The Importance of Co-curricular Activities for Students Holistic Development

Co-curricular activities generally refer to the activities, programs, and learning experiences that complement what students are learning in school. Essentially, such activities are experiences that are connected to, reinforce, or mirror the main academic curriculum or syllabi activities. In addition, co-curricular activities are usually, but not always, defined as being distinct from academic courses. For instance, they are typically ungraded and do not allow students to earn academic credit, they can take place outside of school grounds, they can occur outside regular school hours, and they may even be operated by outside private organizations or with partnerships in the broader community. Nevertheless, the traditional distinctions between academic and co-curricular programs are gradually being eroded and so as per CBSE our school is also integrating various programs, activities, and experiences into the regular educational curriculum.

The Significance of Co-curricular Activities

Co-curricular activities are significant for enriching students on an emotional, cognitive, physical, and social level. The enrichment of the curriculum can come in the shape of the hidden curriculum (i.e., unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and perspectives that students learn in school) or be structured as additional activities that are aimed at enriching the existing curriculum in alignment with learning outcomes and pedagogic activities. Co-curricular activities have also acted as a catalyst for the promotion of national integration, coexistence, cultural values, and general health and well-being in many countries. Whether they focus upon sports, arts, music, science or other areas, co-curricular activities play a significant role in students’ overall holistic development, as well as screening talents and giftedness among children and young learners, which highlights their significance within government school systems.

For example, when sport talents are discovered, developed, and nurtured, they can serve to enhance social, physical and emotional wellness, bridge social gaps, promote team-building, self-discipline, and interactive learning, bring cohesion to the nation, and ultimately promote national recognition and pride on a global level. This also highlights the importance of sports science and the fact that it that needs to be included in schools on curricular and co-curricular levels as a key element in achieving sustainable national sport development. This will, in turn, capture the intrinsic human values, talents and abilities that have not yet been exploited on both personal and national levels.

At the same time, activities incorporating art and music can play a vital role in nation-building, psychomotor development and dexterity. Consequently, the role of art and music needs to be articulated and understood in terms of its role in the provision of well-rounded learning, and in terms of their social and emotional significance. This is because music and the arts play an instrumental part in promoting peace and dialogue and spreading socially-conscious messages.

Nevertheless, emphasizing the significance of sports, arts, and music does not necessarily negate the important role of other types of co-curricular activities such as science, mathematics, debate, chess, drama clubs and other programs. All co-curricular activities enhance education and have a tremendous impact on the holistic development of children in several ways. First and foremost, skills learned through co-curricular activities can often be applied to academic studies, and vice versa. Thus, co-curricular activities can provide the clarity required for an academic concept to make sense and improve learning capabilities. They can also assist in the development of leadership and communication skills, creativity, decision-making and co-operation, service to the community, learning time management, organization skills and commitment, stress relief, developing social skills and self-esteem, discovering new talents, and enhancing students’ overall personality. Likewise, learning through co-curricular experiences during internships or other programs can assist with future careers as students pursuing co-curricular activities at school are often given preference over those who are not involved in activities outside of the core curriculum when applying for courses or jobs.

In sum, while co-curricular activities are sometimes overlooked in education systems with greater emphasis often placed on the formal academic curriculum, pedagogic practices, day-to-day school operations, etc., these types of programs are gaining in popularity and significance as policy-makers, educationalists, parents, and students are increasingly becoming aware that every activity in school life plays a significant role in students’ overall development. Thus, if co-curricular activities are properly designed, organized, managed, and balanced with the academic curriculum, every student will have the opportunity to learn beyond subjects and the mere confines of a classroom. The importance of this cannot be understated.

Our school has designed various Co-curricular Activities like Yoga, Taekwondo, Art & Craft etc.

THE POWER OF YOGA IN SCHOOL

14 Amazing Benefits Of Yoga In Schools

School students may have youth on their side, but that does not mean they are spared from the stresses and pressures of life. So, let’s talk about the benefits of yoga in schools.

Sitting at a desk for hours a day, going back home and pouring over books to finish the daily homework assignments, studying and acing numerous tests, participating in various extra-curricular activities, etc. all cause the body and mind to tense up.

To add to these, there are social and family challenges, anxiety, bullying and emotional that also take their toll on children.

Yoga, an elixir that works on almost every new age predicament such as obesity, depression, diabetes and panic attacks, is not a solution only for grown-ups but also for young children and can help them lead a better lifestyle as they grow up. Here are some of the benefits of including yoga for children in school:

1) Reduces Stress And Anxiety

Yoga’s innate ability to cease the mental chatter and live in the moment reduces stress and anxiety, showing profound benefits in every sphere of life. Students are very stressed individuals, keen to outperform themselves and prove their worth every chance they get.

Yoga helps them to deal with their stress and bring back some peace of mind. Those who regularly practice yoga not only report lower levels of stress and anxiety and subsequently improved academic performance.

2) Improves Memory And Attention Span

Yoga helps to improve the memory function in both adults and children, a direct benefit of which would be a better academic performance in children. It also helps to improve children’s attention span and focus. In fact, yoga aids children suffering from ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) as well by reducing its core symptoms such as inattentiveness, hyperactivity and impulsivity.

Many children suffering from ADHD are able to reduce their medication with regular yoga practice. This is one of the amazing benefits of yoga in schools.

3) Helps To Manage Weight

Children spend long hours in sedentary poses and tend to consume a lot of junk food as well, both of which are a by-product of the new age lifestyle. Yoga helps to counterbalance this lifestyle.

Through regular practice of asanas, children (especially those who are not fond of playing sports) can manage a healthy weight. This helps to curb the problem of childhood obesity at a young age in a salubrious way.

4) Improves Flexibility, Balance And Posture

Sitting down to study for long hours at a time and too much screen time can lead to incorrect posture. This poor posture in childhood can develop into major anatomy complication in adult life.

The practice of various asanas on a regular basis leads to correction of posture, enhances flexibility and improves balance as it brings equilibrium to the whole body. This is one of the amazing benefits of yoga in schools.

5) Teaches Correct Breathing Techniques

Breathing is fundamental to life and how we breathe is directly related to our overall well-being. Good breathing affects our movement, our posture, and our ability to handle stress in a positive way.

Through pranayama and other breathing exercises in yoga, students can learn at a young age how to master the technique of breathing correctly and improve the quality of their life.

6) Promotes Mindfulness

Mindfulness is simply learning to be in the present. Focusing on your breath or directing your attention to the furthest sounds you can perceive is mindfulness; this can be done at any time of the day – even for a few seconds.

Mindfulness enables people to become less anxious and more relaxed. Children can become more mindful using creative and entertaining visualisation techniques. This is one of the amazing benefits of yoga in schools.

7) Encourages Self-Love And Self-Care

Yoga promotes healing from the inside rather than looking good on the outside. It teaches people how to respect and love their own bodies – an essential message for young children who are constantly advertised with warped body image ideas on social media.

With self-love, comes self-care and yoga can teach these values at a very young age. The children learn to be comfortable in their own skin and nurture it well. This is one of the amazing benefits of yoga in schools.

8) Helps To Bring Peace Of Mind

The vastness of academic curriculum alone can baffle students and yet, they deal with many other extra-curricular activities and social life as well. By practising pranayama and mindfulness, students really learn how to handle the anxiety and manage the different aspects of life effectively.

The peace of mind stimulates the release of good hormones that have a snowball effect and uplifts the disposition of the child in general.

9) Improves Self-Control

Through controlled breathing and controlled movement, yoga teaches people self-control. As a result, they do not react impulsively or make hasty decisions even in an emotional state.

With self-mastery, a person can keep his or her anger in check and make rational decisions when required. If a young yogi can learn self-control at a young age, indeed, no door can ever be closed for him or her. This is one of the amazing benefits of yoga in schools.

10) Reduces Absences And Violence In School

Because of good health and balanced temperament, children are less likely to remain absent from school or pick fights with each other over small issues. Instead, they tend to engage more positively in school and develop healthy relationships with their teachers and peers.

11) Enhances Coping Skills

As mentioned before, children are burdened with a lot of stress. Yoga teaches children how to correctly cope with the stress, manage it, and stay productive. This is because the children learn how to breathe deeply and be more mindful.

12) Boosts Immunity And Improves Physical Appearance

Alongside its myriad health benefits, yoga also boosts immunity and prevents attacks from different viruses and bacteria by increasing the levels of antibodies. Yoga promotes blood circulation which can work wonders for the skin, hair and nails. A healthy body feels and looks happy.

13) Improves The Quality Of Sleep

Children should sleep for up to 7-8 hours each night. A good night’s sleep allows the body to be healthy, ready, and energetic for the next day. As yoga allows the body and the mind to relax, practitioners notice a better quality in their sleep. With better sleep, children can focus better in class, play more actively, and perform better at examinations.

14) Increases Self-Confidence And Self-Esteem

Yoga is tangible. Through asanas, children build strength, endurance, confidence as well as the mind-body connection. You can self-assess the changes and positivity you feel after having engaged in this for some time. This confidence attained on the yoga mat is then carried into the real world as well along with strength, compassion and acceptance.

Yoga is an age-old art but is relevant in present times more than ever before. When it comes to benefits of yoga, this is just the tip of the iceberg. It has multiple gross and fine rewards which can help you live a healthy and joyful life. Gift your child the abundance of yoga and watch as the benefits slowly unfold! These are the amazing benefits of yoga in schools.

Taekwondo

It is one of the combative sports which have been developed during the 1940s and 1950s. This game has been developed by Korean martial artists with heavy experience in martial arts. This can also be helpful in self-defense especially for girls. It improves balance, flexibility, stamina, strength, and posture. These all are the physical body effects but it affects mentally too like it uplifts confidence, self-esteem, tolerance power, concentration, focus, discipline, punctuality, and many more things. MOUNT LITERA ZEE SCHOOL MOTIHARI is the one who provides the best trained and expert coach to the students for this game. Taekwondo is not only physical activity; it is somewhere a mental discipline more than a physical discipline. As everybody knows that Taekwondo is not an easy thing but it is a set of rules, strikes, moves, stances, and much more. So that’s why a mind discipline is a must along with the physical condition. For getting everything clear or to learn this game in a proper manner, everybody needs a trained coach.

If we come to discuss the girls like whether this game is good for them or not? Then it is counted as the best choice for them because it teaches them how to defend themselves? Self defend is one of the major benefits of this game. There are so many bullies or robbers in this world. So that’s why every girl and even boy needs to learn this game thoroughly. So that it’s a good game for all. But you have to do the practice of this game on a regular basis. Due to which confidence and self-esteem uplifts time to time.

Taekwondo is not completely a cardiovascular training art but it involves certain aspects that trained cardio also. All over it contributes a healthy body, healthy mind, and outstanding performance. A good state of mind always brings out the best results either in games or in studies both.

Major Benefits of Taekwondo are:

• Improved muscle tone, endurance, and appearance
• Improved Social Behavior
• Increases Group Interactions
• Improved cardiovascular health
• Increased body and muscle strength along with stamina
• Increased confidence and credence
• Improved flexibility
• Improved agility and reflexes
• Improved concentration and focus
• Improved leadership qualities
• Uplifts self-discipline
• Overcome stress

ART & CRAFT

Art and craft is a subject that not only engages the child’s imagination in a constructive way but also give a great impetus to a healthy mental growth and development.

In our school, the child will have a colourful and enthusiastic environment for creating beautiful things for art and craft. We have a state of art and craft room which is decorated with beautiful wall painting and colourful sitting arrangement.

As we teach art to the students, we should remember to focus not on the output they produce in the form of pictures, photographs, skits, poems, and crafts; instead, we should focus on how art is transforming them into better humans. It is through such process that noble souls arise and leave a legacy for us, as well as the future generations to rejoice.

Our students are well trained by our Art and Craft Teacher. Our students have brought accolades in national and international level in Painting competition.