Genuinely not sure if I am or not AIBU?

[WalkingWolly]

DS lives for sport. Mid range academically but lives for his football/biking/gymnastics etc.

The two PE days a week he goes to school happy as Larry. He lives for those two school days. It’s his turn to shine and it’s where he gets his school praise from.

There are three overweight DC in his class. Two hardly ever take part in PE the other does but begrudgingly.

In an effort to be more inclusive (schools words) this terms schedule of dodgeball and hockey have been changed to Yoga and free movement?! (Not sure what that is)

One of the mothers of one of the overweight children told my friend that the school had asked them what they could do to make the DC more comfortable with PE and this was the solution.

So. DS massively annoyed that they’ve effectively lost out on PE and are now doing yoga for 7 weeks. The less able kids don’t get to opt out of the weekly maths/spelling quizzes and awards which come with them. And I can’t see how yoga is helping anyone lose weight, it’s not exactly burning many calories.

So AIBU to counter complain? Or just tell DS it is what it is and to suck it up for a term?

YABU. Alternative sports all help other sports. My son is heavily into football. Plays and trains loads. The best thing he has EVER done is Athletics. This helped his football more than another training session once a week would have. Keep an open mind. Your son may love it.

Have you spoken to the school about this and how long it will go on for?
I can see the logic in encouraging the overweight children to join in but it does seem unfair on your son.

Speak to the teacher, explain your concerns and then ask what compromise you can come to together.

Surely it's the same for children who are not good at football and having to play that every PE time? And football is far from fun or inclusive if you're not good at it.

I understand it is annoying but I say he sucks it up for the 7 weeks and see what happens after that.

DS would love athletics. It’s completely different from Yoga! He would get to run and jump and but energy, not stand in a tree pose for an hour!

I think you are being a bit unreasonable. Yoga is exercise and also helps with focus, stress, breathing etc. Stretching is good even for prime athletes..and it can be much more challenging than you think..I really ache after a good yoga class.

That sounds rubbish. Back in days of yore we did yoga and free movement and dance as part of drama lessons. We also had to play teams sports and do PE as well.

Athletics was available as an after school club. We could play tennis at lunchtime.

Will there be increased after school sports opportunities to compensate?

Yoga underpins all sport. Your DS should try it. I very much doubt it’s going to be the ‘easy’ option the overweight kids’ parents think it is. Personally I think lack of exercise needs to be tackled at home, not school.

Depends on the level of yoga. A proper class certainly would burn calories.

Football, dodgeball, gymnastics, basketball, tennis, swimming, hockey, rugby, athletics...it’s not just football for PE.

I do yoga, I know it’s good. But it is not a high energy activity for kids is it? Nobody lost weight doing a downward dog

I don't think both lessons should have been changed, that is U. I would probably have a word with school on that.

Have a google about yoga and explain to your son that it may actually improve his performance in other sports - core body strength, balance etc.

I’d ask what free movement is at least. Yoga is good for stretching and core strength. Your DS might find it’s beneficial for his gymnastics. YABU to complain about doing yoga. It’s a sport that the students may benefit from trying. YANBU to request that they try to do a mixture of sports over the year that cover a mixture of cardio/stretching/strength to encourage healthy living.

I understand what you're saying but yoga is fantastic exercise. It's a shame that your son has lost the thing he loved most about school, but didn't you say it's just for seven weeks?

Yoga involves fast movement between poses, requires (and develops) gymnastic ability. And the instructor is likely going to let students go at their own pace - so fitter kids may be doing far more advanced stuff than unfit kids.

Any time I’ve tried yoga I’m sweating like mad, it’s definitely doing something.

Yeah Yoga is fabulous for any athelete, UFC fighters do a couple of hours of it a week I think.
I do see your point however but I think this is a good opportunity to teach your son tolerance of others maybe?

It’s the class teacher taking the class, not an outside agency. I doubt it’s a proper yoga class focusing on form and breathing.

How old is he? Is he getting his football fix outside of school too?

Apologies x post re: google yoga.

The class teacher could be qualified to teach yoga too. Have you asked?

Quite normal to have rotations of activity for PE. It'll do your ds good to try something new.

Tell him to suck it up for a term and then spend some time trying to teach your child not to be a self-centred wotsit who thinks only his opinion of what constitutes Physical Education counts. They haven't lost out on PE. Yoga is a perfectly valid form of exercise for physical health.

Maybe look up some of the benefits of yoga before you make yourself look stupid by complaining.

It’s just one term yes as far as I know. Next term is athletics for sports day.

They didn’t even get changed for yoga. Just took their shoes off. This isn’t high level yoga!

YABU and clearly don’t know anything about yoga so why not do some research instead of immediately writing it off?

I’m assuming he does football etc outside of school so it’s not like he never gets to do it.

And, frankly it’s more important that everyone gets included, IMO.