Parents Asking for adjustments to school schedule

[alsmom]

My ds is late nearly every day, and that is with getting dressed and eating in the car. He gets out of school at 3:45 (meaning they start down the stairs then) and we have gym at 4. Next year will get easier, but that is what we do for now.

Dd was late to each weekday practice last year, too. I didn't see a need to pull her out early at level 3. As she gets older if opportunities arise that require some flexible scheduling I would be open to it.

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

I think it is easy to send the message that gym is more important than school if you are willing to take her out of part of school for gym. Our actions speak volumes and this move would certainly show her you support her ambition as a gymnast, as long as you can carefully show your same support with her ambitions as a student.

Interesting. While DD is a good student, I never considered what pulling her might suggest to her. Starting this week, I will pull her an hour early three days a week, in addition to the Friday afternoons she has missed for the last two years. It was a tough decision for DH and I to do this, but the coaches suggested it always works out for their athletes - all L8 and up do this, but I was concerned as she is only going into grade 4. I will however, have to Talk to DD to make sure she knows that the priority is school. Thanks.

 

[OwlGalLiz]

I know it's not possible for everyone, but there were enough of us at my son's level that we asked to push back practice 15 min. Otherwise several of us would be late every time. We ended up half hour from original start time (better for rec. classes vs team practice and gym flow) and its working. The boys get off the bus, I have snacks ready, and we go.

 

[bookworm]

Interesting. While DD is a good student, I never considered what pulling her might suggest to her. Starting this week, I will pull her an hour early three days a week, in addition to the Friday afternoons she has missed for the last two years. It was a tough decision for DH and I to do this, but the coaches suggested it always works out for their athletes - all L8 and up do this, but I was concerned as she is only going into grade 4. I will however, have to Talk to DD to make sure she knows that the priority is school. Thanks.

It's funny but I never considered this either because I never saw it as "suggesting gym was more important than school" ....my kids know school is important and they know that to be successful in life , it helps to be educated .We never deferred any schoolwork with our alternate schedule and in fact, they were more proactive about the work that needed to be done. I remember when we started our alternate schedule in elementary school , we had a very wise principal who said to me "there's plenty of down time in the school day and we'll just pack it all into the end of the day for Susie so she can leave early...she'll get her classwork done in the first 5 hours of the day" ...and that was it, no drama, no begging, no suggestion that we didn't prioritize our child's education...

 

[kimute]

Thank you to everyone for your advice! We had our meeting with DDs second grade teacher today and it was fantastic! She was very understanding, excited about DDs gymnastics, and wanting to make the school/gym/lack of exhaustion combo. work for our DD. She agreed to let DD leave early on Friday for her special practice, miss PE on days where it falls at the beginning or end of school, and also be flexible about homework-- either not doing some or keeping it over the weekend. It helped that she recognized DD as academically strong and responsible (as most gymnasts seem to be...). Everyone's advice was very useful. We took this very seriously-- DH and I both went to the meeting and the teacher. The teacher is informing our DD directly about these changes-- letting her know that this is a joint decision by teacher and parents. I also plan to talk with the PE teacher-- perhaps together with my DD. Thank you all. This was more than I could have hoped for and am thrilled that my DD will not only get to attend her special practice, but now has some adjustments to her schedule that will make her a better rested gymnast and student!

 

[momto8in10]

One of our team moms wanted to get her girl out, early, one day a week. There is an afternoon training session that the HS'd girls go to, but only 3 girls use it, so it is a lot more one-on-one. Mom approached the Principal asking if she could take her out 90 minutes early, one day a week, and call it PE, and he shot her down, flat. Said it was against state rules, with the minimum # of hours that the students needed to attend.
Hope it works better for you!