new_gym_mom
Proud Parent
- Jan 16, 2025
- 1
- 0
Our daughter is five years and two months old. She started to learn gymnastics for half a year without attending any classes before. Neither her father nor I have gymnastics experience, so we didn't teach her anything in advance. She said she likes gymnastics very much, mainly because she can only play with the horizontal bar in gymnastics class. The coach was happy to show us that she can even do the required moves on the horizontal bar for seven-year-olds easily. But obviously, gymnastics is not just about the horizontal bar! Her problem is that she doesn't like to practice items she is not good at.
We live in Germany, and five-year-olds are required to participate in several competitions, the first of which is a "standard test" including skipping, climbing, leg stretching, etc., which will be held in a month. We are required to practice at home every day. But we are really frustrated because there has been no progress in skipping for two months: she obviously hasn't mastered the key. When she is in good condition, she can exceed the requirements of the competition, but more often she can only jump two or three.
She is a child with a more childish personality than her age, and the other children are at least four or five months older than her. It is obvious that other parents in the club are very experienced in gymnastics and can guide their children, so many children seem to be better than our daughter, or at least more obedient. Our daughter cares a lot about other people's comments and is not very confident. She often refuses to practice movements that she thinks she can't do because of lack of confidence. In the past six months, she has finally made great progress in leg stretching and handstands. But she really can't find the rhythm and feeling when skipping rope. Similarly, in sit-ups, maybe because her head is really big, it is difficult for her to get up by herself without holding her feet. Now every practice at home has become very frustrating, and it can even be said that our parent-child relationship has been seriously damaged. Especially on some tiring nights after a whole day of work, sometimes I can't control myself when she only practices skipping rope for a few minutes and says she is tired and doesn't want to practice because of frustration.
Deep down I believe this is just a temporary problem: everyone can eventually learn to skip rope and do sit-ups. She might just need more time (that she doesn't have before the competition!). However, I really need some advice: How can we adjust so that our daughter is willing to continue practicing these things that she is not good at?
Thanks very much for any advice!!
We live in Germany, and five-year-olds are required to participate in several competitions, the first of which is a "standard test" including skipping, climbing, leg stretching, etc., which will be held in a month. We are required to practice at home every day. But we are really frustrated because there has been no progress in skipping for two months: she obviously hasn't mastered the key. When she is in good condition, she can exceed the requirements of the competition, but more often she can only jump two or three.
She is a child with a more childish personality than her age, and the other children are at least four or five months older than her. It is obvious that other parents in the club are very experienced in gymnastics and can guide their children, so many children seem to be better than our daughter, or at least more obedient. Our daughter cares a lot about other people's comments and is not very confident. She often refuses to practice movements that she thinks she can't do because of lack of confidence. In the past six months, she has finally made great progress in leg stretching and handstands. But she really can't find the rhythm and feeling when skipping rope. Similarly, in sit-ups, maybe because her head is really big, it is difficult for her to get up by herself without holding her feet. Now every practice at home has become very frustrating, and it can even be said that our parent-child relationship has been seriously damaged. Especially on some tiring nights after a whole day of work, sometimes I can't control myself when she only practices skipping rope for a few minutes and says she is tired and doesn't want to practice because of frustration.
Deep down I believe this is just a temporary problem: everyone can eventually learn to skip rope and do sit-ups. She might just need more time (that she doesn't have before the competition!). However, I really need some advice: How can we adjust so that our daughter is willing to continue practicing these things that she is not good at?
Thanks very much for any advice!!
