Parents Taking a step back

[ellabella]

Well, your child is a sample of one. And, I have also seen other children having the same ability (as I have already indicated). However, you still cannot expect all 4 yos to have the same focus. It's one's choice to send a child that young to a class (let alone a developmental class) but no expectation in terms of performance should be had. I can point you to numerous sources from other professional instructors and coaches that would side with me on this (as I'm sure you could to support you as well).

And, let's play nice here. IMHO, "immature" is an acceptable description for children less focus than yours but calling them "incapable" is so inappropriate.

Also, no one (certainly not me) is disputing your child's ability and interest. It's just that when she is at home she wants to tumble (or whatnot) at free will and in class when things are in an organized fashion she doesn't. Maybe she just isn't ready for a class setting in sports yet. Nothing's wrong with that from where I'm sitting.

It's never ceases to amaze me how things can be misread in print and misunderstood. I wasn't calling any child incapable. I was saying that it is true that some children are incapable of of standing still, paying attention etc at 4 years old. As in they are not capable of doing so at this age. There is nothing not nice about that statement unless you are choosing to read something else into.

I don't expect anything of my child performance wise. I expect her to follow the rules. If you are taking anything else from the post you are either misreading or misunderstanding. DD has been in several organized classes and done just fine. I'm not concerned about her ability to function in such a setting.

 

[starmaker]

ellabella,

I understand what you are saying. I've struggled with the same things before with my dd (especially when she was 4 and 5 years old). All children are different and capable of different things. If the expectation are all the same across the board for all children regardless of ability than that child will be short changed.

My dd at 4 yo old acted very mature, focused for her age. Of course like any other child, regardless of age, had her moments but for the most could handle a 2 hour class at 4 yo without any problems. At her very first gym they placed her in an approriate ability class (developmental) but expected very little to nothing from her. She wanted the correction but they just wouldn't do it. As a result she started losing focus, motivation and began to complain about going to gym. At 4.5yo I swithced her to a gym that would forget she was 4.5 years old. Expected her to do what some upper level older girls did. And she surprised them more often than not. She rose to the occassion and loved every minute of it. Unfortuantely this gym eventually disregarded her age completely and expected too much from her and I had to put my foot down (too many hours in the gym mostly). I had the hardest time finding a gym that would cater to her training ability yet keep in mind her age eventhough she carries herself like a much older girl. Expectation carries a lot of weight when talking about coaching and bringing out the best out of your gymnast. Not all children are motivated the same way etc.

Hope you find a resolution. Maybe my experience can help you in some way.