Would you count these for PE?

[klmama]

I was discussing this with someone recently and wondered what the hive thought.  For PE, would you count these activities?

archery

target practice with guns at in indoor shooting range

skeet shooting

Please note:  I'm asking about the appropriateness of these as PE, rather than whether or not you think minors should learn to use weapons.  Thanks.

[Lori D.]

You'll get all kinds of responses.

JMO, and what I would have done for my DSs -- for archery, target shooting, & skeet shooting: NO to PE, but YES to counting as an extracurricular.

I believe PE needs to include physical/aerobic sports or activity + fitness activities such as weight training, stretching exercises, yoga, etc. So that was what was counted towards PE in our homeschool. Our PE consisted of tennis, swimming, hiking, running, ballroom dancing, etc. DSs' after-school bowling league and occasional airsoft-ing counted as extracurricular, or were just for fun and weren't "counted" toward anything. 

YMMV, as each family has to determine what their own homeschool credits need to look like.

Edited November 26, 2019 by Lori D.

[hippiemamato3]

Archery, yes. The others, probably not. 

[klmama]

Thanks your sharing your thoughts. If you'd count archery, but not target practice,  can you explain why the different treatment?  Is it that much more physical?

[Elizabeth86]

45 minutes ago, happysmileylady said:

I view archery as a more physical activity than target shooting with guns at an indoor range.  But, having never actually done either, that’s just based on assumptions.   

Yeah it's actually hard to pull back a bow, but it doesn't take much strength to shoot a gun.

[rebcoola]

Archery for sure all the schools here do archery for PE. The others I don’t know but probably would count because they seem substantially similar to me.

[cbollin]

skeet. yes. schools around us a few counties over do that.  here's a link to a university in my state and their PE offerings that include "outdoor education and safety" and it includes archery and skeet shooting. https://www.uu.edu/catalogue/pdfs/1920pews.pdf

have fun with that link to see college PE.  changed my perspective about the question on high school transcript, kwim?

Archery.  been there, did that. it's on the transcript for PE for 1 credit in freshman year. and then in  the "portoflio" of extra curricular for "lettering" after 4 years and a second place in state tourney. that student got into college and was not on an archery team ** and graduated and all of that. it was high school activity and did count.

range practice:  hmmm..  well, near me under 18 you have to take certain classes and there are rules/restrictions on what you can can't do at the range.  So yeah. see "outdoor education and safety" PEWS 230 at the link I shared.  My guess is that it could be part of time in the PE credit but not full course with time at the range especially with hunter safety and such in the mix.

 

**eta: her college did not have an archery team or club. I just meant I didn't need to care about that in terms of credit in high school and it did not impact her academic stem scholarships .

edit 2: like the others, I prefer a cardio, strength, stretch based of fitness instruction.  and child 2 and 3 did more of that style.  but yes, oldest  picked archery team and I counted that as the check box requirement for graduation.  Then instruction in her health class included principles of cardio, etc.

Edited November 26, 2019 by cbollin

[mom2scouts]

Yes, I think you can count any or all of those for PE if you want. I usually try to find more physical activities for PE, but shooting sports of all kinds are Olympic sports. I don't think anyone would be surprised to see those listed on a transcript as PE.

https://www.usashooting.org/library/Instructional/Physical_Training/jan_feb_2010-_physical.pdf

[Rachel]

At the college I attended I was required to take a semester of PE, I actually took archery because it was the class that fit my schedule. So yes, it could count it as physical education. 
 

My oldest is only in 6th grade so I’m not looking at this from a high school transcript perspective. My kids have done archery and target shooting (BB & .22), but I don’t consider those to be exercise. So from an exercise standpoint it isn’t enough for my kids but a case could be made for it being a class.

[Arctic Bunny]

Target shooting can be physically challenging. It requires a certain amount of upper body strength to hold a gun up (especially depending on the type of gun), and keep it trained on a target. My DH also gets quite a bit of exercise running the course of fire for his competition shooting. There are also all the rules to remember, the magazines to reload...

[klmama]

19 hours ago, CuriousMomof3 said:

Are you asking if you could write PE on a transcript with those classes, or if you would let your kid do them as their only P.E.?

I was asking if people would count those activities as part of a PE class.  Period.  I hadn't even thought about whether or not they might be the only activity for a PE class. 

[MerryAtHope]

On 11/25/2019 at 1:15 PM, happysmileylady said:

I view archery as a more physical activity than target shooting with guns at an indoor range.  But, having never actually done either, that’s just based on assumptions.   

 

On 11/25/2019 at 2:01 PM, Elizabeth86 said:

Yeah it's actually hard to pull back a bow, but it doesn't take much strength to shoot a gun.

 

I haven't shot a gun, but another physical aspect of archery is that you have to retrieve the arrows. 

[MerryAtHope]

57 minutes ago, klmama said:

I was asking if people would count those activities as part of a PE class.  Period.  I hadn't even thought about whether or not they might be the only activity for a PE class. 

I'd probably allow them as part of a PE class if I needed the hours from them. I do remember learning archery in high school PE. Like the others, I did want my kids to get more physical exercise, and tended to focus on that (swimming, hiking, mowing the lawn, raking leaves, basketball & other team sports--casual with friends or in a class, etc...) I may have counted the time my son spent playing airsoft with friends--I can't remember now! But they did a lot of physical with that--tromping through the woods, running etc... 

[EKS]

I would not hesitate to count those activities as PE.  

[Farrar]

Archery is such a common PE that I can’t imagine not counting it. I can’t evaluate the athleticism of the other ones... I certainly would feel fine about doing it, but if aerobic exercise and strength training were important components for someone for PE for philosophical reasons, I would get that.

[Frances]

I had an amazing PE teacher for all four years of high school. We once did an archery unit. So yes, I would count the activities as part of PE.

[Melissa in Australia]

The local High School counts fishing as PE.  You cannot really get something less active than that

[Ellie]

I count everything, especially for a "subject" I can't get really worked up about.

[PeachyDoodle]

Shooting is an Olympic sport. If they are willing to count it, that's good enough for me.

Edited November 29, 2019 by PeachyDoodle