Time for PE

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:BASIS parent.

I recall that in 2013 BASIS' head of school telling us that they got some sort of waiver from OSSE related to PE, and not requiring it for students past 6th grade.

My younger kid is in 7th and wanted to take PE too -- the PE teacher is actually great and did really creative stuff with them given the physical constraints of the site.

As the article states - there are no consequences to the healthy school acts. It's totally unenforceable.

and a waiver for music and for art

[Anonymous]

The intent of the law seems like a good one. Kids ought to be active and outside. Growing up, I had several recess periods and PE every day. You do not need to pack every minute of the day into academics. Reserving 30 minutes a day toward outdoor time is not going to cause test scores to plummet. On the contrary, it may help. DCPS should seriously consider taking some time from core academics and using it toward compliance with the law. Not only is it achievable, it's GOOD FOR CHILDREN!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Kids don't LEARN anything at PE. They just run around and let their brains take a break. Do parents really think kids need a PE class?? Or are you just wanting your kids to be able to take a break? I just do not think not having PE is a big deal. But I do support breaks.

Yes kids should have PE! Recess is for a mental break; PE is to learn things like how to stretch, how to execiize, how to play group games with standardized rules, how to be on a team, etc. These are important skills!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:BASIS parent.

I recall that in 2013 BASIS' head of school telling us that they got some sort of waiver from OSSE related to PE, and not requiring it for students past 6th grade.

My younger kid is in 7th and wanted to take PE too -- the PE teacher is actually great and did really creative stuff with them given the physical constraints of the site.

As the article states - there are no consequences to the healthy school acts. It's totally unenforceable.

and a waiver for music and for art

Actually OSSE delegates authority over required classes for graduation and promotion to DCPCSB. BASIS' approach isn't news to the charter authorities.

But the HSA - unenforceable as it is - is a different beast.

[Anonymous]

PE takes away from valuable instruction time. i have my kids run around the block a few times before or after school. That's enough. They alao get exercise during unstructured play at home.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PE takes away from valuable instruction time. i have my kids run around the block a few times before or after school. That's enough. They alao get exercise during unstructured play at home.

This, right here. This is why Americans are obese and unhealthy.

When my husband went to school in Asia, he had Yoga and Martial Arts as part of the school day. When I went to school in Europe, I played soccer in the morning at school and we had gym everyday.

Just keep feeding your kids processed foods and don't exercise. Good for you.

[Anonymous]

What is really dumb is that a high school kid has to take PE! 2 half credits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The intent of the law seems like a good one. Kids ought to be active and outside. Growing up, I had several recess periods and PE every day. You do not need to pack every minute of the day into academics. Reserving 30 minutes a day toward outdoor time is not going to cause test scores to plummet. On the contrary, it may help. DCPS should seriously consider taking some time from core academics and using it toward compliance with the law. Not only is it achievable, it's GOOD FOR CHILDREN!

Agree - but they'd need more PE teachers and more gym or outdoor space. HSA was an unfunded mandate and budgets, at least on charter side, have been flat.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Kids don't LEARN anything at PE. They just run around and let their brains take a break. Do parents really think kids need a PE class?? Or are you just wanting your kids to be able to take a break? I just do not think not having PE is a big deal. But I do support breaks.

Yes kids should have PE! Recess is for a mental break; PE is to learn things like how to stretch, how to execiize, how to play group games with standardized rules, how to be on a team, etc. These are important skills!

+1

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is really dumb is that a high school kid has to take PE! 2 half credits.

+1000. My high school student has a serious health issue that makes PE class dangerous and completely inappropriate for her, and has already suffered an injury with lifelong consequences courtesy of DCPS and its PE teachers who failed to take her known health condition seriously in middle school. DCPS will offer adaptive PE that still requires us to depend on the judgement of busy PE teachers to keep her safe, but refuses to excuse her from what is, for her, a completely inappropriate requirement. My daughters' doctors have never seen a school district handle their patients' needs this way and can't believe DCPS is demanding that we accept this (reduced but not eliminated) risk with an adapted PE program.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is really dumb is that a high school kid has to take PE! 2 half credits.

+1000. My high school student has a serious health issue that makes PE class dangerous and completely inappropriate for her, and has already suffered an injury with lifelong consequences courtesy of DCPS and its PE teachers who failed to take her known health condition seriously in middle school. DCPS will offer adaptive PE that still requires us to depend on the judgement of busy PE teachers to keep her safe, but refuses to excuse her from what is, for her, a completely inappropriate requirement. My daughters' doctors have never seen a school district handle their patients' needs this way and can't believe DCPS is demanding that we accept this (reduced but not eliminated) risk with an adapted PE program.

Maybe she should have gone to BASIS?

Only sort of kidding. Still wish BASIS could/would offer PE for those kids who want it though. But I'm grateful there's an opt out allowed there.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What is really dumb is that a high school kid has to take PE! 2 half credits.

PE was good for my high schooler. She tends to just lay around all the time. She wasn't able to do one push up at the beginning of the year and was able to do something like 8 by the end of the year.

PE coupled with health class ended up being MUCH better than I thought it would be. A break for her, some physical activity and learning a lot about various sports and activities (they did yoga, zumba, archery, games, walking and running, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Our school is a MS/HS charter and doesn't offer PE past 6th grade. And now they have a gym so it seems like they should make an effort. Maybe it's too hard to keep kids from being roudy? It would seem you'd need two PE teachers at a time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What is really dumb is that a high school kid has to take PE! 2 half credits.

+1000. My high school student has a serious health issue that makes PE class dangerous and completely inappropriate for her, and has already suffered an injury with lifelong consequences courtesy of DCPS and its PE teachers who failed to take her known health condition seriously in middle school. DCPS will offer adaptive PE that still requires us to depend on the judgement of busy PE teachers to keep her safe, but refuses to excuse her from what is, for her, a completely inappropriate requirement. My daughters' doctors have never seen a school district handle their patients' needs this way and can't believe DCPS is demanding that we accept this (reduced but not eliminated) risk with an adapted PE program.

Your one example does not mean the thousands of kids in DC public and public charter schools are not in serious need of physical education/activity.

[Anonymous]

BASIS is all about the end result-- excellent test scores, huge numbers of AP classes with 4s or 5s, and college acceptances.

That's the mission, the goal and the kids are schooled from day one to focus on that. All else is secondary. The only reason to join a club is to put it on the college resume. The only reason to take a language is because colleges like to see languages.

From that standpoint of course PE is an utter waste of time.