As I learn more about Swedish Drill I am convinced that Charlotte Mason advocated for its use in PNEU schools not merely because it was the most popular and prevalent form of physical education of its day but because it dovetailed so beautifully with her own philosophy of education. It fosters important habits of observation, attention and perfect execution, which are frequently referenced throughout her volumes. Students must observe the instructor as he/she demonstrates the movement. They must pay close attention to the verbal instructions given to know which movement they are expected to demonstrate as well as to indicate when to do so. Finally, they must perfectly execute each movement in the official routine in order to obtain maximal benefit from it.
In my first of this series of posts I provided a brief history of Swedish Drill, and in my second post I outlined the principles of Drill and the classes of movements from which a drill routine is assembled. I also reviewed the fundamental positions that must be mastered prior to moving on. In this post I want to address how we are to proceed with implementing drill in our homes.
I recommend that you first implement a basic unofficial drill using a script that I created to reinforce the fundamental positions that are the basis of the true drill movements. Below you will find a video of my children performing this routine as well as a script for implementing the routine in your home (or school) once the children know all the positions well.
https://vimeo.com/170226792
Movements and positions to teach before attempting this drill
(including page reference in The Swedish Drill Teacher):
- Attention (regular standing position – no toe turn out, as described in the manual on page 7)
- Half-Kneeling (page 8)
- Tall Kneeling/Kneel Standing (page 8)
- Back Lying (supine) (page 8)
- Stomach Lying (prone) (page 8)
- At Ease
Script for implementing Drill:
“Attention!
Half kneel , right foot forward – place.
Tall kneel –place.
Stomach Lying – place.
Back lying – place.
Long sitting – place.
Half kneel, left foot forward – place.
Attention!
At ease.”
Continue to practice this routine for several months during each Swedish Drill session until it becomes second nature. In addition, you will be instructing your children in exercises to incorporate into this routine over time. A true drill routine contains at least one exercise from every category (“class”) of movement. As a reminder, the classes of movements, as presented in my last post, are:
- Introductory Movements
- Arch Flexions and Extensions
- Heave Movements
- Balance Movements
- Dorsal Movements
- Abdominal Movements
- Lateral Trunk Movements
- Breathing (cool-down)
Begin each Drill session with the unofficial routine and then review any previously taught exercises before moving on to new ones. Depending on the complexity of the movement you will only educate your child in the performance of 2-3 new exercises each session. Children should be able to perfectly execute each individual exercise without need for visual prompting before you include that exercise in an actual drill routine. This could take as little as practicing the movement once or twice or as much as several weeks of practice depending on your child’s abilities. The time for instruction and correction is while you are teaching them each new movement: by the time you conduct an actual drill routine incorporating that particular exercise no further instruction should be necessary.
Now let’s talk about a few movements and positions that you can teach your children to perform to include in an official routine. Introductory movements (ie those that provide a warm-up for what is to come) include Head Turning, Wing Standing, and Arms Across Bend. Your child should be instructed not to demonstrate the movement until he hears the cue indicating that he should do so. In many exercises this will be the word “place” but there is no one word to prompt every movement. This makes paying close attention all the more important for your child.
In Head Turning the key is that your child’s head should be the only body part moving. Sounds simple, right? Not for everyone. Many people couple head movements with movements of the trunk, which appears to be shoulder and/or pelvic rotation. Be sure the shoulder and pelvis/hips remain “quiet” and still while the head swivels on the neck to complete the movement shown below.
Instructions for this movement are as follows:
“Head to the left – turn. Head to the right – turn. [Repeat 5-10 times each direction then:] Head forward – turn.”
In this exercise, “turn” is the cue to perform the action.
Wing Standing refers to the position of hands on hips. This position is necessary for several movements incorporated into drill routines.
Instructions for this movement are as follows:
“Hips – firm! Attention.”
In this exercise, “firm” is the cue to perform the action of hands on hips while “attention” is the prompt to return to the starting position.
Arms Across Bend is an introductory exercise that activates the rotator cuff, scapular and shoulder musculature while promoting coordination.
Instructions for this movement are as follows:
“Attention! Arms across – bend! 1,2… “ [Repeat up to 10 times]
In this exercise, “bend” is the cue to perform the action and the 1,2 count indicates the pace with 1 being the upward and 2 being the downward portion of the movement.
Heel Raising is a movement that falls in the category of Balance. This exercise incorporates an Introductory position (Wing Standing), which demonstrates the progressive nature of Swedish Drill in that positions and exercises build upon each other. In this exercise you want your child to lift as straight up and down with as little forward trunk movement as possible. Some is necessary, of course. Just be sure it isn’t exaggerated, as this demonstrates a shift of the center of gravity to overcome muscle weakness. The child should attempt to keep their weight evenly distributed on the entire front part of the foot as they lift and lower; ie, they should not place the majority of their weight along the outer or inner edges of their foot. Watch to see what their heel is doing. The bottom of the heel shouldn’t tilt in or out excessively during the lifting or lowering movement.
Instructions for this movement are as follows:
“Hips – firm! Heels – raise. Lower. Heels – raise. Lower.” [Repeat up to 15 times]
In this exercise, “raise” is the cue to perform the action while “lower” is the prompt to return to the starting position.
Neck Rest is an exercise from the Shoulder Blade class and is valuable for activating your rotator cuff and scapular stabilizing muscles when performed properly. This is critical for all persons yet sadly undeveloped in most. Having strength in these muscle groups can prevent us from developing overuse injuries related to sedentary activities such as excessive writing and keyboarding as well as more active endeavors such as sports that involved throwing and other vigorous movements of the arms – overhead or otherwise.
Instructions for this movement are as follows:
“Neck – rest. Attention.” (Repeat 5-10 times)
In this exercise, “rest” is the cue to perform the action while “attention” is the prompt to return to the starting position.
Next time we will review more components of a drill routine. Until then, have fun practicing what I have included in this post. If you would prefer the Swedish Drill information found in past and future posts in one easy to read place? My eBook Swedish Drill Revisited is 50+ pages of Swedish Drill information, a complete open-and-go curriculum that will assist you in instructing your children two complete Swedish Drill routines. It’s entirely self-contained and has everything you need to make Swedish Drill happen consistently in your homeschool or co-op. Click here to read more or click here to purchase.
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