Local homeschoolers enjoy recess, team play at the Rogue Valley YMCA

It’s Thursday afternoon, and some three dozen students are racing from one end of a noisy gym to the other. Most have spent all day on schoolwork, so the break is a welcome chance to stretch their legs — and lungs — and enjoy some friendly competition at team sports and relay races.

This isn’t a school setting, however. The kids are homeschooled students who, thanks to a growing program at the Rogue Valley Family YMCA, have access to recess and team sports like their public-school counterparts.

The Y launched the program in 2000 with eight students, said YMCA Health and Athletics Director David Douglas. As it heads into its fifth school year, it has some 75 students enrolled.

"The kids just kept coming," Douglas said. "There was obviously a need."

The Y program’s growth is following that of homeschooling in general. Almost 1.1 million students nationwide were homeschooled last year, up 29 percent since 1999, government statistics show. In Southern Oregon, 2,080 students are homeschooled, up 22 percent from 1,706 in 1999, according to the Southern Oregon Education Service District.

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With the growth of homeschooling, Y programs like the one offered in Medford have sprung up around the country.

Structured much like a school PE program, they offer games and traditional activities including basketball, jumping rope, running, strength training, aerobics and soccer. In Medford, the five instructors who lead the students for an hour twice a week also work on such topics as self-confidence, nutrition and teamwork.

While parents can give kids the basics of education in a family setting, they can’t duplicate the social interaction the Y’s program provides, said Douglas."I don’t think it’s so much about the fitness and programming side as it is the social aspect of it all," he said. "Here they get teamwork, character building … it’s not just roll the ball out. Interacting and meeting other kids is huge."

Medford mom Sharman Johnson agreed.

The homeschooling mother of four got on board in the program’s early days with now 12-year-old Annelise, 11-year-old Nathan, 9-year-old Jacob and 6-year-old Leah.

Johnson said the Y offerings, currently held Tuesdays and Thursdays, are part of a typical school week for her brood.

"It’s organized but fun," Johnson said. "I think it’s important for them to have the opportunity to play as a team. ... There are just things you can’t do even with four siblings."

For Central Point resident Brenda Mingus’ only child, 15-year-old Jordon, team sports was a major draw to the Y program. Her son had found that kids from public schools seemed to have set play groups that often left him out, she said.

"Here they all have something in common," Mingus said. "They all get to know each other so it’s just part of their routine."

An added plus, said Mingus, was the chance for her son’s teacher to regroup in the middle of the day and maybe even focus on her own health by sneaking in a workout.

"It gives me some free time, too!"

Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at buffypollock@juno.com.