TOS Review: GoTrybe

As my year with The Old Schoolhouse Review Crew draws to an end, I find myself looking back over all of the wonderful products my family has been blessed with. Not only have we tried products to teach every major subject, and I can't think of many optional subjects that we haven't also covered. Recently, Addison has been trying a web-based program that could help bring PE into your living room.

GoTrybe is "the online health and fitness community where kids and teens can get active and learn about being healthy for life." The online program is divided into several different sections. As Addison worked through the activities, she earned points that could be spent customizing her character, change the clothes, etc.

Some of the areas involved reading a short passage and then answering a very basic comprehension question. Addison thought they were random and trivial. I should point out that she's coming from a background of homecooked meals and a relatively fit family. What she considers basic knowledge that's too easy for her, may not be so basic for the general public. She's also not a big fan of learning things by just hearing random facts; she'd prefer work through complete materials in a logical fashion.

Perhaps the best part of the GoTrybe program is the workouts themselves. There are at least 10 different preplanned workouts to choose from, with styles ranging from jazz to hip-hop and kick boxing.  These videos are all roughly 20 minutes long.

The really cool part of the workouts is the ability to design your own custom workout. The student can choose a warm up segment, up to three cardio segments of varying lengths, a strength segment, and then a flexibility segment (to cool down). We were very impressed with the various offerings. For instance, we counted more than 60 different options for the cardio portion of the workout, including kick boxing, several types of dance moves, and some sports-specific drills. You could change up the workout each day so that it never gets boring.

Sadly, Addison was not impressed with the GoTrybe program, mostly because she prefers to go run than to stay home doing aerobics. She might think differently if she were trying the program in either the winter (too cold to go outside) or in the summer (too hot to safely exercise during most of the day).

If you'd like to read what other homeschool families thought about GoTrybe, please visit The Old Schoolhouse blog here.  A one year membership on GoTrybe costs $19.95, and they offer a free trial option so that you don't have to commit to a whole year before you find out if you like the program.

I received a free membership to GoTrybe as a member of the 2010 TOS Homeschool Review Crew, and I received no other compensation. In return, I agreed to give an honest review of the materials and how they worked for my homeschool family.