Our family’s daily life is fairly active. With the chores tending the animals, we all get the opportunity to use some muscles, etc. We haven’t previously set aside time for intentional exercise or physical education. The children get time everyday for free playing. They climb, run, jump, etc.; you know the typical childhood busyness. I know, however, this is not enough. I have a hard time being consistent in exercise for myself. Something that we can all do together would be great. Thanks to Family Time Fitness and their Fitness 4 Homeschool curriculum, we have found what we need.
Just what is included in the curriculum? There are 260 daily lessons. That is enough lessons to do 5 days a week for 52 weeks. Everything comes ready to download in smaller files, 20 lessons to each file. Each lesson has descriptions to Warm Up, Activity/Game Play, Cool Down and Outdoor Activity. The skills taught, equipment needed and other helpful tips are also in each lesson. There are links to video demonstrations if needed. After the pages for each lesson are one page summaries for each. These are the ones I printed. I keep these on a clipboard to take out with us. An overview for each activity and how many repetitions is on this summary sheet as well as what equipment is needed. I add any notes I need to this page such as how far to space cones for an agility course, etc.
We have set aside an hour or so before lunch for our “gym time”. I usually send the children outside to run around a bit while I gather what we need. We have settled into a routine of doing this three days a week. The other days, I still send the children out for unstructured play. If there is an activity in our lesson that is something new that needs to be seen to understand, I’ll keep one of the older children inside. We watch the video clip so they can help me demonstrate. I try to have a different helper for each lesson. Without the need for line leaders, etc. I had forgotten how important such roles are to children. They really like being my assistant.
The activities are generally able to completed indoors even though we head outside to do ours. I have been trying to note at the top of the summary those that are easier to do indoors in preparation of those winter days we prefer to stay in. Even with warm up, games and cool down activities being done indoors, the outdoor activity is truly best outside. Even on the most miserable days, my children have spent at least 20 minutes or so playing outside. Sometimes they are eager to go, other times I send them out with instructions to run a few laps around the house. We all need that physical activity and break. Now I can give them something to accomplish in that time.
We started our gym class with a series of assessments. The Fitness 4 Homeschool comes with all the instructions needed as well as a printable sheet to keep track. It is recommended to be done every 6-8 weeks. Even though my children are quite active, we were surprised at some of the results. Activity is great, but it does not always equate to agility or coordination. We are almost due for another assessment. We hope we see improvement.
If your family is very active and participates in organized sports activities, you may think you don’t need a homeschool p.e. class. The fun we have and measured improvements are worth it. The break in the middle of our day is beneficial more than just physically. I knew my dyslexic daughter is able to focus better when she has breaks for physical activity. My never-can-sit-still 6 year old son is able to sit still longer for some math problems when he has the opportunity to “work out the wiggles”. There is scientific proof behind my observations. Here is a graphic from the website of Family Time Fitness showing the results of physical activity in the brain.
We are really enjoying having a scheduled P.E. class in our week. We had most of the equipment needed (jump ropes, balls, hula hoops, etc.). What we didn’t have, I could improvise. Cones for marking courses? I used old milk jugs with a couple inches of water for weight. This is so easy for me to implement. There truly is no real preparation needed. We can do most things right in our yard or even inside. We could head to a park if we wanted to, but it’s just not needed. The activities get us moving, get our heart rate up and stretch us. They are still simple and easy enough our two youngest (2 1/2 and 4 year olds) are able to participate. They follow as best as they can and giggle right along with us.
My absolute favorite part? How affordable this is. For only $57 for Core 1, you can use this with all of your children from 4 years old and up. This is a one time purchase with free upgrades/revisions for life. No renewing a subscription, etc. There are other courses available for high school age (that probably better meet the requirements for the credits needed). There are also other options for the K-8th range. To see everything offered by Family Time Fitness and sign up for a free trial, be sure to check out their website.
Other families with the Schoolhouse Review Crew also tried Family Time Fitness. Check out their reviews linked to the Schoolhouse Crew blog page.
