The "Holiday" season is here, and we're all in the middle of all of the planning and execution of our family activities and traditions. A couple of weekends ago, my wife took our kids shopping while I worked at the gym. It must be the holiday season because she really doesn't like going to the malls -- especially this time of year. Unfortunately, we got a flat tire on the car and it took 3 hours for the repair. So she and the kids got a *lot* of their shopping done that afternoon.
One *fun* tradition we started 2 years ago is based on a process we learned from the Advent Bag & Box website. Every night from Dec 1 - 25, the whole family gets together. Someone is the "lighter" who lights one of 5 candles - Joy, Hope, Love, Peace, and Light. Someone is the "reader," who reads an inspirational quote and then we all talk about what it means to us. The 3rd person is the "opener" who opens a holiday-themed bag (or box) and pulls out an activity card. The Advent Bag & Box folks sell a bunch of pre-written or decorated (but blank) cards. We then do the activity either that night or the next day. Some of the activities we've done so far are to bake holiday cookies, deliver the cookies, donate to a food bank, have a movie night, and yesterday was my son's "Special Day."
The kids love finding out what activity we're going to do, and Mom and I arrange the activities based on which ones work with our schedule (e.g. weekend or weekday activities). I love Video Veg Day, when we hang out and watch movies all day. :-) Another favorite is "Drop a Dollar" Day, when we go to a store and drop a dollar on the floor with a note saying something like, "This dollar is for you! Happy Holidays!" We hide nearby to see what the finder does. Last year, they saw us and tried to track us down. We ran away. :-)
This is the tradition that the kids love the most -- besides receiving presents.
What holiday traditions do you cherish?
Thursday, December 9, 2010
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Proud Parent Photo Contest - Win a free Winter/Spring semester at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego!
Parental pride is a very strong emotion. When your child first smiles at you, or when she goes to her first day of preschool, or when he hits his first baseball -- your heart swells with pride. It's a fantastic feeling.
At The Little Gym, we provide the opportunity to be truly proud of your children every week. With our new Proud Parent Photo Contest, you can share your pride with other The Little Gym families, your friends, and have the chance to win a free semester of classes at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego.
Here's how the contest works: Send us a photo of your child at The Little Gym. We'll upload it for you to the contest photo album. Tell your friends to "Like" the photo, and the person with the most "Likes" by the end of the contest will will a free Winter/Spring 2011 semester of classes - a $351 value.
The contest runs from now until January 15, 2011. It is open to Members and Non-Members. Photos can be taken in classes at The Little Gym, or at Birthday Parties or Winter Camps. If you don't have a photo of your child at The Little Gym, schedule a free introductory visit, come in, and take a photo!
Instructions to submit an entry are below:
1. E-mail us a photo of your child showing off at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego with "Proud Parent Photo Contest" in the subject line. Send your photo to tlglakeoswegoor@thelittlegym.com. Please include your name, your child's name, and a contact phone number.
2. We'll upload it into the Proud Parent Photo Contest Facebook photo album, and we'll send you a link to your photo.
3. Tell all of your friends to "Like" your photo in our photo album. (Your friends will have to "Like" The Little Gym of Lake Oswego to be able to Like your photo.)
4. The photo with the most "LIKES" by January 15th, 2011 will win a FREE Winter/Spring 2011 semester! (Winner will receive 100% refund of what has been paid toward Winter-Spring tuition.)
Good Luck!
- Ron, Marie, and The Little Gym team!
At The Little Gym, we provide the opportunity to be truly proud of your children every week. With our new Proud Parent Photo Contest, you can share your pride with other The Little Gym families, your friends, and have the chance to win a free semester of classes at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego.
Here's how the contest works: Send us a photo of your child at The Little Gym. We'll upload it for you to the contest photo album. Tell your friends to "Like" the photo, and the person with the most "Likes" by the end of the contest will will a free Winter/Spring 2011 semester of classes - a $351 value.
The contest runs from now until January 15, 2011. It is open to Members and Non-Members. Photos can be taken in classes at The Little Gym, or at Birthday Parties or Winter Camps. If you don't have a photo of your child at The Little Gym, schedule a free introductory visit, come in, and take a photo!
Instructions to submit an entry are below:
1. E-mail us a photo of your child showing off at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego with "Proud Parent Photo Contest" in the subject line. Send your photo to tlglakeoswegoor@thelittlegym.com. Please include your name, your child's name, and a contact phone number.
2. We'll upload it into the Proud Parent Photo Contest Facebook photo album, and we'll send you a link to your photo.
3. Tell all of your friends to "Like" your photo in our photo album. (Your friends will have to "Like" The Little Gym of Lake Oswego to be able to Like your photo.)
4. The photo with the most "LIKES" by January 15th, 2011 will win a FREE Winter/Spring 2011 semester! (Winner will receive 100% refund of what has been paid toward Winter-Spring tuition.)
Good Luck!
- Ron, Marie, and The Little Gym team!
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Open Enrollment for Winter/Spring classes starts tomorrow - Monday, November 22nd. Enroll early and be entered to win a free birthday party!
After the conclusion of Priority Enrollment (current-member enrollment period), we are offering an "Early Bird Enrollment Period" for current members, inactive members, and non-members. It is extremely beneficial for us to know NOW how many students will be in Winter/Spring classes so we can work on our instructor schedule and recruiting plans - so this is our way of saying "thank you" for enrolling early.
All Winter/Spring enrollees (including those of you who signed up during Priority Enrollment) will be entered into a drawing towards a free birthday party at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego!
Early Bird enrollment will run until December 4th when we draw and announce the winner. Open Enrollment begins immediately, and is available for all classes that are still open after Priority Enrollment. This has been our most successful Priority Enrollment and several classes are full and others are almost full:
You may register by telephone at (503) 595-9702, in person, or online. Please call if you have any questions!
Early Bird enrollment will run until December 4th when we draw and announce the winner. Open Enrollment begins immediately, and is available for all classes that are still open after Priority Enrollment. This has been our most successful Priority Enrollment and several classes are full and others are almost full:
- Monday 1:30pm Jazzy Bugs/Giggle Toes - FULL
- Saturday 12:05pm Giggle Worms/Good Friends - FULL
- 4 other classes have 5 or less spots!
If your class of choice fills, we can put you on the wait list!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
The Little Gym of Lake Oswego now has the best makeup policy in all of Portland!
Well.... unofficially, we *think* we now have the best makeup policy in all of greater Portland.
We're always looking at how we do business. The only way we can run our business and support our family and our instructors' families is through you - our customers. We recently reviewed our makeup policy and came up with a great way to have a makeup policy that provides our customers what they actually want and need.
We're always looking at how we do business. The only way we can run our business and support our family and our instructors' families is through you - our customers. We recently reviewed our makeup policy and came up with a great way to have a makeup policy that provides our customers what they actually want and need.
Up until now, makeups for classes would need to be scheduled within 6 months after the absence, and you were required to call in to get an excused absence that could be made up. Going forward, your makeups will never expire, and you will receive a makeup class whether you call in prior to your absence or not. In order to use one of your makeup classes, you will need to be currently enrolled in a class. So if you ever take a break from The Little Gym, when you come back, your makeup classes will still be available. We *really* do appreciate it if you can call us when you won’t be coming to class, so others can do makeups in your spot. But we realize that when you can’t make it to class, that is often the hardest time to actually call in. So if you can’t call in, you won’t lose that class.
If you can find another program in Portland with a better make-up policy, let us know!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Last week of Winter/Spring Priority Enrollment -- Open Enrollment starts November 22nd!
Winter/Spring semester Priority Enrollment ends Saturday, November 20th!
This week (November 15 - 20) is the last week that members (enrolled and non-enrolled in classes) may reserve spots for the upcoming Winter/Spring semester before Open Enrollment begins. The Winter/Spring semester runs for 20 weeks -- January 24th through June 18th.
The following classes are either already full (noted below) or almost full for the Winter/Spring semester::
We have over $725 in raffle prizes being raffled off this week. When you enroll in classes, you're entered into every daily prize including:
Here are answers to some of the questions we've been getting this past week:
Q: Why should you enroll for the Winter/Spring semester now when it starts in late January?
A: By enrolling now, you will almost certainly be able to get a spot in your class of choice. If you wait too long, the class you want may be full.
Q: When is the current semester over?
A: There are still 9 more weeks to the Fall semester.
Q: Do I have to pay for the full Winter/Spring semester now?
A: You can pay one installment of the 3- or 5-installment options. The 2nd installment on either plan isn't due until February 14th.
Q: Are there benefits to paying the tuition in full?
A: You receive a 10% Value Plan discount by paying in full, plus 50 bonus Member Milestone points (our rewards program). You can also pay a deposit of $78 and pay the balance of the Value Plan by January 24th, and still receive the 10% discount and 50 bonus Member Milestone points. The balance amount would be $273.
Q: What are the prices for the Winter/Spring classes?
A: 5 installments of $78 (base price), or 3 installments of $119 (8% discount) or $351 for the Value Plan (inlcudes 10% discount).
Q: Who will be teaching class ______?
A: We have the final instructor schedule set about 2 weeks prior to the start of each semster. All instructors have gone through our rigorous screening and training processes. They're all great. If you feel you want to switch classes, you're welcome to as many times and as long as there's space.
Q: What do I do if my schedule changes?
A: You can switch classes as many times as you'd like to, provided there is space in a class. If you ever need to unenroll, we will provide a prorated tuition refund about 2-4 weeks after you notify us of your need to unenroll. If you unenroll before the semester actually starts, your tuition is 100% refunded. The annual family membership is not refundable.
Q: What if I am going to miss a class?
A: Classes can be made-up as long as there is space in a class and as long as you're enrolled. Your makeup classes no longer expire. If you take a class when your child is 2 years old and then take a break and come back when he is 8 years old, all of your makeup classes will still be available to you! (This is a change that we made 2 weeks ago and will be announcing in classes this week.) We believe we have the best and most flexibile make-up policy in all of Portland. (If we don't please let us know who has a better one!)
Q: This sounds great! How can I enroll?
A: If your membership is valid, you can enroll by calling us at (503) 595-9702, or by enrolling online from the Schedule tab on our website --- www.tlglakeoswegoor.com. Non-members may become members and enroll starting on Monday, November 22nd.
This week (November 15 - 20) is the last week that members (enrolled and non-enrolled in classes) may reserve spots for the upcoming Winter/Spring semester before Open Enrollment begins. The Winter/Spring semester runs for 20 weeks -- January 24th through June 18th.
The following classes are either already full (noted below) or almost full for the Winter/Spring semester::
- Saturday 10:15am Super Beasts (2.5 - 3 year olds)
- Saturday 11:00am Funny Bugs (3-4 years)
- Wednesday 3:30pm Giggle Worms/Good Friends (4-6 years old)
- Saturday 12:05pm Giggle Worms/Good Friends -- FULL
- Monday 1:30pm Jazzy Bugs/Giggle Toes (dance/gymnastics for 3-5 years old)
- Monday 5:15pm Giggle Toes/Good Leaps (dance/gymnastics 4-6 years old)
We have over $725 in raffle prizes being raffled off this week. When you enroll in classes, you're entered into every daily prize including:
- The Little Gym t-shirts, hats, winter camp, Parents' Survival Night, Annual Family Memberships, and more
- A brand new red wagon donated from State Farm Insurance agent, Matt Olsen
- A $25 gift certificate from Frog Pond Toys and Lily Pad Cafe' in Lake Oswego.
- A $75 gift certificate from Flourish Pilates in West Linn
- Children's books from Goodnight Room at the Bridgeport Village
- Men's shoes from Dockers
- A $30 gift certificate to Pampered Chef
- Grand prize of a free Fall 2011 semester of classes at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego!
Here are answers to some of the questions we've been getting this past week:
Q: Why should you enroll for the Winter/Spring semester now when it starts in late January?
A: By enrolling now, you will almost certainly be able to get a spot in your class of choice. If you wait too long, the class you want may be full.
Q: When is the current semester over?
A: There are still 9 more weeks to the Fall semester.
Q: Do I have to pay for the full Winter/Spring semester now?
A: You can pay one installment of the 3- or 5-installment options. The 2nd installment on either plan isn't due until February 14th.
Q: Are there benefits to paying the tuition in full?
A: You receive a 10% Value Plan discount by paying in full, plus 50 bonus Member Milestone points (our rewards program). You can also pay a deposit of $78 and pay the balance of the Value Plan by January 24th, and still receive the 10% discount and 50 bonus Member Milestone points. The balance amount would be $273.
Q: What are the prices for the Winter/Spring classes?
A: 5 installments of $78 (base price), or 3 installments of $119 (8% discount) or $351 for the Value Plan (inlcudes 10% discount).
Q: Who will be teaching class ______?
A: We have the final instructor schedule set about 2 weeks prior to the start of each semster. All instructors have gone through our rigorous screening and training processes. They're all great. If you feel you want to switch classes, you're welcome to as many times and as long as there's space.
Q: What do I do if my schedule changes?
A: You can switch classes as many times as you'd like to, provided there is space in a class. If you ever need to unenroll, we will provide a prorated tuition refund about 2-4 weeks after you notify us of your need to unenroll. If you unenroll before the semester actually starts, your tuition is 100% refunded. The annual family membership is not refundable.
Q: What if I am going to miss a class?
A: Classes can be made-up as long as there is space in a class and as long as you're enrolled. Your makeup classes no longer expire. If you take a class when your child is 2 years old and then take a break and come back when he is 8 years old, all of your makeup classes will still be available to you! (This is a change that we made 2 weeks ago and will be announcing in classes this week.) We believe we have the best and most flexibile make-up policy in all of Portland. (If we don't please let us know who has a better one!)
Q: This sounds great! How can I enroll?
A: If your membership is valid, you can enroll by calling us at (503) 595-9702, or by enrolling online from the Schedule tab on our website --- www.tlglakeoswegoor.com. Non-members may become members and enroll starting on Monday, November 22nd.
Monday, November 8, 2010
Priority Enrollment for Winter/Spring semester starts today!!
Today, Monday, November 8th is the first day that currently enrolled members may reserve their Winter/Spring class spots. Enrolling early helps us to determine which classes will be the most popular, so we can plan our staff scheduling and hiring needs. Plus it helps us pay the bills during the quiet enrollment period of November - December. :-)
As the economy picks up, this first week of Priority Enrollment gets more valuable for members as popular classes and times will fill during ealy. Currently enrolled members can reserve their spots with any of our payment options and be assured they will get into the class of their choice. Already, at 1:45am on Monday the 8th, a large number of current members have taken advantage of early enrollment. Over 75 members have re-enrolled, and several of our Saturday classes are already half-full.
To thank members for enrolling early, we will be serving refreshments for every class for the next two weeks, including snacks such as bagels & cream cheese, cookies, pretzels, juice, and coffee. Plus members who enroll during Priority Enrollment get 50 bonus Member Milestone points (our loyalty rewards program). And we'll be raffling off 21 different things, totalling $1100+, such as tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live, dinner out, pizza, children's books, toys, and more. See our post from
As the economy picks up, this first week of Priority Enrollment gets more valuable for members as popular classes and times will fill during ealy. Currently enrolled members can reserve their spots with any of our payment options and be assured they will get into the class of their choice. Already, at 1:45am on Monday the 8th, a large number of current members have taken advantage of early enrollment. Over 75 members have re-enrolled, and several of our Saturday classes are already half-full.
To thank members for enrolling early, we will be serving refreshments for every class for the next two weeks, including snacks such as bagels & cream cheese, cookies, pretzels, juice, and coffee. Plus members who enroll during Priority Enrollment get 50 bonus Member Milestone points (our loyalty rewards program). And we'll be raffling off 21 different things, totalling $1100+, such as tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba Live, dinner out, pizza, children's books, toys, and more. See our post from
- Monday, Nov 8
- The Little Gym Parents’ Survival Night
- Three “Have one on us” 3-topping pizzas from Papa Muphy’s Take 'N' Bake of West Linn and Oregon City (3 individual winners of one pizza each)
- Tuesday, Nov 9
- The Little Gym T-Shirt & Baseball Cap
- Wednesday, Nov 10
- The Little Gym Winter Camp
- 4 Tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba! live at 2pm on Sunday the 14th at the Memorial Coliseum ($200+ value)
- Thursday, Nov 11
- The Little Gym t-shirt, slo-mo ball and Foam Flyer
- Friday, Nov 12
- The Little Gym Annual Family Membership renewal
- $25 gift certificate to Bamboo Grove Hawaiian Grill
- Saturday, Nov 13
- Parent’s Survival Night
- $25 gift certificate to Players (dinner and bowling next door!)
- Monday, Nov 15
- The Little Gym T-Shirt and Baseball Cap
- Matt Olsen of State Farm Insurance donated a red wagon ($100 value)
- Tuesday, Nov 16
- The Little Gym Winter Camp
- $25 Gift Certificate to Frog Pond Toys and Lily Pad Café
- Wednesday, Nov 17
- The Little Gym Annual Family membership
- $75 gift certificate towards classes or personal training at Flourish Pilates in West Linn
- Thursday, Nov 18
- Set of children’s books from Goodnight Room ($36 value)
- A pair of Men’s Dockers Shoes. You choose the size and style! ($50+ value)
- Friday, Nov 19
- $30 gift certificate for Pampered Chef from consultant, Angelika Heidelberger
- Saturday, Nov 20
- Grand Prize – free Fall 2011 semester of classes (~$333 value)
Friday, November 5, 2010
It's happening... is my daughter a "tween"?
It's interesting being a parent and seeing your children grow up. My 9 year old daughter said to me yesterday, "I don't think I need [quiet time] with you or Mom anymore. I like to go to sleep right away and when you stay in my room, you talk to me when I'm trying to sleep. Maybe you can just kiss me good-night and not stay."
We've had various bedtime rituals that have changed over the years. I had one favorite rock CD -- Cool for August -- that I would dance around to while holding Freya when she was an infant and not quite ready for bed. We had a dozen or so songs that my wife or I would sing to Freya and her brother while rocking them to sleep. (It was cool watching The Sound of Music and having they see Eidelweiss sung in the movie.) We included books as she got older, and now, with "quiet time", we hang out with her in bed for a little bit before leaving. I like "quiet time" because that was when she would talk to us about what was really going on at school -- things she liked and things she needed advice with.
She's growing up... she saved up and bought herself an iPod touch. She has her own email address and texts our babysitters and one friend. Is she a "tween?" I don't know... I do like being able to shorten the bedtime ritual, but I'm sure I'm going to miss our "quiet time." Luckily her younger brother still likes to snuggle before bed.
So enjoy your evening rituals while you have them!!!
We've had various bedtime rituals that have changed over the years. I had one favorite rock CD -- Cool for August -- that I would dance around to while holding Freya when she was an infant and not quite ready for bed. We had a dozen or so songs that my wife or I would sing to Freya and her brother while rocking them to sleep. (It was cool watching The Sound of Music and having they see Eidelweiss sung in the movie.) We included books as she got older, and now, with "quiet time", we hang out with her in bed for a little bit before leaving. I like "quiet time" because that was when she would talk to us about what was really going on at school -- things she liked and things she needed advice with.
She's growing up... she saved up and bought herself an iPod touch. She has her own email address and texts our babysitters and one friend. Is she a "tween?" I don't know... I do like being able to shorten the bedtime ritual, but I'm sure I'm going to miss our "quiet time." Luckily her younger brother still likes to snuggle before bed.
So enjoy your evening rituals while you have them!!!
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
The Little Gym philosophy in action
The Little Gym philosophy is to allow children to participate in an activity or try a skill when they're ready. Just last night we had a breakthrough with one child that I thought I'd write about. But first a little bit about our philosophy...
We start when they're in our parent/child classes. Several times each semester, we talk about how parents should look at a child's face when they're doing skills with them. If a child is showing that they're fearful, we recommend backing off and giving them praise for what they did allow you to do with them. We don't recommend forcing them through the skill just to have them do it.
In our Preschool/Kindergarten age classes, we let children know that if they don't want to try an activity, they can just sit by the "watching wall" and watch. Eventually children will learn the procedure and often they'll go directly to the watching wall and tell us, "Teacher Ron, I'm just going to watch today." Usually when we get into small groups for the station portion of class, they'll join in. The group activities at the beginning of the class can be the most intimidating and it can take weeks or months until they're ready to join in.
If children don't want to go into class by themselves, we allow parents to sit by the watching wall to provide support. We ask parents to be as silent as possible and allow the teachers to interact with their children and invite them to join in "when they're ready," or "when they change their mind." When parents whisper in their ear, "Doesn't that look like fun?" or encourage them to participate in the activity, it ususally backfires. Children join in when they're comfortable. And the best way to make a child comfortable is to allow them to watch the activity for a while, and join in when they're ready. And it could be the next week, or in several weeks.
For our grade school classes, we will see some children who don't like to do specific skills. Some children are terrified of doing somersaults. Some are afraid of doing a forward or backward rotation on the bars. And some are scared of the high beam. For these children, our goal is to break down the skill into simpler variations that they would be comfortable doing, such as doing just the beginning of the skill, or doing it with a very "heavy spot" or possibly with two instructors spotting.
We have one such child in one of our evening grade school classes. The almost-seven-year-old is a bit frightened of the bars and has refused to do backward rotations (pull-overs) or forward rotations (tummy rolls) on the bars. Her dad had expressed concern, thinking that his daughter might even be slowing up the class. We talked about giving her daughter the room to try these skills when she was ready, making sure that she didn't feel pressure from her parents to do the skills even though she didn't want to. Last night she decided the she was ready. She did a tummy roll on the low bar with the help of two instructors. After doing it, she said that it wasn't so bad. She, the instructors, and her dad, all felt a surge of pride. This is what we aim for in every class every week.
This morning when I came in to work, Teacher Angela was excited to tell me about this breakthrough, and I'm excited to share it with you too!
-Ron
We start when they're in our parent/child classes. Several times each semester, we talk about how parents should look at a child's face when they're doing skills with them. If a child is showing that they're fearful, we recommend backing off and giving them praise for what they did allow you to do with them. We don't recommend forcing them through the skill just to have them do it.
In our Preschool/Kindergarten age classes, we let children know that if they don't want to try an activity, they can just sit by the "watching wall" and watch. Eventually children will learn the procedure and often they'll go directly to the watching wall and tell us, "Teacher Ron, I'm just going to watch today." Usually when we get into small groups for the station portion of class, they'll join in. The group activities at the beginning of the class can be the most intimidating and it can take weeks or months until they're ready to join in.
If children don't want to go into class by themselves, we allow parents to sit by the watching wall to provide support. We ask parents to be as silent as possible and allow the teachers to interact with their children and invite them to join in "when they're ready," or "when they change their mind." When parents whisper in their ear, "Doesn't that look like fun?" or encourage them to participate in the activity, it ususally backfires. Children join in when they're comfortable. And the best way to make a child comfortable is to allow them to watch the activity for a while, and join in when they're ready. And it could be the next week, or in several weeks.
For our grade school classes, we will see some children who don't like to do specific skills. Some children are terrified of doing somersaults. Some are afraid of doing a forward or backward rotation on the bars. And some are scared of the high beam. For these children, our goal is to break down the skill into simpler variations that they would be comfortable doing, such as doing just the beginning of the skill, or doing it with a very "heavy spot" or possibly with two instructors spotting.
We have one such child in one of our evening grade school classes. The almost-seven-year-old is a bit frightened of the bars and has refused to do backward rotations (pull-overs) or forward rotations (tummy rolls) on the bars. Her dad had expressed concern, thinking that his daughter might even be slowing up the class. We talked about giving her daughter the room to try these skills when she was ready, making sure that she didn't feel pressure from her parents to do the skills even though she didn't want to. Last night she decided the she was ready. She did a tummy roll on the low bar with the help of two instructors. After doing it, she said that it wasn't so bad. She, the instructors, and her dad, all felt a surge of pride. This is what we aim for in every class every week.
This morning when I came in to work, Teacher Angela was excited to tell me about this breakthrough, and I'm excited to share it with you too!
-Ron
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Super-Fun Winter/Spring Priority Enrollment Starting Soon!
Before open enrollment for each semester of classes starts, we have a 2-week Priority Enrollment period in which current members may select classes and reserve spots first. For the Winter/Spring 2011 semester, Priority Enrollment starts on Monday, November 8th. The main benefit of Priority Enrollment for members is that they can secure a spot in classes that might potentially fill up once Open Enrollment starts. Children in evening and weekend classes and other key weekday classes are the main beneficiaries of enrolling early.
Priority Enrollment helps us at The Little Gym because it helps us determine which classes will need additional instructors scheduled and helps us determine if we have any additional hiring or training needs well in advance of the start of the next semester. To find instructors that love children, are energetic, intelligent, and capable of the best customer service and enjoy getting to know our fascinating customers, is a challenge! (Plus the class payments we receive during Priority Enrollment help ensure I can pay instructors, rent, and other bills through the slower holiday season!)
Each Priority Enrollment period, we try to make things fun and festive too. Starting on November 8th, we’ll have coffee, juice, water, and various snacks available for every class, for every day, for two weeks. Plus we’ll have daily raffle prize drawings. Once you enroll your child in classes, they are eligible for every remaining prize. If you win one of the nightly prizes, your raffle ticket goes back into the raffle box. So you can potentially win *every* prize! We have had multiple winners several times in the past. The goal is to encourage early enrollments, without penalizing anyone for doing so!
In the past, we’ve typically given away a bunch of The Little Gym prizes, such as t-shirts, hats, and gift certificates towards Parents’ Survival Nights, camps, and membership renewals, plus a few items that were donated from outside businesses.
This year, along with over $550 of The Little Gym prizes, we have over $550 of additional family-friendly prizes. Plus the first 50 students who enroll will get a buy-one, get-one free frozen yogurt from Yo Top It! of Oregon City (19550 Molalla Ave) . Here’s the list of what we’ll be raffling off, plus the dates of the raffles. For days in which there are multiple prizes, we will be drawing one winner per prize.
This year, along with over $550 of The Little Gym prizes, we have over $550 of additional family-friendly prizes. Plus the first 50 students who enroll will get a buy-one, get-one free frozen yogurt from Yo Top It! of Oregon City (19550 Molalla Ave) . Here’s the list of what we’ll be raffling off, plus the dates of the raffles. For days in which there are multiple prizes, we will be drawing one winner per prize.
- Monday, Nov 8
- The Little Gym Parents’ Survival Night
- Three “Have one on us” 3-topping pizzas from Papa Muphy’s Take 'N' Bake of West Linn and Oregon City (3 individual winners of one pizza each)
- Tuesday, Nov 9
- The Little Gym T-Shirt & Baseball Cap
- Wednesday, Nov 10
- The Little Gym Winter Camp
- 4 Tickets to see Yo Gabba Gabba! live at 2pm on Sunday the 14th at the Memorial Coliseum ($200+ value)
- Thursday, Nov 11
- The Little Gym t-shirt, slo-mo ball and Foam Flyer
- Friday, Nov 12
- The Little Gym Annual Family Membership renewal
- $25 gift certificate to Bamboo Grove Hawaiian Grill
- Saturday, Nov 13
- Parent’s Survival Night
- $25 gift certificate to Players (dinner and bowling next door!)
- Monday, Nov 15
- The Little Gym T-Shirt and Baseball Cap
- Tuesday, Nov 16
- The Little Gym Winter Camp
- $25 Gift Certificate to Frog Pond Toys and Lily Pad Café
- Wednesday, Nov 17
- The Little Gym Annual Family membership
- $75 gift certificate towards classes or personal training at Flourish Pilates in West Linn
- Thursday, Nov 18
- Set of children’s books from Goodnight Room ($36 value)
- A pair of Men’s Dockers Shoes. You choose the size and style! ($50+ value)
- Friday, Nov 19
- $30 gift certificate for Pampered Chef from consultant, Angelika Heidelberger
- Saturday, Nov 20
- Grand Prize – free Fall 2011 semester of classes (~$333 value)
All of these prizes (with the exception of the Yo Gabba Gabba tickets) were donated by your fellow members! We are very appreciative of these donations and we hope that you will patronize your fellow members' businesses and thank them!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Proud Parent Moments - October 2010
I love talking about pride in our children. That's got to be the best thing about being a parent -- being able to have those moments of pride -- when our children first smile at us, giggle, walk, hug us, and any time they say "I love you."
I had another "pride" moment last night when my son and I attended his first ever Cub Scout den meeting. About fifteen 1st graders were standing around two tables making paper airplanes just before the meeting was called to order. The Den leader then had all the children take turns saying their name, what school they go to, and what their favorite animal was. Now, my son is a little on the introverted side. In his The Little Gym classes at age 3, he was the Funny Bug that would sit by the watching wall during all of the group activities, or go hide in the donut until it was time for the gymnastics stations. Over time, his confidence grew and he did start participating in all of the group activities.
Last night, I held my breath a little bit as the turn came around to my son to introduce himself.... and he did! He even spoke loud enough that I could hear him across the room a bit. Knowing my child, just the fact that he was able to say his name in front of a group of 15 peers, and about 20 adults, it was a big moment -- for me!
At The Little Gym, we allow children to join in to the activities when they're ready. We allow them to be comfortable watching and joining in at their own pace. And when they do join in, we feel as proud in them as you do. Maybe all of those opening circles, saying names and doing a skill in front of the class had an impact on my son? I think so!
Here's a link to a video we recently posted on our Facebook page of a Giggle Worm who definitely doesn't have any issues with confidence. Enjoy!
-Teacher Ron, Owner
I had another "pride" moment last night when my son and I attended his first ever Cub Scout den meeting. About fifteen 1st graders were standing around two tables making paper airplanes just before the meeting was called to order. The Den leader then had all the children take turns saying their name, what school they go to, and what their favorite animal was. Now, my son is a little on the introverted side. In his The Little Gym classes at age 3, he was the Funny Bug that would sit by the watching wall during all of the group activities, or go hide in the donut until it was time for the gymnastics stations. Over time, his confidence grew and he did start participating in all of the group activities.
Last night, I held my breath a little bit as the turn came around to my son to introduce himself.... and he did! He even spoke loud enough that I could hear him across the room a bit. Knowing my child, just the fact that he was able to say his name in front of a group of 15 peers, and about 20 adults, it was a big moment -- for me!
At The Little Gym, we allow children to join in to the activities when they're ready. We allow them to be comfortable watching and joining in at their own pace. And when they do join in, we feel as proud in them as you do. Maybe all of those opening circles, saying names and doing a skill in front of the class had an impact on my son? I think so!
Here's a link to a video we recently posted on our Facebook page of a Giggle Worm who definitely doesn't have any issues with confidence. Enjoy!
-Teacher Ron, Owner
Wednesday, October 6, 2010
Halloween... It's coming!
Halloween is one of my favorite holidays. Is it because of the smell of the crisp leaves that have fallen off trees, or the swish, swish, as you walk through leaf piles that have gathered at the edges of sidewalks? Or is it because our children get so excited to dress up and talk of nothing else for the weeks leading up to Halloween? Or is it the fun "scary" stories we read, or the fun decorations we get to put up?
Nope... I'll be honest. I love candy. :-) Somehow my son also has a huge sweet tooth. I love going trick-or-treating with my children. Last year was the first year that I brought them home because it was getting later, rather than bringing them home because they got tired.
A few years back, we started a post-trick-or-treat tradition. We sit at the kitchen table and sort out the candy, discarding the candy that the kids don't like or can't eat (due to allergies and the newly added dental braces). Then.... we gorge. We eat whatever candy we want. I usually eat until I'm stuffed. Mom usually cuts off the kids when she thinks it's too much. We keep a tiny portion of the candy for the next day or so, and then Mom throws the rest away, while I sadly watch it go. I'm usually too stuffed to object when that occurs. But at least this way, we don't have candy in our house for very long after Hallween. And there will be plenty of other treats coming as Thanksgiving and other holidays are just around the corner.
At The Little Gym, we have a tradition too. We have our annual Members-only Halloween Party. This year it's on Sunday October 31st -- on Halloween. We're having it a little earlier in the day this year, so the kids can come to The Little Gym and still be able to go home for dinner before going out trick-or-treating.
We've always had a pretty big turnout, so we now have 2 parties -- one at 1pm, and another at 2:35pm (5 minutes after the first party has ended). We transform the gym into a Halloween extravaganza with a Halloween-themed obstacle course, giant cheese-slide, halloween activities and performances, fun games & prizes, and cookies and juice. Children (and parents) are encouraged to come in costume. All of their favorite teachers will be!
We have sign-up sheets at the gym and we're asking parents to RSVP by Saturday the 23rd. Below is our staff photo from just before last year's party. We hope to see you there!
Nope... I'll be honest. I love candy. :-) Somehow my son also has a huge sweet tooth. I love going trick-or-treating with my children. Last year was the first year that I brought them home because it was getting later, rather than bringing them home because they got tired.
A few years back, we started a post-trick-or-treat tradition. We sit at the kitchen table and sort out the candy, discarding the candy that the kids don't like or can't eat (due to allergies and the newly added dental braces). Then.... we gorge. We eat whatever candy we want. I usually eat until I'm stuffed. Mom usually cuts off the kids when she thinks it's too much. We keep a tiny portion of the candy for the next day or so, and then Mom throws the rest away, while I sadly watch it go. I'm usually too stuffed to object when that occurs. But at least this way, we don't have candy in our house for very long after Hallween. And there will be plenty of other treats coming as Thanksgiving and other holidays are just around the corner.
At The Little Gym, we have a tradition too. We have our annual Members-only Halloween Party. This year it's on Sunday October 31st -- on Halloween. We're having it a little earlier in the day this year, so the kids can come to The Little Gym and still be able to go home for dinner before going out trick-or-treating.
We've always had a pretty big turnout, so we now have 2 parties -- one at 1pm, and another at 2:35pm (5 minutes after the first party has ended). We transform the gym into a Halloween extravaganza with a Halloween-themed obstacle course, giant cheese-slide, halloween activities and performances, fun games & prizes, and cookies and juice. Children (and parents) are encouraged to come in costume. All of their favorite teachers will be!
We have sign-up sheets at the gym and we're asking parents to RSVP by Saturday the 23rd. Below is our staff photo from just before last year's party. We hope to see you there!
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
Fascinating Parents at The Little Gym
Each semester, we welcome families back and welcome new members to The Little Gym. In our announcements we ask (challenge!) parents to get to know each other. You'll be sitting next to each other for 19 weeks, and we have fascinating parents who come to the gym. We've had Trailblazer families, local TV personalities and producers, parents in all sorts of professions and into all sorts of hobbies. By saying hello, you never know who you'll meet.
In January of this year, we a Dad came in to try a class with his 2 year old. He said that grandmother (his mother) would be coming to class too. She was visiting from out of town. When she arrived, I asked where she was from. She said Massachusetts. (I am too.) I asked where. She said Natick. (I am too.) It turns out that her son who was in The Little Gym class, graduated from my high school 2 years ahead of me. We enjoyed trying to find connections from the past.
Just this past Monday, at my son's very first Cub Scout pack meeting, I was standing next to another Dad as the new Tiger Cubs were doing some running races. We got to talking and I found out that he had moved out to West Linn over the summer and was from Massachusetts... yes... Natick too. He graduated the year before me. He also went to the same college as me (Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts) with the same major.
That's quite a coincidence that I ran into two others from Natick, Massachusetts, a fairly small town in the suburbs of Boston.
So next time, you're at The Little Gym, say hello to another parent. Ask if they're originally from Portland. Find out what they do, or what hobbies they have. You just might meet a *really* fascinating person, or perhaps an old (or new) friend!
In January of this year, we a Dad came in to try a class with his 2 year old. He said that grandmother (his mother) would be coming to class too. She was visiting from out of town. When she arrived, I asked where she was from. She said Massachusetts. (I am too.) I asked where. She said Natick. (I am too.) It turns out that her son who was in The Little Gym class, graduated from my high school 2 years ahead of me. We enjoyed trying to find connections from the past.
Just this past Monday, at my son's very first Cub Scout pack meeting, I was standing next to another Dad as the new Tiger Cubs were doing some running races. We got to talking and I found out that he had moved out to West Linn over the summer and was from Massachusetts... yes... Natick too. He graduated the year before me. He also went to the same college as me (Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Massachusetts) with the same major.
That's quite a coincidence that I ran into two others from Natick, Massachusetts, a fairly small town in the suburbs of Boston.
So next time, you're at The Little Gym, say hello to another parent. Ask if they're originally from Portland. Find out what they do, or what hobbies they have. You just might meet a *really* fascinating person, or perhaps an old (or new) friend!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Our Fall Open House is this Sunday from 2-5pm
Twice a year, we open the doors to the general public to come visit The Little Gym of Lake Oswego during our Open House. This Sunday will be Marie and my 10th Open House. (This January is our 5 year anniversary of owning & operating The Little Gym of Lake Oswego, and the 15th anniversary of The Little Gym of Lake Oswego's existence!)
All The Little Gym employees will be on hand showing skill demos, leading activities, serving refreshments and most of all, ensuring that all guests have a fun and *safe* time at the gym. We'll be raffling off t-shirts, CD's, hats, Winter Break camp days, free annual memberships, and the grand prize of a free annual membership plus 4 weeks of classes at the gym.
Every year, we wonder how well we have gotten the word out about our Open House. And we always keep our fingers crossed that we'll have a good turn-out.
If you're reading this and you haven't been to The Little Gym before, or recently, we hope that you'll come for a visit this Sunday (2-5pm), and meet us and have a little bit of fun while learning about The Little Gym. For directions, please see the Announcement page of our Web site.
All The Little Gym employees will be on hand showing skill demos, leading activities, serving refreshments and most of all, ensuring that all guests have a fun and *safe* time at the gym. We'll be raffling off t-shirts, CD's, hats, Winter Break camp days, free annual memberships, and the grand prize of a free annual membership plus 4 weeks of classes at the gym.
Every year, we wonder how well we have gotten the word out about our Open House. And we always keep our fingers crossed that we'll have a good turn-out.
If you're reading this and you haven't been to The Little Gym before, or recently, we hope that you'll come for a visit this Sunday (2-5pm), and meet us and have a little bit of fun while learning about The Little Gym. For directions, please see the Announcement page of our Web site.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
The Little Gym voted #1 by Metro Parent Magazine readers!
We are excited to announce that The Little Gym of Lake Oswego was recently awarded the #1 Birthday Party Place *and* #1 Children's Gym in the greater Portland area in Metro Parent Magazine's 2010 "Family Favorites" Reaader Survey.
Each year Metro Parent Magazine surveys its readers of their "family favorite" places in the Portland region. In their September 2010 issue, the winners were announced.
Thank you, members and friends for voting The Little Gym #1! You can read about all of the Family Favorites winners on pages 32-35 in the September issue: http://www.metro-parent.com/issues/sept10/index.html
Here's what they said about The Little Gym:
Birthday Party Place
The Little Gym earned top honors in this category with the consensus being that they do it all for you – and it’s all fun. “Love their ‘care free’ birthday parties. They do everything for you!”
Children’s Gym
The Little Gym also (overwhelmingly) took the top spot in this category. Along with their “very nurturing and knowledgeable instructors,” several parents mentioned that their children have gained considerable confidence through their classes there.
You all know how hard we try to hire and train the very best instructors to implement The Little Gym programs so your children can grow their skills and confidence each week, and your pride in them can soar. Now the rest of Portland knows too! Thank you!
Each year Metro Parent Magazine surveys its readers of their "family favorite" places in the Portland region. In their September 2010 issue, the winners were announced.
Thank you, members and friends for voting The Little Gym #1! You can read about all of the Family Favorites winners on pages 32-35 in the September issue: http://www.metro-parent.com/issues/sept10/index.html
Here's what they said about The Little Gym:
Birthday Party Place
The Little Gym earned top honors in this category with the consensus being that they do it all for you – and it’s all fun. “Love their ‘care free’ birthday parties. They do everything for you!”
Children’s Gym
The Little Gym also (overwhelmingly) took the top spot in this category. Along with their “very nurturing and knowledgeable instructors,” several parents mentioned that their children have gained considerable confidence through their classes there.
You all know how hard we try to hire and train the very best instructors to implement The Little Gym programs so your children can grow their skills and confidence each week, and your pride in them can soar. Now the rest of Portland knows too! Thank you!
So long Summer, hello Fall!
Is summer over already? Yikes! I read a great book (before kids) about innovation. It talked about how some things speed up and some things slow down. It's probably a bit controversial so I won't put all of the details here. E.g. Discussions about the Big Bang and about computers developing the ability to think like live humans. Email me if you want the title. :-) As we age, it does seem that time goes by faster.
My children are now 6 and 9. Blaise had his birthday -- a Star War themed party at The Little Gym -- a few months back, and Freya's having a sleep over party tonight with 8 of her friends. (A friend suggested I turn the clocks forward 2 hours and buy some ear plugs.) For Freya and Blaise, hopefully they're enjoying their childhood, relishing each experience and growing from them.
This summer we had them enrolled in various camps around Portland. They experienced digging through regurgitated owl pellets, finding small mouse bones. They learned how to "post" at horse camp. And we all got introduced to tennis via a fun family tennis lesson for a few Tuesdays this summer. We did get away for a week to a cabin in California. Freya did her first "real" hike with us and did her first (guided) trail ride on a horse with me. And we did get the annual Oregon Coast camping trip in last weekend. We also had plenty of down-time so they could experience the obligatory boredom of summer and focus on coming up with creative ways to keep boredom at bay. (I'm still trying to get the stains out of our carpet.)
With Fall starting, they're excited to start school. We met their teachers the other day at their Open House. This is also the first year that Freya and Blaise can do gymnastics together (Grade School Flips/Hot Shots). We'll see how that goes.
I'm excited about our Fall semester at the gym starting. We have a few new instructors coming on board and are saying good-bye to a few too. Teacher Amy is going to be traveling for a good chunk of the semester, so she'll be around helping with some training and substituting for a while. Teacher Kelly (the *new* Kelly) has some family committments and is going to be finishing nurisng school. And Teacher Michael is going back to OSU for his sophomore year. Hopefully they'll *all* be back again!
Teacher Ana joins us in our Parent/Child, and Pre/K gymnastics and dance prorams. She recently graduated from Lewis & Clark from their Theater program. She's going to be directing one of their upcoming productions. And Teacher Andrea is joining us from The Little Gym of Beaverton. She'll be leading Birthday Parties and helping out in some Pre/K and Grade school classes too.
We're looking forward to having many of our summer class and camp students coming back for Fall classes, and we're excited about how many of of our former students and brand new students have been signing up in droves these past few weeks. It's going to be a great year!
Let's hope it doesn't go *too* fast so we can enjoy it! :-)
Happy handstands. -Ron
My children are now 6 and 9. Blaise had his birthday -- a Star War themed party at The Little Gym -- a few months back, and Freya's having a sleep over party tonight with 8 of her friends. (A friend suggested I turn the clocks forward 2 hours and buy some ear plugs.) For Freya and Blaise, hopefully they're enjoying their childhood, relishing each experience and growing from them.
This summer we had them enrolled in various camps around Portland. They experienced digging through regurgitated owl pellets, finding small mouse bones. They learned how to "post" at horse camp. And we all got introduced to tennis via a fun family tennis lesson for a few Tuesdays this summer. We did get away for a week to a cabin in California. Freya did her first "real" hike with us and did her first (guided) trail ride on a horse with me. And we did get the annual Oregon Coast camping trip in last weekend. We also had plenty of down-time so they could experience the obligatory boredom of summer and focus on coming up with creative ways to keep boredom at bay. (I'm still trying to get the stains out of our carpet.)
With Fall starting, they're excited to start school. We met their teachers the other day at their Open House. This is also the first year that Freya and Blaise can do gymnastics together (Grade School Flips/Hot Shots). We'll see how that goes.
I'm excited about our Fall semester at the gym starting. We have a few new instructors coming on board and are saying good-bye to a few too. Teacher Amy is going to be traveling for a good chunk of the semester, so she'll be around helping with some training and substituting for a while. Teacher Kelly (the *new* Kelly) has some family committments and is going to be finishing nurisng school. And Teacher Michael is going back to OSU for his sophomore year. Hopefully they'll *all* be back again!
Teacher Ana joins us in our Parent/Child, and Pre/K gymnastics and dance prorams. She recently graduated from Lewis & Clark from their Theater program. She's going to be directing one of their upcoming productions. And Teacher Andrea is joining us from The Little Gym of Beaverton. She'll be leading Birthday Parties and helping out in some Pre/K and Grade school classes too.
We're looking forward to having many of our summer class and camp students coming back for Fall classes, and we're excited about how many of of our former students and brand new students have been signing up in droves these past few weeks. It's going to be a great year!
Let's hope it doesn't go *too* fast so we can enjoy it! :-)
Happy handstands. -Ron
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Sports Skills at The Little Gym
It’s Summer Sports Week at The Little Gym. This week, we incorporate a few activities from our Sports Skills program into our Preschool/Kindergarten and Grade School gymnastics classes.
Our Sports Skills program is designed to develop basic sports skills and create a foundation for positive athletic experiences. It’s for 3-6 years old boys and girls, broken out by age groups, and uses a variety of innovative sport exercises, lead-up games and drills to teach the basic understanding of the rules and strategies associated with specific sports.
This week in our gymnastics classes, we’ll introduce the basketball chest pass, work on soccer dribbling, trapping, and kicking, football throwing and catching, and tennis (as well as including gymnastics).
Being an instructor at The Little Gym for over 4.5 years, and leading many Sports Skills classes over those years, I’ve seen the benefits of our Sports Skills class first-hand in many of the children who have been in our sports program. One of my favorite semesters was when I had only 4 children enrolled in a summer class – Mini Jacks, for 3-4 year olds. Two of the children were boys who had an amazing amount of energy and a comparable lack of focus. The other two children were girls that were completely the opposite. From feedback after classes, I understand the parents in the lobby were getting quite a kick out of the weekly “show” of me trying to engage all four children appropriately. What seemed to work well for the boys was when I pretended that we were doing racecar baseball, or dinosaur soccer.
It was hard to see the growth in those 2 boys from week to week, but they loved the class and their parents kept them in the sports skills program for several years. Eventually they became the “rock stars” in the class, learning the skills, and (eventually), improving their focus and concentration. One of those boys joined our advanced 5-6 year old class, (and also one of those 2 girls as well!).
Parents wonder if their child should do one semester of sports skills. We do mix up the sports each semester, with the Fall concentrating on soccer, football, and basketball (with a little bowling, and volleyball added). And in the Winter/Spring we focus on hockey, golf, and baseball (with a week of track & field, and Frisbee). As with any sport, repetition builds skills and confidence. So yes, as with any of our programs, it truly is a 2-3 year timeframe to get benefits of the program, learning the skills, and building a soaring sense of confidence. And those children who do spend 1-2 years in the sports program will have an increased ability in all of those sports.
I think I’ve given the example of my son a bunch of times. He just turned 6 a few weeks ago. Blaise spent several semesters in the sports skills class. That’s the class that helped him get out of his shell and join in the first 15 minutes of the class. He really enjoyed the various sports “games” we played, from dribbling the soccer ball around the parachute and then kicking the balll towards the cones in the center of the parachute, or our “Tower of Power” game where we throw footballs to knock a cone off a tower of “hot dog” mats.
This past spring, Blaise, agreed to join T-ball. Of course, after I signed him up, he freaked out, saying that he *didn’t* want to do T-ball. I insisted that we come try the first practice and see how it goes. Blaise was by far not the strongest player on the team. He has not been very interested in playing ball with me on the weekends, so I was impressed when he followed the coach’s directions and started playing catch with the other boys on his team. And he started to love going to his (*many*) practices and games. Even though I think it rained every day this past season, he loved going and playing T-ball with his new friends.
I loved it too. My pride in Blaise grew each week. The last 3 weeks of the season, the coaches started pitching to the kids. If they didn’t get a hit after about 4 pitches, the coaches would bring out the batting T. Blaise always got the T… until the last game. His first at-bat, he hit the first pitch from the coach. And I *saw* it!
Our Sports Skills program is designed to develop basic sports skills and create a foundation for positive athletic experiences. It’s for 3-6 years old boys and girls, broken out by age groups, and uses a variety of innovative sport exercises, lead-up games and drills to teach the basic understanding of the rules and strategies associated with specific sports.
This week in our gymnastics classes, we’ll introduce the basketball chest pass, work on soccer dribbling, trapping, and kicking, football throwing and catching, and tennis (as well as including gymnastics).
Being an instructor at The Little Gym for over 4.5 years, and leading many Sports Skills classes over those years, I’ve seen the benefits of our Sports Skills class first-hand in many of the children who have been in our sports program. One of my favorite semesters was when I had only 4 children enrolled in a summer class – Mini Jacks, for 3-4 year olds. Two of the children were boys who had an amazing amount of energy and a comparable lack of focus. The other two children were girls that were completely the opposite. From feedback after classes, I understand the parents in the lobby were getting quite a kick out of the weekly “show” of me trying to engage all four children appropriately. What seemed to work well for the boys was when I pretended that we were doing racecar baseball, or dinosaur soccer.
It was hard to see the growth in those 2 boys from week to week, but they loved the class and their parents kept them in the sports skills program for several years. Eventually they became the “rock stars” in the class, learning the skills, and (eventually), improving their focus and concentration. One of those boys joined our advanced 5-6 year old class, (and also one of those 2 girls as well!).
Parents wonder if their child should do one semester of sports skills. We do mix up the sports each semester, with the Fall concentrating on soccer, football, and basketball (with a little bowling, and volleyball added). And in the Winter/Spring we focus on hockey, golf, and baseball (with a week of track & field, and Frisbee). As with any sport, repetition builds skills and confidence. So yes, as with any of our programs, it truly is a 2-3 year timeframe to get benefits of the program, learning the skills, and building a soaring sense of confidence. And those children who do spend 1-2 years in the sports program will have an increased ability in all of those sports.
I think I’ve given the example of my son a bunch of times. He just turned 6 a few weeks ago. Blaise spent several semesters in the sports skills class. That’s the class that helped him get out of his shell and join in the first 15 minutes of the class. He really enjoyed the various sports “games” we played, from dribbling the soccer ball around the parachute and then kicking the balll towards the cones in the center of the parachute, or our “Tower of Power” game where we throw footballs to knock a cone off a tower of “hot dog” mats.
This past spring, Blaise, agreed to join T-ball. Of course, after I signed him up, he freaked out, saying that he *didn’t* want to do T-ball. I insisted that we come try the first practice and see how it goes. Blaise was by far not the strongest player on the team. He has not been very interested in playing ball with me on the weekends, so I was impressed when he followed the coach’s directions and started playing catch with the other boys on his team. And he started to love going to his (*many*) practices and games. Even though I think it rained every day this past season, he loved going and playing T-ball with his new friends.
I loved it too. My pride in Blaise grew each week. The last 3 weeks of the season, the coaches started pitching to the kids. If they didn’t get a hit after about 4 pitches, the coaches would bring out the batting T. Blaise always got the T… until the last game. His first at-bat, he hit the first pitch from the coach. And I *saw* it!
Thursday, July 29, 2010
More Proud Parent Moments
We talk about how at The Little Gym you have the opportunity to feel pride in your child each week. Well this week, I felt a ton of pride in my son. My son, Blaise, has been in The Little Gym programs since my wife and I became owners of the gym 4.5 years ago. Our nanny brought him to classes for the first few years, and he joined the Funny Bugs class by accident when she brought him to the wrong class time. He was already three but with his temperment, we thought it best to keep him in a parent-participation class for a little longer. He ended up doing great and we kept him in the Funny Bugs class.
This week was a week of the next transition. Blaise turned 6 last month, but due to other committments, he couldn't join the grade school "Hot Shots" class until this week. Like his sister, he was very reluctant to join the "big kid" gymnastics class. He's probably going to do the all-boys Tuesday class, but this week, he came on Wednesday to the co-ed 4:15pm Flips & Hot Shots class. And he did great! He kept up with the other children in class, was beaming as he ran around the gym in the warmup, going all-out. And the other boys welcomed him into the class.
I loved it! As a parent, there is nothing better than that feeling of pride in your child. It's a very strong emotion. This week we allowed parents into classses to watch a portion of class. It was enough, for me, to get a good dose of pride... which translated to ice cream after class for all. :-) I hope you were able to get a good dose of pride in your child or children this week!
Happy handstands,
Teacher Ron
This week was a week of the next transition. Blaise turned 6 last month, but due to other committments, he couldn't join the grade school "Hot Shots" class until this week. Like his sister, he was very reluctant to join the "big kid" gymnastics class. He's probably going to do the all-boys Tuesday class, but this week, he came on Wednesday to the co-ed 4:15pm Flips & Hot Shots class. And he did great! He kept up with the other children in class, was beaming as he ran around the gym in the warmup, going all-out. And the other boys welcomed him into the class.
I loved it! As a parent, there is nothing better than that feeling of pride in your child. It's a very strong emotion. This week we allowed parents into classses to watch a portion of class. It was enough, for me, to get a good dose of pride... which translated to ice cream after class for all. :-) I hope you were able to get a good dose of pride in your child or children this week!
Happy handstands,
Teacher Ron
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Another fun week coming up... Guppies to Puppies!
Now that Who's Your Hero camp week is over, I'm setting my sights on our Guppies to Puppies week -- the week of August 16 - 20. During our classes that week, we invite students to bring in a pet to show to their class during the opening circle or closing circle (or lobby if it's a large animal).
And during our camps, we arrange special guest animal visitors for each day. In years past, we had visits from a one-legged cat, several snakes, bearded dragons, a pony and a horse. Plus we've had visitors from several non-profits:
This year, we will have a visit by some hissing cockroaches. possibly some walking stick bugs; and we'll go next door to Cat Care Professionals and visit some cats staying at their B&B.
We're looking for other pet visitors that week. So if you have a pet you'd like to bring in to show off, we'd love to have you! Call (503) 595-9702 and talk with Ron for arrangements.
Happy Handstands!
And during our camps, we arrange special guest animal visitors for each day. In years past, we had visits from a one-legged cat, several snakes, bearded dragons, a pony and a horse. Plus we've had visitors from several non-profits:
- Project Pooch -- an organization that has successfully paired youths incarcerated at the MacLaren Youth Correctional Facility in Woodburn, Oregon, with homeless shelter dogs since 1993.
- PAWS - a non-profit cat adoption center in West Linn, Oregon. Their mission is to place as many homeless cats and kittens into loving, caring homes.
- Cat Adoption Team - the Pacific Northwest’s largest nonprofit, limited admission cat shelter.
This year, we will have a visit by some hissing cockroaches. possibly some walking stick bugs; and we'll go next door to Cat Care Professionals and visit some cats staying at their B&B.
We're looking for other pet visitors that week. So if you have a pet you'd like to bring in to show off, we'd love to have you! Call (503) 595-9702 and talk with Ron for arrangements.
Happy Handstands!
Friday, July 9, 2010
Who's Your Hero Week at The Little Gym - July 12 - 16
Next week is "Who's Your Hero?" week at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego. This week is always a huge hit for the children who attend camp. Each day we talk about and pretend to be the various heros of our community -- police, fire fighters, paramedics and more! On several days we'll actually be visited by some real community heros.
Last year, paramedics from Metro West Ambulance gave a tour of their ambulance, showing the campers all of the gear they keep and how they use it to keep people safe when they're injured. One child got hooked up to a heart-rate monitor and another got their arm stabilized with an air-based cast. This year, will be visited by two different ambulance companies on Monday July, 12th and Tuesday, July 13th.
We also got visits from both the Lake Oswego and Tualatin police last year. Officers Girardi and Phillips talked about safety and how the police help families in the community. Of course, the highlight was a tour of their police cars.
But the highlight of the week was when Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue came for their visit. Three fire fighters spent quite a bit of time talking about their gear in our lobby, and showed how their infrared detecters are used to find people in smoke-filled rooms, or to find out which areas of a building are hot (on fire and dangerous). Then they took us outside for a tour of their fire engine, including allowing each camper a turn to shoot water from a live fire hose.
The police are visiting on Friday next week, with the fire fighters coming on Wednesday the 14th. Since each crew will be "on call," if an emergency arises, they may be called away. But hopefully, we'll have some super-fun visits with our local heros.
Space is available in camp for every day next week. Call us at (503) 595-9702 to reserve your spaces for your potty-independent 3-8 year olds before they're full!
Last year, paramedics from Metro West Ambulance gave a tour of their ambulance, showing the campers all of the gear they keep and how they use it to keep people safe when they're injured. One child got hooked up to a heart-rate monitor and another got their arm stabilized with an air-based cast. This year, will be visited by two different ambulance companies on Monday July, 12th and Tuesday, July 13th.
We also got visits from both the Lake Oswego and Tualatin police last year. Officers Girardi and Phillips talked about safety and how the police help families in the community. Of course, the highlight was a tour of their police cars.
But the highlight of the week was when Tualatin Valley Fire & Rescue came for their visit. Three fire fighters spent quite a bit of time talking about their gear in our lobby, and showed how their infrared detecters are used to find people in smoke-filled rooms, or to find out which areas of a building are hot (on fire and dangerous). Then they took us outside for a tour of their fire engine, including allowing each camper a turn to shoot water from a live fire hose.
The police are visiting on Friday next week, with the fire fighters coming on Wednesday the 14th. Since each crew will be "on call," if an emergency arises, they may be called away. But hopefully, we'll have some super-fun visits with our local heros.
Space is available in camp for every day next week. Call us at (503) 595-9702 to reserve your spaces for your potty-independent 3-8 year olds before they're full!
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Opportunity to expose your children to another culture -- Compass USA is looking for host families
I recently got an email from Shelby Davison of Compass USA, asking that I forward her request to our members. I have not worked with Compass USA and The Little Gym does not endorse their organization. If you're interested in learning more, please contact Annette (Clackamas) at 503.481.4125, Becky (Clackamas) at 360.892.4212, or Lana (Oregon City) at 503.709.6108. The Compass USA website can be seen at: http://www.compass-usa.net/.
Compass USA is an organization that facilitates home-stays for American and International students to further the growth of international understanding. They currently have a group of 25 Okinawan high school boys and girls coming to Clackamas and Oregon City July 21-August 18 and are looking for host families who would be willing to open their hearts and homes to these students.
From Shelby:
"This is a rewarding opportunity for families of all ages to have an international experience without even leaving home. Many of the families that have participated in this program have developed life long friendships with their students and have even visited their students in Japan."
"From July 21st to August 18th, Oregon City and Clackamas will play host to nearly 25 Okinawan students eager to improve their English and learn about American culture. This group of young girls and boys (ages 13-17) will spend their four weeks in the Oregon City and Clackamas area both participating in academic classes and enjoying weekday field trips around the community, including excursions to the Oregon Coast, Fort Vancouver, Seattle for a Mariners game, and the Columbia River."
"What makes this stay truly special for the students is the opportunity to live with a local family. Host families throughout the community open their homes to these international visitors, and by doing so open themselves up to a singularly enlightening cultural experience. While the Japanese students get a chance to learn about life in an American family, their host families are given a similarly special chance to learn more about life in Okinawa."
"This cultural exchange is a life-changing opportunity for everyone involved. If you’re interested in hosting a bright and inquisitive student from Okinawa, please contact Annette (Clackamas) at 503.481.4125, Becky (Clackamas) at 360.892.4212, or Lana (Oregon City) at 503.709.6108."
Compass USA is an organization that facilitates home-stays for American and International students to further the growth of international understanding. They currently have a group of 25 Okinawan high school boys and girls coming to Clackamas and Oregon City July 21-August 18 and are looking for host families who would be willing to open their hearts and homes to these students.
From Shelby:
"This is a rewarding opportunity for families of all ages to have an international experience without even leaving home. Many of the families that have participated in this program have developed life long friendships with their students and have even visited their students in Japan."
"From July 21st to August 18th, Oregon City and Clackamas will play host to nearly 25 Okinawan students eager to improve their English and learn about American culture. This group of young girls and boys (ages 13-17) will spend their four weeks in the Oregon City and Clackamas area both participating in academic classes and enjoying weekday field trips around the community, including excursions to the Oregon Coast, Fort Vancouver, Seattle for a Mariners game, and the Columbia River."
"What makes this stay truly special for the students is the opportunity to live with a local family. Host families throughout the community open their homes to these international visitors, and by doing so open themselves up to a singularly enlightening cultural experience. While the Japanese students get a chance to learn about life in an American family, their host families are given a similarly special chance to learn more about life in Okinawa."
"This cultural exchange is a life-changing opportunity for everyone involved. If you’re interested in hosting a bright and inquisitive student from Okinawa, please contact Annette (Clackamas) at 503.481.4125, Becky (Clackamas) at 360.892.4212, or Lana (Oregon City) at 503.709.6108."
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Winter/Spring 2010 Show Week
We're about half-way through our end-of-year Show Week. It's a very emotional time for us at The Little Gym. I am *always* impressed with the performance of the children doing their routines in front of a large audience of parents. Here's some of the neat things that have happened so far this week:
Our Monday classes always impress me with how well they do, even though they miss one practice due to Memorial Day coming a few weeks before Show Week. Even our 3 year old Funny Bugs did amazing with only one class prior in which they practiced the full routine. (Two weeks ago was Memorial Day, and prior to that we had been working on just parts of the routines in class.)
On Tuesday, one of our Hot Shots (6-12 year old boys), did his pull-over on the bars for the very first time by himself, *and* in front of his family. He had been coming to classes here for about 2.5 years now. I wish we had a video of the progress he's made since he started here. His self-esteem has skyrocketed as he's been able to master skills recently.
Also on Tuesday, two parents realized they had a special bond. They realized that they had both adopted their children from the same children's home in Guatemala. They had been attending the same class for about 10+ weeks before realizing they had that connection. That was probably one of the most interesting connections The Little Gym has ever facilitated.
Today, one of our 5 year olds who has been coming since she was 2, finally felt comfortable standing up and performing her gymnastics routines in front of an audience. For the last several years, she would skip the performance part of Show Week, preferring to sit with her parents. Today she decided to do them, performed all three routines, and performed a few "future skills" (advanced skills done with a heavy spot) too!
My favorite part was seeing my 5 year old son doing his cartwheels over and over during the group activity on Monday. He's been coming for 4 years and has always been a little bit of a goofball, preferring to goof around with his friends versus really focusing on learning skills. But over the years, he's been slowly (stealthily) building up strength and the coordination to do these skills. I love it that I can feel parental pride for my own son at The Little Gym too! We love all of the kids and love seeing their growth year over year. This is such a great job! :-)
Our Monday classes always impress me with how well they do, even though they miss one practice due to Memorial Day coming a few weeks before Show Week. Even our 3 year old Funny Bugs did amazing with only one class prior in which they practiced the full routine. (Two weeks ago was Memorial Day, and prior to that we had been working on just parts of the routines in class.)
On Tuesday, one of our Hot Shots (6-12 year old boys), did his pull-over on the bars for the very first time by himself, *and* in front of his family. He had been coming to classes here for about 2.5 years now. I wish we had a video of the progress he's made since he started here. His self-esteem has skyrocketed as he's been able to master skills recently.
Also on Tuesday, two parents realized they had a special bond. They realized that they had both adopted their children from the same children's home in Guatemala. They had been attending the same class for about 10+ weeks before realizing they had that connection. That was probably one of the most interesting connections The Little Gym has ever facilitated.
Today, one of our 5 year olds who has been coming since she was 2, finally felt comfortable standing up and performing her gymnastics routines in front of an audience. For the last several years, she would skip the performance part of Show Week, preferring to sit with her parents. Today she decided to do them, performed all three routines, and performed a few "future skills" (advanced skills done with a heavy spot) too!
My favorite part was seeing my 5 year old son doing his cartwheels over and over during the group activity on Monday. He's been coming for 4 years and has always been a little bit of a goofball, preferring to goof around with his friends versus really focusing on learning skills. But over the years, he's been slowly (stealthily) building up strength and the coordination to do these skills. I love it that I can feel parental pride for my own son at The Little Gym too! We love all of the kids and love seeing their growth year over year. This is such a great job! :-)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
The Little Gym of Lake Oswego Receives Presidents Circle Honor
Every year, The Little Gym owners from around the world get together for their annual conference. We actually call it The Little Gym Reunion because it’s really a time for gym owners to get together and reunite with other gym owners and our “corporate” friends at The Little Gym International.
This past weekend, was my sixth Reunion. It was held in Hot Springs, Virginia, at The Homestead, an historic resort that dates back to 1766. The location was gorgeous, and I was even able to take a guided hike of a local gorge.
Each year, at Reunion, we get an update about what’s in store for us in the year to come. Sometimes it’s a big splash, like 2 years ago, when we found out that The Little Gym was going to do a tie-in with Disney’s movie Enchanted. (We had a Disney/TLG commercial on TV, plus a raffle in which one The Little Gym member got the chance to walk down the red carpet to see the Enchanted premier in Los Angeles.)
Last year’s focus was on social networking and what Facebook, Twitter, and blogs were all about and how they could play a role in building community with our customers.
The Little Gym also brings in guest speakers each year. Last year Jeffrey Gitomer spoke about customer service. This year, Boaz Rauchwerger spoke about building relationships. I’m always energized after hearing great speakers such as Gitomer and Boaz.
Additionally, each year, we have various breakout sessions to learn more specifics about The Little Gym International initiatives and to learn best practices from other The Little Gyms. I always have pages and pages of tips and suggestions to bring back to our gym.
But the best part of Reunion is seeing the gym owners that I’ve gotten to know over the past 6 years. I love seeing gym owners who went through “Boot Camp” with my wife and me and comparing notes about how things are going in the various parts of the country. I love seeing Mitch from Miami who’s always *so* positive. And Katie from New Jersey who’s gym has just rocketed in the past few years. And my prior advisors Stephen and Joel who are so excited about our recent success here in Lake Oswego. This year I also got to spend some time picking the brain of Adam from Chicago, the most successful The Little Gym. And I had a really nice chat with Jodi, the wife of Robin Wes, the founder of The Little Gym.
My goal each year is make it into President’s Circle, the recognition of the top performing gyms. The whole team here in Lake Oswego has worked incredibly hard to ensure we follow The Little Gym’s axioms of always teaching the best classes, telling everyone about them, and building long-lasting relationships. We spend 2 hours each week in our staff meetings, training, drilling, and practicing gym skills, and how to ensure you and your children are getting the absolute best value out of our programs.
This year we were honored in President’s Circle for the fourth straight year with a bronze-level award. President’s Circle honors are given based on gym performance and quality. Although I was the only person from the Lake Oswego gym there, it really was all of the instructors here that made that award possible. We’ve got a great team for which I am grateful.
Next time you’re at the gym, please congratulate your favorite instructors for achieving President’s Circle!
Here's a photo of me receiving our President's Circle Award. To the left (my right) is Robin Wes, the founder of The Little Gym, still teaching after 34 years! To the right is Bob Bingham, the President and CEO of The Little Gym International.
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Parents Magazine Names The Little Gym #1 for Children's Birthday Parties
Recently, Parents Magazine surveyed over 40 national chain birthday party packages to assess which offer the most entertaining, unique and personalized experience at an affordable price. The Little Gym landed on top with the #1 ranking! Here is the press release we sent out to the local news media last month.
Parents Magazine Names The Little Gym #1 for Children's Birthday Parties
The Little Gym of Lake Oswego owner applauds parent company's recognition
Lake Oswego, OR (Grassroots Newswire) April 21, 2010 – Parents magazine just announced that The Little Gym has been named the #1 Birthday Party destination for children. The Little Gym of Lake Oswego Owner Ron Skoletsky is extremely proud to have received this distinction.
"This recognition reflects just how unique our birthday parties are for children – and also how memorable and stress-free they are for parents," Skoletsky said. "Awesome Birthday Bash parties, as we call them, involve games, music and fun activities led by trained, cheerful and child-friendly staff. We take care of almost everything! Nothing captures the magic of childhood better than a birthday party, and we enjoy making birthdays a magical milestone for the kids."
While most parents are no longer planning expensive, over-the-top birthday bashes because of the effects of the economy, they still want to make sure their child has a fun and memorable celebration, according to Parents magazine. The publication surveyed birthday party packages offered by national chains to assess which offer the most entertaining, unique and personalized experience at an affordable price.
"Our May issue is devoted to birthday parties and we wanted to find out which party chains not only throw fun birthdays that kids will love, but offer affordable packages that will make parents happy," says Dana Points, editor-in-chief of Parents. "We examined more than 40 popular party spots to bring readers the 10 best ones."
While researching national birthday chains, Parents magazine looked at what each place provided with regards to fun, games and food, as well as extra incentives such as invitations, party ware and goody bag favor offerings. In addition, the availability of instructors, personalization level, and party room size were also taken into consideration.
"Our primary focus is building confidence in children by helping them develop physical skills. So it is even more exciting to be recognized for the creativity and imagination that we put into our weekend birthday parties," said Paul Dickison of The Little Gym International.
"There are several factors that we believe draw parents to our birthday parties," Skoletsky added. "Our unique and proprietary music and curriculum are specially personalized to cater to each child's age, gender, and interests. And, unlike facilities where multiple parties occur at the same time, each birthday booking reserves the entire facility."
The Little Gym locations, including The Little Gym of Lake Oswego, make birthday parties a stress-free event for parents, as they take care of set up and clean up for the parties, provide party ware and even send out invitations to guests, "Our staff is well-trained to bring out the very best in children, which helps to make each birthday experience memorable and magical," Skoletsky said.
The first hour of the birthday party is spent in the gym engaged in age-appropriate instructor-led games and activities. The final half hour of the celebration is spent in the gym's special party room where children enjoy cake and drinks and open presents. The Little Gym provides drinks for the children, all paper goods, balloons for decoration and a list of opened gifts for thank you cards. The birthday child even gets a special The Little Gym T-shirt.
Aside from its Awesome Birthday Bash parties, The Little Gym also offers classes for children from four months of age to 12 years that range from parent/child classes in early motor skill development to grade school gymnastics, sports skills development, karate, cheerleading and dance. These programs are built on a structured curriculum where kids progressively build skills, leading to enhanced self-confidence and socialization.
For more information about Parents magazine's 10 Best Birthday Party Chains, visit: www.parents.com/fun/birthdays/ideas/top-10-birthday-chains-for-kid-birthday-parties/.
For more information about The Little Gym of Lake Oswego and its Awesome Birthday Bach parties, please contact Ron Skoletsky at 503-595-9702 or visit http://www.tlglakeoswegoor.com/.
About The Little Gym
The Little Gym is the premier developer of physical skills in children worldwide. The very first location was established in 1976 by Robin Wes, an innovative educator with a genuine love for children. The Little Gym International, Inc., headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., was formed in 1992 to franchise The Little Gym concept. Today, The Little Gym International has more than 300 locations in 21 countries. For more information, visit The Little Gym at http://www.thelittlegym.com/.
Parents Magazine Names The Little Gym #1 for Children's Birthday Parties
The Little Gym of Lake Oswego owner applauds parent company's recognition
Lake Oswego, OR (Grassroots Newswire) April 21, 2010 – Parents magazine just announced that The Little Gym has been named the #1 Birthday Party destination for children. The Little Gym of Lake Oswego Owner Ron Skoletsky is extremely proud to have received this distinction.
"This recognition reflects just how unique our birthday parties are for children – and also how memorable and stress-free they are for parents," Skoletsky said. "Awesome Birthday Bash parties, as we call them, involve games, music and fun activities led by trained, cheerful and child-friendly staff. We take care of almost everything! Nothing captures the magic of childhood better than a birthday party, and we enjoy making birthdays a magical milestone for the kids."
While most parents are no longer planning expensive, over-the-top birthday bashes because of the effects of the economy, they still want to make sure their child has a fun and memorable celebration, according to Parents magazine. The publication surveyed birthday party packages offered by national chains to assess which offer the most entertaining, unique and personalized experience at an affordable price.
"Our May issue is devoted to birthday parties and we wanted to find out which party chains not only throw fun birthdays that kids will love, but offer affordable packages that will make parents happy," says Dana Points, editor-in-chief of Parents. "We examined more than 40 popular party spots to bring readers the 10 best ones."
While researching national birthday chains, Parents magazine looked at what each place provided with regards to fun, games and food, as well as extra incentives such as invitations, party ware and goody bag favor offerings. In addition, the availability of instructors, personalization level, and party room size were also taken into consideration.
"Our primary focus is building confidence in children by helping them develop physical skills. So it is even more exciting to be recognized for the creativity and imagination that we put into our weekend birthday parties," said Paul Dickison of The Little Gym International.
"There are several factors that we believe draw parents to our birthday parties," Skoletsky added. "Our unique and proprietary music and curriculum are specially personalized to cater to each child's age, gender, and interests. And, unlike facilities where multiple parties occur at the same time, each birthday booking reserves the entire facility."
The Little Gym locations, including The Little Gym of Lake Oswego, make birthday parties a stress-free event for parents, as they take care of set up and clean up for the parties, provide party ware and even send out invitations to guests, "Our staff is well-trained to bring out the very best in children, which helps to make each birthday experience memorable and magical," Skoletsky said.
The first hour of the birthday party is spent in the gym engaged in age-appropriate instructor-led games and activities. The final half hour of the celebration is spent in the gym's special party room where children enjoy cake and drinks and open presents. The Little Gym provides drinks for the children, all paper goods, balloons for decoration and a list of opened gifts for thank you cards. The birthday child even gets a special The Little Gym T-shirt.
Aside from its Awesome Birthday Bash parties, The Little Gym also offers classes for children from four months of age to 12 years that range from parent/child classes in early motor skill development to grade school gymnastics, sports skills development, karate, cheerleading and dance. These programs are built on a structured curriculum where kids progressively build skills, leading to enhanced self-confidence and socialization.
For more information about Parents magazine's 10 Best Birthday Party Chains, visit: www.parents.com/fun/birthdays/ideas/top-10-birthday-chains-for-kid-birthday-parties/.
For more information about The Little Gym of Lake Oswego and its Awesome Birthday Bach parties, please contact Ron Skoletsky at 503-595-9702 or visit http://www.tlglakeoswegoor.com/.
About The Little Gym
The Little Gym is the premier developer of physical skills in children worldwide. The very first location was established in 1976 by Robin Wes, an innovative educator with a genuine love for children. The Little Gym International, Inc., headquartered in Scottsdale, Ariz., was formed in 1992 to franchise The Little Gym concept. Today, The Little Gym International has more than 300 locations in 21 countries. For more information, visit The Little Gym at http://www.thelittlegym.com/.
Sunday, May 9, 2010
What do your teachers do on their day off?
Many times I've had parents come to the gym saying that their child has talked about Teacher Ron or other teachers and were wondering what they were doing right now, or if they sleep at the gym, etc... So to help satisfy their curiosity, here's a vido of what I've been working on (off and on for the past 10 years). The video you are about to see is the result of probably 20-30 hours of practice over the past 11 months.
Friday, May 7, 2010
Secret trick for having a great day!
Today I learned a new trick for how to have a great day. During our 11:15am Mini Jacks sports skills class, one of the students' moms was bonding with her 2-year old daughter, painting her nails. I walked by and put my hand flat on the table and said to 2-year old Morgan, "Hey, can I get my nails done too?" Mom didn't miss a beat and painted one nail a bright pink. Morgan and Mom got a kick out of it, and I had a smile on my face for a minute until I got caught up with something else at the gym.
At least 5 times during the day, I noticed my pink nail. I proudly showed it off to my The Little Gym staff. It helped keep me in a playful mood all day. I don't know if I'll do it that often, but when you can live life, not taking yourself too seriously, the fun you can have, can make your good day into a great one.
Do something fun and silly today!
At least 5 times during the day, I noticed my pink nail. I proudly showed it off to my The Little Gym staff. It helped keep me in a playful mood all day. I don't know if I'll do it that often, but when you can live life, not taking yourself too seriously, the fun you can have, can make your good day into a great one.
Do something fun and silly today!
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Enroll for Summer or Fall classes and enter a raffle to win a free birthday party at The Little Gym!
We just finished a two-week priority Enrollment period in which current The Little Gym members got first pick of spots in Summer and Fall semester classes. After the conclusion of Priority Enrollment, starting this week, we are offering an "Early Bird Enrollment Period" for current members, inactive members, and non-members. It is extremely beneficial for us to know NOW how many students will be in Summer classes so we can work on our instructor schedule and recruiting plans - so this is our way of saying "thank you" for enrolling early.
All Summer and Fall class enrollees (including those of you who signed up during Priority Enrollment) will be entered into a drawing towards a free birthday party at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego!
Early Bird enrollment will be open until May 8th when we draw and announce the winner. Early Bird Enrollment is available for all classes that are still open after Priority Enrollment. Several of our Saturday classes are almost full!!
You may register by telephone at (503) 595-9702, in person, or online. Please call if you have any questions!
All Summer and Fall class enrollees (including those of you who signed up during Priority Enrollment) will be entered into a drawing towards a free birthday party at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego!
Early Bird enrollment will be open until May 8th when we draw and announce the winner. Early Bird Enrollment is available for all classes that are still open after Priority Enrollment. Several of our Saturday classes are almost full!!
You may register by telephone at (503) 595-9702, in person, or online. Please call if you have any questions!
It gets easier!
A friend of ours once told my wife and I, “Little kids… little problems. Big kids… big problems.” I think she and her husband were helping their child with mortgage payments at the time. One of my little problems back then was that it seemed that I had to be holding my child ALL the time. I thought my arms were going to fall off. I asked someone else, “When will I no longer have to hold my child?” They said, “When you can’t.”
But it does get easier. We had two couples over the house recently on a Saturday night. My kids are 5 and 8 years old. They brought over two 8 year old boys and a 5 year old girl. We prepared a gourmet meal (re-heated Market of Choice delicacies) and hung out with the other adults in our dining room for 3 hours. Our kids played in and around the house until it got dark. The kids finally came in when they were to cold to play outside. Every once in a while, when we couldn’t see one of them outside, one of us would get up to see what they were up to.
It was an amazing night. Three hours of adult conversation. Pure bliss. And after brushing teeth (we skipped it for our 5 year old), our kids were asleep in minutes, completely worn out.
So yes, it does get easier. Thankfully, they’re too young to need help with mortgage payments.
Hey, come join us on Facebook, or visit The Little Gym of Lake Oswego/Tualatin's homepage and schedule an introductory visit if you haven't visited in a while! We're now enrolling for summer & fall classes and summer camps!
Happy Handstands!
-Teacher Ron
But it does get easier. We had two couples over the house recently on a Saturday night. My kids are 5 and 8 years old. They brought over two 8 year old boys and a 5 year old girl. We prepared a gourmet meal (re-heated Market of Choice delicacies) and hung out with the other adults in our dining room for 3 hours. Our kids played in and around the house until it got dark. The kids finally came in when they were to cold to play outside. Every once in a while, when we couldn’t see one of them outside, one of us would get up to see what they were up to.
It was an amazing night. Three hours of adult conversation. Pure bliss. And after brushing teeth (we skipped it for our 5 year old), our kids were asleep in minutes, completely worn out.
So yes, it does get easier. Thankfully, they’re too young to need help with mortgage payments.
Hey, come join us on Facebook, or visit The Little Gym of Lake Oswego/Tualatin's homepage and schedule an introductory visit if you haven't visited in a while! We're now enrolling for summer & fall classes and summer camps!
Happy Handstands!
-Teacher Ron
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Should I buy stilts for my daughter?
This morning, my 8-year old daughter asked my wife and me if we could get her some stilts. She had been using some "As seen on TV" exercise equipment in stilt-like fashion recently. I told her that if she wanted to invest some of her allowance, I'd be willing to invest some of my money too in some stilts. I figured that if she is showing interest in an activity, I should probably encourage it. And walking on stilts is a physical activity that would help with her balance and it's a fun, unique skill to acquire.
Freya said to us that a girl in school had stilts. I said, "How do you know? Did she bring them in to school?" And Freya said, "Yes. She uses them everyday. She has a broken leg."
So, yes, Freya meant that she wanted some crutches to play with, not stilts. This got me thinking, how many activities should you encourage your child to do? What's appropriate?
I believe that the answer to that is different for every parent and every family. In our family, we offer choices to our children and allow them to decide. Our two children have tried horseback riding, various sports, karate, art, music, and of course gymnastics. Although our children are never going to be Olympic gymnasts, we have kept them in gymnastics to help develop their strength, coordination, flexibility and balance. The outcome is that they are able to keep up with their peers on the playground and on the sports field. And when I see my daughter swing across a long set of monkey bars, or my son running around third base, I am overwhelmed by my pride in them, and happy that they're able to be proud of themselves too.
Freya said to us that a girl in school had stilts. I said, "How do you know? Did she bring them in to school?" And Freya said, "Yes. She uses them everyday. She has a broken leg."
So, yes, Freya meant that she wanted some crutches to play with, not stilts. This got me thinking, how many activities should you encourage your child to do? What's appropriate?
I believe that the answer to that is different for every parent and every family. In our family, we offer choices to our children and allow them to decide. Our two children have tried horseback riding, various sports, karate, art, music, and of course gymnastics. Although our children are never going to be Olympic gymnasts, we have kept them in gymnastics to help develop their strength, coordination, flexibility and balance. The outcome is that they are able to keep up with their peers on the playground and on the sports field. And when I see my daughter swing across a long set of monkey bars, or my son running around third base, I am overwhelmed by my pride in them, and happy that they're able to be proud of themselves too.
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Summer & Fall "Priority Enrollment" for members -- update
Starting on Monday, members have a 2-week window to enroll for summer and/or fall classes before enrollment opens to the general public.
The daily drawings are:
The daily drawings are:
- Apr 12: One free Parents’ Survival Night at The Little Gym ($21 value)
- Apr 13: The Little Gym CD, Water Bottle & T-Shirt ($23.50 value)
- Apr 14: One The Little Gym Summer Camp ($21 value)
- Apr 15: The Little Gym t-shirt, slo-mo ball and Foam Flyer ($27.50 value)
- Apr 16: The Little Gym Annual Family Membership renewal ($35 value)
- Apr 17: (1) $25 gift certificate from Bamboo Grove Hawaiian Grill, or (2) One free Parent’s Survival Night ($21 value) (two separate drawings)
- Apr 19: The Little Gym CD, Water Bottle & T-Shirt ($23.50 value)
- Apr 20: One The Little Gym Summer Camp ($26 value)
- Apr 21: (1) $25 gift certificate to Larsen Family Farm in Wilsonville, or (2) The Little Gym Annual Family membership ($35 value) (two separate drawings)
- Apr 22: Two Pilates classes at Flourish Pilates, West Linn ($50-60 value)
- Apr 23: $30 gift certificate from Pampered Chef consultant, Angelika Heidelberger
- Apr 24: Grand Prize – free Winter/Spring 2011 semester of classes! ($350+ value)
We're excited to start passing out beach balls and The Little Gym baseball caps this Monday too! (And to start seeing your children wearing them!)
Friday, April 2, 2010
Spring Break Musings
Spring break ended a week ago. This was the first year in over 4 years that we did not run classes at The Little Gym during the local school break. We ran camps for 3-8 year olds and I hope your children who were able to get spots in those camps had a blast.
I know I often say how great my staff is at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego. It was fantastic to be able to take the week off and spend time with my family and be able to come back to a sparkling clean and tidy gym, with everything in place for a great “Super Fast Action” week.
Usually during Spring Break, my wife and I work, and our kids are scheduled in various camps or activities with friends. This year, with me able to take some time off, we made the pilgrimage to Disneyland. We “killed two birds” with this trip. We knocked Disney off the “must-do” list. Plus we flew my 12 year old niece out from Boston to join us. Her 2 older sisters had made the trip when they were younger, so it was finally Juliette’s turn.
So three kids at Disney – age 5, 8, and 12. My little guy wasn’t quite thrilled with going on any of the fast rides, even with bribes, so he and I stuck to the tame ones. But Freya and Juliette went on the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, California Screaming, and Space Mountain, by themselves, calling me on my cell phone when they were ready to meet.
I was asked several times this past week if I had fun at Disney. Sure it’s stressful, managing 3 kids with different needs/requirements at Disney, plus navigating LAX (yuck!). And I did make sure the kids saw “It’s a small world,” and went to some of the “show” attractions. But probably what they’ll remember the most, was making up fun games to play while waiting in line for 30 minutes for their lunch, or making up fun songs (about throw-up) while waiting in rush hour traffic on the way back from Legoland, or making up fun things to do in the pool during Thursday afternoon’s break from walking.
Maybe next vacation, we’ll just invite a cousin or friend, or two, and get in the car and just drive somewhere -- so the kids can be kids and we can all make up silly songs about throw-up and create some great memories (and possibly see something that I can cross off our list of “must-do’s”).
I know I often say how great my staff is at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego. It was fantastic to be able to take the week off and spend time with my family and be able to come back to a sparkling clean and tidy gym, with everything in place for a great “Super Fast Action” week.
Usually during Spring Break, my wife and I work, and our kids are scheduled in various camps or activities with friends. This year, with me able to take some time off, we made the pilgrimage to Disneyland. We “killed two birds” with this trip. We knocked Disney off the “must-do” list. Plus we flew my 12 year old niece out from Boston to join us. Her 2 older sisters had made the trip when they were younger, so it was finally Juliette’s turn.
So three kids at Disney – age 5, 8, and 12. My little guy wasn’t quite thrilled with going on any of the fast rides, even with bribes, so he and I stuck to the tame ones. But Freya and Juliette went on the Matterhorn, Splash Mountain, California Screaming, and Space Mountain, by themselves, calling me on my cell phone when they were ready to meet.
I was asked several times this past week if I had fun at Disney. Sure it’s stressful, managing 3 kids with different needs/requirements at Disney, plus navigating LAX (yuck!). And I did make sure the kids saw “It’s a small world,” and went to some of the “show” attractions. But probably what they’ll remember the most, was making up fun games to play while waiting in line for 30 minutes for their lunch, or making up fun songs (about throw-up) while waiting in rush hour traffic on the way back from Legoland, or making up fun things to do in the pool during Thursday afternoon’s break from walking.
Maybe next vacation, we’ll just invite a cousin or friend, or two, and get in the car and just drive somewhere -- so the kids can be kids and we can all make up silly songs about throw-up and create some great memories (and possibly see something that I can cross off our list of “must-do’s”).
Monday, March 29, 2010
Summer and Fall semester enrollments for members only (Priority Enrollment) starts April 12th!
In the past, we've had separate "Priority Enrollment" periods for summer and fall, in which only members may enroll in classes for the two weeks before Open Enrollment. This year, we're going to combine the enrollment periods into a super-uber Priority Enrollment. We're taking the best of past Priority Enrollment "celebrations" and adding to them.
Starting on April 12th, members of The Little Gym who are currently enrolled in classes may reserve spots in both summer and fall semesters of classes. Enrollments may be done in person, by phone or online. Starting April 19th, any member (e.g. siblings, or members who are not currently in classes) may enroll for summer and fall classes.
We have just about 500 students enrolled in classes, with many classes having long wait lists. So our popular classes and times may fill during or just after Priority Enrollment.
How to enroll online: To enroll online, you need to log into your account on our website.
Q: Should we do summer camps or classes? Summer camps are 3 hours long, are designed to be fun and very active. Our classes are 1-hour long and are focused on skill growth. We recommend classes if your schedule works for them, so that your children can continue working on furthering their self-confidence and gymnastics skills. However the 3-hour camps are a great way to keep your children active, building relationships with other children and teachers, and having a ton of fun! We do gymnastics in our camps, however, the focus on really growing gymnastics skills would be in our classes.
Q: I'm not a member of The Little Gym now. How can I ensure I don't lose a spot in a class I want? Prior to April 12th, you may join The Little Gym and be eligible to enroll starting April 19th. Or if you enroll in classes now, you may enroll in summer or fall classest starting April 12th. There are 12 weeks left in our current semester, so your cost and committment is less than a full 20-week semester.
If you have other questions, let us know!!!
Starting on April 12th, members of The Little Gym who are currently enrolled in classes may reserve spots in both summer and fall semesters of classes. Enrollments may be done in person, by phone or online. Starting April 19th, any member (e.g. siblings, or members who are not currently in classes) may enroll for summer and fall classes.
We have just about 500 students enrolled in classes, with many classes having long wait lists. So our popular classes and times may fill during or just after Priority Enrollment.
How to enroll online: To enroll online, you need to log into your account on our website.
- Go to the "Schedule" area of our website and choose the semester you want to enroll in
- If a class is higlighted, you can click on it to enroll. If it is not highlighted, the class is either an invitation-only advanced class, or it has one or zero spots left.
- After you select "Enroll", you will be promted to login with your email address and password. If you haven't set up an email & password on our website yet, you can select "register" to do so. When you register, you will be asked if you've been here before (select yes), and then you will either need to type in your Member Milestones number and PIN (from your Member Milestones card), or you can call the gym for your "Magic Number". The Magic Number is your Family ID in our system. We'd be happy to give you either your Family ID or your Member Milestones number and PIN.
- Once you've logged in, you can select classes for all of your children, and select your payment option.
- Every day we will be serving coffee, juice, and other assorted refreshments before, during, and after each class.
- Every child who enrolls will get their name on a “Future The Little Gym Stars” chart to be displayed in our lobby.
- Every child who enrolls will be entered into daily raffle drawings towards The Little Gym t-shirts and merchandise, free membership renewals, free summer camps, gift certificates to local family-friendly businesses, and the grand prize of a semester of classes for Winter/Spring 2011 at The Little Gym! And yes, as soon as you enroll, you are eligible to win every daily prize!
- Every child who enrolls will receive Member Milestone points - up to 500 points for Summer and up to 600 points for Fall! (Some of you may already be close to earning a free semester of classes!)
- Enroll during Priority Enrollment for Summer classes and your child will receive a pretty cool summer gift -- a The Little Gym beach ball!
- Enroll during Priority Enrollment for Fall classes and your child will receive a different (really awesome) gift -- a The Little Gym baseball cap!
- Enroll during Priority Enrollment for both Summer and Fall classes and your child will receive both special gifts from us, and you will receive a $20 The Little Gym certificate*.
*Promotional gift certificate can be used towards any future semester of classes (Winter/Spring 2011 and later), or towards any Parents’ Survival Night, summer or holiday camp, or Awesome Birthday Bash!
Payment options:
- You are welcome to pay in full and receive the Value Plan discount (approximately 10% off), or you can pay one installment of any of the installment plans.
- Another option is you can pay one installment as a deposit towards the Value Plan. The installment will hold your spot, and then the balance of the Value Plan would be charged on your credit card on the first day of the respective semester. That way, you'd get the 10% Value Plan discount, but only have to pay one installment now.
- If your plans change, you can switch classes as many times as you'd like, as long as there's space.
- If your plans *really* change, if you unenroll before the semester starts, you get a full refund of your tuition. (If you unenroll during a semester, we prorate the refund.)
- To accommodate families with multiple children, we are increasing our sibling discounts. Starting with the Summer semester, for families with multiple children enrolled in a semester, you will receive a 20% discount for your second child, a 30% discount for your third child, and a 40% discount for your fourth and each additional child.
- Our summer camps offer three hours of fun and activities for children ages 3-8. The specially developed camp curriculum is designed around themes, such as “Whales, Sharks & Mermaids!”, “Wild West!”, or “Time Travelers!,” and combines physical fitness and play with arts, crafts and special events. Our camps are scheduled for Monday, Wednesday, and Friday afternoons (1-4pm) and Tuesday and Thursday mornings (9am – noon). They are the perfect break for kids (and parents!) during the long summer months.
- You are welcome to choose any day or days during a week to come to camp. Come to one, two, three, four or all five camps in a week. You pay for those individual camp days you come to. For example, you can come to every other Tuesday, and the Monday & Thursday of the 4th week of the summer. You choose your days!
- We are enrolling *now* for summer camps. Children do need to be potty-independent and between ages 3 and 8 as of their camp day.
Q: Should we do summer camps or classes? Summer camps are 3 hours long, are designed to be fun and very active. Our classes are 1-hour long and are focused on skill growth. We recommend classes if your schedule works for them, so that your children can continue working on furthering their self-confidence and gymnastics skills. However the 3-hour camps are a great way to keep your children active, building relationships with other children and teachers, and having a ton of fun! We do gymnastics in our camps, however, the focus on really growing gymnastics skills would be in our classes.
Q: I'm not a member of The Little Gym now. How can I ensure I don't lose a spot in a class I want? Prior to April 12th, you may join The Little Gym and be eligible to enroll starting April 19th. Or if you enroll in classes now, you may enroll in summer or fall classest starting April 12th. There are 12 weeks left in our current semester, so your cost and committment is less than a full 20-week semester.
If you have other questions, let us know!!!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Proud Parent Moments
We've been talking about Parental Pride recently at The Little Gym. It's that feeling you get when your child does a "first" -- a first smile... says "Dada" or "Mama" the first time... goes potty on the big potty for the first time. Having that feeling of pride in your child is one of those things that must top the list of every parent.
We all experience pride in our children from time-to-time. And at The Little Gym, we provide the opportunity for you to feel that pride every week in every class. We instructors also feel that pride in your child. Today, for example, a child who was extremely reluctant to do a backwards roll allowed me to spot him through the roll. When his face went from being very frightened to glowing with a big smile, I felt that same level of pride as his mom did, watching from the lobby.
This week was a pretty magical week for my family, personally. This past weekend, our 8-year old rode a 2-wheeler for the first time. She outgrew her bicycle that had training wheels so we picked up the next size bike. Marie and I had different methods of helping her (Mom's technique won). And within about 30 minutes, she was pedaling by herself. (Still needs work, but it was a *huge* leap in her skills and confidence.) Marie and I were beaming.
And on Monday night, while reading to my children before bed, our 5 year old son, just started sounding out words -- from Roald Dahl's The BFG -- and that book has some *hard* words. (He did the easy ones, of course.) Blaise has been doing this in Kindergarten, but this was the first time he did it for us. I was pretty floored since I had never caught him actually *reading*before. Huge dose of parental pride there.
We've started asking parents when they call us, "What was a time recently when you felt pride in your child?" The answers we get are amazing.
When have you recently felt pride in your child? Did you tell them? Feel free to post your most recent prideful moment here!
We all experience pride in our children from time-to-time. And at The Little Gym, we provide the opportunity for you to feel that pride every week in every class. We instructors also feel that pride in your child. Today, for example, a child who was extremely reluctant to do a backwards roll allowed me to spot him through the roll. When his face went from being very frightened to glowing with a big smile, I felt that same level of pride as his mom did, watching from the lobby.
This week was a pretty magical week for my family, personally. This past weekend, our 8-year old rode a 2-wheeler for the first time. She outgrew her bicycle that had training wheels so we picked up the next size bike. Marie and I had different methods of helping her (Mom's technique won). And within about 30 minutes, she was pedaling by herself. (Still needs work, but it was a *huge* leap in her skills and confidence.) Marie and I were beaming.
And on Monday night, while reading to my children before bed, our 5 year old son, just started sounding out words -- from Roald Dahl's The BFG -- and that book has some *hard* words. (He did the easy ones, of course.) Blaise has been doing this in Kindergarten, but this was the first time he did it for us. I was pretty floored since I had never caught him actually *reading*before. Huge dose of parental pride there.
We've started asking parents when they call us, "What was a time recently when you felt pride in your child?" The answers we get are amazing.
When have you recently felt pride in your child? Did you tell them? Feel free to post your most recent prideful moment here!
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
Yay! It happened! We were on KOIN Channel 6's Keep It Local tonight!
This afternoon, we got a call from KOIN's Keep It Local that the segment they filmed last Wednesday would be on today. I quickly shot out an email and a Facebook post and crossed my fingers that my DVR would record it at home.
It was great seeing Keep It Local's segment about The Little Gym of Lake Oswego! I am very impressed with Jenny Hansson's research too. She actually called us "The Little Gym," and correctly mentioned that we are a semester-based program, and offer a free introductory class. She got in that we have programs for children 4 months to 12 years, with different weekly themes. If you'd like to see the segment, see below!
It was great seeing Keep It Local's segment about The Little Gym of Lake Oswego! I am very impressed with Jenny Hansson's research too. She actually called us "The Little Gym," and correctly mentioned that we are a semester-based program, and offer a free introductory class. She got in that we have programs for children 4 months to 12 years, with different weekly themes. If you'd like to see the segment, see below!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Holy, Moly... the things we do for our loved ones
Sorry... this doesn't have much to do with The Little Gym...
Last December, we got oneof those keychains that can display JPEG images, and loaded a few photos of our children on it for our Nanny, Kayla. So I got it in my head to purchase one of the larger digital photo frames for my wife, Marie, for Valentine's Day.
My 2 children and I spent about an hour this week going through some old photos and copying our favorites into a temporary folder on my PC. I then spent several more hours on my own, going through our archives of photos. I had to stop around 2004, when Blaise, our 2nd, was born. So after about 3-4 hours, I had 600+ photos to load.
Last night I plugged in the Pandigital 7" frame and started copying them over. One hour later, I found out that my photos were too big to fit -- the resolution was too high. Yikes! The box says that it can hold several thousand photos!
After experimenting for 45 minutes, I googled "How do I resize photos in bulk?" and found Bulk Photo Resizer, from Download.com. While it resized all 635 photos, I figured out how to put a "greeting card" on the digital frame, which had several backgrounds -- the roses were a nice touch.
I then tried to upload the *much* smaller 800x600p photos, and failed!! I tried copying them to a USB memory stick and then transferring them but that didn't work! However, when I did that, a subdirectory called "Photos" magically appeared on the digital frame. When I tried copying the photos to that directory, Egads, it worked!
After a quick clearing off of the kitchen table, setting out some flowers, a card, and our picture frame, we're good to go!
Here's The Little Gym tie in... I toying with buying one of these frames for the gym. But... do I want to deal with this headache on a weekly basis? Hmmm....
Marie just woke up so I'm going to go... Hope you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day!
-Ron
Last December, we got oneof those keychains that can display JPEG images, and loaded a few photos of our children on it for our Nanny, Kayla. So I got it in my head to purchase one of the larger digital photo frames for my wife, Marie, for Valentine's Day.
My 2 children and I spent about an hour this week going through some old photos and copying our favorites into a temporary folder on my PC. I then spent several more hours on my own, going through our archives of photos. I had to stop around 2004, when Blaise, our 2nd, was born. So after about 3-4 hours, I had 600+ photos to load.
Last night I plugged in the Pandigital 7" frame and started copying them over. One hour later, I found out that my photos were too big to fit -- the resolution was too high. Yikes! The box says that it can hold several thousand photos!
After experimenting for 45 minutes, I googled "How do I resize photos in bulk?" and found Bulk Photo Resizer, from Download.com. While it resized all 635 photos, I figured out how to put a "greeting card" on the digital frame, which had several backgrounds -- the roses were a nice touch.
I then tried to upload the *much* smaller 800x600p photos, and failed!! I tried copying them to a USB memory stick and then transferring them but that didn't work! However, when I did that, a subdirectory called "Photos" magically appeared on the digital frame. When I tried copying the photos to that directory, Egads, it worked!
After a quick clearing off of the kitchen table, setting out some flowers, a card, and our picture frame, we're good to go!
Here's The Little Gym tie in... I toying with buying one of these frames for the gym. But... do I want to deal with this headache on a weekly basis? Hmmm....
Marie just woke up so I'm going to go... Hope you all have a very Happy Valentine's Day!
-Ron
Friday, February 12, 2010
Review/Comparison of The Little Gym of Lake Oswego's birthday parties
A few minutes ago, Jane, a parent of one of our Chopsticks (Karate age 4-6), stopped me to let me know of her experience having her son's birthday at another local children's facility. I asked if she wouldn't mind repeating it for me and my trusty camera. You can view her video on our Facebook page...
Of course, afterwards, I offered her a hug and a Valentine's cookie. :-)
Of course, afterwards, I offered her a hug and a Valentine's cookie. :-)
We're on TV! (Soon)
This past Wednesday, Feb 10, Jenny Hansson, of KOIN TV, Channel 6, brought her daughter to our 9:30am Beasts class for a segment for their Keep It Local program. Before class, she asked me a few questions while her camera guy, Dean, filmed. It will be airing on their program any day now... possibly tonight, or early next week.
Man, that was nerve-wracking! The camera is about two feet from your face and you're asked to ignore it and talk to Jenny. I had thought about some of the key messages I wanted to get across. I know that I missed two, and I'm not sure how much my nervousness will come across. I could feel a little drip coming out of my nose as I answered her last question. See if you can see the camera light glistening off of it on the video. (I'm going to be looking for it.) :-)
Then Jenny and Siena joined Teacher Angela in class. Opening circle was interrupted so Angela could get mike'd. I think Dean had as much fun as the kids, with him running backwards so he could film the children in their warm-up. I'm curious as to how the whole thing turned out!
After it airs, let us know what you think!
-Ron
Man, that was nerve-wracking! The camera is about two feet from your face and you're asked to ignore it and talk to Jenny. I had thought about some of the key messages I wanted to get across. I know that I missed two, and I'm not sure how much my nervousness will come across. I could feel a little drip coming out of my nose as I answered her last question. See if you can see the camera light glistening off of it on the video. (I'm going to be looking for it.) :-)
Then Jenny and Siena joined Teacher Angela in class. Opening circle was interrupted so Angela could get mike'd. I think Dean had as much fun as the kids, with him running backwards so he could film the children in their warm-up. I'm curious as to how the whole thing turned out!
After it airs, let us know what you think!
-Ron
Monday, February 1, 2010
It's Finish week, not Finnish week!
This week is "Finish Festival" week for our Preschool/Kindergarten gymnastics and dance/gymnastics classes. We'll be working on finishing all of our skills with our "Ta-Da's." But every time we do this theme, I think about the time about 20 years ago (yikes!) when I visited "The Big E" -- New England's version of the World's Fair.
The only thing I can really remember about The Big E was that they had buildings representing the people, culture, traditions, and food from all of the New England states. One of the states (Vermont??) offered $1 samples of Finnish Pancakes. It's basically a very "eggy" pancake that you bake in the oven and serve with maple syrup. (Ah, so it must have been Vermont.) Along with the sample, you were given the recipe.
I'm hoping that since it's been 20 years, this recipe can be considered "public domain." So if you're interested in trying a great brunch dish, here you go!
Ingredients:
Let me know how it turns out!
-Ron
The only thing I can really remember about The Big E was that they had buildings representing the people, culture, traditions, and food from all of the New England states. One of the states (Vermont??) offered $1 samples of Finnish Pancakes. It's basically a very "eggy" pancake that you bake in the oven and serve with maple syrup. (Ah, so it must have been Vermont.) Along with the sample, you were given the recipe.
I'm hoping that since it's been 20 years, this recipe can be considered "public domain." So if you're interested in trying a great brunch dish, here you go!
Ingredients:
- 8 large eggs
- 1 quart fresh milk
- 4 to 5 Tbl sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup flour
- 1/4 lb butter
Let me know how it turns out!
-Ron
Friday, January 29, 2010
Stories of Awe and Triumph at The Little Gym
We have amazing stories of skill growth that are generated daily by the fabulous kids at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego. Just this morning, in our Super Beasts class, when I announced that we were going to sing Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star, 2.5 year old Vance said, “I know that song.” I then announced to the class that Vance would lead us in singing… and he did! All 18 parents and I were impressed with Vance’s comfort in performing in front of the crowd. I *wish* I got that on video!
In another breakthrough moment, a 5 year old child who was trying our class out for the first time, verbally expressed his fear of doing a forward roll. Teacher Alex and I were able to show him how to break down the skill, first having him start with a straight body with arms in the air, and then lowering his arms to the mat. We told him we’d stop there, but he stayed with his head down. We asked if we could help him do his forward roll really slow, holding him the whole time and he said (over and over), “Go slow!” After he did his heavily spotted forward roll, all three of us cheered his achievement. We all beamed. At the next station, when it was his turn to do a forward roll, Teacher Adam was there to help. With 2 rolls in one class, we’re looking forward to further opportunities to grow his skills and his self-confidence!
In another breakthrough moment, a 5 year old child who was trying our class out for the first time, verbally expressed his fear of doing a forward roll. Teacher Alex and I were able to show him how to break down the skill, first having him start with a straight body with arms in the air, and then lowering his arms to the mat. We told him we’d stop there, but he stayed with his head down. We asked if we could help him do his forward roll really slow, holding him the whole time and he said (over and over), “Go slow!” After he did his heavily spotted forward roll, all three of us cheered his achievement. We all beamed. At the next station, when it was his turn to do a forward roll, Teacher Adam was there to help. With 2 rolls in one class, we’re looking forward to further opportunities to grow his skills and his self-confidence!
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Fall 2009 Show Week thoughts...
Show Week for the Fall 2009 semester (our Mid Year Show) is almost over. It's always a very bittersweet week. During Show Week, the children we've been working with for 19 or 20 weeks perform gymnastics, karate, sports skills, or dance routines they've been practicing. They've been working on growing their skills from week to week, and then starting about 8 weeks ago, we link together the skills they're performing for their parents, siblings and grandparents this week. We only practice the full routines in the 2 classes prior to Show Week. We do not spend the whole semester teaching "to the show."
I'm always impressed at how so many of the children rise to the occasion and over perform parents' (and my) expectations. The Preschool/Kindergarten beam gymnastics routine is my favorite to coach. From doing an inchworm across the low beam to getting into a plank position, and then balancing in a tucked body on the beam, so many of the 3, 4 and 5-year olds finally "get it" for the first time, during the show.
Of course, there are also students who are more goofy during Show Week or decide to not perform for their parents. The growth that takes place in the previous weeks of the semester is more important than one individual performance, and hope parents know that. And of course, my 2 kids are probably some of the goofiest in class. I'll try to upload a video to our Facebook page if I can!
This year, in our gymnstics classes, we're starting the show with the parents in the gym and the children in the lobby. After the Lead instructor introduces the show and The Little Gym's philosophy, the children run in, run across the gym and do a forward roll down a cheese (wedge) mat and then sit with their parents. We've been practicing various roll progressions with the different age groups, but even the Funny Bugs (3-4 year olds) are doing higher level progressions. (Maybe not on purpose!!) They throw their little bodies at the cheese mat, and most of them remember to tuck and roll, ending up with a nice dive roll and a thunderous round of applause. (The others get saved from a splat by their teacher catching their hips as they speed by and help them tuck.)
I love all of the grandparents who come visit. As we say good-bye at the door, so many of them tell us how great our program is and how much their grand children love coming. Many comment at how they wish there was something like this for their children. (I wish I had a place like The Little Gym to go to when I was younger.)
But we do have a percentage of families who won't be coming back next semester. We don't know when we'll see them again. There are lots of reasons, like trying other programs, or taking a break. In 20 weeks with a child, you can really bond with them and it makes us sad to see them go. This morning, I saw a 2 year old doing amazing donkey kicks in the lobby, something I hadn't seen him do all semester. I hope I get the chance to see him again!
But so many of them do come back again. And when their parent calls to re-enroll, or we see their name on a class roster, we get a little surge of happiness/excitement knowing we'll have another semester of fun with our now-older students.
A few parents have posted some photos of Show Week to our Facebook page. Take a look... or post some of your own!
And I hope to see you at The Little Gym in your own child's Show Week!
- Teacher Ron
I'm always impressed at how so many of the children rise to the occasion and over perform parents' (and my) expectations. The Preschool/Kindergarten beam gymnastics routine is my favorite to coach. From doing an inchworm across the low beam to getting into a plank position, and then balancing in a tucked body on the beam, so many of the 3, 4 and 5-year olds finally "get it" for the first time, during the show.
Of course, there are also students who are more goofy during Show Week or decide to not perform for their parents. The growth that takes place in the previous weeks of the semester is more important than one individual performance, and hope parents know that. And of course, my 2 kids are probably some of the goofiest in class. I'll try to upload a video to our Facebook page if I can!
This year, in our gymnstics classes, we're starting the show with the parents in the gym and the children in the lobby. After the Lead instructor introduces the show and The Little Gym's philosophy, the children run in, run across the gym and do a forward roll down a cheese (wedge) mat and then sit with their parents. We've been practicing various roll progressions with the different age groups, but even the Funny Bugs (3-4 year olds) are doing higher level progressions. (Maybe not on purpose!!) They throw their little bodies at the cheese mat, and most of them remember to tuck and roll, ending up with a nice dive roll and a thunderous round of applause. (The others get saved from a splat by their teacher catching their hips as they speed by and help them tuck.)
I love all of the grandparents who come visit. As we say good-bye at the door, so many of them tell us how great our program is and how much their grand children love coming. Many comment at how they wish there was something like this for their children. (I wish I had a place like The Little Gym to go to when I was younger.)
But we do have a percentage of families who won't be coming back next semester. We don't know when we'll see them again. There are lots of reasons, like trying other programs, or taking a break. In 20 weeks with a child, you can really bond with them and it makes us sad to see them go. This morning, I saw a 2 year old doing amazing donkey kicks in the lobby, something I hadn't seen him do all semester. I hope I get the chance to see him again!
But so many of them do come back again. And when their parent calls to re-enroll, or we see their name on a class roster, we get a little surge of happiness/excitement knowing we'll have another semester of fun with our now-older students.
A few parents have posted some photos of Show Week to our Facebook page. Take a look... or post some of your own!
And I hope to see you at The Little Gym in your own child's Show Week!
- Teacher Ron
Saturday, January 9, 2010
A fun evening at The Little Gym
Recently one of the Portland Trail Blazers had a birthday part at The Little Gym for his 1 year old daughter. Of course, I wanted to be at the gym to make sure everything went smoothly. As usual, I was delighted with how professional our staff was in handling everything. I stayed for about 40 minutes to help out, but I wasn't needed. Teachers Kelly, Nicole, and Cassie did a fantastic job of running a fun party for all of the children, age 1 through pre-teen. I was probably the most star struck of anyone. I did enjoy seeing one dad do some small jumps on our high beam. (It held up!) And I did see the largest cartwheel ever, performed on our big red mat. I forced myself to leave early before I started acting goofy and requesting photos. It was a really fun evening. :-)
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