WAG Getting out of gym or other classes

[LGnyc]

For those kids who are not homeschooled, do your schools make accommodations for their hours? We just went through a huge battle with ours. She's 21 hours a week and homework is a mad scramble. I had hoped that she could have study instead of gym but no go. Apparently it's state mandated that kids PK-8 NEED to do 3x a week of PE. Can get out starting in 9th. Ugh. Just curious how it works in other schools and states. Or if your kids don't need the time.

 

[Vivianflips]

Here in FL you can just sign a waiver saying you participate in sports outside of school and that gets you out of PE for 6th-12th grade. Though you do have to take some PE credit in high school but that can be done online. You can also go to school for some classes and take others online. The schools in my county are very flexible. I know a few gymnasts that used to go home after 4th period so that they could get homework done and go to practice. It's sad that some schools are so inflexible about schedules! Girls doing that many hours of gymnastics do not need to be in PE.

 

[John]

Baltimore County MD does not offer much flexibility. It's just a scramble. It seems that as parents we have lost the ability to make decisions for our children. A gymnast, or any athlete, who trains 16-20 hours a week at their chosen sport should have the option to be granted a gym wavier and get a study hall in place of gym. I would not ask that my child leave school early, just have the opportunity to study and get a free period to complete assigned work.

York County PA offers much more flexibility in education.

 

[crystallions]

Sorry to hear about that. It is a lot of work to do all those hours of gymnastics and then try to get the homework done as well.

Our school usually doesn't allow for students to have study hall during school PE until high school either, but they made an exception for our daughter. She is in 6th grade and takes 15 hours of gymnastics per week. Luckily for me it was never a fight with our school. When they heard the situation they handed me the paper work I needed to fill out and told me it would be approved, which it was right away. DD has a lot of homework so I am thankful she has that extra time to study.

 

[wandrewsjr]

For those kids who are not homeschooled, do your schools make accommodations for their hours? We just went through a huge battle with ours. She's 21 hours a week and homework is a mad scramble. I had hoped that she could have study instead of gym but no go. Apparently it's state mandated that kids PK-8 NEED to do 3x a week of PE. Can get out starting in 9th. Ugh. Just curious how it works in other schools and states. Or if your kids don't need the time.

If the school is inflexible you can sometimes have success dealing directly with her PE teacher. Have known athletes whose parents spoke directly with PE teacher about the volume of hours spent in gym(having a note from Dr explaining that more time playing sports in PE is not good for the gymnast in addition to number of hours already spent in gym helps too). PE teacher let athletes do their homework during PE class during any physical parts of PE, they just had to fully participate in any academic portions like if they were learning about health issues or rules of games etc. PE teacher had them bring in a log of their practice hours, and then just essentially treated the gymnasts in class every day like they would any student too sick or injured to participate in that day's activity.

 

[LGnyc]

Sorry to hear about that. It is a lot of work to do all those hours of gymnastics and then try to get the homework done as well.

Our school usually doesn't allow for students to have study hall during school PE until high school either, but they made an exception for our daughter. She is in 6th grade and takes 15 hours of gymnastics per week. Luckily for me it was never a fight with our school. When they heard the situation they handed me the paper work I needed to fill out and told me it would be approved, which it was right away. DD has a lot of homework so I am thankful she has that extra time to study.

That's amazing. What state are you in? And what grade is she? Mine is 6th so a decent amount of homework, but not like she's in 8th. Although it is weird - my son is in 8th and some days she has more than he does!

 

[rjb123]

I suggest that you get a note from her doctor saying that due to the amount of physical stress on her body, she may not participate in PE at school. Or something to that effect. They can't argue with that! FWIW, my DD does not do PE, and her school has no problem with it. That said she is in a private school so it is a little different.

 

[LGnyc]

If the school is inflexible you can sometimes have success dealing directly with her PE teacher. Have known athletes whose parents spoke directly with PE teacher about the volume of hours spent in gym(having a note from Dr explaining that more time playing sports in PE is not good for the gymnast in addition to number of hours already spent in gym helps too). PE teacher let athletes do their homework during PE class during any physical parts of PE, they just had to fully participate in any academic portions like if they were learning about health issues or rules of games etc. PE teacher had them bring in a log of their practice hours, and then just essentially treated the gymnasts in class every day like they would any student too sick or injured to participate in that day's activity.

Funny you should mention this: We are next considering the Dr. note. I want to see how the year progresses - if the work increases or if it evens out. A couple of days ALL her teachers gave assignments and it was just too much. If they coordinate and she gets work from 2 or 3 instead of 5 she might be able to manage with the one study hall she has in her schedule.

 

[crystallions]

We live in TX. She is also in 6th grade, and I am amazed at the amount of homework she has. She also has a brother in 8th grade, and she often has more homework than he has.

 

[gymnastmom05]

I wish we had that option. Ours is worked a little differently at our school where she doesn't have PE all year long, just during one term and then it rotates through a bunch of different "specials". If she didn't take PE, they would put her in one of the other classes. We prefer PE because of two reasons: 1 - she loves exercise so she thinks it's great and 2: PE doesn't have homework! If she could use that period and have a study hall,I would jump all over it but it's not an option at all in our school system. I'm always jealous of those that have more flexibility. Our schools are about as flexible as I am (which is not very!)

 

[Texasmomof3]

I'm in Texas. State law allows credit for "off campus PE" for anyone with at least 15 hours per week activity with adult coaches and training at a high level. We just get a letter from her gym, give it to the district and they work it out. She actually gets to leave school an hour early and they give her credit for last period PE. DD has done this since middle school began (6th grade) and she is now in high school (9th grade)

 

[Mish]

NY, must take gym 3x a week elementary. My daughter is in 5th grade, level 7 and would probably kill me if I tried to take her out of gym class!

 

[twinmomma]

PE Is notoriously difficult to get out of around here. I spoke with the gym teacher on back to school night who was a total jerk and told me that my daughter "is not getting the full breadth of physical education in the gym," as if he has any clue what a Level 7 T&Ter does. She's also playing soccer. I'd love to get her out so she could have an extra period to do homework in. Unfortunately, her PE is 2nd period (6th grade) so it probably wouldn't be much help this year anyway.

 

[ayyyrial]

My school district would only let you get out of PE if you participated in a varsity sport at your high school. So, yeah, gymnastics didn't count, no matter how many hours. I did the mad dash for three years, then finally had a study hall my senior year because I dropped physics (which I could do because I'd already done four years of high school science). Seems counter-intuitive that the district would rather I skip physics than PE, but what do I know.

 

[gymmutti]

No way to get out of PE in my state. In high school, however, they only have to take 1 semester total. We also don't have study hall. It has definitely been tough balancing school and gym since 6th grade but DD is managing a full honors/AP course load and 20+ hrs in the gym. She has become quite adept at doing her homework whenever and wherever she can.
When she was in 4th and 5th grade, she would take her homework to recess and work on it.

 

[FlippinLilysMom]

Wow, we are very lucky! My DD is in 6th grade and leaves school about 2.5 hours early each day, she misses her "elective" courses, none of which need to be made up (PE, health, music, etc..), all of her required classes she gets in the AM, she then goes to lunch and gets out of school right after lunch. All we had to do was meet with her middle school principal last year to discuss her getting early release. We had no issues at all and so far not a lot of homework either.

 

[Flyaway]

I wish we had that option. Ours is worked a little differently at our school where she doesn't have PE all year long, just during one term and then it rotates through a bunch of different "specials". If she didn't take PE, they would put her in one of the other classes. We prefer PE because of two reasons: 1 - she loves exercise so she thinks it's great and 2: PE doesn't have homework! If she could use that period and have a study hall,I would jump all over it but it's not an option at all in our school system. I'm always jealous of those that have more flexibility. Our schools are about as flexible as I am (which is not very!)

Ditto! We have the same situation. Some years she might have PE for one term, or two terms or no terms! She likes it, so we don't get her out of it. She likes showing everyone up in the physical fitness testing.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

NY, must take gym 3x a week elementary. My daughter is in 5th grade, level 7 and would probably kill me if I tried to take her out of gym class!

Yep there is no getting out of gym in NY. Well certainly not without a doctors note.

Ask our son. Who ended up going 5 days a week 2x a day his last year. Because he "elected" not to participate in his earlier years. Only way he was getting a diploma.

We tried to warn him, oh well.

 

[Mish]

This is why I've been told that region six is a little weaker than the other regions. There are less accommodations made for sports and more focus on academics. I don't know the accuracy of this, this is what I have been told.

 

[VanessaJV]

In our process of doing a modified schedule, I was told by others as well as the school there was a lot of things that were not allowed. However, when I took the time to research things myself and went to the district and the school, I was able to get what we needed accomplished. My DD leaves 2.5 hrs early and the school has been quite accommodating. I found homeschooling Moms in my area to be the most helpful. They tended to know all the little rules about hours and school laws that I would never have needed to know about.