The University of Southern Indiana recently partnered with BFit By Bob’s (formerly Bob’s Gym) to create a set of curricula and educational content for the BFit Kids program, hosted in the gym’s on-site childcare facilities. The partnership between BFit and USI’s Teacher Education Department, located within the University’s Pott College of Science, Engineering, and Education, was orchestrated through USI’s Center for Applied Research.
The employees in the childcare department at BFit wanted to make sure the time spent with the children was utilized to the full advantage, encouraging children to learn and engage in their environment in a fun and efficient way.
Dr. Jill Raisor, USI Teacher Education Department Chair and Associate Professor of Education, and several Teacher Education candidates, took on the task of compiling curriculum for BFit's specified needs. Making curriculum for the childcare at BFit involved unique factors that do no occur in typical curriculum planning. When designing the curriculum, they had to keep in mind the fact that BFit provides drop-off care that lacks consistency of age, population, and frequency. It is not a typical classroom setting, which gave Raisor’s students a chance to test their skills by developing ideas that fit well given the challenges. The curriculum had to fit whether the student was 3 years old or 8 years old, and the small increments of time each student was at the facility. Another factor to consider was the children also attend a regular school schedule. Raisor and her students wanted the curriculum to fit along with schooling but still be fun and creative, so the children would want to attend.
With the help of her students, they compiled different plans to engage children of all ages in the facility. The design was based on monthly themes, and the overall plan was approximately 200 pages long. Not only did they compile the curriculum, but took it a step further to create layouts of how BFit could design their childcare areas to best fit the curriculum and needs of the children. They outlined the different sections of the classroom along with what materials should be present in these sections. They encouraged the use of rotational centers that are new and engaging to the children, but also cost effective for BFit.
Sarah Barnes and Gabrielle Birge were two of the students assigned to help with the BFit Project.
“Participating in the BFit Project has helped my career in Teacher Education because I was given the opportunity to practice several skills such as planning quality activities for students of various ages, designing a classroom layout that is developmentally appropriate for a wide range of age groups, and I also was able to practice collaborating with others as I worked together with Dr. Raisor and other project members,” Barnes said. “I know that having practice with these types of skills has helped set me up for success in my future classroom because these skills are vital to have in order to support my students' development, growth, and learning in the classroom!”
“Getting to do the BFit project allowed me to branch out to a range of ages while being in Teacher Education,” added Birge. “I was able to compile curriculum for ages all the way from toddlers through older children. This project was a great way for me to get an idea of a year-round curriculum for these ages.”
For the older children, Raisor and students designed Challenge Cards with different tasks appropriate for older children such as reading books, and listing healthy food and exercise choices they made. These bingo-formatted cards also included activities such as “Read a book to one of the younger children.” BFit is considering offering small prizes to the older children who complete a line of or the entire bingo card in order to encourage participation.
Raisor was thrilled when BFit contacted her about the idea. Most fitness facility workers are not trained as educators so this project would support and promote activities within the Kids Clubs. Raisor states that she is proud of BFit Gym for deciding to take a step to help enrich the lives of the children they work with. She also thinks it is a great opportunity for her students to help apply content they learn in classes to real settings. She goes on to say she appreciates BFit for investing in the lives of children and our community.