“If you really try to give too much instruction at this age, you can really cause a child to struggle later on. So, just being supportive and motivating them to do the best of their abilities is really what we're going for.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  Fundamental movement skills are important through the ages of two to five. Children grow and learn through their own developmental experiences, which creates unique challenges to their balance skills. In Part Three of the Fundamental Movement Skills Series, Karen and Farah discuss how we give children just the right amount of and right kind of instructions. Sometimes it can be tricky to balance the child’s mental development with their physical progress. In this age range, they should develop skills for purposeful play where they can explore life independently! Tune in to understand how to help children find balance and set them up for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [00:30]  Understanding physical literacy [03:53]  Having balance across different ages [05:08]  Is there a long term advantage of future sports? [08:43]  About a child’s way of finding balance [13:36]  Why should you limit the instructions you give children? [19:13]  Communicating with your kids in the right way [21:38]  What kind of instructions should you give your children? Quotes: “It [Physical Literacy] describes the ability of a person to instruct their body to confidently perform any action accurately. And it's the motivation, confidence, physical competence, knowledge and understanding to value and take responsibility for maintaining purposeful physical pursuits and activities throughout the course of life.” “I'm a huge proponent of just supporting the skills supporting the skills [...], while every child is unique, preschool students thrive with activities that focus on the means, rather than the ends. ” “By understanding these range of capabilities of your students, you can ensure that they can all participate, find success, you know, and feel included in the class.” “You're teaching them body awareness, they're also learning spatial awareness, they're learning how to start and stop their body, they're getting core work in there. So there's a lot of different things that are included in these games that might seem really simple, and there's lots of different ways to play this game and challenge them.” “We want to teach them to hone in on that skill, so that they learn that there's always ways that they can challenge themselves in different ways.” “If you really try to give too much instruction at this age, you can really cause a child to struggle later on. So, just being supportive and motivating them to do the best of their abilities is really what we're going for.”

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Episode 33: Fundamental Movement Skills Part 3

“If I can feel them pushing down on my hands, if they're able to do it, when they're holding my hands, then we can kind of progress from there to kind of get an understanding of why they are struggling with doing it.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  In Part Two of the Fundamental Movement Skills Series, Karen and Farah discuss how to support children in their developmental stages based on the way they learn. Every child develops a unique personality that dictates how they approach learning and what works for them. Some are visual learners while others are hands-on learners. The goal is to understand them through their movement, speech, social interactions, and style of learning - you'll be able to better support them with their journey. Tune in to understand learning styles and set your children up for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [02:12]  Explore early childhood [05:46]  Offering your child a helping hand [09:09]  Understanding your children better to identify their problems [13:12]  On changes and growth [16:18]  Balance and coordination struggles in children [21:45]  Helping your kids build resilience and confidence [27:00] The challenges of growing up Quotes: “If a child is really struggling, just maintaining their balance, while not moving, it's going to be really hard to maintain balance while trying to walk or run or climb.” “If I can feel them pushing down on my hands, if they're able to do it, when they're holding my hands, then we can kind of progress from there to kind of get an understanding of why they are struggling with doing it.” “You want to start to take away the thing that you think might be the problem and then if the issue improves, then you know that's where you need to work on it.” “If they are struggling to do this motor planning, that kind of thing, that's an indication that they may have an issue with balance or coordination.” “What we just want to instill in them is that self confidence and motivation and resilience, so that they're willing to just again, show up and do their best and be positive.” “Body control and body awareness are so important that if we can focus on that for our students, then they can start to be more attentive, especially as we're talking about older students.”

Episode 32: Fundamental Movement Skills Part 2

“As they [children] continue to grow, they keep building these little blocks on top of each one. And that's what enables them to be able to do these more complicated skills as they get older.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  In Part One of the Fundamental Movement Skills Series, Karen and Farah explain fundamental movement skills and their importance in a child’s growth. They explore how sibling relationships, exposure, and environment could play a role in shaping a child’s movement skills and why, as parents and coaches, we need to familiarize ourselves with the three blocks of FMS in children. We also dig into understanding muscle memory building and how to help your kids in the process even if they’re having a hard time fitting in! Tune in to integrate fundamental movement skills in your child’s play curriculum and set them up for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [01:34]  What are some fundamental movement skills?  [02:43]  Why is it important to build fundamental movement skills at certain stages of life? [04:06]   How do sibling relationships positively impact a child’s growth? [05:37]  What are the three blocks of fundamental movement skills? [10:12]  Familiarizing yourself with the fundamental movement skills [11:35]  Why is it important to build movement skills in children? [15:53] The age when muscle memory starts to get hardwired Quotes: “As they [children] continue to grow, they keep building these little blocks on top of each one. And that's what enables them to be able to do these more complicated skills as they get older.” “If we could teach kids how to move in all different directions, and then teach coaches the importance of why we should be doing this, then, maybe we wouldn't have so many injuries down the road.” “If you're familiar with these building blocks of these skills, and you're looking at rotation and coordination and balance, then you can take a step back, and you can say, does this child have those skills? Are they lacking in an even simpler way of moving? That's why they're struggling.” “If they're [fundamental movement skills] not properly developed, or mastered, there is a likelihood that they will have more trouble academically and behaviorally.” “Understanding these environmental factors, our vision or hearing or something like that can also be one of the issues. It is really helpful to be able to understand your students and what they need and be able to support them.” “They can learn how they're moving, understanding their body, how they're moving it through space, and then have that confidence to take on all these different skills. So that when you want to go into teaching them more specialized, be more specific, go into the complex skills.”

Episode 31: Fundamental Movement Skills Part 1

“No matter how successful you are or whatever success means to you, you can always benefit from a mentor- learning and growing, there's always so much more to do.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is an intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  Fearless is a term we use in this podcast a lot - it’s one of our favorite things to ask our guests! From being fearless in the face of failures to being fearless in the face of great obstacles, there is nothing like that feeling. But what does being fearless mean to us? In this episode, Farah and Karen share their ideas on being fearless. They discuss ways by which they train themselves and their kids to face any obstacle that comes their way. We also learn to develop self-love and use it as a powerful means to overcome fear that surrounds new opportunities or situations in life. Tune in to the episode today to learn how to help your kids face challenges fearlessly and set them up for ultimate success! TimeStamps:  [01:42] Farah’s thoughts on fearlessness [05:29] How does self-love help us face the most challenging situations? [06:40] Changing your mindset to always look for opportunities [07:38] What you get from being fearless [08:13] Focussing on what you want [08:55] Understanding fearlessness [12:48] Building tough skin and what fearlessness means to Karen [18:17] Why to make a decision, move forward and feel good about it Quotes:  “It's not about fear or being scared, angry, fearless, brave, strong, it's about the feeling of self-love that keeps us moving forward on the perspective that you can always find a way to do so” “If we want to constantly see the world as a place of struggle with no alternative, then that's what we're going to see. But if we want to look at the same world as a constant place of opportunity, that may involve struggle, then we're always looking for solutions.” “And oftentimes, I think we even surprise ourselves with the capacity we discover; we have to grow and to continue to become our best selves.” “Every time that you do it, it's going to be just a little bit easier because you're going to remember that oh, I did this before and whether or not it went well you're gonna remember the feeling that you experience or that feeling of perseverance and grit. And that is going to carry you on, moving you forward.” “My theory on regrets is that you do the best with the information you have at the time.” Resources Mentioned:   Fear less is by Dr. Pippa Grange      

Episode 30: What Does Fearless Mean To You?

“If they're struggling to gain a skill, and you directly focus in a way that they learn really well, it might be a much easier way for them to at least understand what you want them to do, and then have a greater willingness to want to keep trying.”  The Student Fitness Experts podcast is an intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.   In an entertaining and informative episode, Karen and Farah talk about the different types of learners. One could determine the styles in the early stages of their kids' childhood. Quite surprisingly, almost 65% of our population consists of visual learners! We also have multi-modality learners who resort to more than one way of learning. Today, we discuss why it is essential for coaches to understand different learning styles and know their students individually. Karen and Farah also reveal their ways of learning and how they shaped their career ahead. With the pandemic still lingering large, it is crucial to help children realize that they can be adaptable and persevere in different learning situations. Tune in to find out how you can help your kids excel in their learning and set them up for ultimate success! TimeStamps:   [01:18] Karen and Farah talks about her learning styles [08:10] Karen’s experience taking online classes [09:11] Farah shares her experience taking online classes  [10:45] Why should coaches be prepared when engaging a new group of students? [12:40] Farah talks about verbal learners [13:25] Learn about kinesthetic learners [18:09] What do you mean by social learners? [18:52] Farah talks about solitary learners  [19:30] Homeschooling and virtual learning due to the pandemic and how it’s affected coaches and children   Quotes:  “It's so helpful to understand how you learn because if you think back to when you were in school and just how the classroom is set up and how we kind of expected kids to learn, it can be really challenging.” “It’s okay to challenge kids outside of their learning.” “Understanding your students and yourself and being able to be flexible makes for the best situation of successful learning.”  “You're more than one thing.” “If they're struggling to gain a skill, and you directly focus in a way that they learn really well, it might be a much easier way for them to at least understand what you want them to do, and then have a greater willingness to want to keep trying.”  “Sometimes we have to be challenged and we’re put into a position where we have to figure out a way to make this work out best for us.” 

Episode 29: Understanding Different Types of Learning

“No matter how successful you are or whatever success means to you, you can always benefit from a mentor- learning and growing, there's always so much more to do.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is an intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.   Having a mentor in the early stages of your child’s adolescence could phenomenally help their overall development. That is why in today’s episode, Farah and Karen speak about the importance of a mentor or guide for children. Considering every child is unique and has different social, behavioral, and cognitive abilities, they require unique mentors to support them in their various stages. We also see through the advancements that have happened in the fitness world since the early 2000s. Women trainers of the past weren’t as approachable as they are today. Attitudes and ways of connecting have significantly changed for the better, and there are plenty of genuine mentors available in the field of fitness now! Tune in to the episode today to learn the role of mentors in your child’s life and set them up for ultimate success! TimeStamps:  [01:07] Farah talks about the importance of having a mentor in middle school [05:54] Farah shares the story of how her PE teacher and tennis coach instilled in her values like sportsmanship and team spirit [09:15] Key elements of being a mentor [10:42] How the world of fitness training evolved from the early 2000 [13:02] Why do we say that the mentor needs and expectations of each child are different? Quotes:  “There's research to show that middle school is when kids really need to have an adult in their life, who they can talk to, and they can feel safe with, who's not a parent.” “My favorite thing to say is how my eighth grade PE teacher said in my yearbook, 80% of life is going to be about being on time and being dressed appropriately.” “No matter how successful you are, whatever success means to you, you can always benefit from a mentor- learning and growing, there's always so much more to do.” “It's cool to see how mentorship can go in so many different ways... how we can as peers  provide mentorship to our friends even just on a daily basis.” “I love that we also provide our coaches with all that support to understand the different social, emotional, cognitive and behavioral differences that can take place between the ages.” “It's just a constant reminder to us as well to believe in myself, and remember why we're doing this. Because I wish I had that as a kid and knowing how much fitness and strength from the inside out, impacted me at different junctures in life.”

Episode 28: Why is Mentorship SO Important

“No matter what struggle or challenge that we're going through, we will come out stronger on the other side.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  In today’s episode, Karen and Farah talk about stress and break down the various coping strategies for stress. While we as adults struggle to deal with everyday anxiety and express our concerns circling the same, we fail to notice that kids could experience the same. The environment they are brought up around, the adults surrounding them, and other external and internal factors affect how children deal with stress. We learn today how to build resilience and self-regulation to battle our way out in difficult times and guide our children through the same. Tune in to learn to stay present at the moment and help set your child for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [00:42]  Learn the four types of stress- situational, encounter, time, and anticipatory.  [03:47]  Karen talks about her experience unknowingly internalizing stress [07:23]  How can you give your kids the space to try out new things? [09:42]  Getting your kids to feel comfortable around you [10:55]   How do you make your kids understand that all of their feelings are important? [13:07]  The importance of self-regulation and how to develop that   Quotes: “If you're talking about anticipatory stress, they're being concerned about things that may or may not happen in the future. They[kids] are worried about tests, they're worried about social issues.” “Even with older kids, sometimes it's just a nice way to get it out of you, the stomping the kinesthetic motion of stomping, and trying to get that negative energy out of you.” “We're training coaches to help kids understand [stress] so they have these tools to pull from as they become more and more self aware.”   “No matter what struggle or challenge that we're going through, we will come out stronger on the other side.”  

Episode 27: Stress Vs Stressor & What they do to us

“It’s okay to fail, you're learning. It's not about perfectionism, it's about bringing joyfulness to it.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is an intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.   In an enlightening conversation today, meet Robin Wald, an expert coach, teacher, and educator. Robin walks us through her fulfilling life journey into becoming a certified wellness coach for children and explaining her lessons. We learn new ways to impart courage in children to express and accept their vulnerabilities in life. Have you known how children internalize the different messages they receive from their parents and society? Do you want to see how you can help them out of unwanted pressure and self-imposed stress? Then this episode is for you! Tune in to find out how to better connect with preteens and teens to become the trusted adults in their life. About the Guest: Robin Wald is an associate certified coach through the international coaching federation. Also a professional astrologer, certified yoga and meditation teacher, Robin is passionate about mysticism and spiritual wisdom, and is an adult and teen Jewish educator and intuitive tarot reader. Robin has created a niche for herself today in connecting with teens and preteens around their wellness. Time Stamps:  [00:04] About Robin Wald [02:58] Robin talks about motherhood and her experience learning about children [06:30] Robin explains the mixed messages children receive from their parents, school, society and culture [07:17] Robin explains how children often compare and despair about their self worth  [09:55] Robin talks about her Jewish wisdom program, Rosh Chodesh [12:09] Robin’s advice to new coaches  [20:19] Robin emphasizes the importance of Love in enriching relationships [22:30] Learning to be playful with children [28:01] How you should deal with children of different age groups  [31:29] Robin shares the traits she learned from her mentors  [39:36] Robin shares her experience working with different students  [41:43] What does being fearless mean to Robin? [43:55] Connect with Robin Quotes:  “Parenting is the most challenging work we can do, but also the most rewarding.” “Anybody who works with kids, it's not about power, it's not about I'm going to show you or tell you. It's really because you love and enjoy what children bring in, who they are and what they have to teach you.” “It's never just about physical fitness, it's never just about leading meditation, it's about bringing kids closer to values, you know, that are healthy, that are going to serve them in their growth through high school and into adulthood.” “My first advice to any coach is to really meet the individual, as he or she or they are, it's not about molding them into anything you think they should be, it's just like, let teens authentically show up as themselves and reveal themselves to you without any judgment.” “We have this overlay of everything's got to be building towards something else and you have to be mastering something, everything doesn't have to be competitive, things can be fun, just for the sake of fun.” “It’s okay to fail, you're learning, it's not about perfectionism, it's about bringing joyfulness to it.”   Connect with Robin:  LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robin-wald/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robinwaldcosmicwisdom/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/robinwaldcosmicwisdom/   Website: https://robinwald.com/about    

Episode 26: Cosmic Wisdom Coaching | Teen Specialist , Robin Wald

“Leaving in the space and the opportunity to try everything so that they can learn what works for them is definitely what they're going to need.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is an intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  In today’s episode, Karen and Farah break down the concept of the whole child and talk about the importance of social-emotional learning in children. Karen and Farah discuss why they believe that every feeling is a good feeling and how it always teaches us something new. We also discuss connecting with your children at their different ages and helping them validate and control their emotions. By giving your children the space to dig into newer emotions and opportunities, you can help discover for themselves what they want to make out of their lives. Tune in to how you can nourish your relationship with your children at all ages and set them up for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [01:44] Farah talks about validating your feelings [02:46] How to give your children the permission to feel what they are feeling at any point of time [04:59] How do we offer the rhythms, strategies, skills and techniques to move children from the lower part of their brain to have rational conversations with them? [07:22] How do we talk to children at their different ages? [09:37] Toddlers getting stuck in an emotional loop [15:21] Making your child feel they have control over their emotions [17:20] Teaching your kids how to adjust and be understanding  [18:50] Talking empowerment [22:23] Processing the number of thoughts that go through your brain every day [26:23] Giving your child the space to learn new things   Quotes: “If we can change our perspective, if we can think about what that child might be going through, then we can offer them strategies that they can come down with and then, we can come up with the solution. And that's really what the goal is, of whole child.” “And sometimes I don't know what I'm feeling. So if I don't know what I'm feeling or I’m trying to, like, break it down, how do we expect kids who don't have as much self awareness to do that.” “It's not necessarily ever going to be the same exact thing that's going to work.” “Because as soon as they know that they are in control of their body of their thoughts of their emotions, and they can start to be a little bit more logical and thoughtful and say, Okay, what do I need to do right now, okay, I just need to breathe, okay, I can handle that.” “We get to feel empowered as the adults in their lives to teach and educate and support and mentor these children to get an understanding of how they feel.” “Leaving in the space and the opportunity to try everything so that they can learn what works for them is definitely what they're going to need.” Relevant Links: Instagram Page- The Whole Child Book- The Whole Brain-Child by Daniel Siegel Workshop at The Chopra Center

Episode 25 What Fitness For the whole Child Actually Mean?

K & F_Play_Show Notes “Encouraging children to go outside in all weather builds resilience, but more importantly, it saves them from spending their life, merely tolerating the bad days in favor of a handful of good ones.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  How can you make your children more adaptable to the different challenges that come their way? Sometimes, bad weather could be your child’s best teacher. It could help them build resilience and experience change in the early stages of their life. In this episode, Karen and Farah talk about play and play-based activities and throw light on their role in our everyday lives. They also discuss the importance of helping your child experiment with new things and enjoy their daily activities through play. Tune in to learn how to make play more fun for your children and use the means to set your child for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [00:19] The inspiration for today’s episode [01:07] Making kids adaptable to situations [04:55] How to give kids the space to try new things [08:59] Integrating play into your kids’ everyday activities Quotes: “Encouraging children to go outside in all weather builds resilience, but more importantly, it saves them from spending their life, merely tolerating the bad days in favor of a handful of good ones.” “I firmly believe that I am the person I am today based on all of the challenges and struggles that I've been through my life, and I'm thankful for them. I'm grateful that they all happened. And because I really liked who I am today. ” “It is important to introduce them to different ways to move different ways to experience things. And it's to help them at all ages to be able to connect the dots. ” “No matter what struggle or challenge that we're going through, we will come out stronger on the other side.”

Episode 24 : Why Play is So Important?

“If there was an opportunity for connection and understanding, there would have been an opportunity for inclusivity.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  Today, Karen and Farah discuss the primary goals of their program- community and inclusivity, and also their shadow value of connection. They discuss today why connection happens when you believe in yourself and your dreams. This thought-provoking conversation draws parallels from Jim Collins’ book BE 2.0, where he explains that the shadow value is paramount to our well-being. How do you weave these values together and create an environment for yourself and your children to live the best lives possible? This episode will help you find your answers. Tune in to learn the keys to building and nourishing a healthy relationship teaching and learning! TimeStamps: [01:12] Farah talks about their shadow values [03:59] Talking about inclusivity and its importance [05:28] How to bring about inclusivity in your business? [13:12] Instilling confidence and self efficacy and resilience and perseverance [17:49] Creating an authentic and fulfilling community online Quotes: “We all show up with the ability to kind of pay attention and listen and learn differently on any given day.” “If there was an opportunity for connection and understanding, there would have been an opportunity for inclusivity.” “It's great to be connected with yourself, because again, then you can be authentic to who you are in every aspect of your life.” “When you're personally connected to your own values, then you get to be authentic, and you let your light shine. And then everybody wants some piece of that and so then we're all are interconnected.” Relevant Links: Book- BE 2.0 by Jim Collins

Episode 23: K & F Our Values

“Your strengths have ultimately come from all the challenges that you've learned.” The Student Fitness Experts podcast is a very intentional venture that aims to create a playful movement to help students grow up with inner confidence and self-awareness and a healthy body and mind.  In this episode, Karen and Farah open up about their “why” to start their podcast and certification program. We imbibe a lot of wisdom from Simon Sinek’s theory about building an infinite mindset and learn why it is inexplicably important to let your students and children know your struggles in life. Karen and Farah break down the different pointers from their carefully curated certification program to help coaches, teachers, and parents understand the power of finding their own strengths and expanding them to succeed in different areas of life. Tune in to the episode today to connect with your purpose and set your children for ultimate success! TimeStamps: [01:12] Farah talks about their certification program [06:34] Talking about Brené Brown’s podcast episode with Simon Sinek on Developing an Infinite Mindset [09:50] Identifying your character strengths [13:13] Learn about the whole-child approach of their certification program [13:34] What do you mean by having an infinite mindset? Quotes: “When you work with students, telling them what your challenges are and where your struggles have been, it's so helpful for them, because a lot of the times and especially as a coach, and as a personal trainer, people just kind of look at you for who you are, right now, they don't see all of the things that you've been through.” “If you're focusing on the process, how you're going through it, rather than the end game, then that's where you're going to have this willingness to be vulnerable and say, Okay, I learned from this mistake.” “The incident mindset talks about the known and unknown rules, but they can be changed that the objective is to stay in the game as long as we can.” “Your strengths have ultimately come from all the challenges that you've learned.” Relevant Links: Podcast- Brene’ Brown with Simon Senek on Developing an Infinite Mindset

Episode 22: K & F Why

Amanda Stanek Show Notes “It is also critical that kids learn certain skills within that grade three to five window or else it becomes a lot more challenging.” The purpose of the Student Fitness Experts Podcast series is to empower and educate anyone that works with kids, in a way that benefits the whole child to become successful, strong, and empowered young adults. Today, we are joined by Dr. Amanda Stanek, who talks to us about the huge role of PE and fitness in a child's life. If you have wondered how one could differentiate fitness from sport, you are sure to find insightful answers from the conversation we had with Amanda. Empowerment is our keyword today. As she shares her backstory with us, Amanda makes us understand why children need to feel the positivity, joy, and fulfillment that they need from physical activities. Children need to fall in love with and enjoy movement.  Tune in to learn how you can empower kids to lives their best lives and set them up for ultimate success! About the Guest: Dr. Amanda Stanek is the founder of Move, Live, Learn, an organization that is committed to helping people live healthier lives, created by accident, as she says while taking time off from teaching and professing to raise her three daughters. Move Live Learn's unique insights are from the same hallways as their clients, not the glass towers of consultants. Amanda has an amazing portfolio of credentials and awards, and experience.  She says she was older when  starting her family. And so she had already been a professor and been thinking about these things before she became a mom. Having the girls really influenced her to start Move, Live, Learn. TimeStamps: [00:51] Amanda shares her life story with us [08:11] How do you differentiate fitness from sport? [18:09] How are we going to set our kids up for success in the best way that we can? [23:35] Rene Brown’s work [36:27] Amanda talks about her knee surgery three years post college [41:56] Talking books and research [50:29] How did fitness start becoming important to Amanda? [54:21] What does fearless means to her? [57:03] Some of the attributes or characteristics that are really memorable to some of the coaches or teachers that she has had over the years [01:04:55] Connect with Amanda   Quotes: “In an ideal world, ideal situation, we are exposing kids to all types of physical activity, so they find the one or ones that bring them joy.” “They do want to move, they just want opportunities to find ways to do so that's joyful.” “It is also critical that kids learn certain skills within that grade three to five window or else it becomes a lot more challenging.” “I want these children to fall in love and feel joy with movement because we all know that we feel happier. We feel more positive, we have more patience, and we are way more empowered.” “You want every kid to just look at everything through that movement lens. And in order for that to happen, they know they don't just have to because we know physical activity is good.” “We have to experience the joy and the empowerment, to make decisions.” Connect with Amanda : Website: http://movelivelearn.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/pub/amanda-stanec-phd/68/2a8/a7b        

Episode 21: The Founder of Move, Live, Learn, Dr. Amanda Stanek

“One of the goals that we really wanted to do with this certification is to be able to give people the skills so that they can go and be successful.” The purpose of the Student Fitness Experts Podcast series is to empower and educate anyone that works with kids in a way that benefits the whole child to become successful, strong, and empowered young adults. This is a special episode of the SFE podcast. For a pleasant twist, we have our guest interviewing us today! In this episode, we are joined by Akaylah Jaeke, who helps us put forward a really impactful conversation, dissecting our brains to make our mission as Student Fitness Experts clearer. We talk about our upcoming certification program, what it is about, who it is for, and how you can benefit from it. Many children haven't been exposed to the right activity or person to really connect with for their fitness and physical wellness. A big part of what has gone into our coach training program is helping coaches get to know themselves and their mission statement better and hone in on their skills.  Tune in and learn all about our mission and vision and see how it can help us connect with you better! About the Guest: Akaylah Jaeke is an educator, coach, and an advocate. She is a faculty member at Madison College with over a decade of experience in the Fitness, Recreation, and Wellness industry. She is an ACE Subject Matter Expert and holds all four ACE certifications including: Medical Exercise Specialist, Personal Training, Health Coaching, and Group Fitness. She holds a BS in Exercise Physiology and a MA in Health and Human Performance. She also serves as the College and University Ambassador for The Women in Fitness Association. With more than a decade of experience in fitness, recreation and wellness Akaylah openly converses about educating future leaders in the industry, and helping others reach their full potential.   TimeStamps: [03:42] Karen talks about their journey as Student Fitness Experts [06:16] Farah talks about her journey as a Student Fitness Expert [16:12] Key elements of the certification [22:02] Talking body positivity [25:46] Who the certification is for [28:57] The benefits of the certification [31:34] Talking about the Black Lives Matter Movement [33:08] Where you can find the program and free resources [35:49] A childhood memory that Akaylah remembers that played a big part in her adult fitness life [38:55] What fearlessness means to Akaylah   Quotes: “Many kids are, like, they're looking for mentors for role models, and, you know, this is even, like, pre-pandemic right years ago, but now with the pandemic, even more so like, kids are looking for a connection.” “Compassionate communication offers you the opportunity to notice your needs, they're not being that.” “I am in the fitness and wellness field is because I want to play for life and I want my children to be able to play for life and not only physically but I want them to have those transferable skills for emotional, social, all the things.” “One of the goals that we really wanted to do with this certification is to be able to give people the skills so that they can go and be successful.” “I had a great coach in high school that taught me that being strong as a woman was awesome. ” “Aligning with my values has always been something that I focused on. Because I just think as I said, it makes decisions easier. And you feel confident about making those decisions. And I like to think I'm a better human being for it.” Connect with Akaylah : LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/akaylahjaeke/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZFZsTXm9SjaatW7GNCzvBA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/akaylahjaeke/?hl=en  

Episode 20: Educator, Coach & An Advocate, Akaylah Jaeke

“If we close our minds to stuff we don't innovate, we don't grow.” The purpose of the Student Fitness Experts Podcast is to empower and educate anyone that works with kids, in a way that benefits the whole child to become successful, strong, and empowered young adults. Sports and fitness does not have to be forced upon kids.  Do you struggle with getting your kids enjoy their sports and physical education hours? Lucky for you our guest today knows very well how to bring fitness into their happy curriculum and provide their mentors appropriate training and guidance!  Join Karen and Farah on this episode of the SFE Podcast as they interview Drew Mitchell, who is the Director of Physical Literacy for the Sport for Life Society. Drew shares his ideas on why physical literacy is important to any educational institution for children and why and how it could be integrated in their curriculum.    Tune in to learn all about physical literacy and integrate it in your child's learning methods to set your child up for ultimate success! About the Guest:   Drew Mitchell is the Director of Physical Literacy for the Sport for Life Society and works as a consultant focused on the development of physical literacy at the community level. He also promotes the Canadian Sport for Life Movement. Drew is a graduate of Simon Fraser University with a Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology and has worked extensively in the sport system as an educator and developer of programs for the past 19 years. Drew has been involved in sport and fitness for over 40 years as an athlete, coach, administrator, volunteer, developer and manager. Offering his invaluable take on educating kids on physical fitness, Drew makes this episode unparalleled and inspiring. TimeStamps: [00:41] About Drew Mitchell, a snippet of her Journey [02:15] What is physical literacy? Learn Drew’s take on the same. [07:20] About the Community Movement created by his team [17:02] Talking about mentorship and how it influences [17:32] Learn about the Blended Learning Approach followed by Drew and his team [18:53] How Drew practises knowledge exchange with the community [20:53] Physical literacy and how it translates into many different arenas [24:21] Drew talks about the importance of physical literacy and fitness [27:12] How to find the type of movement that really resonates with a child’s personality type? [28:28] Mental health project with ninth graders in Vancouver [34:53] Changing pre-conceived notions and perceptions around fitness [44:44] Role of fitness in his life now [49:23] Connect with Drew Quotes: “Physical literacy is about building that ability, that competence, to be able to do a variety of skills.” “If I teach you physical literacy, then I've taught you the whole alphabet a little bit, you can read any book, so to speak.” “I think if you're gonna have a proper learning pathway, a one and done approach to education never really works that well.” “One of the most important things that we do is knowledge exchange, is knowledge sharing.” “It's a collective impact approach, pretty classic, but with our own modifications to it.” “But physical literacy has been very strategic for us to open some doors that may not have been open to a sports context. ” “If we close our minds to stuff we don't innovate,  we don't grow.”

Episode 19: Director of Physical Literacy for the Sport for Life Society, Drew Mitchell

Student Fitness Experts' co-founders Karen Gilbert and Farrah Zweig explore the importance of youth fitness by sharing personal experiences and interviewing other fitness and/or youth professionals.