Holistic education: building happy, healthy and hardy children!

Holistic education: building happy, healthy and hardy children!

Holistic education: building happy, healthy and hardy children!

Does your child struggle to interact with other children? Are they perhaps inhibited by shyness, unable to resolve conflict or to regulate their emotions?

The good news is it’s not just your child – and that’s partly because our modern education system is geared overwhelmingly toward academic problem-solving.

In reality, life has a funny way of posing many complex problems for us to solve. Hands up if you have struggled to solve these ones:
• Embracing exercise and learning to love moving your body
• Respect for good health
• Conflict resolution with a co-worker or spouse
• Open, honest communication with family and friends
• Setting boundaries with parents
• Staying resilient during a crisis like death and divorce

It’s unlikely you learned to deal with these problems in primary school – in fact, you might need to enlist the help of mental health professionals, weight loss coaches or lawyers! That’s where holistic education comes in. Holistic education at an early age aims to shape children into well-rounded adults who might be a little better equipped to deal with life’s complex problems later down the track.

Engaging in holistic education early-on is the best way to set your child up for a healthy social sphere and a respect for themselves, their boundaries and their self-expression when they eventually enter the school system. Holistic education helps children:
• Learn about themselves
• Develop conflict resolution skills
• Set boundaries
• Think critically
• Identify and promote healthy relationships
• Develop positive social behaviours
• Develop emotional resilience and understanding
• Develop a love of movement
• Prioritise open, honest communication
• View cooperation rather than competition as ‘the norm’

A holistic educator is less of an authority figure and more of a mentor. So what does that look like at Happy Feet?

Well, Happy Feet Fitness prioritise experiential learning through dance and creativity. We facilitate connection to the natural world and instil a passionate love of learning in all of our students. Each adventure session weaves in play-based learning, original music, costumes, games, dance and activity.

The benefits of play-based learning are truly holistic, while participating in a Happy Feet class, your child is busy developing:
• Confidence and self-esteem
• A wide range of movement
• Gross motor skills
• Physical abilities
• Listening skills
• Music responsiveness
• Cooperative skills
• Self-expression

Essentially, Happy Feet aims to divert attention away from academic milestones and reward children for creative and positive social interaction. We love holistic education, and we love being holistic educators building the next generation of happy, healthy and well-rounded adults.

If you’d like to enrol your child in a Happy Feet program or find out more about our commitment to holistic education, please get in touch via our website www.happyfeetfitness.com.au or email info@happyfeetfitness.com.au