Welcome to Gym Magic

If you’re looking for a wonderful place for kids to LEARN, LAUGH & GROW, you’ve come to the right place!

We are an educationally-based. We believe children learn more effectively when placed in a playful, engaging environment and that through our sports and activities, we can teach that learning can be FUN, exciting and rewarding. Once kids internalize that learning is fun, their futures can explode with possibilities! Building positive learning attitudes that set the stage for a life-long pursuit of learning is the foundation of our program. We believe success and the processes involved in success are learned attributes, and we believe our programs (that are steeped in FUN combined with challenge) help teach children about success. The hope of every parent is to have happy, successful children, and we believe we can assist in this great endeavor!

IMPORTANT BENEFITS OF OUR PROGRAMS

Many of the benefits of our programs are not readily apparent because they work internally. Smiles and laughter are always great clues for parents to let them know their children are having fun and enjoying themselves, but there’s another very important aspect that isn’t so visible but is extremely important. This relates to brain development and what neuroscience has learned about movement and sensory integration. Let me quote from a noted neurophysiologist, Dr. Carla Hannaford:

“The more closely we consider the elaborate interplay of brain and body, the more clearly one compelling theme emerges: Movement is essential to learning. Movement awakens and activates many of our mental capacities. Movement integrates and anchors new information and experience into our neural networks. And movement is vital to all the actions by which we embody and express our learning, our understanding and ourselves.”

It turns out the movement and the stimulation of the vestibular system in early childhood actually helps prepare and develop the brain for what we term “higher learning” (focus, concentration, problem solving, speech, language, reading, writing, and social-emotional maturity). Movement (rolling, climbing, spinning, jumping, etc.) helps organize and facilitate the flow of information within the brain and lays the foundation for the development of “higher learning”. John J. Ratey, MD, had this to say about movement and brain development, “Mounting evidence show that movement is crucial to every other brain function, including memory, emotion, language, and learning…Our “higher” brain functions have evolved from movement and still depend on it.”

We’ve come full circle in this riddle of learning, movement and education. In the past, learning and higher thought were considered to be entirely separate from movement. Play and movement were relegated to second place when it came to the process of learning. We now know that communication within the brain improves when it is organized with movement. There is also plenty of evidence showing the positive effects of movement and exercise on behavior and our mental states. So at a time when our society is spending less time and money on movement (exercise & active sports) and more on computers and technology, we find that the process of learning is actually connected to movement and exercise. Our challenge now is to merge and balance the needs of our technological society with our biology, which has developed using movement to properly integrate our brain’s communication.

Although we at Gym Magic believe learning to perform a flip, a turn or a backstroke are great ways to learn new skills and develop self-confidence in the process, there’s really much, much more going on during this process. And as our children spend more time sitting (watching TV, using the computer, playing computer games, etc.), it is imperative to balance these activities with a steady supply of integrative movement activities that stimulate the brain in different ways and promote proper brain development for later “higher learning”. And now the best part – your kids will want to participate because our activities are just naturally FUN! They won’t even know that something deeper is actually taking place; they’ll just know that they are having fun! And IF they aren’t having fun, we offer a full tuition, money-back guarantee for first time students.

OUR PROGRAMS

GYMNASTICS
Gymnastics is the foundation of our center. It was our first sport, and it has laid the groundwork for all of our other programs. We have been teaching gymnastics since 1993 and have instructed thousands of Las Cruces youth over the years. Gymnastics is truly a ‘super sport’ in that it develops the body, the mind and the emotions. Just look at the Olympics and the most watched sport: it’s always gymnastics followed by swimming and diving. Yea, GYMNASTICS! Yea, SWIMMING!

Gymnastics is a super sport because of the strength, agility and flexibility it develops over time. And the beginning ‘time’ for our program is at 12 months of age in our parent and child classes called Magical Moves. Magical Movesis a fun exploration of movement in its many, varied forms for kids from 12-35 months old. All our preschool classes take place in TumbleLand, a wildly decorated, dedicated space for preschoolers. TumbleBugs, our program for 3 to 5 year olds, also meets upstairs in their own private center. This separation from the main gym offers a safer and less hectic environment for our little ones and also allows us to provide ‘preschool-sized’ equipment for the smaller hands and feet. In addition, a new transition class is being offered in the TumbleBug Program: Lightning Bugs. Lightning Bugs is a combination class of Magical Moves and TumbleBugs for sibling & youngsters that still want Mom & Dad by their side.

After TumbleBugs, we start our school-aged gymnastics program for boys and girls in the main gym downstairs with “Over the Rainbow”, a six level progressive structure that teaches skills in small, incremental steps. This provides the greatest success for the student as they approach skills in small steps that eventually lead to more complicated skills. This also has built-in safety as skills are developed progressively. Our young men join the “Iron Man” program with progressive skill development on the men’s equipment. (We love the “Wizard of OZ”, so you will notice many themes based on this famous movie.) Our school-aged programs follow USA-Gymnastics Level 1 through Level 3.

We also offer USA-Gymnastics Jr. Olympic competitive teams for boys and girls from Level 4 to Level 10. For those not wanting to compete, we also have Performance Teams that allow you to perfect your skills and perform at various local events without competition.

SWIMMING
We are the only dedicated learn-to-swim program in our area and the only US Swim School Association Member in New Mexico. Our swim program has 12 separate progressive levels that gently introduce children to the wonderful world of water! We start at 6 months of age in our WaterBabies classes where moms and dads join our teachers for games and songs as the babies become comfortable in the water environment. We even have a separate WaterBabies pool that provides added security and comfort for all of our WaterBabies!

We offer YEAR-ROUNDclasses as this has been found to be the best method for long term success according to the foremost experts in the field. Once a child is 3 years old, they are invited into the main pool and start classes without the parent in the water. (Never fear, we have a glassed in air-conditioned observation area just a few feet away for parents!) We keep a very low ratio, 4 to 5 maximum students per teacher, which provides individual attention while still promoting social skills. We have beginner classes for all ages followed by intermediate and advanced classes for stroke development and technique. After mastering the strokes, we offer a Pre-Team program and will be beginning a fun competitive league program for those interested.

Our teachers are specially trained and certified to teach swim lessons, so there is consistent teaching from one level to the next level. We are able to offer this consistency because we teach ‘year round’ instead of just in the summer.

Our pools each have state-of-the-art equipment that is routinely serviced and maintained. Our water is kept between 88 – 90° for the added comfort necessary to promote the very best environment for learning. Swim school owners across the country emphatically state that warm water is critical for swim lessons. If kids have shivers and goose bumps, it’s really hard for them to pay attention and actually learn. So even though the cost of heating our pools is great, the outcome for the student is so much better that it justifies the additional cost.

DANCE
Our Dance ‘til Dawn program starts at 3 years of age with dance / gym combination classes. These are fun exploratory classes that offer some gymnastics with some dance (ballet or tap). Our dance studio offers classes in Pre-Ballet, Ballet, Tap, Jazz and Hip Hop. Our dance studio has state-of-the-art wood floors with added cushion to protect those young joints. Our teachers bring fun and excitement into each dance style whether classes are for beginners or advanced students. We have a performance each May or June to showcase our young dancers.

CHEER
We offer beginning cheer in our Cheer Academy, which begins instruction with Kinder Cheer for 4 to 6 year olds. We also offer Tumbling classes geared especially for cheerleaders. Cheer I and Cheer II offer beginning to advanced cheer for grade school aged students. Our teachers will bring cheer to life with fun moves and motions for each student to learn.

For the serious cheer student, Xtreme All-Star squads are our competitive year-round All-Star Cheer program. Students must try-out for positions on each All-Star squad. Our cheer coaches are credentialed with USASF plus they are our state certifiers for New Mexico as safety is always number one here.

We offer numerous camps throughout the year for cheer, so keep an eye out for the next one! Our teachers will also create a custom cheer class for a school cheer squad that wants help on any area of cheer.

We host the NMSU cheer squad, so if you hang around at night, you’ll get to see some ‘big’ kids do their thing!

PRESCHOOL; Child Development Center
Ashley’s Garden is a private, preparatory preschool for 3, 4 and 5 year olds that offers an unsurpassed curriculum. We believe our students get the best of the best! Not only do they receive a well-rounded educational experience, they also receive the benefits of weekly lessons in gymnastics, swimming and dance, which we now know are extremely important to brain development and future learning (see above). Students must be potty-trained and sign-up for either full day or half day. We utilize S’cool Moves, an integrated movement program designed to address sensory integrative movement program designed to address sensory integration. We also use zoo-phonics, a fun introduction to phonics and literacy.

TUTORING IN READING AND LANGUAGE ARTS (K through 5)
Gym Magic was selected as a Title I SES Tutoring provider beginning in 2008. Imagination Station offers SES tutoring for elementary school students plus offers a Summer Learning Institute to help maintain academic skills during the summer. We’re excited to offer a multi-level approach to learning, which combines the traditional reading format with complementary integrative movements from S’cool Moves®. Contact your elementary teacher or principal for more information and to sign-up. THIS IS FREE TUTORING FOR ELIGIBLE STUDENTS!

WIZ KIDSis a new program for 3 to 5 year olds that meets twice a week for 3 hours per day (again, The Wizard of Oz comes into play). The focus of WIZ KIDS is offering a fun mix of gymnastics and integrative movement together with the traditional preschool activities (numbers, letters, coloring, social skills, songs, games and arts & crafts). This program was designed to meet the needs of families that don’t require or want all day or every day instruction, but who do want to offer their children an early experience of preschool concepts and socialization in a fun, active environment. Kids must be potty-trained to attend.

KIDS FITNESS
Somewhere along the way, we found it necessary to add classes for basic fitness. Many kids are simply not getting the exercise they need to stay fit, and they want something different than gymnastics, dance or swimming. Our Oz-some Fitness program is designed to fill the need for those students that need a little extra help in developing strength and agility. Never boring, these classes will keep you moving – no flipping required!

ADULT WATER AEROBICS & FITNESS
Adults may attend water aerobics (warm water!!), water stretch classes, yoga, pilates or circuit work-outs. If you have a student in any of our other programs, the adult registration fee will be waived and there is no annual contract as in many other facilities. You pay monthly tuition without a contract.

HOMES’COOL MOVES
After many, many requests from families who are home schooling their children, we are offering this special program to meet the needs of home schooling familes. We were asked to address physical education in age-appropriate classes and to provide greater socialization opportunities. Hence, HomeS’cool Moves offers daytime classes that focus on movement (gymnastics, integrative movement and swimming) and socialization opportunities in age-appropriate groupings.

CAMPS We host summer camps, holiday camps, cheer camp, dance camps & gym camps. We have offered fun, safe camps since 1993. During the summer we have field trips and special programs to keep the summer fresh and exciting!

NUTRITION
We’re all about health and fitness, so it was only natural that we would eventually get involved in products for health and well-being. There seems to be thousands of products on the market that make it very difficult for people to know what is really best. Everyone is different with different needs and desires, but we’ve never seen any product that compares to Himalayan GoChi juice. So stop by the gym for a taste of this marvelous anti-aging juice or visit our website at www.gymmagic.freelife.com. plus a wonderful tonic, Jule of the Orient, for anti-aging benefits. There’s also a great weight-loss product, Taislim: www.gymmagic.taislim.com. For more information you can also go to www.sharegoji.com. GoChi is the best health juice that we have come across in over 30 years – go to www.pubmed.gov and look up Lycium barbarum to find the research on this amazing berry from the Himalayans!

We also have a great snack bar, POPPY SEEDS, for the MUNCHIES!!
Gym Magic’s office is open Monday through Friday, 8am to 8pm and Saturday 9am to 1pm. Stop in to have a look around, observe classes or take a tour! We’re located at 2341 Entrada Del Sol, Las Cruces, NM, directly behind Best Buy (off Lohman Blvd.). Need directions? Call our office at 575-523-1616.
Thanks for visiting our website! We understand that families and kids have lots of options available to them these days, and we appreciate your interest in our center and our programs.

With warm regards,

Nancy L. Bates, PhD, MT (ASCP)
President, Gym Magic, Inc.