This can’t be overstated. My daughter is 4 grades ahead (and on track to finish HS at 11 or so) and she spends nowhere near a normal amount of time on school. Sure, she’s smart but school is a very inefficient delivery method for learning — and I say that as a university professor.
For Parents Training hours during school time.
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A few missed hours of school per week probably won't damage your overall education. I just don't like the implication.
If there is a ongoing time conflict and you have to choose, the one you choose to miss is the one you care least about imo. I would never put gym above school in that way. This does not apply to homeschoolers or kids on alternate schedules.
If there is a ongoing time conflict and you have to choose, the one you choose to miss is the one you care least about imo. I would never put gym above school in that way. This does not apply to homeschoolers or kids on alternate schedules.
Very well said. That is where I am at aswell. I dont actually worry about her falling behind I worry about the message it is sending.
I think the message depends on how this situation is presented to your child. "Your practice schedule changed to during school one day a week, I tried to get them to reconsider, but they won't. This means that if you want to go to all the practices, you will need to do the school work you miss at another time and stay at your grade level." Is a different message than "You can miss school for gymnastics, no matter the consequences, because gymnastics is more important." Problem solving this issue with your child is a learning exercise in itself.
My priority for my kids has always been learning, not "education." To me this means things like learning to think critically, to problem solve, to reason, to apply logic to an issue, as well as developing the ability to function within and be an asset to a group. Developing resiliency and what is currently called "growth mindset" but used to be known as a "can do attitude" is also important. It is also necessary, of course, to acquire facts and skills, but that is not all there is. Learning on this wider scale potentially happens in any environment, so a decision like this depends on the child's abilities and attitude as well as what kind of learning is happening in the various environments (gym, school and home.)
I want to be clear I do not think there is any right or wrong decision here. I am just offering the other perspective. It might well be much better for your child to miss gym that day rather than school. I have no idea how much missing this one day of practice a week is going to matter to your child's gymnastics. It may be that this missed day is not much of an issue at all. Another possible solution to consider as you problem solve together might be for your daughter to think how she can work extra hard on the days she is in the gym to make up for the missed practice, or maybe there is an open gym she can attend on a weekend, or whatever. It might be smart to discuss these options, as it teaches that whatever decision is made, there are trade offs and compromises. This is a good life lesson.
So this doesn't impact me as my kids are homeschooled (for non-gymnastics reasons), but I can see how this schedule would be pure frustration! I seriously have no clue how many of these kids manage a full gym schedule and getting up super early for 7-8 hours of school. My daughter (8) gets home from practice after 9 three days a week....she would never be able to function if she had to be to school at seven. We don't start our kids school day until 930, so they can get sleep.
My statement was just that it would not be an option on the school's end. You do not get to make those arrangements here and it is not in most people's mindset. No judgement.
So my daughter competed level 4 this year and it was our first time competing (our gym doesn't do levels 1-3), I still feel like a newbie to the competitive gymnastics world so please take my opinion with that in mind.
I see level 4 as a beginner level (of course that is probably because of how our gym does things) so I can't imagine missing school or changing school schedule for just level 4. It seems way too much for that level.
I am so glad that we are at a gym that wants children to still be able to be children. My daughter had to leave practice early Saturday for a friends birthday party and her coach was totally supportive, even to the point of talking my daughter into being ok with it. Granted, my 8yr old is not on the elite path (yet, I beleive we still have time for that if she wants it)... but I just think it is easy to put too much on these young athletes.
I see level 4 as a beginner level (of course that is probably because of how our gym does things) so I can't imagine missing school or changing school schedule for just level 4. It seems way too much for that level.
I am so glad that we are at a gym that wants children to still be able to be children. My daughter had to leave practice early Saturday for a friends birthday party and her coach was totally supportive, even to the point of talking my daughter into being ok with it. Granted, my 8yr old is not on the elite path (yet, I beleive we still have time for that if she wants it)... but I just think it is easy to put too much on these young athletes.
I feel like we're missing a piece of the story here. It seems absurd to me to have a level 4 team practicing during school hours, but maybe she's in a fast-track group aimed at elite training? In that case, you may just need to switch your mindset. It's not uncommon for kids on that track to miss quite a bit of school. The family just decides they're going to put everything into the gymnast's dream and find a schooling solution that fits with gym. If this is truly just training level 4, then your gym has some unrealistic expectations.
It's a progressive level 4-6 group. My understanding it's the path to elite(if you impress them obviously). Theres a JO level 3-5 group that has a more reasonable schedule. Honestly I would be happy with her in that group but my daughter wants her shot at being on the best team. So basically she will compete as a 4 but start learning 5/6skills. If she has a great summer of training they will put her at 6 depending how the summer goes. I could be wrong but that is my understanding of how our gym operates. She went to excel after first day of rec 2 years ago, so 1 year of excel, most of it we were locked down doing zoom. Then this year she was level 3 in the JO lvl 3-5 group. I love her gym amd coaches, I understand training at a high level will have sacrifices but waa hoping that would be a couple years away. I'm thinking we will do 1 day class a week them during comp season go every other week or do privates to make up lost training hours.
I suppose it depends on what the school class is doing during that time frame. What subject(s) is she missing? We homeschooled (not for gymnastics reasons) so I come from the point of view that learning can take place in many forms, environments, and at different times than the prescribed "school day". Of course, your school would need to be OK with this arrangement. Our school district would never have allowed this. Not even getting out just 30 minutes early.
As to why this is happening - I understand that an empty gym with less numbers in the training group provides a better training environment but frankly, I think the gyms/coaches also want to see which families are fully committed/invested. They willing to modify school schedules, have the ability to get the gymnast to the gym in the middle of the day (usually messing with their own work schedule), pay more for training (usually has more hours than the other groups), etc.
As to why this is happening - I understand that an empty gym with less numbers in the training group provides a better training environment but frankly, I think the gyms/coaches also want to see which families are fully committed/invested. They willing to modify school schedules, have the ability to get the gymnast to the gym in the middle of the day (usually messing with their own work schedule), pay more for training (usually has more hours than the other groups), etc.
Totally agree,part this feels like a test to see how far we as parents are willing to go lol.
You are making the right decision. Not sure why any coach would ask that of an athlete. We have had numerous club kids come back to HS team over the years when their grades were starting to suffer (not to mention social relationships) from missing out on everything. You need to balance academic and social well-being with gymnastics progression.
Our gym offers several options for classes (day, afternoon, twice daily, evening) but if the child wants to be in one of the day classes, they must be homeschooled or attend the gym academy. I would think if your gym has the class during school hours, they expect that the gymnast is not in a traditional school. I definitely wouldn't allow my daughter to miss school every week if she was in a public school. I don't think schools around here would even allow that. When my daughter decided she wanted to go a more advanced route and take on a lot more hours, we switched her to homeschool so her school schedule could be worked around her gym schedule. Is homeschool an option? If not, I would say miss that class but hopefully you can figure something out. Good luck!
Absolutely 100% would not let my kid miss school for developmental level gymnastics practice. Also, are there rules in your state about missing hours of schooling? My DD1 had appendicitis the first week of school, then COVID, a stomach bug, missed some days due to us traveling, and I got a notice from our school that I could be fined up to $1000 and spend 180 days in jail due to my daughter’s absenteeism. In my state, days missed and any time they leave early counts against hours missed and parents can be reported to local law enforcement for truancy. Why would your gym put parents in that position?
That is interesting, and might be specific to your district. I *think* I am in the same state, and my son missed 22 days one year, and left at noon daily for 3 years, with no issues. Never a letter or anything. He did have a psychomotor gifted plan, so maybe that was the difference, but it was never a problem.
It likely is by district. We have a state law regarding attendance but each district also has their own policies. Where we are, if a middle/high schooler misses more than 4 classes in any 9wk session, they fail the course. There are appeals for health but not for anything else so it would be nearly impossible to have a child leave early weekly. But I know other districts in the state have policies that allow for more flexibility
I have to say, we were really lucky. our district has a lot of athletes that are on alternative schedules, and they have been great to work with . Plus our state has the psychomotor gifted category, which allows kids to be on a gifted plan, which will give them more leeway with them.
My district allows students to leave early every day and do cyber school for classes they miss which is typically 2. Maybe something like this could be an option if you really want her to get to all of those practices. If she is going to continue down the more advanced track at your gym, leaving school early will probably be the norm so I'd consider what to do going forward.
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They offer cyber classes for elementary students or just high school? That is super awesome I know we dont have anythi g like that here for elementary. I am more than om with her doing 12hrs but my daughter isnt lol.
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