Parents Meets on School days!

[Monkeygirlsmom]

for dd's first meet She will miss a day of school (if she had a ton under her belt no way woudl I let her. anyhow what is your take on kids getting out of school.

 

[bogwoppit]

We have missed a Friday to travel to a meet sometimes. I would not be happy if meets were actually scheduled on a school day though. How many other meets will she have to attend, if you are talking about 6+ meets she could probably afford to skip a meet. Our girls only do 3 meets in their season and they all count towrads qualifying so it is hard to skip.

Our school doesn't mind as long as the grades are good, we have many elite skiers at our school who only do 3 days a week during the winter, they do fine academically, though it is their job to catch up.

 

[Flippers Mom]

Missing school

what is your take on kids getting out of school.

We try to avoid missing school for anything, but have found that as Flipper progresses through the levels, she misses school more and more often. She is in 5th grade, (and and moved up to middle school) this year, so we set up a meeting with the principal, her homeroom teacher and the school counselor. We talked about gymnastics and explained that she would be missing school on occasion. They were all very positive and explained that they have found that kids that are involved in other activities do better in school. We all agreed that we would let them know when she was going to be gone as early as possible - and it is her/our responsibility to make sure she makes up everything she misses. Of course, if she falls behind in school or her grades drop, gymnastics would be cut back and there would be no missing school. Fortunately, Flipper is very self-disciplined (a great by-product of gymnastics) and excels at school.

 

[MdGymMom01]

So far, Dani hasn't had to miss any school because of gymnastics or meets. But, when she was doing competitive cheer she often had to miss Fridays and/or Mondays due to travel and many of the comps were 2 day competitions out of state. I am actually glad that we are not doing that anymore because that was exhausting!!!!

 

[NotAMom]

Careful... You are touching a hot button!

I don't know how it is elsewhere but here in the states it seems to me that often academics takes a backseat (at least equal grounds) to any sport/activity at any level. As you well know, this is not unique to gymnastics and it's definitely not limited to grade school. Frequently, you'll find school schedules working around sporting events.

What burns me is when, on top on a Friday early start time, L4 is scheduled for Sunday evening at a location that is ways away from any other town nearby. We have one in this state that does optionals on Friday (morning or evening) and L4s on Sunday (often evening). For us, it's a moderate 3+ hour drive. Last year, when both of our girls were competing (L4/L7), wife and I had to split up so that the two didn't have to miss two and a half days of school. Of course, we ended up having to pay the extra nights of hotel stay no matter what.

Anyhow, back on topic, we typically have to miss a day or two in a school year for each sport/activity. We generally just go along since we sort of know about these in advance.

 

[momof5]

My DD has only had to miss one day for gymnastics so far. I am one of those parents who has no problem with it. School is important and my kids know that, but its not everything.

 

[nettyinpa]

My DD has only had to miss one day for gymnastics so far. I am one of those parents who has no problem with it. School is important and my kids know that, but its not everything.

I feel the same way. If my dd wasn't a straight A student I'd have to turn down the travel meets. We have one in January (5-6 hour drive) where I think she will compete on Friday. So, we'll miss school on Thursday and Friday. I'll be sending a note along to the school in the next couple of weeks so it can be approved. Never had a problem before and I don't think I will now. It's not the norm so a couple days won't hurt.

 

[taximom]

I support the idea that not all learning occurs in a classroom.

My daughter misses quite a bit of school for gymnastics but also for family holidays. It is her responsibility to stay caught up and she is also a straight A student.

My son is a swimmer and he often has meets that start on Fridays during school time.

 

[NotAMom]

I support the idea that not all learning occurs in a classroom.

That's true but it's not a good way to justify missing school at will. A kid should never have to be yanked out of school due to an "irrelevant" sports event (if you think your kid is going to the Olympics, we'll talk elsewhere).

Kids need to get out more but that's what after school, 2-day weekends, holidays, breaks (both long and short) and field-trips are for. In NA, school days are already fewer than most countries'. And, most of our students do not have homework starting on Fridays.

Even for those who are getting straight A's, there is always more to be learned while staying in school to catch up with the rest of the world. Think of it this way... Are you just as happy to have your child to take days off from the gym and attend extra school/tutoring sessions to pick up even better grades? Or say if your kid isn't caught up with the best grades (say < A average), would you skip a meet to stay home to study.

Again just to be clear, we also pull our kids out for meets and such but we don't do it willingly and we don't agree with the general idea. And yes, we make sure our kids are way more than ready to pick up the school subjects upon return far before the meet even begins.

 

[nevertooold]

We have homeschooled all along (family beliefs, not for gymnastics...) so have no trouble missing "school" for a competition. Have never had to so far, though.

 

[taximom]

That's true but it's not a good way to justify missing school at will. A kid should never have to be yanked out of school due to an "irrelevant" sports event (if you think your kid is going to the Olympics, we'll talk elsewhere).

Kids need to get out more but that's what after school, 2-day weekends, holidays, breaks (both long and short) and field-trips are for. In NA, school days are already fewer than most countries'. And, most of our students do not have homework starting on Fridays.

Even for those who are getting straight A's, there is always more to be learned while staying in school to catch up with the rest of the world. Think of it this way... Are you just as happy to have your child to take days off from the gym and attend extra school/tutoring sessions to pick up even better grades? Or say if your kid isn't caught up with the best grades (say < A average), would you skip a meet to stay home to study.

Again just to be clear, we also pull our kids out for meets and such but we don't do it willingly and we don't agree with the general idea. And yes, we make sure our kids are way more than ready to pick up the school subjects upon return far before the meet even begins.

She's definitely not headed to the Olympics! My daughter loves the sport and has learned numerous lessons that will serve her well lifelong. Perseverance, how to face fears, hard work, poise, presentation, respect for coaches, dedication, commitment, and sacrifice.

I don't consider going to a meet missing school at will. I think it is something you prepare for and learn from. In Ontario we only have 3-5 meets a year depending on whether you qualify. We also live in SW Ontario and most of our meets require a 3 hour drive at minimum in winter.

I think we both agree kids need to get out more and have varied experiences. I also think that can look different in different families without one being right and the other wrong.

I also agree that our NA school system could be improved. I agree that there is always more to be learned but the reality is that in our school often my daughter has completed her work and then is left with nothing else to do. She often helps other students in the class who struggle which I believe is a good thing. However an extra challenge here or there is also good. This of course is teacher dependent as each teacher has their own style. I wish they would spend less time on the political stuff and more time ensuring strong basics.

As for missing gym to go to a tutor to get better grades, or missing a meet to study if it was necessary I'd have to consider it as an option although an unlikely one. I have brought her into school early on a couple of occasions last year to go over a lesson she had missed at her teacher's request.

I agree that the best case practice would be that no child misses school for athletic or recreational purposes. However optimistic I typically am, the reality is that it isn't always possible for varying reasons.

In my experience I have noticed that the families who are usually upset by the missing school thing are the ones where both parents work full-time and would need to take time off work to get their child to the meet. I'm sure that would be very inconvenient and not always possible. I know this is a touchy subject but remember I said typically and in my experience.

 

[NotAMom]

As indicated by my reply, I told you it's a hot button for me!

Anyhoo, my gripe is on the general attitude towards school and how to many in our society education is viewed as secondary. When I talked about sport schedules are being worked around by classes in school, I was also talking about school sponsored sports where the school officials are also the ones to blame. All in all, it just sends the wrong message to our children.

Often children think sports is where the future is. They confuse what a person is as an athlete with what he/she is as a person. We have quite a few younger members here in CB who just blindly idolize one particular world class gymnast even after she ditched school to pursue fame (at least at the time).

I have heard way too many times from kids to whom sports scholarship is their only goal (in gymnastics or otherwise). So, they practically devote their entire childhood towards pursuing one. Of course, what many of them don't (want to) recognize is that if they put in a fraction of the hard work into the school work (which is nearly risk free) they will more than likely yield the same reward. (our HC from another sport has learned from that mistake now that he's a father of his own).

 

[Bobby]

I don't want to annoy our friend notamom, but I must admit being slightly amused by this thread. I suspect that we southerners don't have as much devotion to education generally speaking as some other cultures.
Unless US schools are way better than Oz schools (always possible ), I really think very few students are disadvantaged by having days off school here and there. Even when kids get to the very senior level (ie: last 2 years of school), it does seem perfectly possible to plan for some absences and make up for some unplanned ones without meaningful disadvantage.
In a sport like gymnastics I think a month off sport would be much harder to catch up than a month off school.
I personally think a parent would have to be pretty certain that the disadvantage (of missing a specific day or two of school) outweighed the disadvantage of missing out on other meaningful parts of their (team and sporting) life.
But then my DD is a beginner and I haven't been faced with the actuality of this scenario, so do feel free to ignore me.

 

[taximom]

As indicated by my reply, I told you it's a hot button for me!

Anyhoo, my gripe is on the general attitude towards school and how to many in our society education is viewed as secondary. When I talked about sport schedules are being worked around by classes in school, I was also talking about school sponsored sports where the school officials are also the ones to blame. All in all, it just sends the wrong message to our children.

Often children think sports is where the future is. They confuse what a person is as an athlete with what he/she is as a person. We have quite a few younger members here in CB who just blindly idolize one particular world class gymnast even after she ditched school to pursue fame (at least at the time).

I have heard way too many times from kids to whom sports scholarship is their only goal (in gymnastics or otherwise). So, they practically devote their entire childhood towards pursuing one. Of course, what many of them don't (want to) recognize is that if they put in a fraction of the hard work into the school work (which is nearly risk free) they will more than likely yield the same reward. (our HC from another sport has learned from that mistake now that he's a father of his own).

I certainly agree with you that education is and should be the the highest priority for children. I think where we may disagree is what that looks like.

I also agree that there is danger in athletes seeing their identity in being an athlete as opposed to a person who enjoys sport as one aspect of who they are. Especially in a sport that has so many young athletes. For this reason my daughter has always pursued other interests in addition to gymnastics. She does ballet and tap, has been in a musical, does monitoring at school and participates in our church activities.

I also think keeping lines of communication open with our children helps to shape our children's role models. Ask them why they admire that person. Remind them that World class gymnasts are often just children 16-20 years of age. Talk with them about what the pressure would be like that comes with the "fame".

In Canada we don't focus on NCAA scholarships like you do in the US. In general Canada does not invest in it's sporting programs to the degree that the US does. I totally agree that if you are involved in any sport solely for the purpose of trying to a scholarship you should spend that time studying and improving your grades instead.

 

[emorymom]

I don't understand the problem with missing 5 or so days of school a year for gymnastics which is all we're generally talking about, right? If you had a child who was sick 5 more days per school year than their sibling, would you worry? I can't imagine I would. That's not missing much school.

I "flexi educate" aka home school my kids, so for us it is a non issue. When we leave for a travel meet on a Friday morning this year, they will miss a swim workout and my daughter will miss a few hours of ballet. They are "off" academics two days a week, and it doesn't really matter which days those are; for that matter, they can do all their work on long car ride if need be. It seems like schooled kids could do this as well with planning.

 

[Mom2Gymgirls]

We usually have to miss one day of school per year to attend our home meet. The place that they hold this meet has limited hours on Sunday, so the meet starts on friday every year. I don't mind dd missing a day or so of school each year, but I'm not crazy about having to take a vacation day from work for this.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

I will be taking ALex out of school early next Friday to travel to Kansas City for a meet. Its about 4 hours from us so I don't want to wait till she is out or we won't get there early enough to relax and stuff before bed. We are not in the earliest session however another mom that is riding with us her DD is in the early session. I guess as long as her grades are good I don't have a problem taking her out. I have already let her teacher know so any work that she may have can be given to her early so she can complete it.

 

[UnoMas]

We've missed two days this year so far and while I don't love it, the absences are excused as long as we have a note from the coach, because other kids miss school for school-sponsored activities/sports.

My DD is also a straight A student in the gifted/talented program and so far she is doing ok keeping up but if those grades ever suffered due to gym that would be it and we would be done. But for her, gymnastics is a motivator to GET work done so, so far everything is ok.

I am hoping we don't have to miss any more school this year. We have 6 meets left and all are in-state and 2 are in town! Fingers crossed!!!

 

[bookworm]

When my daughter competed Level 8, ALL of her meets were on Fridays!! It was kind of a new concept to me but it worked out. As she moved up in levels , her meets tended to be on Saturdays but we had to travel to get there (i.e. fly out on a Friday). At Nationals, everything starts on a Thursday so I guess it's just expected that you'll be there so we are... One year, my daughter missed 21 days of school for gym...and her principal was fine with it because she was a great student and was proactive on getting her work done.

 

[cathiann]

Beth misses a few days of school each year for a travel meet--and Sami did as well when she was on club team--I have no problem with it. If she was struggling in school, maybe I'd feel differently, but I think they need all different experiences--and a travel gymnastics meet is one of those experiences. No, she's not headed for the Olympics--but her doing her best in the sport is worth missing a day here or there. The school has never said anything about it--of course I've never asked either--just said we were.

We've had meets scheduled for Fridays--especially on travel meets--but nothing on other weekdays (late Sundays do happen though).