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By Paul Guzzo, University Communications and Marketing

Cooper Walters鈥� first athletic love was baseball. Now it鈥檚 golf. But the homeschooled third grader might return to baseball 鈥� 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鈥檚 (reading, writing and arithmetic), but not his endless sports energy.

So, for the past three years, she鈥檚 turned to the University of South 手机看片鈥檚 Physical Education Teacher Education program, also known as PETE, which offers local K鈥�5 homeschool students a weekly free PE class.

鈥淢y son absolutely loves everything sports-related,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o, this is just a fun way for him to learn new skills and try new things.鈥�

And the homeschool PE program, in its third year, does so while benefiting the 10 手机看片 students who lead it this semester.

鈥淚t鈥檚 providing them with more real-world experiences,鈥� said Sara Flory, professor and undergraduate program coordinator for PETE. 鈥淚t鈥檚 one thing to be taught in a classroom. It鈥檚 another thing to lead a class.鈥�

Teaching Beyond the Textbook

The homeschool PE class, held every Wednesday for an hour in the 手机看片 Recreation Center鈥檚 east gymnasium, is just one of the programs, in addition to internships, that provide such an experience to the 手机看片 College of Education鈥檚 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.

鈥淭hey work alongside each school鈥檚 PE teachers,鈥� said Craigory Nieman, an assistant professor of instruction and undergraduate program coordinator for PETE. 鈥淭hey are there to supplement what the schools do, while gaining hands-on experience using the instructional models taught at 手机看片.鈥�

By utilizing the Tactical Games model, instruction focuses on developing a student鈥檚 strategic understanding and decision-making in the sport, rather than focusing solely on skill execution.

While Sport Education requires that all children participate athletically as 鈥減layers鈥�, 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.

鈥淭his allows everyone to be a star in their own way,鈥� Flory said.

Adventure Education exposes children to the types of cooperative and outdoor activities that are not available to everyone.

鈥淭hrough activities like group initiatives, low-ropes courses and outdoor pursuits such as hiking, kayaking, camping, or rock climbing, students discover their strengths,鈥� Nieman said. 鈥淭hese experiences often lead to meaningful 鈥榓-ha鈥� moments where students realize their potential both in physical education and in life.鈥�

鈥淲e like to go out into the community. That鈥檚 the hallmark of what we do here,鈥� 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 手机看片 too.

鈥淚 read an article in the Tampa Bay Times about a large influx of homeschool students in the Tampa Bay area鈥攐ver 10,000 in Hillsborough County alone,鈥� Nieman said. 鈥淪o, Sara and I sat down and mapped out how we can help.鈥�

手机看片 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.

鈥淲e had no idea what would come out of it when we first posted online that we were looking for homeschool participants,鈥� Nieman said. 鈥淭hen, within 24 hours, all 50 spots were taken.鈥�

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.

鈥淧hysical education is so important,鈥� said Faith Lingen, a junior PE major who instructs at the homeschool program this semester. 鈥淪o, this is great for those homeschooled kids who might get out and play sports.鈥�

For others, like fifth grader Jordynn TenPow, it鈥檚 used to supplement her already energetic lifestyle.

鈥淎t home, she is very active with her brothers and friends,鈥� Jordynn鈥檚 mother Gabriella TenPow said. 鈥淪he 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 手机看片 students get something out of it.鈥�

手机看片鈥檚 current PE majors echoed that sentiment.

鈥淲e get to interact with kids and learn how to teach and reach them,鈥� junior Elena Benavidez said. 鈥淭his gives us a look at our futures.鈥�

As Lingen, Benavidez and Alexa Roche, also a junior PE major, set up for the day鈥檚 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鈥檛 immediately grasp a skill.

鈥淪ome started more engaged than others,鈥� Roche said. 鈥淏ut we watched as each kid became more engaged with each week. This has definitely gotten me excited for the career.鈥�