Olympics

Let the Olympics Inspire You to Live Your Own Dream

August 3, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 4 Comments

Al Oerter is often used as an example of Olympic excellence. Not only did he win gold in the discus throw in four consecutive Olympics, but he was also an artist who focused on the true Olympic ideal. “Oerter’s Passion: Melding Art & Sports” in the Spiritual Herald says:

The Olympic star often said that in the ancient games “the athlete was not only expected to excel physically, but also be well versed in art, poetry, literature and music to make him a complete and well-rounded human being. That was what the Olympic goal was in Greece in those days.”

Here’s some inspiration from the late Al Oerter:

Each Olympic Games gives us a great opportunity for new inspiration. We can be inspired to live the Olympic ideal, and we can be inspired by the spirit, determination, and hard work of the Olympic athletes. Only a very few of us are meant to be Olympic athletes. But we can all use the inspiration of the athletes’ best qualities to live our own dreams.

I wrote “How to Help Your Child Get the Most Out of the Olympics,” which included a link to a post with ideas from Randy Pausch about dreaming big and dreaming without fear. We as adults can use those same ideas in our own lives. In “Top 10 Reasons Why You Should Watch the Olympics,” My daughter, Christina (who was a World-level ice dancer), also lists getting inspired as the first reason to watch the Olympics.

Glenn Gaesser, a professor and director of the Healthy Lifestyles Research Center at Arizona State University, used the fact that people are excited after watching the Summer Olympics to create an exercise workout that can be maintained long-term. “The 10-Minute Workout, Times Three” from the New York Times tells about an easily-doable workout of brisk walking for 10 minutes three times a day rather than having people do – and give up on – longer workouts each day. With the Olympics inspiration and a doable workout, people can improve their health and control their weight.

Olympic inspiration really can be used for anything. The Olympics are about striving for excellence and working hard to do your “absolute best.”

“Set Out to Do My Absolute Best” Word Art Freebie

If you have a new dream, you might want to create a 30-day challenge to make it more likely for any new practice to become a habit. But however you feel drawn to work on your dream, don’t pass this Olympic opportunity to gain some new inspiration.

“I guess people like to hear my stories, but I’d prefer they went out and developed their own story.” Al Oerter

So go ahead and develop your own story … live your own dream.

Filed Under: 30-Day Challenge, Inspiration, Motivation Tagged With: 30-day challenge, Al Oerter, Let the Olympics inspire you, Olympic ideal, Olympic inspiration, Olympics

“Set Out to Do My Absolute Best” Word Art Freebie

August 1, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 3 Comments

Here’s some word art from a quote by Al Oerter, an American discus thrower who was the first track and field athlete to win a gold medal in the same individual event in four consecutive Olympics – 1956, 1960, 1964, and 1968. Oerter said: “I didn’t set out to beat the world; I just set out to do my absolute best.”

Word Art Freebie for Anytime:

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Image Credit: Background Image by Cihan Demirok.

Olympic-Themed Word Art Freebie:

To download word art (without watermark), click here, then right click on the image and choose “Save Picture As . . .”

Image Credit: Background Image by robodread.

I have lots of word-art inspiration at the Raising Figure Skaters Facebook page and on Pinterest!

Filed Under: Freebies, Word-Art Quotation Freebies Tagged With: absolute best, Al Oerter, Al Oerter quote, digital scrapbooking freebie, I didn't set out to beat the world, I just set out to do my absolute best, Olympics, word art, word-art freebie

How to Help Your Child Get the Most Out of the Olympics

July 26, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 7 Comments

There’s a natural excitement that comes with the Olympics. You can use that excitement to encourage positive learning experiences and give your child the chance to explore new interests and activities.

Here are 5 ways to help your child get the most out of the Olympics:

1. Watch the Olympics together.

Watch your child’s favorite event or events and maybe an event that’s new for your child. For toddlers and older preschoolers, you could have some Olympic-inspired activities set up on shelves in the room where your family watches television. That way your child could enjoy watching some Olympic events with you but not feel forced to watch events he or she isn’t interested in.

Even if you feel the stories of the athletes are sometimes “fluff” pieces, those are often the most interesting and inspiring for children (and people like me). They’re a good springboard for character-building discussions with your child.

2. Do some Olympic-inspired educational activities.

There are SO MANY great Olympic activities you can do to help prevent the “summer slide” if your child is still on summer vacation. And whether or not you’re still on summer vacation, the Olympics are a great way to refresh or continue your child’s excitement for learning.

You and your child can read Olympic books, check out lots of online Olympic resources, make Olympic crafts, make an Olympic scrapbook, learn about different countries, study the history of the Olympics, learn about different sports….

Olympic Unit Study Pinterest Board

There are too many great educational activities to even begin to list them all here. I have an Olympic Unit Study Pinterest Board where I’m pinning Olympic posts, websites, and activities of all kinds and for all ages.

The number of activities available can seem overwhelming, but I recommend just choosing some you feel drawn to. You can even have your child help you choose activities he or she would like to do. I also have a Montessori-Inspired Olympic Unit with activities you can choose or you and your child can choose together. I’m adding to both my post and Pinterest board throughout the Olympics, so keep checking back for new ideas. Note: If you’d like an Olympic creed word art freebie (and information on the Olympic creed and Olympic motto), I have that here: Olympic Creed Word Art Freebie.

I’m also excited to be participating in Kids Bloggers Go Olympics, where you’ll find activities and ideas throughout the 18 days of the Olympics! I’m pinning each of those posts to my Olympic Unit Study Pinterest Board, too. And I’ll have an Opening Ceremony post at Living Montessori Now tomorrow!

3. Encourage your child to try out a new sport.

Whether or not your child has discovered a favorite sport, now is a great time for your child to try out something new. It could be a one-day activity that may or may not lead to something exciting. My husband and I tried to give our children lots of opportunities to find what they loved. You never know what might spark a new interest or even a new career.

For our son, a cub scout activity in which he worked to earn medals for trying various sports led to both our kids’ careers as adults. For Will, it was a one-day skiing activity that showed his natural talent at skiing, which led to ski racing, which led to our moving to Vail, Colorado, which led to our kids discovering figure skating, which led to lots of great family trips to competitions, which led to international competitions (and Christina living in Great Britain and representing Great Britain in ice dance), which led to both of our kids having successful careers in skating.

Whether your child is interested in sports just for fun or as an intense part of his or her life, there are many character-building benefits to sports when they’re encouraged in a healthy way.

4. Hold your own family Olympics or an Olympic-themed celebration.

This could be a fun way to encourage movement and physical fitness, promote family togetherness, and/or just have a fun celebration. The Olympic-themed event could be a party for neighborhood kids as well. You’ll find lots of ideas for family Olympics and Olympic parties on my Olympic Unit Study Pinterest Board.

5. Get caught up in the excitement of the Olympics, but remember that it’s all about the journey.

Allow you and your child to feel the excitement of the Olympics. It’s okay if your child has Olympic dreams after watching the Olympics (whether or not your child will actually ever compete in the Olympics). I have more about following those interests in my post “Raising an Elite Athlete.” One of the links in that post is particularly relevant to a lot of parents’ worries about allowing those dreams: “What If My Child Doesn’t Win the Olympics? Is It Alright to Dream?”

What’s most important in this excitement is truly following your child’s interests. Your child’s Olympic wishes may foreshadow an exciting sports career. Or they may be stepping stones leading to something else which is exciting in an entirely different way. Just trust that following your child’s interest will lead to something wonderful. And be careful that you don’t get your own Olympic dreams mixed up in your child’s.

The Carl Lewis quote is one that my family always found helpful for keeping things in perspective: “It’s all about the journey, not the outcome.”

Have fun, and enjoy the excitement of the Olympics! I’d love to hear how your kids are involved!

Linked toThe Weekly Kid’s Co-op, Living Life Intentionally Linky Party, Preschool Corner, Saturday Show & Tell, Show-and-Share Saturday, The Sunday Showcase, and Link & Learn.

Filed Under: Encouragement, Parents' Role Tagged With: help your child get the most out of the Olympics, Kids Bloggers Go Olympics, Olympic activities, Olympic Unit Study, Olympic Unit Study Pinterest Board, Olympics

Raising an Elite Athlete

July 13, 2012 By Deb Chitwood 2 Comments

With the 2012 Olympics starting soon, I’ve been reflecting on the experience of raising elite athletes. I always thought it was ironic that I raised two figure skaters who competed internationally. Will made it twice to the Junior Grand Prix Final in pairs, and Christina competed at Worlds in ice dance.

I was actually a “band geek” with very little interest in sports or games. I didn’t like competition in general, and before I had my own children I was a Montessori teacher who didn’t believe in tests or grades. (Note: I still don’t like to compete, and I’m a Montessori educator/writer who still doesn’t believe in tests or grades.)

So, how did sports become such an important part of our lives, and what did I learn from our experiences?

My Experience Raising Athletes

You’ll find more about my family’s story in my About Page. The significant part of our story is that it was child-led. My kids chose their sport and indicated how serious they wanted to be in it. Christina actually lived in England for almost 5 years from ages 16-20 where she represented Great Britain in ice dance. Both my kids retired from skating early – Will at 21 and Christina at 20 – because they were in team sports where their partner retired. They decided to retire when their skating partner retired. They could have looked for new partners but chose not to.

Even though Christina competed at the Olympic level, citizenship issues prevented her from having the chance to compete at the Olympics. Competing at Worlds had always been one of Christina’s main goals, so she was happy to achieve a high-level goal even though she didn’t compete at the Olympics. Both my kids gained a lot from their experiences and went on to other successful careers at the right time for them.

What I’ve noticed is that the qualities that made Will and Christina successful athletes have made them successful in life in general. Sports enhanced and reinforced positive character traits such as self-motivation and self-confidence.

My kids both used that same self-motivation to get straight A’s in throughout their bachelor’s degrees. They’ve both used their training to teach good foundational skills to their skating students and help them learn to be good competitors. They’ve also used the same focus and self-confidence to be successful in their businesses, whether they were skating coaches (both), running a DJ business (Will), or working as a Pilates instructor, Zumba instructor, and personal trainer (Christina). Christina has even started to compete in golf, where she can directly apply many of the same principles. She used them when she and her husband played (and won) their first couples golf tournament.

I don’t think my kids’ experience is unique. I’ve noticed that the winners of competitions like Dancing with the Stars are often athletes, even though the athlete’s sport may not have anything to do with dance. You’ll notice that the stock photo I chose for the top of this post just says “winner.” It really isn’t the color of the medal (or a medal at all) that’s most important. If your child develops positive character traits from sports, he or she will be a winner in life.

Some of My Posts about What was Most Important in My Kids’ Competitive Careers

All They Really Need to Know about Competition They Learned in Kindergarten

What If My Child Doesn’t Win the Olympics? Is It Alright to Dream?

Don’t Forget These Two Words before a Competition Performance

Don’t Forget the Three Most Important Words before a Competition Performance

Let Gratitude Carry You through the Competition Season

Don’t Forget Family

Special Olympians Can Inspire Us All

Whatever the Outcome, I Hope We Dance

You’ll also find tips in posts from both my kids linked to in this post by Christina at Christina Chitwood Performance: Top Tips for Skating Competitions.

Tips from Team Mom Videos: Raising an Olympian

I enjoyed the Team Mom Videos: Raising an Olympian from Yahoo Shine. Many of the parents talk about the direction and focus coming from the child. And I think it really has to.

In the video about gymnast Jordyn Wieber, I found it interesting that Jordyn’s mother talked about Jordyn’s interest and focus at a young age. I saw many of the same traits in Christina. When we planned to move to Colorado after she just turned six, we were asked to wait until after her first dance recital because all the other girls followed Christina. And it was obvious that she focused in a different way from the other girls in her class.

So, much of your role as a parent is actually following Montessori principles. You need to observe your child’s needs and interests and do whatever you can to let your child follow his or her dream, whatever it is.

It starts here:

“Free the Child’s Potential” Word Art Freebie (without watermark)

And to keep the right perspective, I think both parents and athletes need to keep this in mind throughout any athletic career (as well as any life career):

"It's all about the journey, not the outcome." Carl Lewis

“It’s All about the Journey” Word Art Freebie

Enjoy the journey!

Background Photo at the top of the post by Les Cunliffe.

Filed Under: Competition Help, Parents' Role Tagged With: competition help, elite athlete, It's all about the journey, Montessori principles, Olympics, parent's role, raising an elite athlete, Team Mom Videos

In Student Athlete, Student Comes First

August 13, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 6 Comments

For families with athletes, it’s easy for sports to become a primary focus. I think involvement in sports is wonderful. Figure skating was obviously a huge part of my family’s life. Yet, it’s important to remember the words from the movie Coach Carter:

These…are student athletes. “Student” comes first.

As much as athletes would like to compete in the Olympics and be at the top of their sport, that may or may not happen. Injuries could stop or hinder an athletic career – or the highest level of success just may not be in the cards. And no matter what happens, there is life at the end of a competitive sports career.

My Family of Student Athletes

I was happy that my children, Will and Chrissy, kept up their studies throughout their competitive careers. They have never regretted it either. Even though Will only attended college part-time while he was competing in pairs, he still completed his BA with a 4.0 grade point average at age 24.

Chrissy had to go to school full-time to get a student visa to live in England. Attending university full-time while training and competing in senior ice-dance was a bit much. But it definitely paid off when Chrissy got her BA with First Class Honours at age 19. And the character traits Will and Chrissy developed by being successful student athletes were priceless.

Rachael Flatt

One of the best examples of a student athlete is the 2010 U.S. National Ladies Figure Skating Champion, Rachael Flatt. Rachael has been an inspiration for student athletes everywhere by training and competing at such a high level while maintaining straight As and taking a heavy course load of AP classes at Cheyenne Mountain High School in Colorado Springs.

Rachael graduated from high school in May and was accepted into a number of top-level universities. She is deferring college this year but plans to attend Stanford University in the fall of 2011.

As the school year starts, help your athlete be a true student athlete.

Here’s a lovely and appropriate video by Rachael and RIF:

What has worked for your family in keeping the proper balance between student and athlete?

Filed Under: Encouragement Tagged With: athletes, Coach Carter, families, figure skating, Olympics, Rachael Flatt, RIF, sports, student athlete, student athletes

What if My Child Doesn’t Win the Olympics? Is It Alright to Dream?

April 30, 2010 By Deb Chitwood 3 Comments

It’s the start of a new Winter Olympic cycle, and athletes of all ages are renewing their Olympic dreams. But how many athletes actually win the Olympics? Is it alright for your child to have such dreams even if they don’t come true?

I think the Olympic-dream question could be answered with Randy Pausch’s words: “Dream big. Dream without fear.” Pausch, who was a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University and an award-winning teacher and researcher, would seem an unlikely choice to answer a question about having Olympic dreams.

Yet, Randy Pausch is probably the perfect choice. Before he died from pancreatic cancer in July 2008, Pausch inspired millions of people with the YouTube video of his last lecture as well as The Last Lecture book, which came after and added to the actual lecture given at Carnegie Mellon.

Randy Pausch became a hero to millions for his optimistic fight against terminal cancer, his work promoting pancreatic-cancer research, and his message about living each day and living your dreams. I think Pausch also answered the Olympic-dreams question with this quote:

Give yourself permission to dream. Fuel your kids’ dreams, too.

Paush talked a lot about fulfilling his childhood dreams. Although there’s wisdom throughout his lecture and book, I think one of my favorite chapters in the book is the one about a dream he never fulfilled: “I Never Made It to the NFL.”

Pausch said:

. . . even though I did not reach the National Football League, I sometimes think I got more from pursuing that dream, and not accomplishing it, than I did from many of the ones I did accomplish.

Pausch emphasized the life lessons, skills, and character development he gained from pursuing his dream of making it to the NFL. He talked about what he learned from his youth-league coach. Pausch said:

Coach Graham worked in a no-coddling zone. Self-esteem? He knew there was really only one way to teach kids how to develop it: You give them something they can’t do, they work hard until they find they can do it, and you just keep repeating the process. . . . he made me realize that if I work hard enough, there will be things I can do tomorrow that I can’t do today.

Pausch also discussed something necessary in any sport—working on fundamentals. He said:

Fundamentals. That was a great gift Coach Graham gave us. Fundamentals, fundamentals, fundamentals. As a college professor, I’ve seen this as one lesson so many kids ignore, always to their detriment. You’ve got to get the fundamentals down, because otherwise the fancy stuff is not going to work.

Probably the following quote about why we as parents encourage our children in sports also answers the question of whether our children actually need to have the best objective result in the end:

What we really want them [our children] to learn is . . . teamwork, perseverance, sportsmanship, the value of hard work, an ability to deal with adversity.

And that may be the best answer. It’s the intangible results and the character development that come from following Olympic dreams that are the most important. Whether or not the dreams come true in the end, the benefits of sincerely pursuing dreams make it all worthwhile.

Here’s the famous YouTube video of The Last Lecture: Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams, presented in September 2007. The YouTube video has had over 11 million views. If you haven’t had the opportunity to see the video, it will be an inspiring hour and 16 minutes of your time.