CT Physical Fitness Test
Every student in grade 4 will be given the Connecticut Physical Fitness Test, this is a mandated test that all students must participate in. The testing period will cover late fall to early spring. Students are encouraged to start preparing in summer as we will begin our work in physical education class, most of September. Please encourage practice to continue at home. Students will learn that it takes time to see improvements. Click here for the summer parent letter that went home in early June.
The test consist of four components:
*Cardiovascular endurance - students will jog/run one mile and must complete the mile in under 12:00 (boys) or 12:30 (girls) minutes if 9 or under; 11:30 for 10 year old boys. The Pacer is also a way to measure this component of fitness
*Muscular endurance - the student must perform between 9-12 curl-ups (partial sit-ups) using a three inch strip and following along with an audio cadence (can be found in the link above)
*Muscular strength - the student must perform between 5-7 right angle push-ups to an audio cadence
*Flexibility - measure the flexibility of the hamstring muscle on both right/left legs; the goal is to reach 8-9 inches using a "sit and reach board"
How can I help my child best prepare?
Encourage your child to be as active as possible from the moment s/he comes home by doing activities that are enjoyable. Running around with friends and playing games that are fun is the best way to stay healthy and active. Clink on this https://kidshealth.org/ to read more.
In class we jog/run for 3-4 minutes without stopping in our "cardio challenge" and slowly build our endurance by increasing the time.
Take the "plank challenge" at home by holding a plank while doing some of your 20 minutes of required reading. Try reading a paragraph or page at a time while reading to build that core strength. Daily practice will yield notable improvement.
After reading, practice some curl-ups to get those abs ready!
Finally, join the Wolcott Running Club to best prepare for that mile run! We meet twice weekly and many runners build up to running over one mile each time. Running Club begins in late October and goes through early December.
Practice curl-ups and push-ups using the audio cadence links listed above!!