Are there national standards or guidelines for creating preschool physical activity programs?
Yes and no. In 1994 the Council on Physical Education for Children (COPEC) published a document titled Developmentally Appropriate Practices in Movement Programs for Children 3 to 5. This document provides guidelines for the creation of early childhood programs based on developmentally appropriate practice. Our profession through the National Association of Sport and Physical Education (NASPE) has developed national standards for physical education including benchmarks, but these standards and benchmarks begin with kindergarten age children. I am looking for ideas on taking turns for preschoolers during movement class. I was wondering if you could let me know where I might find something like this. Certainly taking turns is an appropriate social skill for preschool children to begin to develop. However, taking turns in early childhood physical education typically means waiting. And, it is developmentally inappropriate for children at this age to wait for turns during movement class. Ev
