Starting a Physical Education Class

I started a Physical Education class with our homeschool group about three weeks ago. Many of the parents wanted a class where all ages would be welcome to participate. Everyone is having such a great time and my kids look forward to Tuesday. It has been nice to break up the school day with some exercise too. I will admit that I was a little nervous when I first started because I scheduled the class from 10 a.m. -11 a.m. but the kids come home from P.E. ready to get down to work. It is convenient that the class is held at a community park in our neighborhood so it is just a minute drive home.

We have been using the curriculum Homeschool Family Fitness by: Bruce Whitney. It is a great program to do as a group or a family.

Usually, each week I have the kids warm up, stretch, we do about 15-20 minutes of exercise,the lesson and then fit in 1-2 games.

Week 1- we did fit testing so we could see where everyone was and so the children could each make goals for themselves. We also played a game of 4 squares which was fun. I hadn't played that game since middle school. Week 2- we learned some football techniques , played a game to practice the techniques, and freeze tag(which is always a big hit). Week 3- we learned soccer techniques and played a soccer game. For our exercise this week I changed things up by adding in hurdles and sprints. This was fun because I set it up like a relay race-boys against girls. This week(4)- we are going to be jump roping. We will be learning basic jump roping and adding a few tricky moves-fun. There is also a game of Tiger Tails on the lesson plan. I have decided to add in some yoga this week as a part of our stretching exercises to keep things interesting.

Anyway, just a little preview of the curriculum. It is great and covers everything; dancing, swimming, snow activities, golf, juggling. You name it.