A letter from Susan Ne’eman

Dear Ready Steady Move! Teacher,

Every time I sit down to put together an edition of Ready Steady News – I am amazed both by how time flies and by how much there is to report!  We are moving at the speed of sound and hope you are all able to keep up.   So, as we prepare to start a new school year, please take a few minutes to enjoy this issue of Ready Steady News.

The issue is also available on the Ready Steady Move! website by clicking on “blog” at the foot of the homepage.  Please feel free to comment – we love to hear from you!

First, we want to officially welcome Katya Gildebrand, our new Ready Steady Move Master Franchisor from Volgograd.  She will be hosting her very first TTC this week.  Good Luck!  http://www.ready-steady-move.com/rsm_russia.php

Second, we would like to warmly welcome all the new teachers who have joined us since the last newsletter:

RSM Teacher Training, March 2010

In Israel: March 2010 TTC Katya (Russia), Kim (Austria), Lorraine (UK), Emmi (Ashkelon),  Ayelet (Carmiel) and Sandy (Canada)   below

In Israel: March 2010 TTC Katya (Russia), Kim (Austria), Lorraine (UK), Emmi (Ashkelon),  Ayelet (Carmiel) and Sandy (Canada)   below

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RSM Teacher Training, August 2010

August 2010 TTC Debi (Israel), Dana (Beersheva), NetanYah (Tsfat),  Ronit (Israel   and the far east – more about that in our next issue), Tal (Italy), Francesca (Italy)

In Israel: March 2010 TTC Katya (Russia), Kim (Austria), Lorraine (UK), Emmi (Ashkelon),  Ayelet (Carmiel) and Sandy (Canada)   below

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We would also like to congratulate Chavie Fuchs on the birth of her second son,  Shimshon , and Liron Uzana  on the birth of Yoav.  Both of these very fit ladies gave birth with perfect timing and plan to be up and moving by October! timing and plan to be up and moving right after the holidays!

Also in this issue:

1. New Pilates DVD’s
2. Parents, Politics and Pre-schoolers
3. Making a Difference
4. Meet Mazi – our featured teacher
5. Don’t stop me now! – fitting everything in
6. Ready Steady HOP!

NEW DATE for the Refresher Seminar Israel – October 8^th, 2010  – details coming shortly

TTC RSM 1 – Volgograd, Russia   August 25-27^th

TTC RSM 1 –   Israel   October 5^th – 7^th

Please friend us on FaceBook –  search for  – Ready Steady Move! and RSM Teachers

Looking forward to your feedback, suggestions and questions,

Susan Ne’eman

So why not learn Chinese?

So why not learn Chinese? I mean a billion people can’t be wrong. And while you’re at how’s your Spanish, Hungarian, Russian, Arabic, Hebrew, French, German, Italian and Japanese? Personally I would love to be able to speak more languages but I started too late and was forced to sit and soak up endless lessons of boring French and pointless German. Oh to be a polyglot, it makes you seem so intelligent doesn’t it? So why not start early, when your brain can still assimilate any language as well as your mother tongue?

This is where Ready Steady Move! comes in. This program uses movement to enhance language acquisition in kids from four to eight years old. Here at Helen Doron we say that “an active body is a learning body.” We get those kids out of their chairs and away from the endless grammar lessons and into a fun environment full of music, dance, yoga, Pilates and games. The kids don’t realize they’re learning a new language, they’re just having fun, but at the end on program of Ready Steady Move! they can have a vocabulary of 300 words and be healthier in the process.

Personally I’m jealous. When I think back to all that time wasted supposedly learning foreign languages when I could have been outdoors playing and here we have a program that does both, well it’s a crying shame. But I’m not giving up. The Ready Steady Move! programs will soon be available in 10 languages suitable for children (adults can take part too, we promise not to tell) and if can learn 300 words of Chinese I’ll really be able to make an impression the next time I order a take away.

Yoga Stories

We’ve come a long way from that day three years ago when the first Ready  Steady Move! program was born. Originally conceived as a movement program to improve language skills, Ready Steady Move!  has come a long way since then.
The first version was based on dance and movement theatre but as time went on we saw the benefits of adding yoga to the syllabus. This happened when the kids reacted so well to the small yoga sections introduced by chance to the program; they really got a kick out of the asanas! We didn’t call it yoga and of course we didn’t call the postures asanas but the love for yoga was obvious. Since then the yoga has developed into an integral part of the program, performed using specially written yoga stories that will soon be available on DVD called Yoga Stories for Children. Both the kids and their parents will be able to practice yoga at home, with any luck it will become an integral part of their lives.
And then came the Pilates! As usual the best things happen by accident. Helen Doron and Ella Doron started to learn Pilates with Ganit, got hooked, dragged me along and before you could say Hokey Cokey, Pilates for Children was introduced into the program as well. Children really benefit from the Pilates method especially as they spend so much time stuck behind desks, computers and TVs. This sedentary life style is ruining their posture as well as reducing their overall physical fitness, balance and body strength. Pilates can counter this. Naturally the three minutes of Pilates in each lesson aren’t enough so…..we’re making a Pilates DVD. The kids and grown-ups participating in Ready Steady Move! will be encouraged to do Pilates at home as well as in the lessons. If you have to watch the “box” then you might as well get fit at the same time.
Of course Ready Steady Move! One begat Ready Steady Move!  Two, I mean how could we produce just one successful program? So we have a new program, 32 new songs and chants set to music from around the world, but no choreography. Along came Tal and Ganit, combining Jazz dance techniques with traditional Indian dance movements, they produced a series of entertaining and challenging dance numbers keeping the kids and teachers on their toes, literally. The second program is more difficult than the first and is suitable for older children (and their parents) of up to eight years old (or eighty).