MAG Getting out of school early.....

[JDLA]

what would you do? My son just got on a TOPS type level 4 team. They meet at 2:30 and he doesn't get out of school until 3:30. he will be going into first grade. We would have to get him out at 2pm to make it to gym on time.

I'm stressing out big time! My husband feels very strongly that he shouldn't miss the last part of school. (My son wouldn't homeschool well he and I butt heads when I try and teach him so all day homeschool is not an option) another mom with a first grader is taking her son out and the principle of her school thinks it will be no issue. I'm torn! Do I take him out of school or hold him back in gym?

 

[Canjump]

Do all American schools finish at different times? Sounds a bit silly

 

[notthatmom]

Yep schools start and get out at all different times of the day.


2:30 for practice to start is incredibly early though (specially for the school year)

 

[alsmom]

I would check with the school to see if pulling him is even an option before you worry too much about it. In some cases that is not an allowed, so you may need to consider other options. How many days per week would he need to be dismissed early?

 

[gracyomalley]

Is your school on a different schedule than the others in the area? Odd that at such a low level they'd offer a class that interferes with school schedules.

It's very unusual for boys programs to push for any such commitment that young/early - most L4 boys compete successfully with between 5-9 hours of practice a week, and due to the age restrictions for competing the higher levels (can't do L10 until a boy is 15), there is less rush to get higher level skills early -the key with boys is keeping them in gym long enough to get to puberty when they can start working the higher level stuff!

Don't get me wrong, more mushroom circles, stalder presses and pbar swings done properly, over and over and over, really do come into play later! In my experience, however, the younger boys are unlikely to enjoy the repetition and attention to form that would be helpful at Level 4, and would rather throw terrible "fulls" into the pit, etc...

Of course, there is Future Stars (which may be what you are referring to), which at our gym in the past was trained alongside regular practice (kids interested just came a little earlier or one extra day, etc. and all the boys did some of the future stars routines/drills).

On the one hand, if its once a week and a great chance to get close to one on one attention at gym, there's no harm in it - missing an hour of first grade once a week is no big deal...but on the other hand, there will be times down the line where the balance of school and gym really will become more dicey (say, Level 8+ and tween/teen years), and its a marathon, not a sprint...

 

[samsmama]

I wouldn't do it at this level. First, I don't think they need so many hours -- we are in a very competitive area and my son consistently placed high in L4 with 8 hours/week of practice.

We have also had to consider leaving school early to make practice since our school doesn't get out until 4. Fortunately the coach decided to start practice a little later in the end, but I wasn't going to pull DS out early. At this age you don't even know if he will stick with gymnastics, no matter how talented he is, so I wouldn't put gym over school.

Later on, I think it gets more complicated. I do think that if he is still in this sport by middle school, I may have to rethink how we balance everything.

 

[profmom]

No need for this. There will be plenty of time later on to have to start figuring out how to balance school and gym. It would be very good for your future relationship with the gym and the coaches to say, "I'm sorry, but I can't pull my son out of school an hour early. Do you have a better solution?" and see what the reaction is.

 

[JDLA]

The gym is one of the only boys gyms in our state. He will only be going 8 hours a week so it isn't like he is having to many hours in the gym for his age and level. I guess the main issue is the coaches. His coach is over the boys future stars as well as the girls future stars program at the gym. She has two full classes of girl future stars and one boys class. Right now since it is the summer and no one is in school the boys train from 2:30 - 4:30 Mon, Tue, Thu, Frid and the girls train from 4:30 - 6:30. I've already talked to the coach and asked if the training schedule can change for school and all she could say is she would have to look into it and let me know. The girls classes are set in stone essentially, the boys could go from 6:30 - 8:30 i guess but the other problem is that that is when the boys level 8 - 10 team trains and I wonder if that would be to many kids fighting for the same equipment.

I know it is hard to find decent coaches in our area so it isn't like we can just higher someone else for one of the classes.

I agree with everyone though, I think it is way to early level wise to even be considering the kids to leave school early. I am surprised many parents are already jumping on the band wagon and taking the kids out.

 

[momnipotent]

So he would have to leave school an hour and a half early 4 days a week? No, I would not pull him that often. One or two days a week if it was OK with the school I might, but almost every day? Not happening. I will say that in most first grade classes, the afternoon is mostly the fun stuff-art, music, science, etc. so he might not be missing a ton curriculum wise if you do decide to pull him. Kind of a bummer to miss all of the stuff that makes school "fun" though.

 

[notthatmom]

Not to mention, kids are required by law to attend school a specific number of hours per year. If you'd be taking him out of school that much and not subsidizing with home school, the state could take legal action.

 

[gymcat]

I don't know what state you are in, but look into your state laws and see if part-time homeschooling is an option and then find out what he would be missing the afternoon. For my dd, in first grade the last part of the day included a read-aloud and then specials.. In my state, art and music were not even required subjects so there would be no oversight to make sure you covered those and I am sure you could make the argument that gymnastics covers the PE requirement.

If part-time homeschooling is not allowed and you (and he) do not want to full-time homeschool, I would not pull him out early 4x week.

 

[krc]

Future Stars doesn't even start until 8 years old! Four days out of school for a program he can't participate in is a bit extreme. (Going into First, I assume he is 6 going on 7) Do they have a "regular" Level 4 group he could go into?

 

[Beau]

I have a same problem i have to catch a train from a station near my school (im in 8th grade) but he is in first grade so that might be a problem i would speak to his coach about starting a bit later and finishing later.

 

[Aussie_coach]

It sounds like a gym, similar to many where the girls team takes priority over the boys. For them to say the girls practice is set in stone and can't be changed when a little tweaking could probably see both practices fitted in.

If all these parents are jumping to take their kid out of school to do these sessions then the gym is not going to bother to change it, because they just don't have to.

I am not usually one to say school first, because I believe a lot of time is wasted in most classrooms and gym plays a huge role in developing their cognitive abilities but in your situation it's actually a bit ridiculous. To pull a 1st grader out of school early 4 days a week to train in a regular levels program is over the top.

Can't they schedule any practice time on a Saturday?

 

[Beau]

I agree with u there aussie_coach

 

[Popcorn]

Aussie_coach makes very good points. Boys' programs commonly have to work around the girls' programs. The point made at my son's gym is that there are more girls....but the boys pay the same tuition, and in my opinion, are just as important as athletes (and students, for that matter).

I also agree that things will continue as long as parents are not speaking up. Let the gym know that you are not willing to have your son miss this much school and that you are willing to train on Saturdays or stay an hour later for training. See if they can find a solution that makes everyone happy, or search out what other gyms' training schedules look like to see what your options are.

 

[curlymop]

I would not agree to that schedule. I know that at our gym the boys and girls often condition together (even if they're not always given the same conditioning exercises). I've even seen them working vault and floor at the same time. I wonder if it's possible to start the boys practice later and overlap a bit with the girls.

 

[2G1B]

No way in the world I would pull my 1st grader out of school 1.5 hours early 4 days per week. I was hoping you would say it would only be once per week and even that I wasn't sure if I would do. Normally elementary days are set up so that the same subjects are covered at the same time of the day. At least at our school, it is NOT always that academic subjects are early and PE, art, etc. are later. It could just as easily be that math is somewhere in that last 1.5 hours. I could *maybe* see pulling out 30 minutes early that often; but not 1.5 hours. No way. I can't tell you how many VERY talented boys and girls I have seen quit. Of the 10 boys on my DS's first team only 3 of them are still doing gymnastics (4 years later). Every year it seems that at least 3 boys quit from one level or another.

 

[Canadian_gym_mom]

Ok I was the one everyone criticized when i started taking my dd out of school 1 hr early once a week in grade 2. I have always considered the positives of gymnastics that far outweigh the nonsense that goes on in a traditional school classroom for probably 40-50% of the day.

That being said i think what your gym is asking is way too much and I would not have agreed to that for my child at that young age.

I hope you are able to find a gym program and schedule more realistic for your DS needs.

 

[skschlag]

Ok I was the one everyone criticized when i started taking my dd out of school 1 hr early once a week in grade 2. I have always considered the positives of gymnastics that far outweigh the nonsense that goes on in a traditional school classroom for probably 40-50% of the day.

That being said i think what your gym is asking is way too much and I would not have agreed to that for my child at that young age.

I hope you are able to find a gym program and schedule more realistic for your DS needs.

i think 1 hour a week out of school is different than 6 hours a week (1 1/2 a day, 4 days a week). That could easily be literacy or math every day. In 1st grade, those foundational skills are needed.