Parents 10 yr old training 20 hours a week during school .. Too much training?

[Gymmom82773]

My daughter will be 11 in September and will be competing level 9 this season . I just found out she's suppose to train 4hours x4 days a week and 5 hours on Saturday totaling 20 hours a week. She has been doing that over the summer but she will be starting a new middle school in the fall . How do I help her manage her time at such a young age and is this normal training hours for her age/level ? Thanks ! This is my first post!!

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I think you will find that training varies considerably from club to club, region to region.

If you look back in the recent but older posts there is one that was people listing hours of training to level and age. You may find that useful.

DD is turning 9 next week, training approx. US L8 and she moved from 16 to 25 hours this summer. It will work for her, but I recognize that perhaps it wouldn't for all kids.

 

[skschlag]

I am not sure if it is normal or not. I know our optionals do the same type schedule and we have a couple as young as 9 that train those hours. But I am not sure what the norm is. (I have a boy, age 11 who trains 15-18 hours a week.)

Welcome to CB!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

20 hours is pretty standard. In time she will learn how to manage her time and homework. If you are given 3 hours to finish a task, you will finish it in 3 hours. If you are given one hour to finish the same task, it gets done in an hour. She will adjust and become more efficient at her studies which will help her in the long run. Just keep an eye on her grades the first 2 months, until she adjusts.

 

[Higgsgirl]

My daughter is a 9 year old level 8 and has trained 24 hours a week since last year. Time management can be an issue but they will adjust as they learn the daily routine. I require her to finish all homework and studying before going into practice. We will likely use PE time and recess this year for extra study time, reading or studying so that leaves less work for after school.

 

[Gymmom82773]

Thanks to everyone ! Maybe I can get her out of gym class so she can have a "study hall" time , that's a great idea !

 

[Gymmom82773]

Her school goes until 2;30 and then her practice is 3:15-7:15 so she really can't get to her homework until 7:45 ( we are 30 minutes away from the gym ) and then there is showering and dinner .. Her bus comes at 6:56am .. That's a long day !!! She never complains and loves her gymnastics team so we will take it one day at a time .

 

[skschlag]

We have a clipboard for D in the car. It is one that has storage for his pencils, and any other supplies. He does a lot of his homework in the car...to and from gym, school etc.

D goes to school from 7:45-3:45 and has work out from 4-6:30 or 7 depending on the day. We get home between 7-7:30 every night, so I feel your pain! that clipboard has been very helpful...or anything like that if she can do stuff in the car.

 

[leotardmakermum]

My daughter finishes at 7:45pm, three nights a week. We have her dinner ready for her (in an insulated food container) to eat in the car on the way home. It saves time, and gets fuel into her again straight away. One less thing to be done when she gets home. Other girls from her squad finish training, then take their dinners brought from home and reheat them in the gym's microwave to eat immediately.

My daughter does all her homework on the days that she does not have training. Fortunately her homework is issued for a week, so she can do it on the days she likes. If she had some issued each day, to be handed in the next day, we'd probably have to see if we could come to some arrangement with her teacher. And given that each year we request a teacher who is supportive of her sporting activities, I would hope this wouldn't be a problem.

She doesn't do any homework in the car. Car journeys are refuelling times for her - she has a really fast metabolism, so has to eat regularly. On the way to gym she eats a second lunch and gets changed. There wouldn't be time to do homework as well!

I guess we all do things a little differently. You just have to be a bit creative with using the time available wisely!

 

[MaryA]

DD goes from school to gym 5 days a week and doesn't get home till 8:45-ish. She is 12 but her schedule was pretty much the same last year too. She is very good at time management, using every free moment to get work done. She does have the option to use gym class as a study hall, but so far she hasn't had to do it, and doesn't want to miss gym class if she can help it. Every year there's the worry that homework will increase a lot (she's in 7th grade but doing 8th grade math, so this year that's my main concern homework-wise) or that a teacher will be less than undertanding, but so far it's worked out. I doubt there are too many 9's out there doing significantly fewer than 20 hours and quite a few doing significanly more.

 

[Flipflopz]

My dd was the same as yours last fall, age 11, lev 9, she was training 24 hrs per week plus doing some ballet. She went to trad school the first half of the yr and homeschooled the second half during meet season

 

[Gymmom82773]

I talked to a friend whose a teacher in my daughters school district and she said they don't allow them to miss gym class until high school . My daughter is very young for 6th grade ( makes the cut off by 2 weeks ) so I always worry about her studies . She is in the advanced math as well ( what is it with gymnast being good at math lol? )

 

[gymgal]

I talked to a friend whose a teacher in my daughters school district and she said they don't allow them to miss gym class until high school

I would still make an official request to the principal and then the next higher up, if he/she says no. It really depends on how the district views their PE program - exercise vs learning to work together on team sports, learning variety of sports, etc. If you know the primary goal, you can tailor the request and reasoning toward that.

 

[Gymmom82773]

I will talk to the principal . I discussed this w my daughter and with it being a new school , she wants to see how her work load in September before doing anything as far as missing gym class . I think I will look into it in the meantime as far as the rules in our district .
I really appreciate everyone's advice !! This is such a great site !!

 

[txgymfan]

Some gymnasts really like gym class in school because it gives them a chance to shine. If the school keeps track many of our CB gymnasts proudly hold records for pull ups, push ups sit ups and sometimes sprints.

 

[skschlag]

Yeah. D looked at me like I was nuts when I suggested taht we could get him out of gym class when he gets to middle school!

 

[Gymmom82773]

She does like gym class and always does excellent at the fitness testing , she runs a mile in 7 minutes ! She did track when she was a level 5 but then had to stop when gym hours increased .

 

[Deleted member D3987]

attsalottahours...

 

[kitkat]

My dd was in CPN (like US L8) age 10 and she trained 25 hrs. Her gym ended at 8:30. 30 mins drive home I went into the school at the beginning of the year and gave them her gym schedule and talked about home work expectations
Initially they were hesitant but once they realized she was a good student they were very supportive. Her work work was not due for a week when given to her. She missed all of her social studies (just the way that the classes fell). Her teacher took her out of gym class one week and then moved her to another class for social studies. Ten another week would change her social studies to morning.
Her school was awesome. They would announce when she was going on a competition and how she placed when she got back. She is in a big school of 1200 kids but still took the time to recognize her
I am sure the school will help make it work.
Good luck

 

[GymMom1919]

We are at 19 hrs level 7. My daughter is 9