General education school activities

General education school activities include :

I. - General physical education providing basic training.

 

II. - Sports training and initiation.

III. - Games.

IV.- The practice of rhythms, dance and choral singing.

V.- Manual work.

VI.- Outings, excursions, outdoor activities and training in camp life.

VII. The practice of first aid.

 

These activities will take place, as much as possible, in a natural setting. Children and adolescents must come out of the classroom with the closed windows, the courtyard surrounded by walls, and, when possible, the stale atmosphere of the city; that they get rid of the usual hairstyles, shoes and clothes to put on a costume well suited to the activity practiced.

 

I. - General physical education

 

She understands :

1 ° Basic training ;

2 ° Corrective gymnastics ;

3 ° Hygiene.

 

1 ° Natural exercises and Basic Training.

 

This basic training is essential. It extends to all ages of youth and to both sexes and remains the condition of any other sporting, professional or social activity. It alone gives the individual his " real estate " value . It not only gives him health, but also the strength, resistance, speed, relaxation, flexibility and skill essential to the man of action. 

No technical work can replace, in this respect, the lesson of physical education, which is the indispensable basis. Sports training is never enough, on its own, to give a subject the fundamental qualities that truly make the athlete.

General physical education alone makes it possible to ensure true organic balance in harmonious development. It has an action that is functional, structural, utilitarian and moral at the same time.

 

a) Functional action.

This action is exerted on the whole body and its organs, in particular on the heart and the lungs.

It will be obtained by the repetition, in the most varied forms, of the natural movements that a man living in the state of nature must perform in order to subsist, resist and last. “ Natural work is a synthesis of all natural acts, but with a predominance of displacement. In practice, this means that running, which is the most intense locomotion exercise, is the basic or fundamental exercise. Physiologically, this means that the development of the heart and lungs is the basis of general development and that muscle development is only a consequence of generalized work ”  [3] .

 

b) Structural action.

The educator will pay particular attention to the structural action of the natural method, which, applied with competence, is sufficient to prevent deformations of school, professional or other origin.

Natural exercises also offer us many possibilities to correct faulty attitudes. Thus certain jumps in extension, juggling, balances, light weight lifting on the head can facilitate normal play and strengthen the means of support of the spine. Likewise, throwing weighted balls, crawling or quadrupedics can help to improve a scoliosis attitude, to correct kyphosis or to correct certain lumbar saddles.

 

c) Utility action.

One of the goals of physical education is to enable the pupil to skillfully accomplish the gestures that are the basis of any practical or professional activity: lifting, carrying pulling, pushing, pushing in, tearing, turning, balancing .

The child will get used to judging the necessary effort. He will take measured, economical and fair actions. He will learn, in circumstances similar to those of real life, to know his strength, and will know how to use it wisely.

 

d) Moral action.

The moral education of the child requires that he be placed in the presence of obstacles to be overcome, of victories to be won, that he struggles every day against inert matter or against the adversary who opposes his effort.

In this daily character formation, an important place must be given to the development of courage. Many guts are available for educators to choose from. We quote some - some, as examples, emphasizing that they must be adapted with special care to the age and gender of the subjects. Attack and defense exercises, obstacle crossings, climbs, passage through porticoes, difficult routes, balances, certain apparatus exercises develop daring. The same goes for diving and searching for objects underwater.

It is often these tests that make it possible to identify the pupils who are most apt to command. A leader is above all a man who goes forward when necessary, despite the danger.

These exercises involve certain risks, which we must know how to reduce to a minimum by methodically taken precautions, but which we must nevertheless know how to accept.