Boogie Your Way through Homeschool P.E. with an Online Dance Class

Today I completely embarrassed my teens.

It’s nothing new, but today I truly enjoyed it. I’ve been dancing around the house, enjoying the online dance class that I subscribed to for their P.E. class (secretly, it was for my own curiosity). But this morning, I took that extra step toward them renouncing that they know me when I danced on TikTok.

Yes, parents. I have succeeded in the ultimate embarrassment. I would like to say I can retire now, but I’m sure there are plenty more ways I can keep up the good work.

Family Fitness

In these days of fast food dinners and hours spent sitting at computers and video games, families need more than ever to work together to stay healthy. As a parent, you have a responsibility to teach your kids the importance of making healthy choices — even if you don’t always make the best of those choices (I’m looking at you, Crumbl Cookie!)

One of the best healthy choices you can make is being physically active every day. Exercising together as a family ensures kids will grow up with this healthy practice deeply ingrained. In addition, when your family shares time together, regardless of the activity, it also secures and reinforces emotional bonds.

Yeah, we all know this, but do we practice it?

Exercise Stinks

I’ll admit it. I’m not always the best at being physically active. In fact, I generally hate exercising. I finish my daily walks in a bad mood. My husband stopped exercising with me because I’m “not very nice.” And, I look at exercise like I look at cleaning the toilets. It has to be done, but I’ll put it off until I can’t take it anymore.

In other words, I detest it.

But, you know what I don’t detest?

• Dancing in the kitchen while I’m rocking out to 80s and 90s music.
• Jamming to the rock station while I chauffeur my kids around the world. (Once I even jammed so hard that my foot slipped and the car bumped into the freezer in the garage – my kids will never let me live that one down.)

In other words, I like to dance. I like music. And, I like to feel that my embarrassing moments in the privacy of my own kitchen somehow count as exercising.

And, it CAN be exercise.

Is Dancing Exercise?

According to the Victoria Department of Health, “Dancing can be a way to stay fit for people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. It has a wide range of physical and mental benefits, including:

• improved condition of your heart and lungs
• increased muscular strength, endurance, and motor fitness
• increased aerobic fitness
• improved muscle tone and strength
• weight management”

And those are just a FEW of the benefits.

Dancing is actually a really great way to exercise and, as we’ve recently discovered, it’s a great way to sneak in the dreaded homeschool P.E. course.

Can Online Dance Classes Really Count as Homeschool P.E.?

I’m not sure dancing around my kitchen or jamming in the car would count as an official P.E. credit, especially since I have high schoolers. But what if that dancing could be a bit more instructive and maybe even include a tiny bit of historical fact?

Let me introduce you to YouDance.com.

A couple of months ago, I discovered a website called YouDance.com, a subscription online dance class service. They have classes in ballet, contemporary, jazz, hip-hop, clogging, and dance-alongs. I immediately signed up for a subscription because I thought it would be fun to try out.

And, boy, was it.

So far, I’ve learned how to Échappé, Passé, Relevé, and Positions 1 through 5.

Ok. You caught me. I have not actually learned how to do all those things in ballet. I HAVE learned what they are, and my 14-year-old has demonstrated them while laughing at my attempts. She’s the real dancer. I’m just the poser.

But here’s the thing. I don’t have to be good at dancing to enjoy it for physical exercise, and neither do my kids. YouDance.com has tons of different classes that we can participate in, and they even have DANCING FOR EXERCISE!

That’s right, homeschool mamas! They have a course for us! Just shove those teens out from in front of the computer and get your groove on!

YouDance.com is a great, safe place for kids to learn a new skill. Kids are able to do it on their own, giving busy homeschooling parents a break in the day. Or, you can join in on the fun. There are no aggravating ads and no way to click into something you don’t want your kids to have access to (No pole dancing here!) There are even quizzes and a practice center to help you learn at your own pace, and YouDance.com points help track your progress.

How Do I Get My Family Started Dancing?

Demonstrate that fitness is fun, challenging, and invigorating, and you’ll help your kids develop real excitement about staying active! Show them that you CAN have fun exercising! When you educate your children from a young age about fitness and the advantages of staying in shape, these lessons will endure for their whole lives.

And try out YouDance.com. You can subscribe for $39/month or get a discounted rate of $250/year. Plus, a free trial is automatically applied to all who sign up.

Be creative when it comes to planning family fitness activities. You might be surprised at how much fun you have working out together (and then you can enjoy some chocolate!)