The Ultimate Homeschooler’s Guide to Health & Physical Education (HPE)

PE Buddy
Oct 5
5 min read

Helping your child build lifelong health, wellbeing and confidence!

While many homeschool programs include some physical activity and sport, most don’t include Health & Physical Education (HPE) — but it’s one of the most important subjects for your child’s future wellbeing. Kids who understand their bodies, enjoy movement, and know how to look after their health are more likely to thrive as adults. And that’s the point of education, right?

The good news? You don’t need to be a PE teacher or fitness expert to teach it. PE Buddy was designed from day 1 to support online learning, so this free guide gives you simple tips, fun activities, and the confidence to make PE a core part of your homeschool experience!

🎯 What is the Goal of Health & Physical Education?

In short, physical literacy is the goal. What is literacy? The ability to read and write! Or, in other words, the ability to understand information coming in, as well as know how to create value.

Similarly, the concept of physical literacy aims to equip children with the ability to understand, critique, and evaluate information they encounter, including social media, AI, influencers, fake news, health claims and fitness trends. And then having the knowledge and confidence to make decisions and change their physical capabilities, appearance and performance through nutrition, training and good choices. Physical literacy is about having the wisdom and skills to navigate anything that life throws at you in the best way possible!

📊 Quick Facts Every Parent Should Know

Children who understand health concepts are more likely to stay active for life.
Overweight children now outnumber underweight children worldwide.
Poor nutrition and fitness knowledge in childhood predict poor adult health outcomes.
Students who are sleep-deprived show 20–30% lower focus and memory.

👉 Imagine the head start your child can get if they learn these lessons early!

⚽ Why HPE Is More Than Just Sport

Lots of homeschool families already do amazing physical activity each day — going to the park, playing formal sport or going for a hike. This is fantastic and essential for growing bodies.

But HPE is about learning, sport is about winning, and physical activity is about moving. While there are benefits to all 3, let’s not forget about HPE, which has 2 essential strands and the biggest lifelong impact on our children:

Practical skill development – physical activity + technique + fitness + sportsmanship
Health & theory education – anatomy + nutrition + sleep + fitness + wellbeing + growth

Together, these build not just healthy kids today, but resilient adults tomorrow! See more benefits of PE in this video

🧠 Why Health & HPE Theory Matters (Just as Much as Running Around!)

All kids should know how their bodies work, how they will change throughout their lifetime, and how to manage these changes well. If we don’t teach them, social media influencers will! And this is a recipe for disaster. As a PE teacher, the biggest lesson I’ve learnt is that knowledge is power for kids! We can’t expect them to make positive decisions if we don’t give them the tools. Let’s set our kids up for success and teach them:

Understanding the body – muscles, bones, heart, lungs and digestion.
Fitness literacy – aerobic vs anaerobic exercise, heart rate zones, planning workouts.
Biomechanics & movement science – posture, balance, force, coordination.
Nutrition & food literacy – macronutrients, hydration, healthy eating habits.
Sleep & recovery – teens need 8–10 hours per night for full learning and energy.
Sports performance - kids should know how to improve their own sports performance.

These skills aren’t “optional extras” — they’re essential life knowledge.

👉 Top Tips for Teaching HPE at Home

Link theory to practice: Whenever possible, make learning 3D! Learn about something with a video, course or article and then get outside and try it! A perfect example is learning how the heart works and then going outside, running around and measuring how your heart rate changes from resting to exercise and back to resting!
Set a schedule: “Monday Run Day” or “Friday Fitness Fun.” Make it a habit and stick to it. This makes it easier to do consistently and requires almost zero motivation when you’ve established this routine!
Make it family fun: Play mini-games together or try team sports at the park. Almost every sport can be played with at least 2 people, especially any kind of racquet sport. Children who see their parents trying new things are more likely to embrace challenge, take risks and develop resilience.
Let kids choose: Try a TikTok dance, use Strava, or set up fun challenges. Choice is a powerful tool to boat motivation, engagement and learning. Do you own research, offer a few choices and watch your child learn like you’ve never seen them learn before!

Check out 10 tips for effective learning from home!

🎯 Daily & Weekly Activity Goals

60 minutes of physical activity each day (can be 4 x 15 minutes or 2 x 30 minutes).
Muscle & bone strength activities weekly (climbing, jumping, bodyweight moves).
Cardio exercise weekly (running, cycling, swimming, skipping).
Maximum 2 hours of screen time daily.
Break up sitting every 30 minutes with movement.

✅ Print this section as your Daily Activity Checklist! Bonus tip: add some incentives!

😎 How PE Buddy Makes Homeschool HPE Easy

PE Buddy was born during COVID-19 remote learning — and built for families at home. Now it’s used by students, parents, teachers, schools and homeschoolers worldwide to make PE simple, structured, and fun. We’ve created videos, online courses, worksheets, projects and more!

We want to partner with you to develop the best Homeschool Health and Physical Education plan in the world! Please fill out this form to provide your thoughts and ideas.

We’ve created resources and plans to help every child and family thrive. With PE Buddy, you’ll get:

✅ A holistic HPE program (practical + theory).
✅ Resources for all ages — from fun games for little ones to anatomy lessons for teens.
✅ Activities that fit any space, time, or equipment you have.
✅ Parent-friendly lessons anyone can teach.
✅ Safe, common-sense content and resources

🎁 Free Resources for You

Here’s what you can grab right now, free from PE Buddy:

🔥 Special Bonus for Homeschool Families

Use code 30ALL to get 30% OFF all Homeschool Plans. That’s a complete, ready-to-use Health & PE resource stash — for less than a dollar a day.