Physical Education is something we are focusing on this school year. I know many homeschoolers find their kids get lots of exercise if they send them outside to play, but my kids would just go sit down in the dirt and play.
So we are working in two exercise times into each school day.
In the morning we have a 15 minute time where we all head outside and play freeze tag. I didn’t remember the exact rules from my childhood so we made up a version that worked for 3 people. We each have turns tagging others. If a person is tagged they have to freeze and remain frozen until the other person being chased touches them. If both players are frozen then the turn is done. We have a small yard so there is a lot of running and turning and changing directions. The person doing the chasing only has two minutes to freeze both people. My boys love this game and it is really a good workout for all of us. They run and run and run for almost a solid 15 minutes.
In the afternoon we are learning how to play team sports without the team. They are trying out baseball (or should I say tee-ball), soccer, basketball, and flag football. They are really enjoying all of the sports, but tee-ball is the favorite so far.
My toddler is out there with us running around, but she mostly goes after any flowers she can find. She will occasionally snatch the ball and we have fun with it and pretend she is playing with us. For most of the sports we have a team of two and a team of one. The team of two has to focus on passing the ball. We alternate who is on the team of two and who is solo. For tee-ball my boys are on opposite teams and I am the umpire 🙂 One son will hit the ball and run around the bases. The other son has to tag him with the ball before he reaches home plate. Because there is only one on each team the hitter has to make it to home in order for the run to count. We usually play games like this for 20-30 minutes.
Physical education is something we have to purposefully set aside time to do because it isn’t something my kids naturally do. All of their interests are sit-down activities so introducing active play into their school days is a must.
What do you do for physical education in your homeschool?
I homeschool my grand daughter age 5. I’ve introduce yoga to her via Cosmic Kids Yoga and she loves it! That, with all the dancing she makes me do…we get physical education n everyday!
Our 9yo daughter started on the local competitive swim team when she was just 4, after a lifeguard mentioned that she swam so well (hubby taught her) we needed to get her on the team. We attend Junior Olympics & State Championship every year. Plus, because our whole family practices karate (I’m a black belt) she practices karate as well and currently has a brown belt and will get her black at 10. Homeschooling is the perfect fit for us so that we can travel to meets and other dojos. I’ve always been active and it was important to me that our daughter learn early to care for her body and to keep it strong. Whether it’s through a co-op, outside extracurricular sports (team or individual) or just taking daily family walks, I think PE is absolutely essential for every kid. Do something every day to get yourself outside and be active, now more than ever our kids need it. And so do we 🙂
We don’t really do PE here either, though I ought to include some stretching and yoga stuff. My hs’er and I would both benefit from that.
Sounds like a great plan for your family. I am not so good at coming up with things to do for PE like you. We joined a local Rec Center that has a Homeschool PE class once a week. It costs money but is SO worth it too me. We also do streches inside, with this cool stretch card deck I bought and Yogarilla youga poses. The boys just pick the cards and we do them. YoGorilla- check it out here:
http://www.superduperinc.com/products/view.aspx?pid=OTSC8609&stid=
I’m so getting these cards for my grand daughter…we participate with Cosmic Kids Yoga on YouTube…check it out 😊