What do you do for P.E/Health

For health, we just talk about eating healthy, discuss diseases, etc., all as part of our lives.  This year, we learned about the human body (AiG’s God’s Design for Life was our science this year), so we did go into more detail than most years.  Really, I think we talk about “health” enough just in living.  (“No, you can’t have more candy!” and “Eating chewy candy is worse than eating chocolate, according to the dentist.” and “The doctor said you need to play in the sunshine.” or whatever.)

For P.E., I just tell them to go play.  My girls are young (10, 9, 7, 5) so playing outside means riding bikes, climbing trees, chasing each other, throwing things for the dogs, etc.  During the school year (public school), our church has an organized gym time for the kids one hour each week.  It’s not a lot – but it’s about the same as the public school kids get…..maybe even more time per week.  (Around here, public schools do a 6-day rotation, with gym, music, art, etc. being rotated in a 6-day cycle.  So there are weeks where the public school kids don’t get gym class.  And I can hardly believe that in elem. school gym is a full hour long.)

In short, phys.ed and health are the least of my worries! *L*  (I guess it doesn’t help that I HATED gym class in public school and that I did everything and anything I could to get out of gym class.  Even now, I hate getting sweaty!  Give me a book or a board game instead! *L*)

We don’t use anything official for health.  We have daily discussions of what we are eating and making good choices.  We also discuss safety issues as they come up.  Currently, we are doing a science study of the human body (using 106 Days of Creation).  Earlier this year, our habit was cleanliness and I focused on dental health, brushing, flossing, rinsing, etc.

For PE, we’ve done some community sports (baseball/softball, gymnastics, swimming lessons, etc.).  We haven’t starting anything since our move this winter.  They play outside frequently.  Before we moved, they constantly rode their bikes, but unfortunately there is no where for them to safely bike.  We have Family Time Fitness and I like to use it in the winter when it’s harder to get outside.  We also do some similar exercises in between lessons.  A few jumping jacks or planks get them re-focused on their lessons.

I use R &S health 4, and other informal teaching as it comes up.

For PE years ago we scheduled two evenings a week for PE, most of the time with Dad only, because it is not my favorite. We did 20 minutes when they were younger,  and 40 mins.  later.  It was multipurpose- for exercise, to learn teamwork and games, and to spend time playing with Dad. We still  do this today. Favorites are kickball and soccer. Neighbors join us sometimes.

In the winter we do exercises, Simon Says, timed obstacle courses,  and four square in our playroom.

Our city hosts a summer “Safety Town” for kids as a summer camp. The dates don’t work for us, but I did stop and ask for a copy of the topics they cover to give me ideas of things I might make sure to cover with our kids. I am also a big advocate for swim lessons. Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death in children, and swimming is both a great workout and a lifetime sport, so both safety and P.E. are covered. Most lessons include safety topics each week. It can also be a job opportunity due to the great shortage of those with good enough swim skills to be lifeguards and swim instructors. I have a single friend with a Ph.D. in genetics who still teaches swim lessons on the side because she makes just as much money doing that as at her job! (She saves the swim lesson money and uses it to take fantastic vacations!)