I don't mind month to month enrollment but it's much easier to collect if you have parents sign up for 2 month sessions and pay beforehand instead of having to call them up or get them to come into the office especially after that month is up. I think 3 month sessions are too long and just too much to commit to for rec but I like making competitive sessions being 6 months ( basically an on and an off season somewhat and they can pay in full or in 5 payments ).
3 and under, 4-5 or seperate classes for 4 and 5yo, 5-6 or seperate 5 and do 6-9, 9 and up work well. 9yo can get get along well enough with 6yo, but 10yo is asking too much. We've had good success with 9/10 and up with either gender. A lot of times we would have 10 and under tumbling and 10 and over ( rarely would we seperate 10-13 and 14 and up as far as female tumblers ).
I don't like boys being singled out in boys earlier than 5 unless they are in a pre competitive track. At one gym, we had a 5yo coed class and a 5yo boys only class. Coed class focuses primarily on the girl's events. Unfortunately many lil boys can have a lot more energy and less focus than their female counterparts and I can see why some gal coaches like to seperate the boys ( as they also tend to be less coordinated ).
I like the 55minutes/1 hour classes for beginners and bumping it up to 85/90 minutes in the advanced beginner/intermediate levels ( like L2/3 ). Bump it up to 2 hours in L3 with options for reccomended 2-3 days per week just like L2.
Some 4yo can deal with up to 1hr but sometimes 40/45 minutes is just fine. You can pack 2 of these into 90 minutes and maybe 5 or 6 of these into an afternoon. 3yo whether they are with or without a parent should be about 30 minutes. I only like it longer if they are on a pre competitive track as these kids should have proven to be able to be more attentive than the rest of their peers besides hitting certain strength targets and skill targets.
I prefer mostly circuits for 6 and under and most rec till intermediate levels. They are also easy to facilitate for conditioning setting up 3 stations for 3 or 6 kids or 4 stations for 4 or 8, etc. Rotate every 30 seconds or 1 minute or 20 seconds. Stuff like rope, rock to candlestick and pistol, block jump, wall walks, etc. About the only we do group lines is for lining across for kicking up to handstands or such or stuff like vault, chasse-ing across the floor, etc.
Having jr coaches ( coaches under 15 or 16 who are not allowed to coach on their own ) are very handy in the rec classes as a second hand. As for developmentally challenged children, I've had them with their tutors in rec classes with no problems so long as they don't hold the class back. Sometimes you can organize a developmentally challenged class but it's tough to keep numbers up and doing private lessons or a small private class of 2 or 3 might be more feasible. Sometimes the rare jr coach can run their own group but this will depend if your gym allows it and they are ready.
Preferably I keep skill sheets for every class and track progress at the end of the day per each class. It lets me figure out what the kids need to work on especially if certain gymnasts are really close to passing off the levels. It's also easier if you keep track on it instead of trying to lose 1 or 2 classes per 2 months to test all the skills ( which tends to be really boring through the entire class ). For a 2 month session, we would do a test at 4 weeks and a final test at 7 weeks so the last week we could pass out testing scores and any graduations to the next level.
For a month to month system, it's best to just do pass offs at the end of the month. With a session format, you can design a program for 2 months that will cover all the skills and progressions in that level which is nice and sometimes this can coincide with theme weeks.
If your rec kinder program gets big enough you can seperate into multiple levels of 4yo and 5yo. Not worth it for 3yo. Sometimes we use the L1-3 levels labeled for pre competitive only as we don't feel the compulsory levels cover all the basics and provide for as many class levels as something like levels A-E/F ( C=1, D=2, E=3, F=4 ). This also seperates the distinction of rec and competitive levels.
there is no real regulation of who has what level. At the end of the year the co-ordinator just asks the coaches who they think should get a badge and they are then given a slip of paper saying congratulations, you got level (2). pay $5 at reception to get your badge. As a result, most kids never get their badge and kids are usually in levels that are too high for them. we also get a whole heap of kids who get to level 3 and expect to move to level 4 (will discuss this more later!).
Paying 5 bucks just to advance a level? I dunno, I've bumped kids up on their first day in a class if it was too easy for them ( they were strong, well adjusted, and could do the skills ) and sometimes had to bump them up the next week. Sometimes an impromptu evaluation can be done before they try out a class. Per each skill level, you can filler skills and mandatory skills and skills to check during the first week of a class to evaluate incoming and new gymnasts just in case they might need to go into a higher level class.
Generally I like for most classes to do a short warmup, joint/stretch, ( for rec kids it doesn't really matter to stretch then to go over learning basic shapes but for for advanced rec do longer stretching at the end as these kids might get somewhere ) doing kick/press to HS drills ( even donkey kicks at the low levels ) or headstands. Break off to 2 or 3 events ( basically always hit floor and switch off bars and beam every other week and switch off tramp/tumbl trak or vault ). End with a game, pass out any theme papers or stuff to send home and give out stickers, stamps or blow bubbles.
For boys, basically always do FX and SR/HB or PB/PH. If equipment is set up right, you can make multiple stations of events.
I like rotational schedules but you have to make it mandatory that coaches follow them. Sometimes you can stay just a bit longer or rotate sooner but only if arrangements have been made and just in case the next rotation isn't ready. This should be the exception and not the rule. This can't be done when you start having too many gym kids.
Preferably I like kids to handle themselves making their way to the water fountain or bathroom so long as it isn't excessive, however only if they you know they know better to not run across the floor or run and jump around stuff so maybe only once they are 9 and over.
It helps if you have the staff and budget to have a floor facilitator. They aren't coaching a class of their own, but they can either help out in the office or help setting up rotations, lend an extra hand for a spot or to do first aid or in case a coach needs to go somewhere. They don't necessarily need to be management as an assistant manager can do this as well. They can also be doing gym chores like windows, bathrooms, etc or warming up kids so coaches can take a few minutes of a break.
If you do group warmups, it's good to set a schedule so that won't end up having the same coach warming them up always( like I used to ) especially if younger coaches allow the more older or senior coaches to do it instead. These younger coaches can resent some coaches who don't let other warm them up or just slack off in this regard.
This is why if you set your class duration at 5 minutes under the hour or 40 minutes it will allow those coaches some times to talk to parents or get some water or a much needed bathroom break. Besides, according to labor laws, you're supposed to get a break every 2 hours for 10 minutes or 30 minutes over 6 hours, etc. If you did group warmups, you could actually hit that 10 minutes just to cover your *** per that regulation.
Btw, always take really good care of your kinder coaches. More often that not, they will be pulling in more kids into your programs than the older rec classes. It's these classes that keep your gym in biz and if you don't pay them enough, they will be more likely to leave towards other employment opportunities. Obviously, we need to pay coaches with more experience and knowledge more, but keeping in mind that they are harder to keep the gym running afloat when it comes to profit and loss.
However, if your rec class coaches are not keeping the kids coming back and a senior more expensive coach can, it makes more sense to pay the higher wage and know that in the long run they will keep more kids in your program than trying to be cheap in the short run and hoping that the more jr coaches will be " good enough. " A good mommy and me coach can get so many parents coming back that you'll realize they are worth a lot more than the base pay though they aren't really able to teach more advanced gymnastics.
All the really successful gyms in the states probably ( private ) probably have really successful rec programs even if they are considered competitive gyms. Don't sacrifice one for the other, especially considering the percentage of children who actually compete gymnastics and go from level to level gets smaller and smaller.
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) gymfun 1 (a modified version of level 1). it is up to the coach to teach them the routines and arrange for the head coach or club judge to come in one class and assess them. each kid is then awarded their badge (free of charge). I think this is much better as you know what level they should be doing and there are intermediate level (we have gymfun(GF) 1, level 1, GF2, level 2, GF3 , level 3) so kids do not "run out of" levels to do quickly and they are able to move up levels each year even if they would not be ready for level 2 say, they can do GF 2.
