PE ideas needed!

[airforcewife]

My oldest will be a freshman next year and I am starting to plan. He has Autism and is not "sportsy" at all. I have not done formal PE class up to this point. We bowl with the other homeschoolers once a month and that is it. I am not sure that oganized sports is right for him. He is very un-cordinated and though he will throw a football around in the yard, he had no interest in playing on the youth teams when my 7 year old played last year... He is to the age now where he is too old for the youth programs and would have to play at the local high school which I don't think would work out. He would be a begginner at everything when other boys have played for years. We have even given up on group swim lessons when he failed out of level one 3 years in a row. I know that he will need PE credits and sports are the easy answer but that won't work for him....any ideas?

[Erica in OR]

Some solitary and inexpensive fitness ideas that come to mind:

Running or even brisk walking

At-home fitness plan with video workouts/weights/pushups/situps

Sports but just done by yourself. You could easily build skills in things like basketball, soccer, etc.

Our local park has a fitness circuit for jogging around the park and stopping at stations to do exercises

The park also has a disc golf course, which is like golf but with Frisbees

 

What does he like to do? Anything special he'd like to try? You could do a two-month unit of to get a taste of something a little out of the ordinary—rock climbing, archery, kayaking, canoeing.

 

Erica in OR

[airforcewife]

Thanks! I think I have talked my husband into letting him try golf out for a semester and hope he like it. The rest I think we will just do at home, I will just have to get creative with course discriptions :)

 

[Cosmos]

My ds is not interested in team sports either. He skis every year, so that will count toward P.E. In addition, he'll be trying lessons in some new sports. There's a place near us that does a six-week intro to fencing. Dh can teach him canoeing. Other options are tennis lessons and yoga. I'm lobbying for some dance lessons!

[Sebastian (a lady)]

I haven't stressed over a PE class. My older kids are in sports and I don't consider it a critical transcript item unless it is a state requirement.

 

What I would suggest more than a team sport is helping him learn how to be physically active for lifetime fitness.

 

There are some good learn to do a 5K sites and apps. Even if he had to repeat week one several times it does improve fitness ability.

He could hike area trails.

He might look into something like Volksmarching where there is a route and checkpoints. Some events have small medals to buy when you complete the walk.

 

He could do a gym orientation and learn to use weight machines. Some gyms have systems on the machines that track the workout and keep records over time.

 

If you really need to do a PE credit you could focus more on healthy living and less on sports.

[HollyDay]

can you create your own program and call it "individual exercise and fitness?"  You could include weight training, flexibility, aerobic activity (jump rope, running, etc.).  There are some interesting possibilities using balance ball workout dvds.  Wobble boards for core and balance.  Rebounders?  You could design a fitness program for him.  To round out his knowledge, you could require a general study of different common sports.  Could he do a report (written or oral) on tennis or baseball or football or soccer?  I remember when I was in high school (yes, we had electricity and tennis had been invented :lol: ) there were kids who physically could not take PE.  To get their credit, they had to give reports on a topic chosen by the PE dept.  It always included a brief history of the sport, definitions, rules, strategy, etc. 

[airforcewife]

Thanks for all the ideas! Reports would be great, even if he does not want to play organized sports, it is good to know the rules and history of them! I agree that swimming is a priority for safty reasons and we are looking into individule lessons this year. I will keep in mind horseback riding for when we move back to the midwest and I can have my horse with us again!