Children play indoor soccer as part of a USF program that offers local K–5 homeschool students a weekly free PE class [Photo by USF College of Education]
By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing
Cooper Walters’ first athletic love was baseball. Now it’s golf. But the homeschooled third grader might return to baseball – or try soccer or basketball next.
Like most kids that age, his interests change as often as a golfer swaps their clubs.
His mom, Nancy Walters, a former educator and homeschool parent of 12 years, easily handles the three R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic), but not his endless sports energy.
So, for the past three years, she’s turned to the University of South Florida’s Physical Education Teacher Education program, also known as PETE, which offers local K–5 homeschool students a weekly free PE class.
“My son absolutely loves everything sports-related,” she said. “So, this is just a fun way for him to learn new skills and try new things.”
And the homeschool PE program, in its third year, does so while benefiting the 10 USF students who lead it this semester.
“It’s providing them with more real-world experiences,” said Sara Flory, professor and undergraduate program coordinator for PETE. “It’s one thing to be taught in a classroom. It’s another thing to lead a class.”
USF students provide instruction at the homeschool PE program [Photo by USF College of Education]
Teaching Beyond the Textbook
The homeschool PE class, held every Wednesday for an hour in the USF Recreation Center’s east gymnasium, is just one of the programs, in addition to internships, that provide such an experience to the USF College of Education’s physical education majors.
Since 2013, the faculty have shifted their methods courses into schools throughout the Tampa Bay area, giving PE majors hands-on experiences at sites such as King High School, Villa Madonna Catholic School, Brooks-DeBartolo Collegiate High School, and Greco Middle School. There, students implement three teaching models: Tactical Games, Sport Education, and Adventure Education.
“They work alongside each school’s PE teachers,” said Craigory Nieman, an assistant professor of instruction and undergraduate program coordinator for PETE. “They are there to supplement what the schools do, while gaining hands-on experience using the instructional models taught at USF.”
By utilizing the Tactical Games model, instruction focuses on developing a student’s strategic understanding and decision-making in the sport, rather than focusing solely on skill execution.
Tampa middle schoolers learn skills like how to pitch a tent as part of USF's Adventure Education program [Photo by USF College of Education]
While Sport Education requires that all children participate athletically as “players”, it also seeks other ways for kids to shine and fall in love with the sport. The model does so by assigning the kids roles like refereeing, equipment managing, coaching, scorekeeping and even designing team logos.
“This allows everyone to be a star in their own way,” Flory said.
Adventure Education exposes children to the types of cooperative and outdoor activities that are not available to everyone.
“Through activities like group initiatives, low-ropes courses and outdoor pursuits such as hiking, kayaking, camping, or rock climbing, students discover their strengths,” Nieman said. “These experiences often lead to meaningful ‘a-ha’ moments where students realize their potential both in physical education and in life.”
“We like to go out into the community. That’s the hallmark of what we do here,” Flory said.
Creating the Homeschool Program
A few years ago, Flory and Nieman realized that there was an entire other demographic of children who would benefit from USF too.
“I read an article in the Tampa Bay Times about a large influx of homeschool students in the Tampa Bay area—over 10,000 in Hillsborough County alone,” Nieman said. “So, Sara and I sat down and mapped out how we can help.”
Students are split into two groups by grade, kindergarten-second and third-fifth, during classes. Each group learns basic motor skills like chasing and fleeing, throwing and catching, kicking and dribbling, which form the foundation for a variety of sports, such as tennis, volleyball, soccer, baseball and basketball.
A home schooled boy learns tennis at USF's weekly free PE class [Photo by USF College of Education]
“We had no idea what would come out of it when we first posted online that we were looking for homeschool participants,” Nieman said. “Then, within 24 hours, all 50 spots were taken.”
It took just 20 minutes for it to fill up the next year and again in under an hour for this third year.
A Win for Everyone
For some of the participants, this is their only source of athletic participation.
“Physical education is so important,” said Faith Lingen, a junior PE major who instructs at the homeschool program this semester. “So, this is great for those homeschooled kids who might get out and play sports.”
For others, like fifth grader Jordynn TenPow, it’s used to supplement her already energetic lifestyle.
“At home, she is very active with her brothers and friends,” Jordynn’s mother Gabriella TenPow said. “She goes running and does things like that, but this is a great way to get into another structured group setting. I love this for her. I love the instructors, and I also love that it is helping future educators. She gets something out of it, and the USF students get something out of it.”
USF’s current PE majors echoed that sentiment.
“We get to interact with kids and learn how to teach and reach them,” junior Elena Benavidez said. “This gives us a look at our futures.”
Home schooled Tampa Bay area children learn about sports at USF's weekly free PE class [Photo courtesy of USF College of Education]
As Lingen, Benavidez and Alexa Roche, also a junior PE major, set up for the day’s activities of tag, soccer and tennis earlier this month, they reflected on the semester with the homeschooled kids.
They recalled Apollos, who was so excited on some days that he arrived early and stayed late to help them set up and clean up, and Chase, who developed into a leader by providing added instruction to kids who didn’t immediately grasp a skill.
“Some started more engaged than others,” Roche said. “But we watched as each kid became more engaged with each week. This has definitely gotten me excited for the career.”