Aura's department store not only because it's Hello Kitty / girly / pink, but because the soles are so light, making Rain run with ease! Got it for P900+

              Treston College in BGC. One of RSG's rented basket ball courts. Their other venue is in Valle Verde 5.

        Treston's covered basketball court. First time I saw a basketball court in the second floor of a building. This is one sossy school! Oh sorry back to the program...

        Before hand, the coaches informed us that we should arrive at least 15 minutes earlier so that the child can familiarize herself with the big venue. Once they run around and get their curiosity of the venue out of the way, they can focus more on the program. But because it slipped my mind that the time was same as end of classes, I underestimated the traffic in front of the school. We were at SM Aura which was technically only 5 minutes away. But because of after-school congestion in front of Treston, we were around 15 minutes late :(

        But I really appreciated the fact that they waited for us before they started! (I really am so sorry for being late!) So anyway, so it begins... First the kids were called to sit in a circle formation and sing a getting-to-know-you song where they say their names. The teachers are referred to as "coaches". For this session, we were with Coach Meriel and Coach Sonny. Both excellent with kids and have a Level 1 Coaching qualification from Australia. Plus, at least one of the trainers available per session is trained for First Aid for pre-schoolers. This is good to know!

       Parents can join the activity to help their child follow the instructions. I knew Rain's attention span would still be short so I joined in to help her stay put, and run after her when she gets distracted with the fun materials that are laid out on the other side of the gym to be used for later. That being said, it was a good call for me to also wear sneakers that day. But.....

        ... I should have also worn a bigger and more sporty shirt! Because after the greeting part came the warm up! The kids were asked to go to one side of the gym and go back and fourth a couple of times, each time in a different way. (Video at the bottom of this post)

        First was to sprint, then to hop like a frog, then walk side ways like a crab, hop like a kangaroo, and more. I remember panting a lot after. Hahaha! But I was happy that Rain followed for most parts before she would run again to the other side of the gym towards the toys haha!

        And then finally, it was time to use the toys! They were going to learn how to swing a toy golf club and hit the ball! They were each given 3 balls, and on the coaches' cue, will hit the ball.  After hitting all 3 balls, the couch would ask them to get the basket and pick up the balls. And then hit the balls again. With this activity, kids will learned how to hit a ball, how to make it go in a direction they wanted, and how to clean up after themselves by getting the balls back. (This is just my unprofessional observation.) Of course during their first try, the little ones were all over the place, of course including Rain! They would get each others balls, and I ended up picking up the 3 balls for Rain of course. (Video at the bottom of this post)

        Next was the hot potato game. They (well, we) pretended that the yellow ball was a potato. And when coach says "hot potato!" we would pass the ball around very quickly because it was "hot". And when coach says "cold potato", we would pretend to eat it. "Yum yum yum!" (Although personally I would rather eat fried potato. Not cold ones. Haha!)

        From time to time they were asked to take a water break. And then it was time for the final activity, the obstacle course! 

First they take a leap over these yellow plastic thingy... Go Rain! Go!!!

Then walk backwards following this curvy connected blocks in between their legs 

Then like a refresher activity, putt a golf ball inside a cone.

Then skippity skip on these hoops. (Together, apart. Together, apart)

But I think she was more in the mood for some hoola hooping.

        Then next was to zig zag around the cones, then step on the small square pillows "to avoid the hot lava", (both of which I didn't get a photo of)... and then finally, shoot the ball in the hoop! I asked Rain's yaya to accompany Rain in her second obstacle round so I can take the photos. Yes, Rain had so much fun that she wanted to have another go haha! 

        After all the kids had taken their turn/s on the obstacle course, the program was finished. Then it was time for a little cool-down stretching activity on the floor.

 

        They all had a final volt-in cheer and congratulated everyone for job well done! I liked how Coach Meriel and Coach Sonny asked the kids what they learned at the end of each session. Not to "test" them but to let the kids recap on their own, and refresh their minds on today's activities. Rain of course could not understand yet what the teacher was asking, and I couldn't really answer for her haha! But it was a delight to listen to the older kids answer "golf!" or "hit a ball" or "jump like a frog".

        And then Coach Meriel got her washable colored pens and drew fun pictures on the back of the kids hands as a Good Job mark! 

        Rain got a sun and a flower! Her first ever good job stamp / mark! I felt like crying! But I totally held back my tears. I wasn't about to let them think I was crazy haha! I loved how Coach Meriel sung a nursery rhyme as she drew on the kids hands. Like when she was drawing the sun on Rain's hand, she gently sang Mr. Golden Sun :-)

        At Rain's age, Coach Meriel believes that toddlers don't need to master alphabets and numbers as of yet. They will learn it eventually, slowly but surely. But we can't force them to ace it at this early age. Which I totally agree. Because when we force something too much, we take the fun out of learning. We could of course, introduce basic concepts of colours, numbers and shapes through play. And this is exactly what RSGK does, plus a whole lot more...

        RSG Kids program will help develop kids' motor skills, hand-eye and foot-eye coordination, confidence, 

        And then in the long run, kids will learn about sportsmanship, playing by the rules, taking turns, encouraging and cooperating with other kids. 

        With all of this, it will definitely help prepare your kids for school readiness because they learn how to listen, follow instructions, and again, already are familiar with some basic colors, shapes, alphabets, and numbers.

        And last but not the least, hopefully kids will develop the life love for sports through this program.

        Ready Steady Go has different programs for three age groups. The Ready is for 2 and a half to 3 years old little toddlers like Rain, the Steady is for bigger toddlers 3-5 years of age, and Go for older children from 5-7 years of age. See the exact details of each program here.

        RSGK reaches the fundamentals of 10 different sports stated in the image above. A total of 5 sports per term will be taught to kids. 

        I can safely say Rain had loads of fun! It's a great outlet for kids to push their physical activity to another level and at the same time learn in a very fun way! I myself am not at all sporty (I particularly hate ball sports because I'm so bad at it), so it would be nice for Rain to get exposed to sport activities at an early age. So I will be enrolling Rain for the next term in October!!! :-)

        For more details on this Australian multi-sport exercise program for preschoolers, schedules, and rates, go to their official website http://readysteadygokids.com.ph/. You may also get updates from their Facebook page here, 

They have free trial if you're interested ;-)

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UPDATE! Their new term schedule is up!: