Summer is nearly here, after an uncommonly long winter for many.  Did you get snowed in for days this year?  Will the heat of the summer keep you inside in air-conditioning?  What does your family do when it rains for three or four days straight?

I love fresh air and sunshine.  L.O.V.E.  it!  I like being outside.  I like mowing the grass, working in the garden, playing in the rain, raking leaves, sledding, planting flowers, bicycling, camping, swimming, and…

I am not a fan of air-conditioning even on the hottest days, and thankfully, it hasn’t been a conflict (between me and my husband, whose body runs several degrees hotter than mine) because our house doesn’t have it.  I’d much rather do yard work than house work, any day!  (Regretfully, to my darling’s dismay, sometimes.)  I tend to equate cooped-up and stuffy with boring.

I grew up being told to go outside and play…often.  It wasn’t cooler inside than it was outside, anyway.  See, I’m old school.  Actually, maybe I’m just old…er.   =)  I seem to recall that if you didn’t like being outside and finding something to do, your choices were limited to reading a book, painting, drawing or writing, maybe watching something on a 13″ black & white TV, or listening to the radio…  Remember when there were no video games?  PC games?  portable DVD players?  I remember and I have some fond memories of doing things; going places, and generally moving and playing with my siblings and friends.  (Note the action words.)

Because, I think my momma did right by me – I send my kids outside to work or play…often.  (It is easier to get them outside though because it’s no cooler in our house than it is out.  They don’t have to continually acclimate to a constant change in temperature.  It’s usually just plain hot, everywhere.)  And, when we do get stuck indoors, their TV and electronic game time is strictly limited, making it more fun to be outside and doing something.  I admit, sometimes, we really have to be creative…  When was the last time you participated (in the privacy of your own home, of course) in a dance-a-thon or a tickle-fest?  I’m blessed to have healthy children and I believe that one of the reasons they are healthy is because they don’t have a sedentary lifestyle.

Do you know that The National Center for Chronic Disease reports that childhood obesity has more than tripled in the last 30 years?  Do you know that the most common causes of obesity are poor diet and eating habits combined with a lack of physical activity?  Fact.  I think, one of our jobs as parents is to prompt, coax and sometimes even force our children to get up and move. We should be showing them and telling them how to feed their body healthy food, how to protect it from harmful substances, and how to exercise it.  Technology has come so far, but the fact remains that we only get one body for the length of our days.

There is research available to support the statistics, but better yet, there is help available to bring about a positive change in these statistics.  One way – become part of the trybe.

Go - get active

Try – something new

Be – your best!

GoTrybe.com “is an online fitness and nutrition community that delivers daily fitness, nutrition, wellness, and motivation content to students and teachers (and parents) across the US.”

Warm-ups, cardio, flexibility and strength-training workouts for every age.  Education, quizzes, rewards and community support.  Remember P.E.? This is Physical Education at it’s best!

K-5th grade join the ZooDoos

6th-8th grade workout with Trybe180

9th-12th grade is part of NexTrybe

Members create a personal avatar.

As online workouts are completed, educational video segments viewed and quiz questions answered correctly – points are earned.  Points accumulate and can then be used to buy clothing, accessories, pets and more for ones character. Can you say motivation?

My older ones pointed out that GoTrybe gear, that is available for purchase online, would be a real motivator, too.  A not too subtle hint, I do believe.  (I’d like to see GoTrybe create an option to save points earned, from answering more difficult questions, that could be exchanged for Trybe Trinkets, that could then be used toward purchases in the tribal store.)

Build-your-own workout, comprised of six drag and drop videos.  Title your personal workout and you can store it or use it as you choose.

or

Choose a pre-built workout.

Workout sessions run an average of 20-30 minutes each.

Become part of the community.  Create a personal profile page.  Make a buddy list, send messages to friends, check stats and updates, etc.

Sign up personally or sign up your child, in the age appropriate trybe, free for a day – just enter promo code GETFIT.  Either way, this is a good time to explore everything GoTrybe.com has to offer.  A 1 year subscription is usually $39.95, but, after your one day free trial, you have the option, now, to sign up for $19.95.

Click the graphic to Sign Up

You can find added information, education and support on the

and

by following GoTrybe.com on facebook.

Questions? email – feedback@gotrybe.com

GoTrybe has been a blast! even though it has been a little difficult for us to accomplish, sometimes, because of lack of space.  It can only be viewed, and therefore followed, on the computer monitor, and that’s in a small office area.  I am hoping GoTrybe.com will eventually be Wii compatible and then we’d be able to stream it through our TV in the living room.  Quite often, the children like to work out together, (but there is no way for each tryber to get workout points, if they workout together) and that is nearly impossible because of our confined quarters.

We have children in each of the trybes and they have some definite, personal opinions:

• They really like GoTrybe.com and look forward to their workouts every day!
• They recognize a positive difference in their stamina, from the first time they worked out to now.
• My ZooDoos do not like the choices available for their avatars.  They’re drawn with “really big heads”, as opposed to the “normal” looking choices for the teens.  The Trybe180 female Trybers think the teen girl character is too mature looking and her stance is unattractive.

• We also have NexTrybe Trybers.  They found some of the Yoga workouts to be a little odd and felt that even the male students that worked out in the video segments, with the female teachers, looked uncomfortable.
• It was also noted that there are no male leaders, in the flexibility segments, for the older boys in the NexTrybe to follow.
• One of my NexTrybers liked doing the ZooDoos Hip Hop routines better than their own, because the moves are taught slower and they are repetitive.
• My NexTrybers have a favorite leader, from the younger trybe, that they’d love to see teach in their trybe.
• The positives far out weigh the negatives!  We’re movin’ more and lovin’ it!

You’ll find other, definite opinions, from my crew mates at TOS.  Click the banner to read their reviews.

Walk or run, jump, play, wiggle or dance.  Get up and move like your life depends on it – it just might.

May God bless your endeavors to move your family,

This product was given to me, free of charge, in exchange, for my honest review, as a member of the TOS Homeschool Crew. I receive no other compensation for my reviews on this blog.  The opinions expressed are my own.

Thank you for your encouragement.