DECATUR - The teachers of the physical education class for home-schooled students are stressing the importance of eating healthy foods.

To make the lesson memorable, they devised a game.

Each child runs to the center of the gym, fills his plate with models of various foods, enough to compose a healthy breakfast, then returns to the sideline. Then they make another run for lunch, followed by one for dinner.

Michael Van Uyten, 8, understood the game but was a little foggy on the concept of healthy eating. He filled his lunch plate with a hot dog, hamburger and a smattering of potato chips.

"What's wrong with this lunch?" asked Tina Cloney, the Millikin University instructor who oversees the class.

"Nothing, except a small hot dog," replied Michael, staring at the pitifully tiny piece of plastic on his plate.

Cloney, a former hospital pediatric dietitian, asked what was missing from the plate. Students responded by shouting "fruits" and "vegetables." Cloney then explained that eating hot dogs once in awhile is fine, but "if you eat a lot of fat, it's not good for your heart."

The PE class for home-schooled children, held Wednesday afternoons, began its first session at the Decatur Indoor Sports Center on Sept. 9. The next session will begin Oct. 21. With 16 Millikin students, members of Cloney's exercise science and sport class, teaching the 12 home-schooled students during this session, the students get plenty of attention.

The children take part in many games and sports, including soccer, kickball, dodge ball and capture the flag.

During some of the games, the college students join in, to fill in the gaps.

Nicki Auten, mother of Michael and his 6-year-old brother, Joseph, said she is glad she signed her boys up.

"They love coming here and being able to run and play with other kids," Auten said. "They think it's fantastic."

Auten commended the college students for their enthusiasm and for keeping the children "on task."

"They are such a good influence," she said, "getting the kids excited about what they're doing and making sure they have a good time."

Jay Maxwell, a Millikin sophomore who plans to teach PE, said he has enjoyed his first teaching experience with the homeschooled children.

"It's been good, figuring out how to keep the kids interested, figuring out what they want to do," Maxwell said.

Senior Lauren West, a sport management major, said it has been a good learning experience for her. After every class, the college students write their reflections on what they learned and how to improve the following classes.

"It is good for us to be put into the position of taking the lead of a class," West said.

Lisa Grover of Stonington, whose 7-year-old son, Caleb, is in the class, said the college students are doing a wonderful job of teaching nutrition.

"He's always eaten healthy," she said. "He's understanding more of the reasons for the healthy eating."

Cloney, who also manages the diabetes education program at Decatur Memorial Hospital, said she is encouraged by the responses of the students in her health promotions practicum class, the children and their parents. The PE classes were designed by Millikin students during the spring session of her class.

She said her students have learned how to conduct these programs while learning nutrition concepts themselves.

"They have to be flexible, adaptable and explain it well to be successful," Cloney said.

One goal of the class is to help children to have a positive attitude toward nutrition and exercise.

"It is important, because a lot of behavior we start as a child," she said. "The older we get, the harder it is to change our behaviors."

Cloney was encouraged when Joseph, a kindergartener, recognized that his plates, filled with ice cream, candy and doughnuts, were not quite as nutritious as he had thought.

Joseph told the teachers, "I'm going to take these things off of my plate, because they're not healthy, and I'm not going to have them that often."

Home School P.E. and Nutrition Sessions

Second Sesssion: Wednesday afternoons, Oct. 21 to Nov. 18

Kindergarten to fourth grade: 2 to 2:45 p.m.

Fifth to eighth grade: 2:55 to 3:40 p.m.

Where: Decatur Indoor Sports Center, 1295 W. Wood St.

For more information or to register: call 429-3472

hfreeman@herald-review.com|421-6985