When we were first homeschooling, my older daughter Coco and I belonged to a gym. My younger girl, Soleil was a ball of energy that never stopped moving. Working PE into our day was pretty easy.

We ended up quitting the gym to save a little money, not to mention that the environment left a little to be desired. In addition to that, we moved recently and our new backyard isn’t installed yet, so Soleil is cooped up inside more than usual. Suddenly, I had to get more creative with our PE.

And we need PE. Girls need PE for so many reasons. Obviously, we all need physical activity to stay healthy and get our hearts pumping. Getting a good workout in also boosts endorphins, so it helps with moods. (and what mom couldn’t use a little help with that?) Staying active will also increase your daughter’s strength and help with her body image as she grows. I don’t know about you, but on days when I get a great workout, I just feel better and more comfortable with my body in general. I want my girls to feel that way, too!

A PE Flip Book

Our homeschool PE Flip Book

To avoid getting bored or burned out, I wanted to have a variety of ideas on hand for any given day. Enter my PE flip book.

I used an old, inexpensive flimsy photo album. The kind you get at the dollar store. In each photo slip, I placed an index card with an active activity on it. We go through the book day –by-day and do whatever the next card says.

Some PE activities included in the book

(For each activity, I also included a suggested time, such as 30 or 40 minutes)
Wii Fit
Wii Sports
Dance Dance revolution
More active Wii Games (great for rainy days)
Soccer at the park
Circuit workout. See more on this below.
Walk around the neighborhood
Go to park and practice gymnastics (we have a small park near our house)
Play Basketball
Boot Camp DVD
Coco Picks! They love this card, because then they can pick anything from the book that they want to do.
Soleil Picks!
Bike Ride
Go to racquetball courts
Learn and practice a dance scene from a movie. (Have you ever done this? So fun!)
Walk and play at a specific local park (this park is a bit further away and a treat to go to.)
Go to track and do a timed mile.
Go swimming.
30 Day Shred DVD. (Yep, my 7 year old does it, too. See below for how she uses weights.)
Go on a hike! (This one is not too often, as it requires more time and planning)
Go on a scooter ride
Timed workout to music. See more below.

Our Timed Workout to Music

On this card, I listed 10 old-school PE activities and 10 strength training activities. The “Teacher” for the day gets to lead, and we do about 30 seconds of a cardio move and then a set of a strength training move. We do the whole list a couple times through. Adding music makes it more fun!

Example:
30 seconds for each activity, unless a number of reps is included.
Jumping jacks
20 sit-ups
Windmills
10 push-ups
Ski Jumps
Bicycles
Cherry pickers
Butt kicks
15 lunges
High knees
15 squats
Jump ropes
20 reverse crunches
Twist
15 Side crunches
Grape vines
20 Leg lifts
Reach high
20 side leg lifts

Our Circuit Training Workout

Jillian would be so proud.

This one was inspired by Jillian Michaels!
First, I set up 3 stations.
1. A set of dumbbell weights and maybe a chair.
2. A yoga mat
3. Our treadmill. (If you don’t have a treadmill, bike, or elliptical trainer, then you can do some of the cardio moves listed above or even just jog in place for a minute.)

I have a number of workout books and magazines, so I just pick a few exercises for each station and make a list.

I go through and demonstrate the exercises if needed, and then we begin. We rotate every minute. The person on the treadmill is responsible for keeping track of the time.

We try to do three sets of each circuit, but we’ve yet to reach that goal. The closest we’ve come is three sets of the first three circuits and then one or two sets of the remaining ones.

If you have more or less kids, alter the number of stations and increase or decrease the number of sets you do.

An Example of what this might look like:
Circuit 1:
Weights: One armed row
Mat: Crunches
Treadmill: Jog for 1 minute.
Then we switch and do this one three times.
After the third time through, we’ll start the next circuit.

Circuit 2:
Weights: Bicep curl
Mat: Superman
Treadmill: Jog for one minute. (For the cardio station, we sometimes do jumping jacks or something similar, but we all prefer the treadmill.)
We rotate through this three times, and then move on again.

If you’re worried about my seven year old, don’t. We made her some “weights” with tinker toys. Classic.

My top Ten PE Tips

1. Keep it simple. Making it too complicated will up the chances that you give up altogether or make it miserable for everyone.

2. Keep it fun! No drill sergeant here, unless it’s part of the game. (Bootcamp anyone?)

3. Add Music. Music makes everything better, doesn’t it?

4. Join In. Unless you are physically unable, join in! It’s so much more fun for your kids, sets a great example, and gets you moving, too.

5. Switch it up. Don’t do the same thing, day after day. Besides the fact that it gets boring, and everyone will lose interest, your body will get used to a routine very quickly. Switch it up if you want a better workout!

6. Let your kids lead once in a while. Most kids love being in charge and bossing us moms around!

7. When you’re starting to get really uninspired, buy a new toy. A cool water bottle, yoga mat, or tank top always makes me more excited to get going. It works for kids, too.

8. Leave home once in a while for a longer activity. Breaking out of your routine and doing something special keeps it fresh and fun.

9. Learn sport skills. Even with only three of us at home doing PE, we’ve managed to play soccer, volleyball, and basketball. Of course they’re not complete games, but we can modify the sports and learn new skills while having fun.

10. Encourage competition. Against yourself, that is! We are always trying to improve our own times, do more, go longer, etc. A little healthy competition with yourself is a great motivator.

**These are just ideas I use in my home, I am not a professional. If you could see my thighs, you’d know that. Be sure to check with your doctor before starting any fitness program.

Keep up with 10 days of homeschooling girls and get regular updates by email here. Or, subscribe to the RSS Feed here.

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

If you’re homeschooling girls, chances are you’ve considered that you might be raising future homeschool teachers.

Perhaps, if you’re like me, you imagine your grandchildren learning at home, under the careful tutelage of their mom, your daughter. You see them crawling into her lap to listen to one of your favorite stories. You see your daughter sitting at your house, sipping tea, asking for curriculum advice. Maybe you even get a little teary-eyed thinking about it. Maybe, to increase the likelihood of this little scene taking place, you find yourself dropping little hints like, “you’re going to be such a good teacher someday!”

On the other hand, maybe you never do such underhanded things and your kids will never need therapy like mine will.

Well good for you. No need to be smug about it now.

Anyway. Whether you gaze a little too often into the future, or you’ve never given it a second thought, you have to admit that your daughters might one day be homeschool moms themselves.

Our girls can take home economics, sewing, even child development. Why not teach how to homeschool?

Here is a little of what you can share through the ages.

Elementary School: Why do You Homeschool?

When your girls are younger, remind them often why you homeschool. Keep it simple! This is probably something you’re already doing. If you’re not sure, then ask your girls why they think you homeschool. If nothing else, you’ll probably get some cute answers. If they’re not sure, then share with them some of your reasons.

Take advantage of opportunities to share some of the kid-friendly benefits of homeschooling as they come up. Enjoying a field trip or spur-of-the-moment project? Have a late night and start school a little later than usual? Bring school with you to grandma’s house? How many times a week do we find ourselves thinking, “Wow, I never did this in school!” or “Wow, these kids wouldn’t have been able to do this if they had to go to school today!”

We know the benefits go far beyond the fun stuff, but make sure your kids are aware of the fun stuff, too. Above all else, your kids should know that homeschooling is fun!

Middle School: What is Your Approach?

Once your kids are a little older, you can begin to talk to them about the approach or methods you use. My girls love when my husband and I come home from our homeschool convention and bust out all of the new materials we’ve bought. It’s a great opportunity to talk about different approaches and techniques.

It’s not too early to start talking about learning styles and philosophies, too.I never sat down and had a “Homeschooling 101” class with my ninth grader, Coco, but she’s gleaned quite a bit over the last three years.

She knows why we use what math we use and why we use a different math with her little sister. These are things that just come up naturally. She has been involved in the choosing of some aspects of her curriculum for the last couple of years. Coming from private school to homeschool in seventh grade, she has learned firsthand the difference between a textbook approach and a literature-based approach. She sees me giving her sister copywork and dictation instead of weekly spelling tests, and we’ve talked about the difference in that, too.

Of course, we are a very talkative family with a very hyper mom who loves all things homeschool, and things might not come up as naturally or as often for some calm, laid-back types. If that’s the case, then seek those opportunities out to give your middle school girls a little insight into why you use what you use.

And rest assured, my kids have no idea who Charlotte Mason and Susan Wise-Bauer are. What I am talking about is sharing little bits of your philosophy of education here and there. We don’t sit around and have in-depth discussions about it all. (Though I would be secretly thrilled if we did.)

High School and Beyond: How Do You Homeschool?

As your daughter gets ready to graduate, it might be the time for a Homeschooling 101 Class. I have not done this myself, as my oldest is in ninth grade.

However, as I am teaching her to keep a cleaning schedule for a home, shop and prepare meals for a family, sew a button on a shirt, and diaper a baby, I’ll be teaching her the nuts and bolts of homeschooling.

And how will I teach her this? The same way we’ll learn all those other things… by doing it!

Here is a short list of tasks you can help your high schooler work on. Depending on how interested your daughter is, you can either give her a few short lessons or work elbow to elbow all year long as she practically becomes your teacher’s assistant in her senior year. Sorry, there I go fantasizing again.

Creating a lesson plan
Presenting a lesson to a younger sibling
Grading papers
Reading aloud
Choosing a course of study
Designing a unit study
Creating a schedule
Giving a dictation or spelling test
Giving a hands-on math lesson
Helping occupy younger siblings during lessons

Pretty much anything you do as a homeschool mom!

Will you raise your girl to be a future homeschool mom?

Linking to Helpful Homeschool Hints

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Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning

source: free digital photos

If there was one thing that could make or break our homeschool day, it would be our morning routines. On days when we start school lazily, and wander around listlessly, just kind of easing into our work with no direction… well you can guess how those days turn out.

However, when we all spend about thirty minutes getting ready for our day, and doing what I refer to as our Morning Routine, then our whole day seems to go more smoothly. We actually have a couple of different morning routines. One is what we each do on our own before we come together to start school, and the other is what we do together at the beginning of our “school hours.” We call that our Morning Mingle, and I’ll share a bit about that later in this post.

How to Get a Regular Morning Routine Started

One word: Checklists! Even a three year old can be sent to her room with a list of three things to do. My girls each have a list of things I want to be sure they do each morning.

The nice thing about a checklist is I don’t spend an hour nagging them every day. Did you brush your teeth? Did you have your quiet time? Not that I have to nag my 14 year old very much anymore, but a list is still helpful for keeping her on track.

What to Include in Your Morning Routines

Our lists don’t change much. I might switch up the chores, but the basics stay pretty much the same.

Decide When to do Your Morning Routines

Sometimes I tell the girls at night that I want them downstairs for breakfast at a specific time, with their routines done. More often, though, we eat breakfast and then do our routines. This is nice for those days when we don’t have anywhere to be and it gives me at least thirty minutes to get my day in order and catch up on anything I didn’t do before breakfast. (Which might be my favorite thing about our morning routines!)

During busy seasons of life, I am more likely to require things be done by a certain time. When we’re enjoying more relaxed days, I simply ask them to get started on their routines after breakfast and then meet me in the school room. They’ve learned that the quicker they get finished, the quicker we start school, which means the earlier we end school… resulting in more free afternoon time.

Not that they always jump up and get going.

Morning Mingle

Once we come together, teeth brushed and beds made, we have what we call our Morning Mingle. This is simply fifteen minutes or so together in which we pray, read scripture, and listen to a poem or do a picture study.

During this time, I’ll let the girls know if we’re doing anything at a specific time that day. Sometimes I’ll tell them to be ready for art by 3pm, or we’ll schedule a workout or tea times. I like doing this day by day, as we’re more likely to work things in that way. I’ll write whatever we’ve planned in the corner of our whiteboard, and that keeps me accountable to actually do it. Otherwise, I might plan to do art all year long with the girls and never quite get around to doing it.

Just so you know, we don’t always have our Morning Mingle. Some days the girls are done getting ready at different times, so we kind of just ease into our day.

How do your mornings go?

Keep up with 10 days of homeschooling girls and get regular updates by email here. Or, subscribe to the RSS Feed here.

Linking to WFMW

Be sure to visit these brilliant women in this 10 days adventure between February 7th-18th! We love these ladies and we know you do too.

10 days of socialization for mom | The Homeschool Chick
10 days of classical education | Milk & Cookies
10 days of large families | Chocolate on My Cranium
10 days of special needs | Special Needs Homeschooling
10 days of struggling learners | Homeschooling the Chaotic Family
10 days of homeschooling girls | Homegrown Mom
10 days of homeschool enrichment | Confessions of a Homeschooler
10 days of building a spiritual legacy | Mommy Missions
10 days of frugal homeschooling |The Happy Housewife
10 days of Charlotte Mason | Our Journey Westward
10 days of unschooling | Homeschooling Belle
10 days of organization | Confessions of an Organized Homeschool Mom
10 days of getting started | Blog, She Wrote
10 days of homeschooling boys | The Tie That Binds Us
10 days of homeschooling Montessori | Fruit in Season
10 days of preschool | Delightful Learning