PE in schools

PE once a week, music twice a week (I think we are fortunate on this one), no art class. DD's teacher loves to incorporate art into the classroom so she still gets to do a lot of cool stuff.

The physical activity is really an issue for me. They opt to do "inside recess" quite often which bothers me. It's just rain, people! Kids don't melt. The inside recess is in the classroom and on those days the kids are just a little nutso by the end of the day. If they do inside recess, I think the kids should be running laps in the gym.

[mommax3]

Here, my kids get PE twice a week. And my oldest (in sixth grade) has not had outside recess for two years. Hence our involvement in sports that keeps me driving all over Indianapolis. If ever there was a kid who needed to "run and run" a la Forest Gump, it is my oldest.

In TX, both the private and public schools had PE every day, at least in the elementary grades.....maybe it is a law there?

Sally

[Sheherezade]

PE twice a week, outside recess 30 minutes/day - unless heavy rain/temp below 18 degrees.

Art once a week for 60 minutes - set up takes time, so they do one long period instead of 2 shorter classes every week.

Music twice a week. Instrument program starts in fourth grade with general music twice a week and an instrument also twice a week. Instruments are optional-- if you don't take the class, you get 2 extra study halls.

I recently found out the music program is funded by a separate parent program called Music Lovers---it isn't paid for by the school. Art still is.

Rec sports are also big here and keep the kids in decent shape. I wish they had more options for girls, though. My daughter didn't like soccer (that's her brother's game ) or softball. I have her in dance and horseback riding but it is much more pricey than rec sports.

Does she like to swim, Angie? That has been a good option for us and it wears my kids out (another plus ). Sounds like you found other things she likes though.

I think DD gets about 45 minutes of outside recess (when they go out, that is). I can't quite remember. They have a morning and afternoon recess and then after lunch.

When I was in school, we had PE twice a week. I dreaded it. I had my mother keep writing me notes saying I was on my period so I could get out of some activities.

However, in my junior and senior year it got a lot better because we could choose our activities, like weight lifting or yoga. I think PE should be structured more like this throughout school--letting children choose their own activities from a few. That way the unathletic kids (like myself) don't feel left out when they're picked last for teams all the time (as I was and it affected my self-esteem).

Get a load of this--when I was in elementary school, we had science once a week. That was it!

For high school PE we had a run/walk option around a lake adjacent to the HS property. My friends and I would walk out of the gym, look over our shoulders, and run to a car so we could drive to get donuts and coffee. Whew! What a workout. :walk:

[DCJenn]

I took volleyball and canoeing in college and got C- in both.

My high school gym classes werwe OK because we could pick what we wanted. I did jogging and weightlifting. (and a lot of smoking in the smoking section)

Elementary school we did organized stuff frequently but I don't think it was everyday. In junior high we had gym every day. and we had to wear zip-up one piece uniforms. (in the public schools!)
Jenn

[DCJenn]

Yeah, we were sexy pre-teens in the maroon and white striped tops and solid maroon bottoms. Zipped up the front. With our tube sox because this was the 1970s.

Jenn.

[kaseymarie]

Basically 2 days is the maximum amount of PE time kids get in schools. Because of the new laws and testing specials (PE, music, and art) kind of get put on the back burner so there is more time to focus on other curriculum. It seems sad to me. There seems to be so many students with so called "behavior problems". I think if we give them time to run around for a while that would solve a lot of our problems. It can get boring teaching all day without a break, its hard to imagine what it is like for some students to sit in their desks all day. In my classroom, I try to do everything I can to get the kids up and moving and we do daily exercises.

[Flynn]

My junior high did a big square dancing unit. It was SO WEIRD. You got to pick your partner much like you choose teams -- very embarassing for people getting picked first on down the line. It was a bad system!!

My friends and I wore "nerd gloves" for the first day. When asked why we were wearing gloves, we were dumb enough to tell the teacher our explaination. We had lunch duty for a week.


(I have to add that we didn't do this to be mean -- just silly, stupid seventh grade girls. It wasn't a cruel act or something we did because we felt "better" than some of the male partners.

I just didn't want to be misunderstood -- it seems that being mean is so common in Jr. high. I was NOT that kind of kid! 8) )

[Stella]

My junior high did a big square dancing unit. It was SO WEIRD. You got to pick your partner much like you choose teams -- very embarassing for people getting picked first on down the line. It was a bad system!!

So did we!! And since my PE teacher knew I was a dancer, she asked me to volunteer in another PE class during my study hall because no one would dance with the dorky boy. I obliged. What can you do?