His Treasure Seekers

Okay, so just typing that title gets all sorts of thoughts running through my head.  Let’s face it, I am not the poster child for physical fitness.  However, I know how important it is for kids, especially for my active boys (though I’m sure as Arianna gets a little older it will become equally important for her).  Ian in particular has always been quick to catch onto physical skills and eager to master them.  So as I started looking at all the books and curriculum I had chosen for Ian’s Kindergarten year and writing up a weekly schedule of how I want to fit it all in, I really felt like I needed to include time for Physical Education.  P.E. was my nemesis all through school.  It was the one subject I struggled to keep an A in, and that drove this little perfectionist crazy.  So whereas most of the subjects I plan for our school bring me absolute delight, this was one I just didn’t know how I was going to teach properly.

And I do think there’s something to be taught.  It’s so easy to pass off general physical activity as “P.E.”  There are a lot of reasons I don’t want to enroll my little ones in organized sports (at least at this point in time), which left me feeling rather lost.  I searched online for a list of skills I could use (skipping, galloping, balancing, throwing a ball, etc.) and maybe develop lessons around, though it seemed like a lot of work to put together anything of value.  Then I remembered that when I taught 2nd grade a few years ago, one of my colleagues had found a wonderful P.E. curriculum that taught basic physical skills and had fun activities.  (I think it was Ready-to-Use P.E. Activities for Grades K-2).  It was so helpful in providing actual lessons that were well thought out and fun for the students.  I considered purchasing it for our homeschool, but I was afraid too many activities would be geared toward larger groups of children.

Then I stumbled upon Family Time Fitness.  They have a program designed specifically for homeschool families.  They had a bunch of wonderful reviews on their website, but I wanted some more objective opinions.  I did a little research, reading reviews from families that had used it and blogged about it.  Everyone was so positive about this program that I decided to give it a try.  I loved that people said it worked for a wide range of ages in their family (and that it helped mom get in shape too, which I’m going to need after this baby arrives!)  I also liked that it’s a one-time cost of $57 per family rather than something I have to renew or purchase for each child.

I almost bought the Fitness 4 Home School Physical Education Core 1 immediately, but I decided to see if I could find a discount anywhere.  Sure enough, the Homeschool Buyers Co-op was just opening a “group buy” on the curriculum.  Woohoo!  I considered just purchasing at the current discounted price ($47), but then I convinced myself to be patient and commit to a lower price, which means waiting to see if enough people order to get an even deeper discount.  I’m hoping they will, but if not, I’ll just purchase it before the group-buy ends (9-2-13).

If you’ve wanted to include P.E. in your homeschool plans but struggled like me, I’d encourage you to check it out! You can even sign up for a free trial.  I can’t believe I’m actually excited about doing P.E. with my kids!