Welcome!

Since 1968, the National Youth Sports Program (NYSP) has provided more than one million children aged 10-16 the opportunity to grow and learn through physical activity. NYSP understands the allure of children to athletics and has capitalized on this to improve the lives of children who are members of low-income families. NYSP's main goal is to capture the energy and confidence that children learn from sports and apply these benefits to the child's social skills and academics.

Albion College recognized the need for a similar camp for younger children. In 2002, Albion launched the Albion College Youth Skills Project (ACYSP), currently called Taught with Internatized Skills Technique (TWIST) camp for 5-9 year old children that teaches fundamental skills in a creative and fun environment.

About TWIST

The younger siblings of the Albion's NYSP participants wanted the excitement, fun, and learning that their brothers and sisters were having. Parents saw the growth and development in the older children and wanted the same for their younger ones. Members of the community and college staff recognized that the earlier you can reach these children, the more likely they are to succeed. These factors led to the creation of the Albion College Youth Skills Project.

TWIST is based on the already successful NYSP program for boys and girls 10-16 years old and incorporates an already successful model program, Project First Step® (PFS), that is targeted for the ages of 5-9 years old.

Project First Step® is the theory and techniques used to enhance a child's fundamental physical skills. It works with children to help them gain the physical experiences which are necessary in order for successful academic learning to take place. The focus of the program is on seven fundamental physical skills. These skills include: balance, general coordination, body image (special awareness), hand-eye coordination, laterality, tactile touch, and audio receptive/audio expressive language. The great thing is that the children don't even know they're learning!

One of the most important contributions from the work of Project First Step® is that readiness to learn is based on play. As Innskeep (1926) states: "Learn it through play and it's there to stay." (p. 387) Through the activities provided by Project First Step®, younger children will learn the basic movement skills which are the building blocks for more advanced skills and for cognitive and behavioral development. They will also learn personal/social skills.

This program allows children to develop the skills which will only serve to enhance the 10-16 year old NYSP program. NYSP presently has an outstanding process of evaluating the formative component of the program. We use this process and added a comprehensive summative part to show change not only in a child's movement skills, but also in his/her emotional and cognitive behaviors. The evaluation will continue for five years so that children's performance can be evaluated longitudinally as opposed to over only a few months.

Background

The new century has brought with it many changes. Our world is moving incredibly fast as we discover new things. Some of these changes are wonderful and open many avenues, but others are indicating lapses we never imagined. Over the years science has placed a man on the moon, developed microchips and microwaves, medicines and research, and has made the world a smaller place in which to live. And these things should be equaling out the playing field for all of us. But, they're not.

Every year children are enrolling in our school systems unprepared for the academic and social world they are entering. We see the government's concern on television every day: requests for more funding for schools, requests for early intervention programs such as Head Start, requests that parents take an active role in reading to their children on a daily basis and that they partake in the programs which will ensure that children are immunized, fed nutritious meals, and are insured. Likewise, schools want new technology, better conditions, and better-trained teachers.

These things are all admirable, but they are overlooking the most basic of all needs, the mind/body connection. Current brain research is indicating that movement is the key to the critical connections needed for optimal brain development. "Carla Hannaford (1995) believes that children benefit when neuronal connections are made through body movement. These connections will help them develop the neuronal systems for reading when they are ready . . . . Whatever the reasons, the firing of neurons is causing the learning. (Sprenger, 1999, p. 8) "We can conclude that experiences cause brain growth, but one must actively participate in the experiences for growth to take place. . . . We can conclude that the brain is sensitive to its early environment and that enrichment can make a difference." (Sprenger, 1999, p. 13) "Peter Strick at the Veteran Affairs Medical Center of Syracuse, New York, made another link. His staff has traced a pathway from the cerebellum back to parts of the brain involved in memory, attention, and spatial perception. Amazingly, the part of the brain that processes movement is the same part of the brain that's processing learning." (Jensen, 1998, p. 84) Jensen continues: "In the same way that exercise shapes up the muscles, heart, lungs, and bones, it also strengthens the basal ganglia, cerebellum, and corpus callosum, all key areas of the brain. We know exercise fuels the brain with oxygen, but it also feeds it neurotropins (high-nutrient food) to enhance growth and greater connections between neurons. Aerobic conditioning also has been known to assist in memory." (p. 85-86) "How critical is early movement? There may be a link between violence and lack of movement. Infants deprived of stimulation from touch and physical activities may not develop the movement-pleasure link in the brain. Fewer connections are made between the cerebellum and the brain's pleasure centers. Such a child may grow up unable to experience pleasure through usual channels of pleasurable activity. As a result, the need for intense states, one of which is violence, may develop (Kotulak, 1996). With sufficient supply of the needed "drug" of movement, the child is fine. Deprive him or her of it, and you get problems." (Jensen, 1998, p. 85)

The surrounding communities supply bus service, physical examinations, and hot lunches. All of these services are donated. The unique part of the TWIST is that it incorporates proven programs into a comprehensive approach to helping young children begin their lives on a positive step.