Parents Advice for gifted toddler?

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Hello all

So I started my daughter in gymnastics at 18mo as a fun socialization for her during the pandemic…. And she TOOK to it.

She’s 2(almost 3) and is absolutely blowing her class out of the water. She can do bridges, headstands, assisted handstands, rock climbing, front/back/sideways/hops solo on the balance beam and she is on the brink of doing a pullover by herself. This girl is in love with this sport…

And She is absolutely bored in class…. And has been for a few months now…. And our gym will not move her up into the next age group despite passing every skill on her evaluations.

Instead of fighting with the gym I just bought some gymnastics equipment so she can play and learn at her own speed. Do you guys have any advice on fun, playful gymnastics games or resources on skills she could develop at home?

We would LOVE and appreciate it so very much.
 

Attachments

  • 9CF59564-8506-4DCF-9C79-9193468C053D.jpeg
    9CF59564-8506-4DCF-9C79-9193468C053D.jpeg
    99.2 KB · Views: 328
  • B941B975-DA9F-4E1F-ACC5-A65F1F9A785C.jpeg
    B941B975-DA9F-4E1F-ACC5-A65F1F9A785C.jpeg
    163 KB · Views: 235
Welcome! She's a cutie! Is her gym having her do bridges and headstands as a two year old? Or is she doing this on her own? These are not skills that are safe for a toddler's body. If her gym is encouraging these skills, I would be looking for a gym that has a more age appropriate developmental curriculum for toddlers and preschoolers

My personal advice would be to sell the home equipment and leave the gymnastics skills in the gym, especially if you think she has future potential for competitive gymnastics. You will want to make sure she is learning the skills correctly with good form, not learning them on her own at home. You also want her to be wanting more, not to burn out because she has full access at home. If you know this is just a passing phase and you just want her to enjoy herself, that's less of an issue but I would still be careful about what skills are allowed at home
 
Her cousin does cheer and dance and she learned the bridge from her, they are teaching assisted headstands at the gym with a tall wedge thing…. She just has learned to balance on her own at home.

Honestly this girl is active from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed. She likes to climb, run, jump and move her body. I don’t care so much if she is going to be a gymnast in the future or not…. I simply need things to constructively channel her energy into and meet her desire to be challenged physically.

Now if she does end up being a competitive gymnast down the road that would be super cool…. a little scary… but cool.

I’m more loving all the ways it allows her to grow with her motor skills, body awareness, special awareness etc.
 
Her cousin does cheer and dance and she learned the bridge from her, they are teaching assisted headstands at the gym with a tall wedge thing…. She just has learned to balance on her own at home.

Honestly this girl is active from the time she wakes up until she goes to bed. She likes to climb, run, jump and move her body. I’m not super set on if she is going to be a gymnast in the future or not(whatever she loves to do I’ll go along for the ride)….But right now I simply need things to constructively channel her energy into and meet her desire to be challenged physically.

Now if she does end up being a competitive gymnast down the road that would be super cool…. a little scary… but cool.

I’m more loving all the ways it allows her to grow with her motor skills, body awareness, spacial awareness etc.
 
Hello all

So I started my daughter in gymnastics at 18mo as a fun socialization for her during the pandemic…. And she TOOK to it.

She’s 2(almost 3) and is absolutely blowing her class out of the water. She can do bridges, headstands, assisted handstands, rock climbing, front/back/sideways/hops solo on the balance beam and she is on the brink of doing a pullover by herself. This girl is in love with this sport…

And She is absolutely bored in class…. And has been for a few months now…. And our gym will not move her up into the next age group despite passing every skill on her evaluations.

Instead of fighting with the gym I just bought some gymnastics equipment so she can play and learn at her own speed. Do you guys have any advice on fun, playful gymnastics games or resources on skills she could develop at home?

We would LOVE and appreciate it so very much.
What is the next age group at this gym?

For home equipment, I would just encourage good coordination skills with the equipment (especially since I don't know what equipment you bought).
 
What is the next age group at this gym?

For home equipment, I would just encourage good coordination skills with the equipment (especially since I don't know what equipment you bought).
3 1/2- 4 1/2 year olds is the next age group…. So it’s not a significant jump. She will be three in two weeks.

She’s also able to do all the skills in the assessment at that level, but there is more structure to the classes.

Right now she’s in a class 18mo - 3 1/2 and most of these kids are younger.
 
Oh and I bought the kip bar and a balance beam. The Kip bar will only be used while supervised, the balance beam will be on the floor, so less of a concern
 
Many young kids can excel quickly at skills, but might not be ready for the structure and detail level of an "older" class - not to mention their bodies are not developed for the set of skills that might be focused on. I would also suggest to be very careful with Bridges and similar skills at this age. They are really not recommended and can cause issues down the road. I'd honestly skip the gym equipment and burn off that energy at parks, climbing, running, playing ball, etc. All these activities can build overall strength and core strength. Focusing them on "apparatus" skills at 2-3 yrs isn't going to give them any advantage and could increase risk of injury.
 
I completely agree with the previous posters. Teaching skills using incorrect form at home can make it harder for her to learn them the correct way and can cause injuries. If she does want to pursue competitive gymnastics later, you have a LONG road ahead. Don't burn her out now. Maybe try a dance class or other activities.
 
As others have said, at her age there are things she shouldn’t be doing due to the place she is in her physical development.

This is probably why the gym won’t move her up. Young children have undeveloped muscles and joints and many activities those older kids do can create quite a risk to them physically.

Kids this age should avoid bridges, walkovers, headstands, handsprings etc. They should not be jumping off high surfaces like high beams and bars, as they’re legs are not developed enough to control the landing safely. And they need to avoid Olympic trampolines as their heck muscles are not developed enough to fully control their head.
 
She is a very athletic and motivated kiddo! That's great, and she seems to love gymnastics.
However... there are many many many things ahead. She could very well decide she likes something else better in a few years. I wouldn't get too caught up in pushing her to excel just in gymnastics.
My advice is:
Encourage her at whatever she is doing.
Develop talents outside of practice.
Listen to her.
Enjoy it.
Just take this one step at a time. She's 3.
 
I would not buy home gymnastics equipment for a 2 year old. What about an outdoor swing set instead? I have seen it a zillion times. Lots of parents going totally overboard with a talented preschooler and then they are burned out and done by 9 or 10 years old. I cannot stress enough what a long and tedious road gymnastics is.
 
I would not buy home gymnastics equipment for a 2 year old. What about an outdoor swing set instead? I have seen it a zillion times. Lots of parents going totally overboard with a talented preschooler and then they are burned out and done by 9 or 10 years old. I cannot stress enough what a long and tedious road gymnastics is.
You’re right. And further, “she loves it because she’s a NATURAL” only lasts so long and the sooner it ends the better. Every kid who’s on a decent team was a natural at 3 and every one of those kids will get stuck on something at some point. It’s only THEN you see if gymnastics is a good fit for your kid.

My daughter just COULD NOT get a decent ROBHS. She tried super hard, worked the drills, never got discouraged, kept progressing at everything else, and just competed with a terrible ROBHS. Then, one day she did it perfectly. Then she did it perfectly again. Then she did a perfect double backhand spring. If she only liked gym because she was good at it, or better than everyone in her class or whatever, I’m 100% sure she would of quit. Instead, she learned that what she likes is pushing her body physically and gym is her preferred outlet.

I think that’s what a healthy relationship with gymnastics looks like.
 
I think the deeper problem is when I was a kid my parents couldn’t afford and didn’t have the time to let us do these kinds of things. In school I was highly gifted and they wouldn’t let me into advanced classes and I was soooo bored and disengaged.

I just don’t want her to feel held back or unsupported throughout her childhood.

And yes, if she was in love with ponies… we would probably lease one for her. Lol

Love and joy are of extremely high value to me…. I want to fill her life with both.

But I also see your guys point. I thought since she was physically able to do these things on her own without difficulty they wouldn’t be so problematic. I don’t push her to learn anything, but I also haven’t been holding her back either except in the realm of immediate danger.

I’m hearing what you all are saying.
 
I think the deeper problem is when I was a kid my parents couldn’t afford and didn’t have the time to let us do these kinds of things. In school I was highly gifted and they wouldn’t let me into advanced classes and I was soooo bored and disengaged.

I’m hearing what you all are saying.
I get it. I grew up poor. I also own all the same equipment as you! The difference is it was all bough with a specific purpose for a team gymnast. For instance, the kip bar and associated mats (over a grand) were bough so my daughter didn’t need to hang from a high pull-up bar (which she almost slipped off of) while doing pike pull-ups. Having a dedicated bar seemed safer.

I’d suggest you take your daughter to open gym if that’s possible. Then she can climb on all the equipment in whatever way she wants. FYI my daughter hated those baby classes — mostly because she was so advanced in every way that she couldn’t handle being around the kids.
 
I didn’t know open gym was a thing, I’ll have to ask if they do that. Since the pandemic they have only had coaches there for classes and closed the gym the rest of the time.

Once class is over they are required to leave the mat, so no extra practice.
 
I didn’t know open gym was a thing, I’ll have to ask if they do that. Since the pandemic they have only had coaches there for classes and closed the gym the rest of the time.

Once class is over they are required to leave the mat, so no extra practice.
Sometimes gyms have an open play time geared toward little ones- called things like Monkey Club or Tot Time, etc., which might be a fun outlet for your daughter. So much good advice here, so I won't repeat that, but I think it's great that you asked the question and are open to the advice you've gotten (sometimes new parents come here and become very defensive when the advice doesn't line up with what they wanted to hear). Parents here really do know what they're talking about! :)
 

New Posts

DON'T LURK... Join The Discussion!

Members see FEWER ads

Gymnaverse :: Recent Activity

College Gym News

New Posts

Back