ONEIDA — The recent return of the Home Zone: Homeschool Physical Education program at the YMCA of the Greater Tri-Valley’s Oneida location was in response to numerous requests from area parents.

“This was all about fulfilling what the community wanted,” explained Oneida YMCA branch Senior Program Director Collin Meehan. “There was a definite need for it - we had a lot of calls from members and parents who homeschooled asking if we could bring this back.”

The new 12-week session began Feb. 1 and continues for an hour every Wednesday afternoon through April 19. The Oneida YMCA has welcomed nearly 35 area homeschooled children and their families to its gymnasium for the new Home Zone program.

This session was a “soft launch” this time as they are just starting back up after a pandemic-forced hiatus, said Oneida YMCA Group Exercise Coordinator Madison Robinson.

Home Zone was designed to give homeschooled elementary school-aged kids a place to play, grow and build lifelong healthy habits. Robinson works with children between the ages of 5 to 8 and Meehan supervises the 9- to 12-year-old group.

And Home Zone is about more than just taking PE classes, Meehan intimated.

“They are using gym equipment and developing gym skills, but at the same time learning how to make a team effort and developing camaraderie with their peers,” he said.

A group of parents sat on the bleachers watching the program and their kids intermingling.

“We’re thankful that the Y has done this for us,” said Erin Talbot of Sherrill, the mother of three kids ranging from 7 to 12 years old in the program. “The kids are learning teamwork, exercising and having fun.”

Talbot also had a fourth, younger child sitting on the sidelines with her, watching in anticipation of also joining the program once she was old enough.

Robinson said the next Home Zone session will be in September and they anticipate having regular consecutive sessions at that point. Registration will be about a month beforehand, Meehan said. The program follows the local school district schedule, so any days off from school are days off from Home Zone as well.

Robinson said she is hoping to add both swimming and music to the gym offerings at that point and welcomed anyone interested in teaching with Home Zone to contact the YMCA. Meehan said he would also like to bring in speakers to talk about various fitness-related topics.

Giving the kids the chance to come up with their own activities is the best part of Home Zone for her, Robinson said.

“I like letting them use their own minds, like building their own obstacle course today,” she said. “They make my job so much easier. This is a lot of fun for me, too.”

For more information about the Home Zone program, call the Oneida YMCA at 315-363-7788 or visit www.ymcatrivalley.org.