“Just like when children have to learn their ABC’s in order to be able to read, they must also learn basic fundamental skills in order to participate in sport or exercise” (O&P Business News, 2010).
Fundamental movement skills are the basis of physical literacy. These skills include jumping kicking, running, throwing, catching and so forth (PHE Canada, 2015). If they learn various movement skills, it allows them to engage in more activities. Active for Life (2015) discusses how learning fundamental movement skills at a young age can allow their opportunities to grow and help them be one step closer to be active for life. Teaching a child to throw for example, opens a door to many sports they can transfer the skill to including football, baseball, handball and so forth. The earlier children learn the skills, the more confident and fluent they will be in physical activity. Active for Life (2015) states that “physical literacy is like learning a second language. The older you are when you learn, the more difficult it is and the less confident you are using your second language”. With these skills learned at an earlier age, teachers in high school can then continue to focus on movement skills but increase their sport abilities without discouraging students.