Once a week, starting at 9 a.m., the activities change, progressively becoming more difficult as the year goes on, said instructor Sandy Foehr, who has taught at the school for 22 years. She said that by the end of the year the children have mastered most of the exercises.

"It works all of their senses, large motor, small motor, tracking, tossing and catching," Foehr said. "It works both sides of their brains and improves balance skills."

While half of their classmates are in a reading program, the other children learn stimulating exercises, from hopping on two feet to space awareness and proper ball-throwing form, but most importantly—following directions. There are eight stations run by eight parent volunteers, every Tuesday.

On one particular week the stations included a wooden structure with moveable parts, ladder exercises, balancing on plastic domes, walking across a balance beam, skipping through cones, moving through small hoops and hurdles, jumping rope and throwing a softball. The best part of the class, according to the kids, is that they get to socialize and spend time with friends in other classes and grade levels, although sometimes it means they get distracted from the obstacle at hand.

"They are typical kids. They do not have to be quiet in here. They may talk to their friends and visit," Foehr said. "I call it organized chaos."

Nathaniel Geruson, 7, and Nathan Reutiman, 6, both in first grade and wearing the school's uniform of red shirts and navy blue shorts, threw and caught a ball and learned to work as a team at one of the stations.

"I've never really done this before," said Reutiman, nervous about his first throw.

"It's easy," Geruson said, coaxing his buddy to give it a shot.

Parent volunteer Mike Torre of Saratoga enjoys a chance to interact with his children and their friends.

"It's so nice to get the dads," Foehr said. "The children get so excited when their parent is here volunteering."

Mother and parent volunteer Natalie Keyes added that it's interesting to watch the differences in development between the children.

"Hopping and skipping are really hard for some of them," Keyes said.

Blowing her whistle as a signal for the children to rotate to the next station, Foehr added that the lab touches on more areas than she could ever accomplish in a regular physical education class. The children switch stations every 15 minutes at the sound of the whistle. Foehr said it's also a great break for the children to get out from behind confined classroom spaces and desks to move around and get some exercise, too. She said the boys are usually better at motor skills, and the girls are usually better at balance.

"You have to do certain things with your hands and feet," said third-grader Peter Infantino, age 8. "It's a really good workout, and it's fun to be with my friends."