PE-4-Me Program: Teaching Lifelong Health and Fitness

When educator Cathie Summerford started teaching sixth-graders in 1993, she wanted to create an interdisciplinary physical education program—one that builds healthy minds as well as bodies and prepares children for a lifetime of wellness and fitness. She broke new ground with a theme-based approach to physical education that children and teachers love.

In PE-4-ME: Teaching Lifelong Health and Fitness, you'll find Cathie's blueprint for a unique K-12 program that integrates physical activity with movement concepts, social skills, stress reduction, nutrition, school safety, and drug resistance education. Cathie stresses brain-compatible learning - the ability of physical activity to enhance cognitive function - in all of her lessons to maximize the benefits of her integrated approach.

This valuable resource spells out a yearlong plan that is fun-filled, action-packed, and easy to implement. It's built around weekly themes that help you organize and present key health and fitness concepts.

Each theme is reinforced by fun and inclusive movement activities-140 in all—that wake up children who've grown tired of repetitious games. These class-tested games emphasize cooperative skills and are designed so that students at any fitness level can participate—and succeed.

Inside you'll find many valuable teaching tools:

-140 field-tested games that emphasize positive attitude and teamwork, including the aerobic conga line, whistle mixer, warp speed group juggle, and others

-The Kids' Radical Wellness Book—Reproducibles to help each child assemble a personal wellness portfolio as the year progresses

-Creating the “Classroom on the Field”—Great advice on creating a captivating class environment, even if all you have is a gymnasium or grassy fields

What's more, you'll gain dozens of helpful tips for putting it all together to create a meaningful program that teaches children important skills they will benefit from throughout their lives.