At Heschel, Phys Ed is taught much like the way students learn any other subject, learning the fundamentals before moving on to the final product. Like learning to read letters, words and paragraphs before reading a whole book, we teach the building blocks of different games and practise their basic skills before progressing to playing competitive games. For example, students learn to throw, catch and dribble and to feel comfortable with those skills before progressing to playing a game of basketball. Teaching the child skills rather than throwing them directly into a game boosts their self-esteem that they can do things. When we move to playing on teams, everyone has had the same training and is included in the game. As the students move into Junior High, they learn all of the intricate game rules and take on leadership roles in learning to referee the games they are playing.