TOS Review: Family Time Fitness

 

As a homeschooling family, we have never had a structured Physical Education curriculum.  Instead, we simply go outside and "play", weather permitting, or we stay inside and do something else.  I never really thought about the importance of having a planned Physical Education curriculum until I was introduced to Family Time Fitness. 

 

Family Time Fitness, designed by experts in fitness training and nutrition and body movement, stresses the importance of daily physical activity for all people, especially children.  The National Association of Sport and Physical Education recommends that most children 2 years and older need to be getting at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity daily.  In addition, research supports that physical education increases physical, mental, and emotional well-being.

Family Time Fitness has developed three different Physical Education curricula that meet the national standards of the National Association for Sport and Physical Education.  Furthermore, it teaches and emphasizes that physical education can be fun by incorporating systemic exercises, play, and games.

    

Our family had the opportunity to review Fitness 4 Homeschool, which allows homeschool parents to teach physical education without previous knowledge of physical education and athletic development.

Fitness 4 Homeschool provides parents with instruction on how to teach fundamental movements. Each lesson outlines basic movement patterns and then allows the child to explore the movement through a variety of activities and games.

 Fitness 4 Homeschool is designed for children K-6th grade, but can easily be used with all age levels and abilities. 

 There are 260 professional planned lessons, each designed to provide 25-45 minutes of physical activity.  There is an outdoor activity at the end of every lesson that provides another 15-30 minutes of physical activity. Completing the daily lesson and outdoor activity will provide at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity.

 The objective is to complete 5 lessons per week. There is a focus on fundamental movements such as skipping, hopping, crawling, shuffling, running, and jumping.  The skills are designed to improve each child’s strength, mobility, agility, flexibility, coordination, balance, endurance and mental
acuity.

Many of the activities can be done without equipment.  However, having the equipment listed below will help enhance the lessons.  

bean bags 

jump rope 

hula hoops(s)
playground balls

 foam balls
cones
measuring tape 

stop watch
exercise mat

 

**The equipment is not included and will need to be purchased, if desired.**

 What is included in the Fitness 4 Homeschool Package?

• Startup/Training Guide - The Startup Guide is a guide for parents and includes an introduction to physical education, information on what to expect from the program, safety information, how to integrate physical education into your curriculum, teaching tips and equipment information.

• Lesson Plans – Each of the 260 professionally planned lessons arrives in PDF format and includes a List of Supplies, Warm-Up, Activity, Cool Down and Suggested Outdoor Activity. Each exercise is described in a detailed, user-friendly format for easy access. 

• 1-Page Summaries– Each lesson has a One-Page Summary to facilitate easy printing and portability.

• Video Demonstrations – Each exercise includes a demonstration video with real kids doing the exercises. There are over 200 instructional video demonstrations available to you with this curriculum, and you are guaranteed lifetime access to these videos as we update them.

• Assessment Tools – We provide tools to help track progress of the basic fundamental movements. Other downloadable tools include nutritional logs and meal planners for a comprehensive fitness approach.

• Encouragement Emails – During the first year of your course, we send you reminder emails each week day to keep you and your children motivated on your fitness journey. We also always include nutritional and fitness tips in the emails.

• Online Webinars – You have access to our regular online webinars and our webinar archive for further in-depth instruction and tips on the curriculum.

You will receive all of the above for only $57.

**The 260 professionally planned lessons (PDF format) will need to be saved on your computer for easy access and future use.**

How did we use Fitness 4 Homeschool? 

We did not stick with the 5 days a week schedule.  My girls, 6 and 3, enjoy just playing outside, so some days they were unreceptive to the planned schedule.  However, the days that we did complete the structured, planned schedule, they really had fun!  Their favorite activities were the agility courses and freeze tag!

Some of the activities were a little difficult for the girls, such as the crab walk and airplane.  However, it was super simple to replace the harder activities with similar simpler activities, such as the monster walk and super man, which my girls loved! 

 What I liked about Fitness 4 Homeschool: 

• Each lesson can be done in limited space (inside and outside).
• Videos are available to provide a visual aid.
• Can be used with all age levels and abilities.  
• Many of the activities can be done without equipment.
• The ENTIRE family can participate.  
• Low cost. 

 I would highly recommend Fitness 4 Homeschool!  We will be using it as our annual Physical Education Currciulum!  If you would like to try it out, click HERE for FREE lessons for 2 days! 

 

 

To see what other Crew Members had to say, click HERE. 
   

Disclaimer: As a member of the TOS Crew, I received a free copy of  Fitness 4 Homeschool from Family Time Fitness in return for an honest review.