Heather asked me a very good question today. She asked, “What are the P.E requirements for a homeschoolers and how do you meet them? “P.E. requirements?” I thought. “What P.E. requirements?” You see while I do take steps to be sure my children are physically fit, and well rounded I have never seen any P.E. requirements on my homeschooler must-do list.
If you look at Valorie Delp’s post on Georgia Homeschool Requirements, you will find that the only thing homeschoolers are required to teach their children in my state are reading, language arts, math, social studies, and science. While I have not read the requirements of all of the other states, the closest requirement I have ever read that indicates a need for Physical Education reads “same subjects as public school”.
Fortunately for myself, my kids, and many other homeschoolers, written requirements are no more than a loose, minimum guideline when homeschooling. The majority of homeschoolers teach their children whatever is on the list, and much more. Instead of following mandated rules for homeschoolers, I ensure that my children learn other subjects like computer design and typing. I encourage them to explore foreign language, and we have spent concentrated time on Latin Roots. In addition, we have tended to activities that increase physical fitness.
Physical fitness activities are nothing new to us, as we did them even when the children were in public school. The only change is that we have conveniently re-named our old after school activities “homeschool P.E.” and moved the time up earlier into the day whenever possible. For example, before we started homeschooling my kids took Tae Kwon Do. After we started homeschooling, the children continued to take Tae Kwon Do, and later switched over to fencing. Before we started homeschooling, we encouraged lots of outdoor free play like bike and skateboard riding. After we began homeschooling, this continued. Before we began homeschooling, my kids hated group sports. My kids still hate group sports so we have not done that.
My point here is that parents know that school does not provide enough physical conditioning for kids. Therefore, they supplement on their own. Transitioning those supplements to homeschooling is a no-brainer.
I must add however, that just because many states do not expressly require proof of physical fitness, it does not mean that you can neglect it. Colleges may very well have P.E. requirements and there is always the possibility of sports scholarships. My next post will address ways you can fulfill college Physical Education requirements for your high-schooled homeschooler.
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