Posted by Susan Richman on January 20 2010 at 13:47:59:
I just joined www.sparkpeople.com in mid December, after hearing about the site from my sister (she´s also the one who originally told me about www.flylady.com so I trust her advice on good websites!). This one is AMAZING-- I can´t recommend it highly enough to all homeschooling families. The site is part huge info source (thousands or articles and blog postings re/ health, fitness, nutrition and meal planning, setting goals, emotional factors in our health, etc...), online fitness video clips and ´demos´, online tracking of your daily food intact and exercise accomplishments, and tracking small (or large!) goals you set yourself, and more. It´s also a sort of ´Facebook for fitness´ option -- you can create your own ´page´ with your special goals and motivational photos, and you can join ´teams´ with various common interests, and much more. There are monthly ´bootcamps´ to really motivate you to keep at a challenging fitness program, points earned for reading articles, meeting goals, creating a ´streak´ of small accomplishments, and more. AND IT´S A COMPLETELY FREE WEBSITE :-). (There is advertising for health-related products on the site, and SparkPeople does have their own line of fitness wear, simple equipment, and other items for sale-- but that´s just how the site itself can be free).
The site is also especially interested in being part of the SOLUTION to the epidemic of childhood obesity-- a problem that some homeschooling families certainly deal with on a day-to-day basis. I just joined the ´team´ for Kids Health, which shares ways to help kids get more active and make better choices in their daily life. They are big on encouraging PARENTS to get involved and active *with* their kids-- just as the best homeschooling parents are!
There is also a special site run by SparkPeople dedicated to teens who want to improve their fitness and overall health and meet sensible weight goals-- it´s at www.sparkteens.com Parents should especially read the ´Notes to Parents about SparkTeens´ article, linked right from the main page-- this will help you understand the focus and goals of the program, and how you can be a support to your teen in this process. This would make a TERRIFIC yearlong health and fitness program for any homeschooled teen.
The fellow who began this site has also just published his first book, called ´The Spark´-- it´s already hitting the best seller lists, and I can attest that it´s well worth taking a look at the book.
I´d be interested to hear from any other homeschoolers who are already part of www.sparkpeople.com -- and if you join, do say ´Shulamit58´ (that´s my Hebrew name plus my currrent age :-) ) referred you... and I´ll earn some ´points´ towards my next ´virtual trophy´ on the site :-). And it will make my day to know that this site just might really help you and your family gain new momentum in fashioning a really *healthy* and active homeschooling lifestyle!
Susan Richman, Editor PA Homeschoolers