Northwestern kinesiology professor publishes homeschool PE book

Dr. Jeff Schouten, associate professor of kinesiology at Northwestern College, has released a curriculum book, “Home School Physical Education for K-5 Families and Cooperatives.” 

In this book, Schouten offers lesson plans for skills like throwing and catching, as well as for ball games and racquet sports. Each lesson plan includes a warmup activity, a 15-minute lesson focus, a 10-minute game that incorporates the focus, and a cooldown activity. His curriculum includes five lessons for each grade, with age-appropriate activities. Schouten deliberately chose basic types of activities that a non-trained teacher could do with students so if a mom or dad needs a lesson for a specific grade, they have one. 

Schouten says the book developed from lesson plans he and his Northwestern students majoring in physical education created for a homeschool PE program conducted for the greater Orange City area. Since its 2022 inception, the program has drawn an average of 100 students per session from up to 80 miles away. 

The program-turned-curriculum ball got rolling closer to home. “It started from a casual conversation I had with a neighbor who homeschooled her children. I asked how homeschooling was going, and she mentioned they don’t have a physical education curriculum within the curriculum that she used. So, we started offering the program.”

That program naturally led him to start thinking about a book. A proponent of physical activity for improved academic learning, Schouten writes, “Studies have consistently demonstrated that children who participate in regular physical activity tend to perform better academically, showing higher scores in subjects like math, reading and science.”

A sports enthusiast and assistant baseball coach for the Red Raiders, with a podcast called Be a Difference Maker, Schouten earned a doctorate at Florida State University. He has nearly 20 years of experience as a kinesiology professor.

Schouten’s book is available at Amazon in three formats: Kindle, hardback and paperback.

Northwestern’s physical education program is taught by professors who are experienced teachers, coaches and athletic administrators. They’ll prepare you to be a leader in the classroom and the gym, so you can design engaging PE programs that encourage student growth. You’ll also gain hands-on experience while teaching PE to more than 100 local homeschool students.