Review of GoTrybe

As part of The Old Schoolhouse's Homeschool Crew, I was given a subscription to GoTrybe.com, a kids' fitness and nutrition website, in exchange for my review.  GoTrybe is a comprehensive website, including nutrition tips, motivational clips, and, the core of the site, a personalized workout regiment for kids.  Kids are given the chance to create an avatar (the base of which resembles this one),

and the more credits they earn from working out, the more outfits they have to choose from (available for "purchase" in the trybe store.

The ability to customize the avatar is a great incentive to earn points on GoTrybe; the outfit choices are very cute!

The core of GoTrybe is its customized workout.  Kids have the ability to create a workout for themselves, composed of warm up, cardio, strength, and flexibility segments.  Most workouts are about 25 minutes long.  Kids begin by looking at a blank series of boxes, into which they can put the workout segments they like best.  The choices for each segment run across the bottom of the screen.  To aid in the decision, the segments indicate the level of intensity, and the grade level for which it is appropriate.

A child simply drags and drops the video segment she chooses into the appropriate box (indicated, when empty, by a question mark).  If having a workout created for you is more to your taste, you can select a "GoTrybe workout", as seen inside the blue rectangle.  Once fully filled out, your workout is shown to you as a series of short video clips.

Once you click "start workout", the clips will play in the appropriate order, providing you with a customized workout, which you can change any time!

The actual workout is led by a fitness instructor and three children of varying ages.  The instructors are all wonderful and have a great manner of kids.  If it turns out that you have a favorite, each segment description tells you who the instructor is!

GoTrybe is a really neat website.  For homeschoolers who tend to worry perpetually about whether their children are getting any kind of P.E., this site should address your concerns perfectly.  Further, although it is tailored to children, it is great for moms, too! For moms who are already fit, there will likely not be much of a challenge in these workouts, but for moms who have spent too many years out of the fitness scene, the workouts are fun and (thanks to the kid-friendly instructors and backup kids in the video) completely non-threatening.

The only real drawback to GoTrybe is that it can be a little confusing at the outset.  Some background reading on the site is necessary, but everything you need to know is spelled out clearly in the FAQ.  Further, some families may not like the avatars, as they are shown in poses some may consider questionable.  I think the value derived from using GoTrybe far outweighs any concerns you may have.  You really don't have to interact with your avatar at all, should you choose not to.

GoTrybe offers a trial membership, and full membership is only $19.95 a year (the regular price is listed at $39.95).  For the price, I would definitely say that GoTrybe is worth the money.  The option to create and customize workouts is really neat for kids, and it gives them a feeling of ownership over their own workouts.  They are not just doing what mom has told them to.  

GoTrybe is likely the wave of the future, as more and more "school" activities hit the web.  If you have any questions about GoTrybe that are not answered on their website, email them at feedback@gotrybe.com.  To find out what others with children thought of GoTrybe, visit the Crew blog.