Parents Experience designing a modified school schedule?

[sce]

How interesting you posted this as we JUST met with my daughter's future middle school administrator last week. She'll be heading into a level 8 season with 23 hours training and an upcoming 6th grader.
No luck with modifying. Were told pretty much to try and stay under the radar with too many tardies/absences. I don't like playing games with that...elementary school was easy, but things are only going to get harder.
Was told we cannot modify a schedule to accommodate this club sport. And I understand...just a little frustrating.
Have ZERO clue what to do.
Education to us must always take priority over this crazy sport...however, I don't know what that "Looks" like for us.
Praying a lot for the right direction. So, I have no advice/guidance other than to say, our family is wondering what to do as well.

For your situation I have a suggestion. Go to her sports doctor and discuss her hours and see if you can get a note saying she should not do PE. My son's teammate did this. They already get a lot of exercise and PE actually brings about additional injury risk. Once you have this note, use it to get her off for either the first or last class period of the day. If they won't let her come in late or leave early ask for a study period. She can then get some homework done during the school day.

 

[munchkin3]

Here is my .1cent......Middle school is way better at this stuff than elementary school. In 6th, I had a meeting with every single teacher and told them basically what was going on. They were more receptive than the elementary school teachers. They generally would let her hand in her work early or a day late.....they understood why she looked a mess many mornings (as opposed to the other sparkly 6th graders) and they understood why she missed a lot of school.
They also saw that she was a vary hard worker, and she would notify the teacher BEFORE if she needed time, or was taking a day for a meet. For the most part, the teachers were good with homework and understood why she preferred to work on the weekends, or have until friday to hand things in.....
Id say its about the communication.....and i never played it like she was going to the olympics.... I just played it like, 'we are supporting her and need to help her and the teachers.....

So we have a few options but we are sticking with regular school (as opposed to virtual school....DD tried it for a month and was turned off)...we are lucky that we are in a district that is flexible but I have plenty of friends that have no options.

yes, and no PE!

 

[wallinbl]

Be careful how you go about getting PE removed. They'll likely still want a full day, so if you get "exempted", they may just fill the schedule with a different class, which will just mean more school work. See if you can get credit for PE via gymnastics.

 

[andarc]

I'm going to homeschool my 7th grade dd for PE only. They have PE every other day for 1.5 hrs. I requested it be last and they were willing to comply. However, I know that other schools in our district will put PE whenever which requires the parent to pick up her child in the middle of the day and return her 1.5 hrs later. It doesn't help with practice times but it does allow her to get ahead of school work.

 

[raenndrops]

For your situation I have a suggestion. Go to her sports doctor and discuss her hours and see if you can get a note saying she should not do PE. My son's teammate did this. They already get a lot of exercise and PE actually brings about additional injury risk. Once you have this note, use it to get her off for either the first or last class period of the day. If they won't let her come in late or leave early ask for a study period. She can then get some homework done during the school day.

At our middle school, this wouldn't work. Gym is only every day for 9 weeks. They also do block scheduling for the core classes and alternate A Day and B Day (with day 5 being C day … or Day 3 if there are only 3 days that week). For example, on A day, they have math and social studies each for 2 periods each. On B day, they have science and language arts for 2 periods each. On C day, the have math, science, social studies, and language arts each 1 period.
One grade has these classes periods 2-5. Another grade has them periods 3-6. The other grade has them periods 4-7. They do their other classes 1st, 6th and 7th OR 1st, 2nd and 7th OR 1st -3rd periods. Some of these other classes are one grading period and others are 1 semester. The entire school has what is basically a study period before 1st period.

 

[profmom]

Also be sure you know your child's preferences. My daughter would take double PE if she could.

 

[John]

I find this subject interesting and the lack of solutions frustrating. It seems a gymnast does not need physical education. As a parent, I would allow my Child to skip out on music and art classes. Most schools do not seem to agree. I can home school my child and do as I please as long as that child can pass the necessary evaluations. Here is PA you can elect cyber school, for free from your school district never go into class but receive a diploma from your district. It seems the biggest problem for us parents is when we want our children to attend school but use the electives for gymnastics. I never understood why it seems it has to be all school or no school. I am sure like most things in life it's about money. Too bad for the kids.

 

[raenndrops]

I find this subject interesting and the lack of solutions frustrating. It seems a gymnast does not need physical education. As a parent, I would allow my Child to skip out on music and art classes. Most schools do not seem to agree. I can home school my child and do as I please as long as that child can pass the necessary evaluations. Here is PA you can elect cyber school, for free from your school district never go into class but receive a diploma from your district. It seems the biggest problem for us parents is when we want our children to attend school but use the electives for gymnastics. I never understood why it seems it has to be all school or no school. I am sure like most things in life it's about money. Too bad for the kids.

Here, some online schools are linked to districts and some are self-contained. I have worked with both types. Our local school has summer school classes and a few select electives that HIGH SCHOOL students can do online - but at school for the most part.
I prefer the online school that is separate. The only things I don't like about it is that the kids can't participate in the local school's extracurriculars (which they could if just home schooled- not being affiliated with ANY online school whatsoever) AND the true online school is not NCAA approved because, even though it is paced to be done in x weeks, they allow a student to take as long as needed to get work done, even if that means 18 months.
The main reasons I like the true online school:
1. It's free. They provide a laptop computer. If necessary, they also provide a printer / scanner. They provide an iPhone that can be used as a wifi hotspot with 30gb / month that can be used by more than just the student. If your home is in a "deadzone," they will reimburse you for your internet connection up to a set amount.
2. It's flexible. I have kids that do their work in the mornings. I have kids that do their work in the afternoons. I have kids that do their work in the evenings. I have, in the past, had kids that did a majority of their work on the weekends (and would just log in daily and do 1 thing). My kids (mostly) get their schoolwork done in the appropriate timeframe, if not early. If they come to me regularly, they NEVER end up behind.

 

[profmom]

One of the things I like about our school district is that it believes firmly in art, music, and physical education as necessary elements for elementary school children and highly desirable for secondary school children, and puts its budget money behind this belief. I do worry that the loose homeschooling standards in some states allow parents to skip things that provide broader experiences and produce more well rounded high school graduates. Musical literacy is probably more relevant to everyday life for most American adults than some of the academic subjects that are routinely required.