Happy New Year!

It's the Tuesday December 27th -- the lull between Christmas and New Year's.  Classes are a bit small so far this week so I have a few minutes to reflect.

Marie and I took the past week off, so we could spend some time with our kids in the mornings and get some home projects/to-do's done in the afternoons.  We had a small list of things that we really wanted to get done -- like fnally plan our "big" vacation we've been talking about, make some 2012 resolutions, clean our home office and garage, and get some old electronics and old clothes "recycled."  

I think 4 of the afternoons were spent working on that vacation... (Hint... if you wait too long, flight costs go through the roof!)   We finally got the flights set, and now we need to work on hotels...  We didn't really get to any of the other topics, unfortunately.  But last night, with the grandparents watching the kids, I was able to atack the office and garage enough to clear a wider passage through each.  I got just enough done to feel good.

For our mornings this past week, we tried to pack in a lot... We visited Pittock Mansion, ate a late brunch at Slappy Cakes (where you cook your own pancakes at your table!), visited the lights at the Portland International Raceway, delivered cookies to friends, and saw (the only?) G-rated movie out - the new Chipmonks movie.    (My favorite line -- "A double rainbow across the sky!!  What does it mean?!    Search YouTube for "double rainbow" to understand it better.)

We celebrate Christmas and Hanukkah as a family.  I mistakenly put the "big" Hanukkah present under the Christmas tree.  Oops.  My biggest laugh was when my son opened his stocking Sunday morning and was excited to find "piz."  (After a chuckle, we let him know that it's called "Pez.")   Happy Holidays!

It's cold outside - which makes it a perfect time to be inside at The Little Gym!

Teeth are chattering, jackets are zipping, and hot cocoas are pouring.

It‟s definitely getting colder out there, But here at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego, kids are staying toasty warm. Their bodies are in motion and their minds are too. Kids in The Little Gym Parent/Child classes are
exploring their worlds, gaining independence and trying new skills. The structured lessons of our Pre-K gymnastics programs are helping kids with listening skills and following directions while also emphasizing balance and coordination. Our Kindergarten level gymnastics kids are learning to work in groups and cooperate because we know controlling emotions is as important as body control and agility.

All the Flips, Twisters, Aerials, and Hot Shots of our Grade School Gymnastics programs are strengthening their bodies and getting a springboard (pun intended) of confidence. Plus, our Dance kids are twirling like snowflakes, Sports Skills kids are improving arm strength for throwing snowballs, and our Karate students are practically chopping firewood with their bare hands (okay, a slight exaggeration).
 
Check out the photos of The Little Gym kids (on our facebook page) having as much as fun as a summer vacation, no matter what the thermometer says.


Don‟t forget - We also have great winter day camps coming up (Dec 19 - 24). And if you want to squeeze in a date night (or maybe some holiday shopping without the kids around), we‟ll be having another Parents‟ Survival Night on Saturday, December 17th.
Finally, remember that giving someone some Serious Fun is an excellent gift. We have gift certificates available if you want to give the unique gift of skill building and Three-Dimensional Learning.

Til next time,
Your friends in fitness, fun and fundamentals at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego.

Special Novmember offer for your friends at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego

The ongoing success of our business is largely based on our members' glowing endorsements. If you've found value in The Little Gym programs, seen your children grow in our classes or have a blast in a birthday party or camp, we kindly ask that you spread the word!


If your friend enrolls in a class at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego, now through November 30, 2011, we will thank them by giving them a $25 consideration towards their tuition, AND we will give you a $25 credit that you can use towards any class payment, party, camp, or Parents' Survival Night. (This is in addition to the 1000 Member Milestone reward points you receive automatically when your friends enroll in a class.)

Your friend must be new to The Little Gym classes.


To receive this offer and ensure you receive your $25 credit, your friend should bring a print-out of this offer with the following filled in:


Child Name (who is enrolling): _______________________

Parent Name: _________________________________


Friend who referred us to The Little Gym: ___________


_____________________________________________



Please call (503) 595-9702 if you have any questions about The Little gym and this special November offer!

Shutterfly Photo Book Offer for The Little Gym Members Expires Soon!

While we believe that enrolling in The Little Gym is rewarding for kids in many ways, we are also happy to give our enrolled members an extra reward when we can. This Fall, all enrollees for The Little Gym of Lake Oswego’s 2011-2012 Season received an offer for $20 off a Shutterfly photo book. The offer expires in just a few weeks (November 18 to be exact) so make sure to go online to shutterfly.com and order your book. In addition, if you are new to Shutterfly, they are also giving 50 free prints.


Their photo books are a great way to preserve memories, and of course, photo opportunities abound here at The Little Gym. With the holidays coming, the photo books can also make an excellent gift and keepsake, so don’t forget to take advantage of this special The Little Gym member offer. We just got our gym’s photo book in today – with over 60 photos from our Halloween Party. It ended up costing us $4, plus $4 for shipping, and it only took us 15 minutes to produce!

If you didn’t receive your $20 voucher, you can pick one up at the gym! And check out our Halloween photo book when you come to class this week!

Halloween's coming... Are you ready?

I wonder how many parents would say that Halloween is their favorite holiday.  You get to hand out candy to the neighborhood children who are dressed up in various cute, scary, or strange costumes.  And if you're really into it, you can decorate your house or get dressed up yourself.  There are always a few houses that we love to go to because the houses are frighteningly decorated.  For my family, we've set up a ritual in which we bring a portion of our candy to a local dentist so we're not left with pounds of sweets after the 31st.  But Mom & Dad are allowed to share in the goodies.   :-)

We're getting ready for Halloween at The Little Gym too!  Our annual Members-only Halloween Party will take place on Sunday, October 30th.  Details about the party can be found on the announcements page of our website. 

Our team is excited to get dressed up in costume and have fun with all of the children and parents who we see each week in class.  I've got my costume ready to go...  I hope you join us at The Little Gym and come to our members-only Halloween Party!

Recent email from one of our customers! Yay!

We always love hearing from our customers about how The Little Gym has been a part of their life.  Last week, I received an email from a mother of twins who have been coming to The Little Gym of Lake Oswego for just over four years.  She had a great experience at our September Parents' Survival Night and said I could post her words.   Here they are!

"[My husband] and I love bringing the kids to Parents' Survival Night!  Your staff does such a great job entertaining and teaching the kids.  We can relax on our date knowing that they are having a blast! 

Actually, they always have so much fun that it can be a challenge getting them to leave.  Last night, we arrived early (around 9) to pick up the kids.  As we were arriving, they were about to do their craft and didn't want to go. Teacher James intervened and spoke with the kids to prepare them to leave and talked with them about doing the craft at home.  Skillfuly, he spoke with them, then had the gruop wish them a good night as they left with us.  It was AWESOME!  Smoothest pick-up of the kids ever... :-)

Thanks to everyone and especially James for helping make the experience particularly positive and stressless."

(We have an award that I give to our instructors when I get great feedback from customers.  It's our "Employee of the Week" award.  James will be getting it this coming week!)

Come "meet" The Little Gym founder, Robin Wes!

Robin Wes founded The Little Gym 35 years ago.  He is an amazing person.  In my 6 years in The Little Gym system, I've met him about a dozen times - at the annual "Reunion" at at various trainings.  He lives and teaches in the Bellevue, WA area.

Yesterday, he was on a Seattle, WA news program, being interviewed about The Little Gym.  Then he treated the audience with some children showing their gymnastics and listening skills while Robin played guitar and sang a The Little Gym song.

Please watch this video to see where The Little Gym came from... Robin is the soul of The Little Gym and our philosophy and Serious Fun flows from him.

Enjoy!

The Little Gym voted #1 by Metro Parent Magazine readers -- again!!

Every year, Metro Parent Magazine (covering the Portland metro area), asks readers to vote for their Family Favorites... It's September 1st and the results are now in....  And The Little Gym of Lake Oswego was voted the #1 Children's Gym AND #1 Birthday Party Place.... For the 2nd year in a row!!!   You can see all the results at: http://www.metro-parent.com/issues/sept11/index.html

We work hard every day to teach the very best classes, helping your children learn new skills every week and have a *ton* of fun while they're learning.  Our hearts swell as much as yours when your children master a new skill, or build on their confidence. 

Thank you for your support, for voting for us, and helping to spread the word about The Little Gym! 

 -Ron, Marie, and The Little Gym team

Best vacation ever!

We got back from our summer vacation this past Saturday night.  We spent a week in Massachusetts, visiting my family and friends, and then taking a few days with just my wife and kids at the beach.   It was probably my best vacation since my honeymoon, 12 years ago.

It had been a while since getting back to Massachusetts.  One night we had pizza over one of my high school friend's house.  Not all of my old buddies could be there; one's wife was very pregnant; two of them are in the army/reserves, and one was in Colorado with his son at camp.  But it was great to catch up with all of the gossip and reconnect after not seeing them for 6 years.

The next night, my sister got the extended family together at her house for dinner.  I got to see my niece's two children for the first time, and see some cousins that I hadn't seen for 12 years.  And my two children got to see some of their cousins and 2nd cousins for the first time.

Then we spent 3 days at a motel near the beach in Cape Cod.  Great weather, plus our kids are at the age (7 and 9), that you can do some really fun things with them -- swim in the ocean, play on the beach, play miniature golf, and go bike riding.  Plus they can entertain themselves on the airplanes!  

Summer is winding down.  (Yikes!)  I hope you all had the chance as well to have a vacation, to get away from the daily and weekly to-do's, and have some fun.   We need these kinds of fun times to recharge the batteries, and create memories that your whole family can remember and cherish.  

Time to vote in Metro Parent Magazine's Family Favorites annual contest!

Now through August 14, Metro Parent Magazine is asking their readers to tell them about their “family favorite” destinations. They’ll announce the winners in September.   One reader, selected at random, will win a Family Fun Package that includes a $50 gift card to the “Family Favorite” restaurant, a $50 gift card to the top children’s book shop and other family fun items. 

We would truly love it if you would vote for The Little Gym in both categories:

• Birthday party venue

• Children’s Gym

The URL is http://www.metro-parent.com/family_favorite/    Please vote by Aug. 14; one entry per household.

Thank you!!

Greetings from Australia!

Well... not from me!!  One of our The Little Gym kids sent us a hello from Australia.  Phoenix moved to Portland about 2 years ago and joined us for summer camps (at age 4 yrs 9 months).  She loved it and showed an aptitude for gymnastics, so her mother signed her up for classes.  It was fun having Phoenix in class (I was the Lead Instructor) -- she's a fun girl with a cute accent. 

Phoenix stayed in our program, moving up to our advanced 5-6 year old Mini Jets class before she and her family moved back to Australia.  (She started taking a competitive program at the Oregon Gymnastics Academy during that time, while still attending The Little Gym classes.)

Over the weekend, we got an email from Phoenix' mom, with an update on how the family was doing.  We're all very proud of Phoenix and her accomplishments and we miss her!   Here's an edited version of the email:

"We would like to say a big thank you for introducing our daughter Phoenix to the Little Gym and in particular gymnastics.  The Little Gym is a fantastic environment for children and we wanted to express our gratitude to the Little Gym at Lake Oswego.Phoenix absolutely loved coming to class at the little gym in the mini jets and we have now moved back to Australia.

Since moving back to Australia, Phoenix has been training at [ ]...an Elite gym club here in [their hometown].  She was with the PreSquad last year, moved to the International Development Program 1 earlier in the year and is now training with the IDP2 team. She is now training 14 hours a week and has recently started competing....which she is completely passionate about.

[My husband] and I wanted to thank you and your team for introducing Phoenix to a sport that she now has so much passion for.  We have attached some photos from her competition today...Gold on floor, beam, vault and bars and first all around!!!"

What a great afternoon! He did it!

On Sunday, we took the training wheels off for the first time and it was a disaster. (Read the blog post.) On Monday I backed off and we tried it again for about 10-15 minutes. (Read blog #2.)   Today, Tuesday, we tried again, and within minutes, Blaise was riding his 2-wheeler all by himself, and he didn't want to stop!

It's times like this, when your child has a breakthrough, when you have that huge surge of pride.  It feels great. We were actually in the parking lot of The Little Gym.  I ran in and got Teacher Angela to videotape Blaise.  After this video he rode up and down the parking lot, getting better each time, learning how to start by himself and stop by himself.  I went inside and emailed it to my wife.  It's going out to the whole family later today. 

So, maybe Blaise was ready for this... he's been riding his bike with training wheels for a while and he has the strength to peddle it pretty fast, and his balance is more advanced than a 4 year old.  But even, so, to be finally sans training wheels is a great feeling.  Yay!

Update regarding Bicycle Training Frustration

I blogged yesterday about reducing frustration in children, and my experience trying to help my son learn how to ride a 2-wheeler.  I included a link to a great article about helping children with frustration. 

Well, I tried again last night.  After coming home from working at The Little Gym, I told my kids that we were going to the Rosemont Ridge Middle School track so Blaise could work on riding a 2-wheeler.  He asked if he could start with his training wheels on.  I said, "Yes."

We got to the school and I took the bikes off the car.  Blaise started wheeling his bike down to the track (without his training wheels on yet). When I got down there, he said that he was ok trying to ride his bike without the training wheels first.  I think that goes along with what Dr. Jim Taylor (of the Psychology Today article) says -- frustration can be good when it gives someone the drive to overcome an obstacle.  I think Blaise had enough time between Sunday's day of frustration, to calm down and focus on overcoming that obstacle. 

So Blaise tried a little bit on his own, and a little bit with my help.  And when he started to get frustrated again, we stopped and went to the library.  It was a much more positive experience.  I'm excited to try again later this week. 

Helping your child when they get frustrated...

Our son turned 7 last month.  We don't go bike riding much, so we haven't pushed getting rid of his training wheels.  He is quite the cruiser on his 4-wheeled bike, but this summer, by gosh, he was going to learn to ride a 2-wheeler.

Blaise wasn't quite in the same mindframe as his mother and I were this past weekend.  On Saturday we got the kids into the car, attached the bikes to the trunk thing, and drove to Rosemont Ridge Middle School in West Linn.  The "rubberized" track seemed like a great place to try, and we were lucky that there weren't many people there.  We actually shared the track with another family who was trying to teach their 4(?) year old to ride a 2-wheeler.

My wife, Marie, tried with Blaise for a little bit, but Marie didn't bring the right shoes to go running alongside him.  A 7-year old has the strength to peddle pretty fast and for a good length of time, which is great for learning to ride a bike, but it quite a challenge for a parent holding on and running.  I then had a turn.  Blaise got the peddling thing, but not the balance thing.  And it was all my fault.  Blaise's frustration was rising because I was holding on to him too tight, or pulling him or pushing him the wrong way.   He wanted to quit before completing 100 yards. 

Marie and I were getting a little frustrated too.  And I'm sure it was showing, even though we tried to be patient.  This was just *the* day that we had some time, and remembered, and we wanted to make progress, whether he liked it or not!

I think we eventually backed off before things blew up.  Later in the evening, I asked Marie, how we raised two children who get so frustrated so fast.  She suggested that perhaps we didn't allow them to experience frustration much as younger children.  (I can't remember if we did or didn't.)

But I did find an article on PsychologyToday.com about children's frustration and what you can do about it.  I love how it describes the chain from Frustration to Anger to Despair, and how you really don't want to go down that path.  The author, Jim Taylor, Ph.D, talks about taking breaks from the activitiy before you get to the more negative emotions, and doing something else that your child can be successful in.  Then when the emotional and physical stress is gone, you can go back and talk about the activity and frustration, and try again, or focus on an aspect of the activity that might be easier to succeed at. 

It's a great article, and I think I'll try this if I can convince Blaise to go bike riding sometime this week.  Wish me luck!
 -Ron

Candy at Summer Camp?

On Wednesday, as I was dropping off my 7 year old at a local science-related summer camp, one of the other moms asked the camp instructor if they would be having candy at camp that day.  I didn't realize that the children were getting treats at their camp, so as we walked back to our cars, I asked the mom if they had candy earlier in the week.  She said that the kids used candy as the planets in a solar system design project, and then got to eat the candy.  And today, for the last day of camp, the campers are going to be using cake in some manner as well.  (My son says that it's going to be the "sun".  He doesn't want to go to his sister's Magic show at 2:45pm because he doesn't want to miss the cake.)

I'm a bit saddened that my children are getting treats at their summer camps.  Yes, it's super fun... and yes, I love treats too, but I prefer to be the one giving them out.  And my expectation is that the camps they attend help them grow physically, mentally, or socially.  My son did a multi-sport camp during the first week of summer and he also was looking forward to the Friday camp that week because they get candy. 

My 9-year old daughter's wizard camp isn't much better.  She said that they might watch a Harry Potter movie this week -- definitely not in the published syllabus for that camp.  I'm *hoping* she was mistaken. I would assume that no camp would show a PG-rated movie without asking parents. 

Now, there are some The Little Gyms that do give out treats on various occasions, and some have TV's in their multi-purpose rooms so siblings can watch TV while their brothers or sisters are in class.   When we became owners of The Little Gym of Lake Oswego 5+ years ago, we thought it was against everything we teach to offer unhealthy treats or have television/movies.  Our goal is to make fitness and being healthy fun!   The only exception we have is that during Pirate week, the Grade School kids find (as natural/organic as possible) fruit snacks during their treasure hunt (Pre/K kids find "gold coins" or other pirate trinkets).

We work our tails off to make classes and camps super fun (Serious Fun), so your children learn new physical skills in every class, make new friends, learn how to work better in a group environment, and learn healthy habits.   Hopefully that's enough to make them (and you) want to come back! 

Serious Fun (in camp) at The Little Gym

We talk about how The Little Gym is "Serious Fun" -- Serious, because we're growing new physical skills, social skills, and building confidence, and "Fun" because every child needs a fun, safe environment to be a kid, play, and use their imagination.

This week is Pirate Week for our camps and Pre/K and Grade School gymnastics and dance classes.  We use different themes, like "Pirate Island" to facilitate the fun part of the equation.  I am super excited to have the best instructors leading our camps this summer.  They know that the more you get into character with the theme, the more the children will stay focused, and the more fun everyone has. 

Here's a short video of Teacher James doing his post-camp announcements, while still staying in character.  He went into a bit more detail than we ask of instructors, but I think it was worth it.  I think *I* want to be in camp with James!

Have you heard about Doctors Express in Lake Oswego?

Doctors Express in Lake Oswego opened up a few months ago. They're just down the street from us. If you head down Lower Boones Ferry Rd towards Lake Oswego, they're on the left, just past the Starbucks on Jean Way. I met with the owner, Guru Sankar, yesterday for coffee. It was fun meeting with another franchise owner, sharing ideas about growing our businesses.

Doctors Express is an urgent care facility. They have real doctors on staff and can do x-rays and lab work in-house, while you're there. They're great for emergencies, or when you can't get in to see your regular doctor.

Guru seems like a nice guy who's also trying to grow a business. He lives in Lake Oswego and has two children in the Lake Oswego public schools.

So next time, you have a medical emergency and can't get in to see your doctor or don't want to deal with the Emergency Room at the hospital, check out Doctors Express. Tell them Ron from The Little Gym sent you, and maybe Guru will buy me another coffee sometime. :-)

FYI... We didn't come up with any joint marketing ideas or partnerships or anything... Guru seems like a good guy and I just wanted to help!

Summer is finally here!!

Welcome to Summer! Today, June 21st, is the first day of the summer season. It's our second day of our summer term, here at The Little Gym, and it's a beautiful sunny day. We've been working our tails off getting the team and the gym ready for a great summer.

This week is our "Wild West" week for our pre-K/Kindergarten and grade school gymnastics and dance classes. This morning Teacher James and Teacher Michael stayed in character for the whole 3-hour camp, leading the campers through fun activities such as searching for water in the deep desert, trying to spear some wild buffalo, and stepping over cow pies on the high beam. We were laughing, just listening to Michael and James from the lobby.

I'm looking forward to a great summer! Hope to see you!
-Teacher Ron

What is The Little Gym "Serious Fun?"

We've been talking recently about The Little Gym and how it's "Serious Fun" for your children.  The Little Gym of Corvallis made a cute video that hopefully gets across how The Little Gym is truly focused on growing skills (the Serious part), while making sure your kids are having a blast (the Fun part).   Enjoy!

June 16 seminar on ADD/ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders

Join Brian Hulsey, Doctor of Chiropractic, of Foundations Chiropractic & Functional Medicine, on June 16th at 6pm for his June seminar on ADD/ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorders. Dr. Hulsey will be covering dietary issues that drastically affect these children along with some basic things to watch for at home and in the classroom. The primary focus of the talk will be Gluten/Dairy/Soy sensitivities and how to work with that in day-to-day life. Dr. Hulsey will also discuss treatment he can provide and how families can move forward with that.


Reservations are required. For more information about the seminar or to make reservations via phone: (503) 349-3024 or email: foundationschiropractic@gmail.com. More information about Foundations Chiropractic & Functional Medicine can be found also at http://www.foundationsbbt.com/

PLEASE NOTE:  THE SEMINAR WILL BE AT FOUNDATIONS CHIROPRACTIC **NOT** AT THE LITTLE GYM!

Major improvements to The Little Gym curriculum -- coming this Fall!

Starting this Fall, The Little Gym is launching an enhanced program structure designed to maximize the benefits of our already popular curriculum. Based on over 35 years of hands-on experience, a mountain of research and thoughtful feedback from parents like you, our 2011-2012 Season will now be broken into themed, multi-week Learning Units that lead to a natural progression of skills.


We are extremely excited about the upcoming improvements to The Little Gym curriculum for the 2011-2012 Season. One parent recently posted on our Facebook page, “How can it possibly be better than it is?!” With three-dimensional learning as the core of the improved programs, we believe you will love the new theme-based lesson plans and the benefits your children will receive each week in the multi-week Learning Units.

To answer a few common questions, starting in the fall, our Season-based program will be 40 weeks in length. This gives us the ability to have enough Learning Units to cover a large variety of areas, from new physical skills, to social skills (like sharing, taking turns, and leadership), to cognitive skills (like working on listening and creative problem solving). The multi-week Learning Units provide focus over an extended period of time to provide the best opportunity for skill and confidence growth in each of those areas.

We call the 3-dimensional learning aspect of our lesson plans – Get Moving, Citizen Kid, and Brain Boost. Every class will have elements of each, and each Learning Unit will have an overarching objective and expected results based on one ore more of those dimensions. The Learning Units will be specific to each age group and the specific development goals for that age.

The benefit to you and your children is that with lesson plans that focus on the same area for several weeks in a row, the enhanced learning environment will provide greater skill growth and greater successes in shorter time periods.

Additionally, with a 40-week season, you now can schedule your other activities around school and The Little Gym for the full school year.

We also now have four payment options you may choose from, so you may enroll via the method that works best for your family.

There is no risk to being enrolled in The Little Gym for the 2011-2012 Season. If at any point, you decide to discontinue coming to The Little Gym, for any reason, just let us know, and we will stop your payments. A pro-rated refund will be returned to you. And our fantastic make-up policy will continue to remain in place so any missed classes can be made up at your convenience.

The only thing your children might be wondering is, "Will The Little Gym still be fun?" Of course it is! It's now SERIOUS FUN! They'll be learning a ton in classes while having a blast with their friends!

Feel free to post any questions or comments you might have!

And we'll see you soon for the 2011/2012 Season! 

Something BIG is coming to The Little Gym

I love going to The Little Gym annual company "Reunion" each year.  It's partly because I get to see old friends -- gym owners who I went through "boot camp" with 6 years ago, or who I met at other regional trainings.  It's also partly because we've won the bronze-level President's Circle award each year for the past 5 years since my wife and I became owners of The Little Gym of Lake Oswego.

But a big part of why I love Reunion is because The Little Gym International is an amazing organization, and they always have a bunch of surprises for their franchisees.  Many franchisor/franchisee relationships can be very strained, but The Little Gym International does have their customers (us the owners) in mind with everything they do.

This year, Reunion was more of a training event than a rollout of best practices and new marketing initiatives.  Over the past year, The Little Gym International has been busy redesigning the curriculum of all 20 The Little Gym programs -- from Bugs (age 4 months) to Advanced Team grade school, to karate, sports skills, and dance.  Teacher Adam and I came back from Reunion with our suitcase full, with training materials and lots of notes.  We're putting the final touches on how we'll be communicating about the coming changes. Next week, we'll have more details and will be able to answer your questions.

To give you a little bit of information, starting in the Fall, all of our programs will be based on multi-week long Learning Units, with new theme-based lesson plans and a restructure of the 10-month school year program with a goal of providing more skill growth in a shorter period of time.  It's pretty cool.  Humungous!  :-)

The Little Gym of Lake Oswego Receives Presidents Circle Honor!!

Every year, The Little Gym franchise owners from around the world come together for our annual conference.  We call it "Reunion," because we get to see all of our fellow gym owners for our once-a-year meeting to share best practices, learn what's new from our franchisor - The Little Gym International, and have some fun with others who have gone through the same experiences as business owners, as my wife, Marie, and I have. 

It's a whirlwind of meetings, break-out sessions, hugs, and quick one-on-ones in the hallways.  This year our Assitant Gym Director, Adam, joined Marie and me because there was a ton of new information for us all to learn about and digest and start preparing for.  (More about that in a future blog posting!)

At Reunion, we also take lots of time to celebrate the wins of individual gyms.  We work super-hard at our gym to ensure we're teaching the best classes, growing skills, and building long-lasting relationships with you and your children.  The Little Gym International recognizes gyms based on this quality of service and enrollment levels.    This year, The Little Gym of Lake Oswego was recognized for the 5th straight year with the Bronze-level President's Circle award!  Here is a photo of us receiving the reward:

From left: My wife Marie, The Little Gym founder, Robin Wes,  me (Ron Skoletsky), Assistant Gym Director Adam Baxter, President/CEO of The Little Gym International Bob Bingham, and my kids, Blaise and Freya.
I am very proud of the team here at Lake Oswego for their hard work in reaching this level.  We will have our award displayed in our lobby within the next day or two.  Please congratulate the team when you're next in! 

Open Enrollment for Summer and Fall classes has begun. Enroll early and be entered to win a free birthday party!

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 7th when we draw and announce the winner. Early Bird Enrollment is available for all classes that are still open after Priority Enrollment. The following summer classes are almost full:

• Monday 10:45am Funny Bugs/Giggle Worms
• Tuesday 1:30pm Giggle Worms/Good Friends
• Tuesday 4:00pm Mini Jacks/Cracker Jacks
• Thursday 10:15am Beasts/Super Beasts

You may register by telephone at (503) 595-9702, in person, or online. Please call if you have any questions!

Thank you friends of The Little Gym for donating prizes for our Priority Enrollment raffle!

Our Summer and Fall semester Priority Enrollment period ended last Saturday with the drawing of our Grand Prize of a free Winter/Spring 2012 semester of classes. (Congratulations Tenaya D!)   I want to thank all of the businesses who donated prizes for our raffle. It was our biggest raffle ever with over $1750 in prizes and 29 winners!   We already have several classes almost full, so thank you for your awesome support!

If you get the chance, please frequent these businesses and tell them that The Little Gym sent you!

• Yogurt Shack of Oregon City
• Papa Murphy's of West Linn and Oregon City
• Players
• Mary Bicknell of Mary Kay
• Portland ComedySportz
• Vanished Twin Photography
• WeVillage Urban Playcare
• Frog Pond Toys & Lily Pad Cafe'
• Pampered Chef consultant, Angelika Heidelberger
• Flourish Pilates of West Linn
• Residence Inn of Lake Oswego
• Dian and Danny Moore of Rainswetter.com
• William Fisher Photography
• Docker's Shoes

Priority Enrollment for Summer and Fall classes starts soon - April 11th

Several times a year, for the two weeks before open enrollment starts for our next semester(s), we have a 2-week window in which only current members may select their spots early.  During this "Priority Enrollment" period we try to make things festive around the gym.   The two things that everyone likes are the snacks (popular with the kids) and the raffle drawings (popular with the parents).

We do Priority Enrollment so our current customers can have their first choice of classes;  popular class times like evening and weekend classes can fill up during or just after Priority Enrollment.  Plus it helps us understand which classes will be more popular this semester and helps us determine needed staffing levels. 

Each Priority Enrollment, I try to make things more exciting than the previous one.  This year, we already have secured 26 prizes, worth over $1400.    The odds of winning something are better than ever!  

You will receive a raffle ticket for each child who enrolls in any Summer or Fall classes.  For example, if you have two children enroll in a summer and fall class each, you get four raffle tickets.   The best part, is if you win a raffle prize on one day, your raffle tickets go back into the drawing towards any of the other future days' prizes.   It is possible to win a prize every day!   That way there is no penalty for enrolling early!

As with all of our programs, if things don't work out, if you change your mind anytime, we refund your tuition from that date forward... so if you need to unenroll before a semester starts, you get a full refund of your payment.  If you unenroll after a semester starts, your refund is pro-rated appropriately.

This year, along with over $550 of The Little Gym prizes, we have over $850 of additional family-friendly prizes. Plus the first 50 students who enroll will get a buy-one, get-one free frozen yogurt from Yogurt Shack of Oregon City. 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.

We are extremely thankful to all of the families and businesses who have donated to our raffle drawings. We ask that you visit them, purchase from them, and thank them!


Apr 11:

• One free Parents’ Survival Night at The Little Gym ($21 value),
• Three “Have one on us” 3-topping pizzas from Papa Murphy’s of West Linn 

Apr 12:

• The Little Gym T-Shirt & Baseball Cap ($18 value),
• $25 gift certificate to Players 

Apr 13:

• One The Little Gym Summer Camp ($21 value),
• Five $25 Mary Kay gift certificates from Mary Kay consultant Mary Bicknell

Apr 14:

• The Little Gym t-shirt, slo-mo ball and Foam Flyer ($27.50 value),
• Two adult and two children tickets to ComedySportz ($28 value)

Apr 15: The Little Gym Annual Family Membership renewal ($35 value)

Apr 16:

• One free Parent’s Survival Night ($21 value),
• Annual membership and 2 hours of playcare at Portland’s WeVillage ($75 value)

Apr 18:

• The Little Gym T-Shirt & Baseball Cap ($18 value), 
• $25 gift certificate to Frog Pond Toys and Lily Pad Café.

Apr 19:

• One The Little Gym Summer Camp ($26 value), 
• $30 gift certificate from Pampered Chef consultant, Angelika Heidelberger

Apr 20:

• The Little Gym Annual Family membership ($35 value),
• $75 gift certificate from Flourish Pilates in West Linn

Apr 21:   One night’s stay at the Residence Inn by Marriott, Lake Oswego ($129+ value)

Apr 22:   90 minute outdoor family photo shoot with William Fisher Photography. ($300 value)

Apr 23:   Grand Prize – free Winter/Spring 2011 semester of classes! ($350+ value)


Please let me know if $1400 in prizes is good enough... I don't know if I can do better than this for next year! :-)

Whole lotta stuff goin' on at The Little Gym!

We've been a bit quiet on Facebook and our blog lately... Well, we've been very busy.  This coming Monday the 21st is Spring Break week.  We won't be running classes that week; we'll be running 3-hour camps for your 3-8 year olds.  We're pulling out the stops to make Spring Break really fun and really active for your children.  Almost all of our morning camps are full with the exception of Friday the 25th (and Saturday the 26th has just 3 spots left as of this writing).

Camps are 3-hours of fun, games, theme-based activities, gymnastics, snack and arts & crafts.  Our afternoon camps, from 1-4pm on Monday through Friday still have room, so call us at (503) 595-9702 to reserve your spot. 

An example lesson plan for a camp consists of:

• 10-15 minutes of free play time in the gym to get the children warmed up and ready to go.
• Opening Circle to set the tone of the day, review rules and expectations, and do a fun name activity so we can get to know each other.  For example, on Friday, we're doing a Bean Bag dash -- the instructors call out two names, and those children, sitting opposite each other in a circle must run to the center of the circle and grab a bean bag each, before the instructor makes it to the center and gets both bean bags.  Who knows... maybe the instructor will "trip?"  :-)
• Warm-up - motor skills and movement to our favorite The Little Gym songs
• Group Game - We might play a game like "Duel," where children tuck scarves in their waistband and team up with a friend to try to snatch their friend's scarf before they get theirs.
• Group Activity - We'll use various equipment like rhythm sticks, hula hoops, stretch rope, parachute, frisbees, and more, typically set to The Little Gym music.  On Friday we'll be using bean bags as "pancakes" during our McFlake's pancakes activity.
• We'll do 30 minutes of gymnastics staions, practicing fun skills, like underswings into the "hot tub", rolls over the donut, walks up an *inclined* balance beam, and even soccer dribbling and kicking around The Little Gym equipment.
• Snacks include healthy treats like pretzels, apple slices and carrots.
• After snack and craft time, we'll ramp up the fun with some time on the Air Trak and a different special feature each day, like "carnival" and parachute games. 

Your children will have a ton of fun, plus we'll wear them out for you!  :-)

Camps run Monday through Friday, 9am - 12 Noon, or 1pm - 4pm, plus Saturday 9am - 12 Noon.  The cost is $31 per session. There is a $5 savings for members, and siblings receive a slight savings.

Camp themes are:

• Monday  - Big Top Bonanza
• Tuesday - Tarzan & Tarzanna
• Wednesday - To Infinity... And Beyond!
• Thursday - Harry's School of Magic
• Friday - Hip Hip Hooray!
• Saturday - Karate Kids Camp

During the week of camps, all members will be receiving a copy of our Summer class, camp, and Fall class schedules in the mail.  We're gearing up for Priority Enrollment, in which current members get first opportunity to reserve class spots for Summer and Fall.  Popular classes fill quickly, so from April 11th through the 23rd is a prime time for members.   We'll be having daily raffle prizes for The Little Gym merchandise and services, plus gift certificates for items donated from The Little Gym members and friends.   (If you have something you'd like to donate to our raffle, let us know!)

Have a great Spring Break next week!   Hope you have fun with your children.  I know we will!

Make-up policy updates....

Could we now have the absoluted best make-up policy in the world?  We think so!

We've been listening to your requests and are now changing our make-up policy to make it ever more flexible for you. As you may know, you receive a make-up for any missed class, whether you call us in advance or not. (Of course, we really do appreciate it if you can call us prior to missing a class! That way others can do make-ups in your spot, and we can adjust our teachers schedules appropriately.)


Up until now, your make-ups could only be used while you are enrolled in classes. Going forward, as long as your membership is current, your can use any make-ups you may have accrued. So if you finish a semester with extra make-ups available, you can schedule those as long as your membership is still valid.  Make-ups never expire, so you *always* get your money's worth!
Additionally, you can now trade three make-ups for a summer or holiday camp, or three make-ups for a Parents' Survival Night. AND... make-ups can now be shared across siblings, whether they're enrolled in classes or not! 

We think we now have the most flexible make-up policy in all of Portland.  If you can think of a place with a better make-up policy, I'll give a free The Little Gym tattoo/sticker!  :-)

Happy Handstands,
 Ron

Portland Mama Makeover 2011 applications are now being accepted!

Mamalates, a Portland-based Pilates program designed specifically for pregnant and postpartum women, is holding its second annual "Mama Makeover" contest.


The winner will receive nine weeks of services that include Mamalates sessions, a photo shoot by Campbell Salgado Studio, naturopathic consultation and acupuncture treatments with Bloom Natural Healthcare, life coaching sessions with Nurture Life Coaching, chiropractic treatments with Whole Mama Whole Child, childcare from We Village, 20 weeks-worth of classes for their children at The Little Gym. and a shopping spree. The makeover is scheduled to end in time for Mother's Day.

 

The winner must agree to have her makeover progress posted on Facebook, Twitter and blogs. Mama Makeover applicants can follow along and will receive special weekly discount offers.

To enter the contest, you must be 3 months to 6 years postpartum and live in the Portland metro area.

 

Applications are at http://www.mama-makeover.com/ and will be accepted through February 28. There is no entry fee.

A percentage of proceeds from Mama Makeover events, such as a raffle, will benefit the local nonprofit Baby Blues Connection, which works to provide support, information and resources to women and families coping with pregnancy and postpartum mood disorders.

Last year's Mama Makeover winner, chosen from about 200 applicants, was "so depleted that one of her goals was actually to gain weight," said Mamalates' Wendy Foster. The winner, who successfully gained 19 pounds, is helping with this year's contest

 

For more details of the contest, see below, or visit http://mama-makeover.com/

 

(From the Mama Makeover website...)

The mission of Mama Makeover is to give back to one lucky mama in our community (the Portland-metro area) so that SHE can give even more to her own family. This is not your usual nip and tuck makeover; it is a holistic, integrated approach to wellness and a unique, integrated and FUN event for Portland area mothers and businesses.

 

It takes a village to help mamas restore balance, get fit, gain perspective and rest AND reinvent themselves so that they can THRIVE. In our second year, many Portland area professionals and businesses are contributing their talents and services to incorporate a variety of modalities in this event. Our desire is to encourage mamas, who spend so much time giving to others, to take care of themselves! As a mother, if you feel good – grounded, strong and healthy – you can more fully participate in your role and job. This is an opportunity to offer support and help a special mama fill back up, transforming her from the inside out. IS THAT MAMA YOU? Read more to find out…

 

Who can apply and how?

 

• New moms who are 3 months – 6 years postpartum.
• Reside in Portland-metro area.
• Moms that have time to write about their experience through blogging and social media and have the ability to commit to 10-20 hours a week of treatments, services and prizes.
• Must have access to a computer & facebook account.
• Motivated to achieve results from the inside out.
• All interested moms, who fit the above criteria, must apply through our on-line application process via http://www.mama-makeover.com/

 

How do I apply?

 

There will be an five-week, on-line essay & application process for participants starting on Monday, January 17th right here on our website. Four to six finalists will be chosen based on the application process and after a face-to-face interview with the Mama Makeover selection committee, a winning mama, and two runner-ups, will be selected and announced in mid-March*

 

*TIMELINE* *all dates are subject to slight change, if necessary by MM*

 

Jan. 17th (Monday) – Feb. 28th (Monday): Applications open

  

March 7th – 11th: Interview finalists

 

Week of March 14th: Announce runner-ups and winning mama!

 

March 28th (Monday): Makeover begins - May 20th (Friday): Makeover ends.

 

Are you that deserving mama?? WE HOPE SO!

 

Important part of what we are doing: a portion of the proceeds from this event will be donated to the Baby Blues Connection. This local non-profit offers information and support to postpartum families struggling with depression and anxiety. Parenting is not always easy; for some people, it can be even harder. We have tremendous gratitude for the services offered by the Baby Blues Connection.

 

Phew! What a week! (And Spring Break camp info)

The first week of the Winter/Spring semester just finished yesterday afternoon.  This year we had the highest percentage of Fall students re-enroll for Winter/Spring classes. (Thank you!!) And this week, we had 58 new students come try classes.  Things will be a bit intense for a few more weeks, then it should quiet down.  A large number of our classes are almost full, so we'll get to "steady-state" soon.

Additionally, we had a few new instructors join The Little Gym during the past several months.  We have very high expectations for our instructors and The Little Gym Instructor Training System is quite rigrorous, so we've been working our tails off getting everyone ready to teach the *best* classes, *every* class. 

As part of the instructor training, I've been co-teaching, or coming in for evalations for many of our classes.  It has been a blast getting into classes again - especially the dance and grade school classes.  I'm excited about The Little Gym team and their focus on providing a safe, warm, nurturing environment for your children to grow.

Parents have been asking about our Summer camp schedule.  Most likely it will be the same as last year's:  Tuesday and Thursdays from 9am - Noon, and Monday, Wednesday, Friday, from 1pm - 4pm.  You can pick and choose what days you'd like to come.   We'll probably start enrolling for Summer camps in a few weeks.

But we do now have our Spring Break camp schedule posted to our website, and we're now enrolling for Spring Break camps.  Camps are for "potty independent" 3-8 year olds, and run from 9am - Noon, or 1pm - 4pm.  The themes are:

• Mon, March 21 -- Big Top Bonanza
• Tues, March 22 -- Tarzan and Tarz-anna
• Wed, March 23 -- To Infinity and Beyond
• Thurs, March 24 -- Harry's School of Magic
• Friday, March 25 -- Hip Hip Hooray
• Saturday, March 26 - Karate Kids Camp (9am - Noon only)

If you have any questions about our classes, camps, or parties, let us know!  

 -Teacher Ron
  http://www.tlglakeoswegoor.com/

It's our birthday! (Actually our 5th anniversary.)

Two days ago, January 16th, was the 5 year anniversary of my wife and my re-opening The Little Gym of Lake Oswego after becoming owners.  It's been a roller-coaster ride -- exciting, scary, fun, and daunting, but we usually have at least one huge smile every day.

Here's the brief story about how we became owners... 

In her adult life, my wife Marie used to volunteer at the YMCA in the Richmond District of San Francisco, teaching aerobics to adults.  When she got pregnant with our daughter, Freya, Marie got her pre-and post-natal exercise certification and started teaching a few of those classes at a fitness club near our post-baby home in Hercules, CA.  After one class, one of her friends said, "You should make (and sell) a video of your classes!" 

So we did....

A year later, we were selling a video -- Freya Fitnesss Postnatal Exercise Video -- on our own website, on Amazon.com, and at a few baby fairs in the Bay Area. 

We learned a lot from that first business venture.  It was fun, but when we had our second child, Blaise, we made the decision to shut down "Freya Fitness, Inc." 

Marie had really gotten bit by the bug of having our own business and started researching franchises.  We looked at several different ones and after visiting The Little Gym headquarters in Scottsdale, AZ, we both fell in love with it and decided to go for it.  We spent some time trying to find a location in the San Francisco East Bay where we lived, and after several months broadened our search to a few other cities.  Portland was at the top of our list because Marie spent several  years at Willamette University in Salem and had fond memories of her time here.

The timing was great because The Little Gym of Lake Oswego was 10 years old, and the previous owner, Bridget, was ready for other challenges in her life.  We came up in early September 2005, put in an offer to purchase the gym, bought a house in West Linn and sold our Hercules home in October 2005, and moved up in November.  In December 2005, we closed the gym down, spent 4 weeks renovating it and training the old & new team members, and re-opened in January 2006 with a 22-week Winter/Spring semester. 

My strongest memory was that during those 4 weeks of renovations, we rented out the McLean House in West Linn, from 8 - 5pm, Monday - Friday.  We operated The Little Gym from our cell phones and carried our 2 front desk computers and our laptops to the McLean House every morning and back every evening, setting up our computer network, credit card machines, etc.... each day... in the rain... for 4 weeks..   I don't think it stopped raining for those 4 weeks.  

During those 4 weeks, we transferred the previous 12 months of customer data into our new computer system, and we called every customer of those past 12 months to invite them back to The Little Gym.   We did customer service and skills & spotting training at the McLean house (as best as possible).   And on the day that all of our new gym equipment came in, we were super-excited.  We met the 18-wheeler at the gym and carried in the crates of equipment.  (The high beam was quite a pain!)

Now it's been 5 years.    We want to thank all of the families in the Greater Portland area who have come to The Little Gym of Lake Oswego for classes, parties, camps, and more.  We are committed to providing a safe, warm, nurturing environment for your children to build confidence through gymnastics-based programs.   And we're hoping that the next 5 years aren't as much of a roller coaster ride!!

This week is Show Week, and in seeing "our" children performing their gymnastics and dance routines yesterday, I'm proud of being part of their development and their future success. 

This past Saturday was the end of our Proud Parent Photo Contest.  We had about 68 entries in the contest.  Please check out the amazing photos of the cute kids that were sent in. 

In honor of our 5th anniversary, this week we will be giving away a free birthday party at The Little Gym, one per night for the next 5 nights.  We'll be picking winners at random from children enrolled in our upcoming Winter/Spring semester.  If you've been thinking about The Little Gym classes, it's a great week to join!

**Second** free semester prize added to Proud Parent Photo Contest

Happy New Year!   All of us at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego have been excited about the huge response to our Proud Parent Photo Contest.  We're so excited that we came up with a way to make it even bigger and better.

 To summarize the contest so far, you can email us a photo of your child having fun at The Little Gym; we post it to our Facebook Proud Parent Photo Contest Album, and then you and your friends vote for your favorite photo by "Like"ing the photo.  Whoever has the most likes by January 15th, wins a free Winter/Spring semester of classes at The Little Gym of Lake Oswego (20 weeks of classes - $351 value).

(See our Facebook Photo Album for more details --http://www.facebook.com/TLGLakeOswego#!/album.php?aid=324644&id=178705949621) 

Since your friends have to "Like" The Little Gym of Lake Oswego's Facebook page in order to  "Like" your photo, our fan-base has grown exponentially. As of New Year's Day, we're at just over 1000 fans.

So here's our fun challenge to you, parents.  We're going to add a second free Winter/Spring semester of classes into the prize mix.  However, the second free semester will be awarded ONLY if our Facebook page grows to 2000 friends by the end of the contest.  And the 2nd free semester of classes will be  awarded randomly to a family in the contest. 

So, to summarize, one free semester will be awarded to the family with the most Facebook Friends who "Like" their child's photo.  The 2nd free semester will be awarded if our Facebook page gets to 2000 "Likes" and will be awarded randomly to one of the contest entries.

So, parents, dig out a photo of your child at The Little Gym and send it in!  Or if you haven't been to The Little Gym yet, call (5030 595-9702 to schedule a free introductory visit and bring your camera!