"Sesame Street's The Count meets Richard Simmons." These were the words of a fellow TOS Crew member when describing her first impression of this Exercise/Math DVD. She wasn't making the comparison fondly, but it appealed to me! I love both the Count and Richard Simmons so I gathered the kids around, moved the coffee table to the side and popped Gymathics into the DVD drive on our desktop. Sure it was a little cheesy but isn't that a normal part of an exercise video?
The 30 minute exercise program begins with Shape Stretches Warm Up. As you are stretching and warming up, you are also learning about parallel lines and polygons. The second section was everyone's favorite; Counting Calisthenics. Skip counting and aerobics actually work really well together and are the best combination of math and exercise presented here. Next came Pattern Power. The instructor led us in exercises with repeating patterns that were represented by symbols on the screen. The last section was the Well Being Wind Down. This was our least favorite portion of the DVD. The cool down exercises were great but the voice over "healthy lifestyle tips" went way past cheesy and into plain annoying.
My 7, 9, and 10 year olds enjoyed this, for the most part. They wanted to start our day with this all week, so that's a pretty good recommendation. The 12 and 14 year old were completely disinterested, so it's really best for the younger age group. As homeschoolers, sometimes it's difficult to add in enough exercise and P.E. during the winter months. This is a fun, inexpensive way to start your day and add in a little math at the same time. It's not perfect, it's a little corny, but we liked it.
Gymathics is available for $24.99. According to the web site, Gymathics 2.0 will be coming soon and will be targeted at grades 4-7.
The 30 minute exercise program begins with Shape Stretches Warm Up. As you are stretching and warming up, you are also learning about parallel lines and polygons. The second section was everyone's favorite; Counting Calisthenics. Skip counting and aerobics actually work really well together and are the best combination of math and exercise presented here. Next came Pattern Power. The instructor led us in exercises with repeating patterns that were represented by symbols on the screen. The last section was the Well Being Wind Down. This was our least favorite portion of the DVD. The cool down exercises were great but the voice over "healthy lifestyle tips" went way past cheesy and into plain annoying.
My 7, 9, and 10 year olds enjoyed this, for the most part. They wanted to start our day with this all week, so that's a pretty good recommendation. The 12 and 14 year old were completely disinterested, so it's really best for the younger age group. As homeschoolers, sometimes it's difficult to add in enough exercise and P.E. during the winter months. This is a fun, inexpensive way to start your day and add in a little math at the same time. It's not perfect, it's a little corny, but we liked it.
Gymathics is available for $24.99. According to the web site, Gymathics 2.0 will be coming soon and will be targeted at grades 4-7.
*Disclosure: This product was provided at no cost for review purposes.*
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought this was fun, even if a bit cheesy. :)