Kiddi Yoga comes to Ridgeway Preparatory School

At Ridgeway Preparatory School in Louis Trichardt, Limpopo, which is in the foothills of the Soutpansberg mountain range, we are aware that our junior learners have not had opportunities to express themselves on the sports fields or the stage in the same way that they had prior to the pandemic.

This is apparent to us in the classroom, as our learners’ social skills, strength and stamina require enhancement. Our commitment to the holistic development of our children has lead us to introduce yoga; a practice that has been in existence for more than 3000 years and is more relevant today, in our post-pandemic world, than ever before.

This year we launched ‘Kiddi Yoga’, as part of our extra-mural offering, exclusive to our Grade 1 learners, as we believe that this is where the biggest need exists. The benefits of yoga include improved flexibility, reduced stress and anxiety, enhanced memory and concentration, and holistic wellness.

Everybody benefits from Kiddi Yoga

Grade 1 practice Kiddi YogaOne of our dedicated staff members, who is proficient and qualified in this field, conducts these sessions and this allows her to express and share her passion within our school to the benefit of our learners and parents. Parents are more than welcome to join us, as this strengthens our bond with the parent community.

In the past few weeks we have seen families come through to enjoy these sessions, with laughter filling the venue as they try out the yoga poses. The calming, rhythmic music provides the ideal setting for a relaxing afternoon. Our parents seem to enjoy the session even more than the learners!

Soon we will introduce yoga to the newly launched early childhood development centre as part of the Aftercare programme. Yoga will also soon be available to our staff, because their physical and mental wellness is something that cannot be overlooked.

Every sport and cultural discipline can benefit from the improvement in strength calmness and stamina that is developed in our Kiddi Yoga sessions. In the long term the Kiddi Yoga sessions will allow us to produce better and more enthusiastic gymnasts and athletes, as well as soccer and netball stars. We are already seeing the benefits of these sessions in our classrooms, as well as on the playground, as our learners are using their breaks to practice poses and stretches! Our teachers have reported an upturn in learners’ attention spans.

Kiddi Yoga is just the start of a unique range of extramural offerings that we plan to launch this year as we navigate our way through this unprecedented period in our history. We are sensitive to the fact that our school cannot go back to the way things were.

Our children and parents have different needs now, compared to four years ago and we aim to respond by improving our offering to keep our existing parents and learners engaged in the ‘Ridgeway Lifestyle’ whilst we attract new families to our school, with offerings that are not available elsewhere.