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Since starting the physical education aspect of our homeschool back in April, I have been on the lookout for some sort of standards that give an idea of what children should be able to do at what age. Eureka! I hit the jackpot last night! It is called The President's Challenge.
The President’s Challenge began back in 1966 with the Physical Fitness test, which promotes a basic level of fitness among students, and the Health Fitness test, which encourages students to achieve a healthy level of fitness. In 2001, they added the Active Lifestyle program and in 2003, the Presidential Champions program was started. The Physical Fitness test and the Health Fitness test are specifically aimed at educators and students.
In the Physical Fitness test, students can earn one of three awards based on how they perform on the five tested areas:
The highest award is the Presidential Physical Fitness Award. To earn this award, students must reach the 85th percentile in all five events.
The next award is the National Physical Fitness Award. To earn this award, students must reach the 50th percentile in all five events.
The final award is the Participant Physical Fitness Award. Anyone who at least attempts all five items, but whose scores fall below the 50th percentile on one or more of them qualifies for this award.
The President’s Challenge also provides norming data for the test events..
The Health Fitness Test is very similar to the Physical Fitness test. Most of the events are the same, with the addition of a measure of body fat, the Body Mass Index.
The Health Fitness Award is earned by reaching the qualifying standards for each event.
Homeschoolers are definitely encouraged to participate in the tests! The rules are that “Your children can participate in the Physical Fitness Test or Health Fitness Test as well, but instruction and testing must be carried out by a certified physical education teacher and/or specialist.”
How do I become a “qualified instructor” was my first thought. Fortunately, they have made it extremely easy for us!
“If you are a physical education teacher you are already qualified to administer the programs. If not, we suggest that you contact a local school that uses the President's Challenge and speak with a physical education teacher. Ask them to help you with the program or offer to assist them when they conduct their testing. Once you have done this you will be qualified to administer the tests on your own."
The President's Challenge provides a neat online tool just for educators called The Fitness File. “It makes administering the Physical Fitness and Health Fitness tests as simple as possible - from setting up tests and entering results to creating reports and determining student awards.” I registered this morning and they have a special catagory specifically for homeschoolers!
They also provide a great book just for the children called “Get Fit”.
The "Get Fit" handbook is a great way for students to learn about fitness and activity while preparing to meet the President's Challenge. This booklet can be downloaded from our website or ordered by calling 800-258-8146.
I downloaded the handbook last night and showed it to John this morning. Boy, is he excited! He asked me if he could start right away and he proceeded to follow the instructions for warming up and went throught the different stretching exercises. I did draw the line on letting him go out rollerblading at 6:30 a.m. though. He’ll have to wait until after breakfast to do that!
Category: Homeschooling
Untitled Comment
Thanks for posting this!
I remember doing this as a child (We didn't have all of the options though...it was the president's award or nothing...I always got 'nothing' because of the pull-ups....rats!)
Blessings,
Michelle
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