Physical Education
By, Sonya
So many times as a homeschool parent I find it
easy to ignore or at
least minimize the importance of PE (Physical
Education, or "gym
class," as we called it when I went to school).
Somehow I can't
envision Charlotte Mason teaching the children
how to play kick ball or
dodge ball. (Not to mention that those games
are a little difficult to
do at home when you have only three or four children
involved!) And I
couldn’t reconcile her beautiful educational
philosophy with the notion
of compelling children to do mindless repetitions,
like twenty-five
jumping jacks and fifty sit-ups.
Therefore, this whole idea of "drilling" (i.e.,
Swedish drill) that was
used in her schools intrigued me, and I went
on a hunt for more
information. Well, the wonderful inter-library
loan lady at my local
library found me a gem: "The Swedish Drill Teacher"
by M.H. Spalding,
copyright 1910. This little 72-page book (which
sold for six shillings
in London details the principles behind and methods
of Swedish
drill; and as I read about it, I was struck with
how neatly it falls
into step with Charlotte's philosophy of education.
For example, the exercises and movements were
used with a view to
improving "the general health of the body rather
than towards muscular
development." The drills were done outside whenever
possible to allow
for fresh air and deep breathing. The movements
were done to command so
the "pupils learn the power of quick and correct
response to the
command, and this involves concentration and
quickness of thought,
alertness of action, and effort of will. Since
fresh commands for new
and more complicated movements are continually
being learnt, these
qualities are always being more and more highly
and acutely developed."
Those comments dovetail wonderfully with Charlotte's
emphasis of a
"serviceable body" as the goal of physical training
(School Education,
pp. 102, 103), her encouragement to spend lots
of time outdoors (Home
Education, p. 42), and the prominence she gave
to the habits of full
attention and mental alertness (Home Education,
pp. 156, 185).
So what exactly is Swedish drill?
Swedish drill was a series of movements the students
performed in
response to the teacher's vocal instructions.
The movements were
performed slowly and gently (for the most part),
with an emphasis on
balance and complete muscle control. As students
grew more proficient,
the instructions progressed to more complicated
postures or movements.
Movements centered around the arms bending and
stretching, the arm and
shoulder muscles, abdominal muscles, and legs
muscles. Some jumping,
marching, and running were also included, along
with breathing
exercises when needed to regulate after a strenuous
exercise. Each
drill session began with "introductory movements,"
similar to what we
call "warming up."
The teachers would start with various fundamental
positions in
different combinations. For example, here are
some
Fundamental Arm positions: hands on hips, hands
on shoulders, hands
behind head with fingers lightly interlocked,
arms extended (either up,
down, out, or forward).
Fundamental Foot positions: astride (legs parallel
with shoulders but
wider than shoulders), walk (a comfortable step
in the direction
indicated), lunge (a long step in the direction
indicated);
Fundamental Body positions: standing, sitting,
lying, kneeling.
The instruction would be spoken once, with a pause
for students to get
a mental image of the position and how to move;
then the "execution
command" would be given (like "firm!" or "place!"),
at which time the
students would move. So the instruction "With
feet astride, hands on
hips (--pause--) firm!" would tell the students
to place their hands on
their hips while standing (with good posture,
of course).
Simple arm instructions might be "Arms forward,
sideways, and downward
-- stretch: 1, 2, 3" (with a change of position
on each number).
After the students found those fundamental positions
no longer a
challenge, the teacher would start to mix things
up a bit with
variations. For example, our first instruction
used above could be
expanded from "with feet astride, hands on hips
-- firm!" to "Hips --
firm! Feet astride -- place: 1, 2! (Student would
move one foot on each
number spoken.) Feet together -- place: 1, 2!
Left foot forward --
place! Feet change: 1, 2!" (On "1" the left foot
is brought back; on
"2" the right foot is moved forward.)
Or they could increase the complexity of arm movement
instructions by
having each arm do a different position: "Left
arm upward, right arm
forward -- stretch!"
Next, they could combine arm and leg positions,
such as "With left foot
forward, right hand neck rest, left hand hips
-- firm! Feet and arms --
change: 1, 2! (One "1" students come back to
neutral position, and on
"2" the positions of feet and arms are reversed.)
The possibilities for combinations are endless
when you throw in heel
raising, facing different sides of the room,
toe standing, knee
bending, "half" positions (doing the movement
with one side of the body
only, such as half kneel), knee raising, leg
raising, bending or
twisting at the waist, controlled jumping, and
marching in patterns. If
you'll pardon the comparison, the whole thing
almost reminds me of a
very advanced game of Simon Says.
The teacher was also encouraged to come up with
some fun games and
names for certain movements for the younger children
(ages 6 to 8). For
example, the "Do as I say, not as I do" game
expected the children to
listen carefully to the instructions and follow
them even if the
teacher took a different position. She might
tell the children "Hips --
firm!" but put her own hands behind her head.
Or a fun balance movement
would be "Taking off the shoe," for which each
student would bend the
knee up and stand on one foot while taking off
his or her shoe and
putting it on again. Small children would also
get to do "giant
marching" or "dwarf marching" and "bunny jumps."
There you have it: a quick overview of Swedish
drill. I hope the
explanation wasn't too confusing. It's hard to
condense a 72-page book
of instructions and physical movements.
Judging from the sample schedules, Charlotte's
schools did drill for
about 30 minutes at a time. You can be sure the
drill teacher had
thought through the combinations and sequence
before attempting to lead
the children for that length of time. Some of
us would be challenged
just to think up enough variations to occupy
ten minutes if we were
operating off the top of our heads! But as a
quick diversion in the
midst of lessons, it might prove to be an enjoyable
spontaneous
exercise.
Sonya, author of Spelling Wisdom
http://www.simplycharlottemason.com
