Homeschool P.E.

This week we asked the bloggers here at Growing Your Homeschool,

Can you share with our readers a little about your homeschool physical education program? One of the beautiful things about homeschool is that you can gear it to your child's strengths or interests. How do you do that in your home? Do you include health/nutrition as part of your physical education curriculum? (Answer as much or as little as you want since it is a lengthy, multi-part question.)

Samantha-We don't do anything really organized. Our home sits in the church parking lot (my husband is a preacher) and our children ride their bikes almost all year long. We also have a trampoline and basketball goal that they use almost daily. Since we homeschool and believe in shorter lessons they get a lot of time to run about and be kids. They also like to join in with me during my evening workouts. We also talk a lot about good nutrition casually, and the kids are very knowledgeable about food choices.

Aurie- Since the girls are little, we run circles around the dining room and dance in the living room when we can't go outside. We are lucky to have parks within walking distance, so when the weather is nice we are outside a lot :) We don't talk a lot about food right now, the girls are both good eaters and very active so they actually eat and drink quite a bit!

Marla- We talk a lot about eating "growing foods". We discuss healthy and unhealthy eating when we cook and when we go grocery shopping. Abigail understands that most of the food we eats needs to be "growing food", but that we can eat other foods sometimes. As for physical education, Abigail participates in soccer and swimming classes. At home, we dance, play t-ball, ride tricycles, go to the park, play in our yard, and spend time at nearby indoor play areas.

Dorie- We strongly believe children should be active and encourage this in a variety of ways. Our children play outside almost everyday. About once a week, we take a nature walk. The children are also involved in seasonal sports like soccer, gymnastics, and football. During the summer, they swim recreationally several times a week.  For food choices, we strive to eat well, but allow treats. We serve lots of fruits and vegetables. Growing a garden in the warmer seasons provides a fabulous learning experience for our family. Also, I have started teaching the children to read the ingredient listings of foods we purchase and those we won't.

Ralene- We don't really have an organized program or anything, but we do discuss good foods and what we need to grow and stay healthy. The kids play outside most days, and when they can't, we dance around or they try to do Mommy's workouts (lol...). Once we move, we plan to enroll the girls in some sports programs to encourage more activity and learning teamwork.

Jessica-  We do not have a specific plan or curriculum for physical education. Our lifestyle is active and we encourage discussion and participation in all things, including this! Our children spend time outside every day, as well as having a weekly sporting activity. It was important to us that our children become comfortable swimmers, so for a long time our weekly activity was swimming lessons. Now we incorporate other interests the children have when our schedule permits. Mostly, we continue to encourage them to spend time outside. I am very interested in eating a large variety of foods in as close to their natural state as possible, so this interest often sparks conversations about foods and wellness. We also have science units about the human body each year, which lends itself to discussion about physical activity, nutrition and keeping fit. So much of education takes place in simply including your children in your life, talking about what you are doing and why, sharing with them as you are doing. This is how P.E. and nutrition has worked into our homeschool.

How do you tailor your homeschool P.E. program?