PhysEd Credit for non- athletic student

[Rebecca]

My rising 9th grader is not athletic and does not have an interest in sports. Any suggestions on how to meet his PhysEd requirement?

 

Thank you!

[cbollin]

I live where I have to do a PE credit so says my cover school.

my oldest did archery, which technically was a sport. 

Middle gal:  exercise videos

youngest:  will probably count her hours swimming when we get there.  she does recreational swimming, not competitive.

 

how about anything such as

mowing yards and other yard work year round

any time swimming in the summer

walking (take a walk in the morning or evening)

is there any interest in learning "strength training"  ?  I remember family time fitness had something for that, if going to local gym isn't option.

 

remember:  fun stuff in the summer can count toward your log of hours...

 

 

[katilac]

Is it a requirement for your state? We can get home study approval without it in my state, so I don't bother tracking it at all or putting it on transcripts. 

 

If it is required, or if you simply want to motivate the student to move, I would look at things that can be lifelong activities for the non-athletic. 

 

Walking is a great one, and there are a ton of resources online and at the library.  Some of the fun 5ks might be a fun reward, like the Zombie Run or Color Run (that's just the name, almost every 5k allows and encourages walkers). If he likes being outdoors, consider hiking trails and such. 

 

Strength training is another (not weight lifting) that is easy to do, has lots of info, and will help throughout your life. 

 

Bike riding can be done alone or in a group, and there are tons of potential field trips. 

 

I'm making a list right now of attractions/activities in the area that my kids would consider fun (and are capable of, lol), and I'm going to try and get us to one a month. Within an hour's radius, we have roller skating, a trampoline park, indoor rock climbing, bike and hiking trails, swimming pools, and various drop-in classes.

 

I'm trying to get a bit creative with it; for example, laser tag isn't as active as some of these, but it's more active than going to the movies . . . 

 

 

[Junie]

Maybe he could wear a pedometer on his shoe and you could just keep a record of the number of steps each day.  There has to be a calculator online somewhere to help you keep track of how many miles he walked and a calculator to figure out how many hours that would be equal to.

 

 

[MysteryJen]

How about trying a bunch of classes? Like archery, bowling, tap dancing, ball room dancing, tai chi, any martial art, learn to skate, ski, shoot, Zumba, yoga....

The classes would help keep track of hours and he might find something he really likes.

Anything that moves or is a game (ping pong, croquet, badminton) can be counted as PE.

[katilac]

Maybe he could wear a pedometer on his shoe and you could just keep a record of the number of steps each day.  There has to be a calculator online somewhere to help you keep track of how many miles he walked and a calculator to figure out how many hours that would be equal to.

 

He's a homeschooler - he might not wear shoes!  :lol:

 

There's always clipping it to the pants, I suppose. American or English.

 

I've seen some "walking around the world" virtual challenges that look like fun. 

 

Here's one link: https://worldwalking.org/about

[dhudson]

We did Karate for my non- sports minded kid as well as golf.

[AMJ]

I highly recommend swimming lessons, especially if he never had them or it has been quite a while since he has.  Make sure part of the lessons include a chance to be tossed or pushed into the pool fully clothed.  When my kids were taking swimming lessons they did this with ALL of their students except the Mommy & Me classes.  Reason:  lots of kids learn to swim very well, but grow to associate the skill with the garb (swimwear).  Stellar swimmers can and do forget what to do if they fall in or are knocked into the water when fully dressed.  By holding lessons practicing this very scenario the kids learn to remember their swimming skills even when not in swim wear.  Adults would even benefit from such practice.

 

Swimming would most certainly qualify as PE, and lessons such as these also teach an important life skill.

[klmama]

In 9th grade we did a general P.E. course filled with a variety of activities that can be enjoyed into adulthood.  I just kept track of what was done.  Walking, running, calisthenics, rock climbing, bowling, horseback riding, weight lifting, bicycling, ice skating, swimming, and probably a few more. 

[ucfgizmo]

Our state has an outdoor education PE credit which includes the state's boater safety course, a hunter safety course, a series of ethics discussions, an environmental impact awareness unit (of outdoor sports in general), and a certain amount of hours doing outdoor activities - anything from hikes to bird watching, archery to ziplining to rockwalling, swimming to kayaking, paddleboarding to surfing!  Mine doesn't like sports, but loved all the outdoor adventures we took! 

[cbollin]

I feel like we took PE class walking the dogs at the animal shelter this morning....  :)   

[Guest]

...

Edited July 14, 2016 by Guest

[KarenNC]

Here's what I've counted toward PE hours for my daughter: hiking and camping with Girl Scouts (including a high adventure weekend with a climbing wall and canoeing), swimming, jogging, learning to ice skate, trying out workout videos, and kickboxing classes (a new martial art for her). Things I've considered but haven't been able to schedule yet: first aid/CPR class through Girl Scouts, intro archery class, learn to play tennis, target shooting, gun safety class, yoga, etc. My focus has been on exposure to things she can continue into adulthood, so learning outdoor cooking, leave no trace, and pitching tents to be able to camp is as important for me as something like jogging. When I had PE in public school (eons ago :) ), we did calisthenics, running, walking, gun/hunting safety, tennis, rules of a couple of sports like basketball/volleyball, and dancing (I remember we did some square dancing and some ballroom like the foxtrot).

 

In our case, I kept aikido, the martial art she has been practicing for 8 years, as a separate extracurricular, but I could have included it.

[Heathermomster]

DS took a class at the cover and I counted additional hours with swimming, physical therapy, and air soft.

[wintermom]

PhysEd does NOT necessarily have to mean sport/exercise.  A health course, first aid course, nutrition course, etc. could all be considered physical education.

 

Things we have done for high school PE:

 

Presidential Active Lifestyle Award (PALA)  https://www.presidentschallenge.org/challenge/active/index.shtml

Tae Kwon Do (co-op class)

Health  (LIFEPAC)

Personal Fitness (training for a 5K and half-marathon)

Personal Fitness (daily walks, keeping a log)

Skateboarding (created my own lesson plans)

Football (probably not something your ds would be interested in)

Safety & First Aid  (Red Cross courses)

 

Great ideas!

 

I really see Physical Education as a wonderful opportunity to set a postive foundation in healthy living for a life-time. It certainly doesn't have to include sports, if that is not an interest. Healthy movement, healthy eating, injury prevention and physical safety (e.g., swimming) are important life skills.

 

I also love pps suggestions of physical activities that can be considered more as pursuits/hobbies as opposed to competitive sports, like hiking, rock climbing, canoeing, rafting, cycling, skating, skiing and swimming. 

[susanah4]

That was the exact question I had. :)  Non-athletic daughter.  She does hike occasionally with her dad and likes to throw knives (weird, huh?)    And gun safety would be awesome to call PE.  I would never have thought of that as PE.   My hubby would love to teach her.  

I am having trouble with what exactly I can call PE vs. Health.  Is there just not really any difference there?  How much of PE could be say health related videos, books and such?

  I have been out of high school for over 30 years.  Not sure what they do anymore.

 

[KarenNC]

 

That was the exact question I had. :) Non-athletic daughter. She does hike occasionally with her dad and likes to throw knives (weird, huh?) And gun safety would be awesome to call PE. I would never have thought of that as PE. My hubby would love to teach her.

I am having trouble with what exactly I can call PE vs. Health. Is there just not really any difference there? How much of PE could be say health related videos, books and such?

I have been out of high school for over 30 years. Not sure what they do anymore.

You could certainly do a combined health/PE credit if you wanted. I seem to remember a fair amount of time being spent on learning the basic rules of various sports in PE class when I was in school, so I don't see any reason why you couldn't include learning the basic safety rules regarding any physical activity (gun safety, hunting safety, boating safety, etc). Other things might be disc golf, bowling, curling, bellydancing, or weightlifting.

 

We did health in 8th grade and PE this year. Since I've already listed what we did for PE, for health she attended a 40 hour human sexuality course through our UU church (Our Whole Lives), including an emphasis on healthy relationships, as well as read through and discussed a health textbook (Glencoe Health). The textbook covered human body systems, common diseases and how to minimize risk, communicable vs noncommunicable diseases, avoiding risky behavior like tobacco/drug/alcohol use, stress management, basic first aid, importance of physical activity, basics of good nutrition, mental health, understanding how and when to take OTC medications, reading food labels, etc. We did do some research in some of the areas as it was an older book and some recommendations have changed. As part of this class, we also included things like watching "Miss Representation" about how women are portrayed in the media and the way this can affect self-image and behavior. Another idea could be to include learning about how things like food choices, lifestyle choices, and the like can be influenced by advertising and media messages, both overtly and more subtly.

 

I was glad the health class covered a lot of basic human anatomy, as the honors bio she is taking this year with the local public school doesn't include that.

[Mom22ns]

Oak Madow's Health and Fitness class includes logging exercise (of any type), using a heart rate monitor, and setting fitness goals and plans. It does a great job of integrating PE/Health.

[Rebecca]

Thank you all SO much.

 

Yes, it is required in our state and there is also a separate health credit requirement.

 

Such great ideas...I had been mulling around fencing and archery. He is also a Boy Scout and does some hiking and swimming through that.

 

I would love to encourage more personal fitness.

[Corraleno]

Thank you all SO much.

 

Yes, it is required in our state and there is also a separate health credit requirement.

 

Such great ideas...I had been mulling around fencing and archery. He is also a Boy Scout and does some hiking and swimming through that.

 

I would love to encourage more personal fitness.

 

Fencing is an awesome sport! It tends to attract a lot of geeky kids who are not typical "jocks," and the comradery in the sport is terrific. Three years ago I would have said that DS was not at all athletic and had no interest in sports (he had done some TKD and rock climbing but had no interest in competing), but after his first fencing lesson he was totally hooked! It's been so good for him on every level — physical, mental, and emotional. He has SPD and was the kind of kid who was always tripping over his own feet, bumping into walls, and falling off chairs. Fencing has improved his coordination and body-awareness dramatically, as well as giving him confidence, and providing a peer group of equally interesting and geeky kids who are very supportive of each other.

 

If someone had told me 3 years ago that my clumsy, geeky, nonathletic kid would be a nationally ranked athlete who is already attracting attention from college coaches, I would have laughed my butt off. Yet here we are, because one day I thought "hey, he loves messing around with Nerf swords, let's try a fencing lesson!"