Parents Summer

[mariposa]

You know, before starting to read the Chalk Bucket I really had no idea how other gyms do things and it seemed normal to me that the whole team trains together during the summer (we have a small team - around 30 girls and 3 team coaches). Now I see other options. On the other hand, I find that if my little one (7 years old, about to join the team May 1st) had fewer hours during the summer she would be too bored with the rest of the time. It also works great for me because my older one (10 years old training level 8) will have the same hours, which means less driving back and forth and being able to do things together after gym.

My older DD was about the same age going into level 5 and had no problems dealing with the amount of hours in the summer, so hopefully little DD will be the same way....

I actually like how the team trains together, great for bonding, giving the girls is compulsories a reason to work hard to get to optionals, etc, it is just the 25 hours a week that would bother me. LOL. Though I guess with lunch it is only about 20 hours.

We just got our summer schedule also. DD will have surfing twice a week, water skiing and wake boarding 3 times a week and play dates, sleepovers and swimming in the pool on weekends. We're all getting a little burned out with gymnastics and can't wait for the summer to begin.

I want THAT summer schedule. It is soo hot here during the summer and with no water except pools, our schedule consists of going swimming, going to the splash pad at the park and going to indoor play places (indoor mini golf, indoor fun center), etc. I actually HATE summer because it is soooooo HOT here. Ugh.

 

[bogwoppit]

We just got our summer schedule also. DD will have surfing twice a week, water skiing and wake boarding 3 times a week and play dates, sleepovers and swimming in the pool on weekends. We're all getting a little burned out with gymnastics and can't wait for the summer to begin.

We are on the same plan, my girls gym does not have team training from May20th until September. They can go to the summer camp if they want but they like the break and tend to go when their friends are going to be there. Otherwise it's the lake or the pool and a lot of family thrown in as we live in the home town.

 

[nettyinpa]

But do you find that with parents working and other committments the kids can't always make the day training.

Thankfully there's a girl on dd's team that lives along my drive in to work. It's great, I either drop dd off at her house or at the gym, depending on what time they start. Then, her mom takes dd home with them, the girls go swimming or just hang out at their house until I'm done with work. They also sign up for other types of camps, like theater camp, science camp, etc. So, the girls are never bored.

We still don't have our summer schedule and probably won't until late May. I'm hoping it's the same as the level 6 schedule last year which, I believe, was 4 days a week, 8-1 or 2. Plus, they have camp the whole month of July which they have to attend. That is 9-4 every day, I think.

I'll worry more about the summer once Sectionals and States are over!

 

[mkr10]

I actually like how the team trains together, great for bonding, giving the girls is compulsories a reason to work hard to get to optionals, etc, it is just the 25 hours a week that would bother me. LOL. Though I guess with lunch it is only about 20 hours.

Yes, you are right about the lunch break...I think it's almost an hour + they try to do some fun stuff as well so it's not all serious gymnastics all the time. The girls really like it and they usually have playdates and sleepovers at each other's houses right after gym.

At least I know that little DD will be well prepared for her level 4 season, which starts in September. When older DD was going into level 4 they didn't move the girls up in May but only in September, so she didn't get to train with the team prior to September. She went to regular day camp and only did the last two weeks of August at the gym (12 hours a week). "Lucky" for her that was the season when the compulsory routines and music changed. Needless to say, the beggining of her season was rough. Actaully something that you wrote about different coaches telling Abby different things rang a bell. I remember her coming home and saying that each coach was telling her something different and she was confused and didn't know what to do. It took a while untill all the coaches were on the same page about what the new routines were supposed to look like. She was also 6 years old at the time.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

My daughters gym also trains 5 days for 41/2 hours except one day is in the evening so I think it is around 20 hours. This is expected of all of them if they want to be on the team in the fall so they really do not have a choice. The team is small and they all practice together so they really bond together and have a good time even though they are working hard. This will be my daughters 2nd year who just turned 9 and I was not sure how she would be last year but she really enjoyed it and I saw a huge difference during meet season this year she did really well. They also will have 2 weeks of all day camp that other kids not on the team can also attend. They have a little over a week off at the end of summer before they go back to school.

 

[mtbmom]

This is interesting. Our gym does not move girls up until September when the fall schedule starts. They train over the summer and based on what skills they have, the decisions are made as to what level they compete. BTW we start competing in Dec with states in May.

That's how our gym does it. DD will find out in September whether she will compete level 4 or level 5. We have the camp schedule for July which is M-Th 8-3ish with a show for parents on Th night. Her schedule for June and August will be 4 days for 3 hours but we don't know which days - no weekends though. I'm sure we'll find out soon, but not soon enough.

 

[Ingwe]

I am new here but wanted to comment on the summer schedule. They always wait until the very last minute to give us our summer schedule and it drives me crazy. I have to rearrange my whole work schedule and it would be nice if I had more then a week's notice to do it. I love how most of your gyms give out the scheduel early.

BTW, my dd is a new level 6. Last summer she went 4 days a week (4 hrs per day) so I assume she'll be at least that but more likely 5 days.

 

[Mom2Brats]

Ours are 13 hrs a week. Mon-Thurs 1:00-4:00 or 4:30, depending on the day. The building doesn't have air condiitoning so I'm wondering if dd's enthusiasm is going to hold up all summer.