Physical Education for Almost 7 year old

[bass chick]

I homeschool and run a dayhome so we are home pretty much all day every day during the week (I have too many kids to transport).

My son is 6 - almost 7. He has never been super physically agile. He can't do things like skip. He can hop on one foot for a very short time but it is very labored and difficult for him. An average 4 year old girl runs faster than him. He has long legs and is tall for his age and not terribly coordinated. He could run fast, but he just putters along, very obviously not giving it his all. He tuckers out easy and dh and I have decided he could use some sort of a formal PE program in the evenings to help him with his gross motor skills.

But we don't know what to choose. Gymnastics? Swimming? Skating? Anything else?

He does outdoor soccer in the Spring, but all he really does is putter around the field. Although he does like soccer so we will continue with that.

Any help and suggestions would be welcome. We were thinking Gymnastics. It's so expensive though!

[sublimeliving]

Tennis and swimming are great sports and can be done fairly inexpensive. Do you live close to a YMCA? Our local YMCA offers homeschool PE classes, and they offer swim team. 

[bass chick]

Tennis! I didn't think about that.

Yes, I do live close to a YMCA, but unfortunately I cannot take advantage of any homeschool PE programs because they all happen during the day on weekdays, when we are stuck at home with our dayhome. We have a minivan, but I cannot transport my own kids and the dayhome kids. All the carseats simply won't fit.

[pigpokey]

Gym is expensive.  My son goes preteam 4 hours a week at a private gym and it is $110/month.  Rec classes are more per hour -- the cost per hour drops as the hours increase in the competitive track.  Around here rec is $60/month for 1 hour a week so you see how it gets cheaper per hour.

The benefits of swim and gym are mainly the hours.  It is hard to get anywhere in most sports @1, maybe 2 hours a week unless a child has the stuff at home to practice with on his own.  You get in a good gym or swim program 4+ hours a week, you are going to gain skill and strength.  Some children will gain slower than others but that's not relevant.

I can say tennis generally is more than gym and swim, because quickly they move to needing very low ratio instruction.

If you want him to get competency you really have to commit yourself to the long haul and it really is a parent investment of figuring out that sport and doing the driving.  If money is limiting you need to really look hard at what is offered in the subsidized arena.  Here I mean -- you figure out what is happening at all your county and municipal rec centers and your YMCA. 

Examples: 

In my county, county girl's gymnastics team that practices 6 hours a week is $50/month.  YMCA is $75/month.  Private is about $150/month.

In my metro area, there is one city swim team practicing 4 days a week that only costs $140 a YEAR and doesn't care about living in the city limits.  A YMCA swim team might be $60/month.  Private may be $120/month.

If you are looking at just general PE activity, it also varies widely.  Now it is basketball season and generally the littles will just practice / play on Saturdays.  For 6-8yo's it is about $90 for two months for non-members at the Y.  $70 for out of city residents at the city near me (I think $55 for in-city).  $20 per season at the county rec centers and kick ball is free every Wed. at 5pm.

[NightOwlwithowlet]

My son is 8 years old.  He was in occupational therapy for a while when he was younger.  We started in martial arts when he was six years old.  It took a few tries to find a place that was a good fit (structured, but not draconian, pushes him to do better, but takes his ADHD and sensory issues into consideration).  He loves it.  He does it 2/3 times a week.  He's built up his core body strength, his stamina, and self confidence.  He has muscles, he can run, and he's much more coordinated. 

I like that he's around other kids, but it's not competitive between them.  There are clear goals for him to reach for with tangible rewards with earning stripes every two weeks and a belt test every three months.  He attends an after school program there three days a week so I can work and goes to camp a couple weeks in the summer.  He's made two really good friends there and my husband takes class there too.

The down side is the cost, which is $70 a month for just the classes or  $50 dollars a week for his after school program and classes.

Since he started, he learned to ride a a two wheeler, play soccer, attempt to play baseball and basket ball, learn to swim, and been willing to go hiking, kayaking, and snow shoeing with me.  He even joined a curling team last fall.    

[umsami]

I'm going to give a vote to martial arts as well.  

Have you tried any of the yoga kids DVDs?? Maybe strength training might work for him?

I think you need to be willing to try new things.  For us, learning to swim is mandatory as we live(d) in Florida and so many kids drown.  So that was a given.  My kids did a tennis camp last summer and really liked it.

One thing we do in the winter is Wii Sports.  Outdoor Challenge, the Wii Sports disk that came with it and now the Nickelodeon Fit are all favorites.  It really does get them nice and sweaty. :)

[Reebekah]

we just got a wii, and my 5 yr old is getting more exercise than he has EVER got before.....i limit it to ONLY games that involved physical activity.

i also bought a book on amazon called homeschool family fitness or something like that.....we havent started it yet, but it seems in include many ideas for activities at home, and it is for grades k-12.

[limette]

What about bowling? 5 pin uses smaller balls.