Parents Missing practice for homework and tests

[Lilbert]

Hi. Just curious as to what the policy is in your gym regarding missing practice for schoolwork. I am not talking about on a regular basis, but rather maybe once or twice a month. My daughter is in 8th grade and is a level 9. The school workload is tremendous. She manages her time very well. Ever minute not in the gym, including recess and occasionally phys ed period, is dedicated to schoolwork as well as her hours at home. Sometimes it is just not enough. Many of the high school girls experience the same thing. In our gym taking anytime off is greeted with a sarcastic comment and the girls that blow off school (and the ones that don't have the best grades) are the ones that don't get any flack. When did sports trump the importance of school? Education will always come first in our household. We don't demand all A's just that our kids do their best and sometimes they need more time. Just curious if others have the same unreasonable issue.

 

[profmom]

Never an issue with us. DS's coach will let the optional boys come in and practice on a different night if they are particularly crunched on a regular practice night. On both the girls' and boys' side, the coaches expect their athletes to keep up their schoolwork even at the expense of practice.

I'm guessing your gym is also not all that big on gymnasts' continuing to play instruments and therefore be out of gym for the occasional concert or lesson? (Owner and operator of violin and trumpet players here.)

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

Today is my DD's first time ever missing practice due to schoolwork. She is 11th grade level 10. It was not a big deal, she told the coach ahead of time that she has 2 big exams tomorrow. On 1-2 other occasions she left early. some teammates do it more often. The coaches recognize that school comes first.

 

[ascarter1]

Not a problem at our gym! School is first! My dd is lv 8, 7th grade. There have been times I make her sit upstairs until her work is finished/project complete, then she heads to practice.

 

[Seeker]

This isn't an issue for us either -- dd is L9/7th grade and sometimes needs a day off. I don't ask, but rather inform. No one has ever given either of us an issue about it. Sorry that your dd is dealing with that, but I'd just ignore it as much as you can.

 

[UnoMas]

My daughter who is in high school takes a day off for homework when needed. She's done this since 7th grade or so. I try not to let it happen more than once a week, but school comes first. Our coaches have no issues with it.

 

[gymgal]

In dd's gym, it is family and religious obligations first, school second, then gym. The gymnasts tend to miss for major projects and exams but not usually for regular homework. Having said that, I am a firm believer that school should not overtake home hours/life. If she truly is managing her time well (using the weekends to do the majority of work and studying, studying in the car/bus, etc) and she can't keep up with the work then she is getting too much homework.

 

[e'smum]

our HC requires the older girls to share their report cards with him. so, i'm going to guess it's going to be ok with him when it happens.

 

[ascarter1]

our HC requires the older girls to share their report cards with him. so, i'm going to guess it's going to be ok with him when it happens.

I like this!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

our HC requires the older girls to share their report cards with him. so, i'm going to guess it's going to be ok with him when it happens.

I like that coach

 

[Aussie_coach]

It is a concern that the kids have so much homework in 8th grade that they need to skip Gym. I would most certainly not allow my child to skip sports to do school work and homework. Kids in this day and age spend many hours in sedentary pursuits, long school days, hours of homework and so many sedentary leisure activities.

Education is most effective when kids have healthy, happy, well balanced lives. Plenty of research supports the fact that the benefits of doing hours and hours of homework on a students ability to learn are not great, but the benefits of doing an activity like gymnastics where they must coordinate a great deal of cross body movement for their education are well documented.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

It is a concern that the kids have so much homework in 8th grade that they need to skip Gym. I would most certainly not allow my child to skip sports to do school work and homework. Kids in this day and age spend many hours in sedentary pursuits, long school days, hours of homework and so many sedentary leisure activities.

That would depend on how many hours you are in gym.

If you get out of school at three, need to be at gym by 4 and aren't out of gym until 8, then add commuting, dinner, sleep, shower. Exactly when would they be doing homework?

My daughter is in 5th grade, goes to gym 9 hours a week. Has minimal homework, between 45 mins to an hour. We are having to get work early and a head start. There is simply not enough hours on gym days. And I refuse to give up a family meal and her rest.

And it was a battle to get the work ahead from the teacher.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

That would depend on how many hours you are in gym.

If you get out of school at three, need to be at gym by 4 and aren't out of gym until 8, then add commuting, dinner, sleep, shower. Exactly when would they be doing homework?

My daughter is in 5th grade, goes to gym 9 hours a week. Has minimal homework, between 45 mins to an hour. We are having to get work early and a head start. There is simply not enough hours on gym days. And I refuse to give up a family meal and her rest.

And it was a battle to get the work ahead from the teacher.

Crud timed out before I could edit.

Again, 3x a week, I get her from school at 3, home changed, into car to be at gym by 4. Done with gym at 7. Home at 7:30. Dinner until 8-8:15ish. It best if she is in bed by 9:30. Not much time left for homework and shower. And doing homework at 8pm after being in school and gym all day is a recipe for disaster, whining, yelling and general crankiness of the household.

And our schedule is easy compared to a lot of folks/gymmies around here. If the kids are going 20 hours a week, heck yeah I can see getting homework done an issue.

 

[ascarter1]

It is a concern that the kids have so much homework in 8th grade that they need to skip Gym. I would most certainly not allow my child to skip sports to do school work and homework. Kids in this day and age spend many hours in sedentary pursuits, long school days, hours of homework and so many sedentary leisure activities.

Education is most effective when kids have healthy, happy, well balanced lives. Plenty of research supports the fact that the benefits of doing hours and hours of homework on a students ability to learn are not great, but the benefits of doing an activity like gymnastics where they must coordinate a great deal of cross body movement for their education are well documented.

Although I agree with you (and I am an educator) the fact is that if it is assigned to your child, then it is an assignment that must be completed. I am lucky that my 7th grade, lv 8, 20 hours per week daughter has a "study hall" and an hour after school before heading to the gym. She is great at time management, but when there is an assignment that needs to be completed, school comes first. Even if I don't agree with the amount of homework, or the length of time from assigned project to due date, my child will still complete it. What message am I sending to my daughter about authority figures if I talk down about a teacher or his/her requirements.

So, yes, it is dire that our children participate in physical activity because they do spend so much time in school, but I will always support education first!

 

[mommyof1]

Even if I don't agree with the amount of homework, or the length of time from assigned project to due date, my child will still complete it.
...
So, yes, it is dire that our children participate in physical activity because they do spend so much time in school, but I will always support education first!

This. My child's gymnastics "career" might last until she's 17 if she's incredibly lucky and incredibly dedicated, maybe age 21 if she finds a college club program. Her actual career will last at least five decades past that point. Whether or not I agree with her school's homework policy, there's not much I can do to change it, and she needs to get the work done so she can learn the material and get the grades she needs to support her long-term goals for high school, college, graduate school, and career. If that means skipping practice once in a while, or missing a couple weeks of practice during the summer to take advantage of an important enrichment opportunity, so be it.

I have also found that picking her up from practice early to finish homework is a very effective way to motivate her to improve her time management.

 

[kayjaybe]

This is very timely because I might need to take my L8 dd to practice late today so she can finish a school project. She has been working hard at it all semester, but when she saw some presentations yesterday in class, she decided she needed to make some tweaks to hers. She is one of only 2 freshman in a class of seniors and wants to make sure she does well. If she needs to be late to gym or miss it, so be it.

I love our gym's philosophy that they want gymnastics to be an important PART of a girl's life. Not her whole life. Dd has missed gym due to performing in a chorus concert, going to the birthday party of a close friend, and even for trick-or-treating. My kid isn't going to the Olympics or getting a college gymnastics scholarship. Allowing her to take the time to do things she wants to do outside of gym keeps her happy. If she had to give up EVERYTHING for gym, she would likely quit gym.

Now, it sounds like she misses a lot. She doesn't. Maybe 5 practices/year due to another commitment. If the gym had a problem with that, we'd likely be looking for another gym.

 

[OzZee]

I think we down under find it hard to comprehend the amount of homework the us kids get (though similar I think to the private schools here - main reason mine aren't in one)

So year 9 child - activities/works around 25 hours a week (3 afternoons plus Saturday)
Year 7 child - trains 6-7 days but two are only 1.5 hours.
Year 3 child - trains 5 days plus 2 for an extra sport, 20 hours plus the extra.
They all fit their homework in plus social time -(and lol plenty of Instagram time too!!)
But we are looking at a couple of hours a week homework. More studying time at exams for the older girls. Little more homework but a lot is done at school.
Some sxtra weekend assignments.

Personally I don't believe in heaps ofhomework and don't care if mundane stuff is done - but the girls do, so it gets done.
The curriculum can easily be covered in normal school hours. And that's with our basic classes being equivalent to most extension us classes.

 

[OzZee]

One more question?
Is it not possible for people In the US to travel / work/ etc for a couple of years then go to uni as a mature student?
Lots in aus/uk do this, Entry requirements are less stringent and the older students are harder workers.

 

[Texasmomof3]

One more question?
Is it not possible for people In the US to travel / work/ etc for a couple of years then go to uni as a mature student?
Lots in aus/uk do this, Entry requirements are less stringent and the older students are harder workers.

Theoretically, it is possible. Realistically, it doesn't happen often. One reason is cultural; that just isn't how it is often done. But another major reason is cost. University is very expensive here -- we don't have no or low cost college options. And financial aid -- grants and scholarships to help pay the way -- are almost exclusively for students entering university straight out of high school.

Please note those are very general comments and obviously people have exceptions and can show all sorts of deviation. But especially with competitive programs and highly ranked universities, the typical path is to go straight through from high school.

 

[Texasmomof3]

My child misses practice from time to time due to school conflicts. I don't ask; I tell. The coach grumbles; I grumble. But she has never given dd a hard time about it. It is more a frustration with the school situation than frustration with dd or me.