Parents Hills Gymnastics/Gym for Preschooler

[jessielm]

My daughter is 2.5 years old and has been doing My Gym & The Little Gym since 10 months old. Her first day of class she spontaneously did flips on the bar and the teacher was so surprised he got out his phone and took videos of her and posted them on the gym's fb pace. Of course every parent thinks their child is "special" so I will acknowledge that I don't really know whether she will end up being competition level good or not. However, her teachers at The Little Gym have suggested that she move to a "real" gym to get "real" training. Even after being moved up to two levels above her age group, she is just at a different skill level than the other kids. We live in the DMV and Hill's Gymnastics is about 45 minutes away. So, we took a trial class at Hill's and I was incredibly disappointed. It was well below her skill level, the teacher never so much as looked at my daughter or bothered to ask her name. When my daughter was on bars the teacher followed another child over to balance beam and just left us there-- after my daughter patiently waited for her turn with the teacher. After the class was over, I tried waiting at the front desk to ask questions about other classes (whether my daughter could perhaps "move up" to another class that better matched her skill level, etc)--- but no one ever came. After the trial I was never asked whether we wanted to enroll or anything. No one followed up. No one returned my phone call. Is this what this gym is like? Or is this the treatment they give children too young to be on the competition teams? As a newbie, I would love some advice on what to do next. Do I keep my daughter in The Little Gym until she is 3+? Do I keep trying to work with Hill's (if they ever return my phone call)? We are also on a wait list for a trial class at Dynamite and have a trial at Dominique Dawes coming up next week. So far, we have been told she has to be 3 to even attend a "real" class but the parent/child classes are sooo babyish and she is bored to tears. When they give "free play" she does her flips off the bars and her tumbling, but they won't even try to work with her on any of those skills. I don't know anything about how competitive gymnastics works or what classes she should be in at what ages. As a mom, all I know is that my daughter is well ahead of any of the other kids I've seen in the 2, 3, and 4 year old classes.

 

[Dahlia]

Most gyms don't start non-parent child classes until 3, no matter what. You're fine moving her to a parent-child class at a "real gym" or staying at The Little Gym until she is 3. But go ahead and do the trial classes now and see how you like the gym. Ask if you can come observe a preschool class. Ask how they work on and monitor children's progression in their rec classes. Ask what the path to team is. Then you'll know where to go when she's 3 (or if you move sooner).

 

[gymgal]

In addition to what Dahlia mentioned above, if your daughter is possible team potential, the coaches in the preschool classes will notice and should talk with you at that time - most likely moving her to an advanced preschool class. Many gyms have invite only special tracks for young ones they are tapping for future team. They are still fun but the pace tends to be faster and a little more structured, prepping them for team structure. But also remember that coaches look for more than just talent. Attention, ability to listen (obviously appropriate to the age level), level of caution to new skills, etc.

I don't know much about Hill's other than that they generally do really well in competitions, so they have solid coaching skill wise.

In general, I go by first impressions unless there are extenuating circumstances. If you have other options, I would look into those to see the differences.

 

[Pigeon]

Hills is one of the top gyms in the area, they have lots of success with elite/college bound/top junior development gymnasts. As gymgal said, once you are in a preschool class they have the means to identify and put them on the appropriate track. But yeah, I don't see them making a fuss over a 2.5 year old or fast tracking at that age (honestly our gym isn't even close to being a Hills and we aren't going to do that either. They can't compete until they are at least 6 and a lot of things can happen between 2.5 and 6).

Are you close to Paragon, Sportsplex or Capital? I don't know anything about Dominque Dawes, not sure they have a team and don't know much about Dynamite.

Good luck.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Wait until age 3.

As talented as she may be there are dangers to doing “real” gymnastics before the age of 3.

Some of the bones are not fully formed and certain skills are unsafe at 2 1/2.

Even at 3-4 there are many skills they shouldn’t do, so you need a program that knows how to train per school children safely. They can learn proper gymnastics but some skills need to be left out.

Pushing kids too young can set them up for long term injuries later, which can stop them from progressing as gymnasts.

If she has this ability at 2 1/2 don’t worry. When she is ready she will fly, she isn’t being held back in future progress by waiting.

 

[josie55]

Driving 45 minutes for a 2.5 year old is not something I would do or recommend. If she's truly "bored to tears" by the class, she will likely be bored by the more "advanced" classes, also. A quality program for little ones is not going to encourage flipping off of bars. In terms of nobody approaching you about signing up, some gyms are just disorganized or not great at that stuff, and it doesn't tend to be a reflection of the quality of the training or the skill/potential of the child who attended the class. They do outgrow Little Gym, so maybe just find a gym that's relatively local that has an environment that your child enjoys, and a schedule that works for you, and go with that.

 

[Coach Kate]

I know at our gym, we don't do any advanced preschool classes until age 4, though we do have an independent class starting at 2.5, and we keep things age based until 5 or 6, as preschool children learn differently and are in a different place developmentally, even if they are physically advanced. As someone who coached preschool for years and has seen a few of those really special 2&3 year olds, I would still encourage fun above all else. Wherever you land, you can talk to a coach about age appropriate skills and challenges. A good coach can manage a full class (for our gym it's 6 in this age group) and encourage each kid to try new things to the best of their ability.

I am also apprehensive about your description of "flipping off bars". I am hoping you just mean around the world/forward roll around bar to hang, which is an appropriate skill for this age. The challenge version would be to hold feet up and chin over the bar to finish, and then the next challenge would be to roll forward and then pull back over (we call this a captain hook!). I agree overall with the other poster who talked about their bodies not always being truly ready to handle the bigger skills yet, from a child development stand point, not to mention the fact that proper form is highly unlikely at this age, which can hurt them in the long run. And then the emotional, mental, and social development is the reasoning for keeping young children together.

Again, at this age, the focus should be on fun, play, and development of coordination and learning how to be in class. That's what I would look for in a gym.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

So far, we have been told she has to be 3 to even attend a "real" class but the parent/child classes are sooo babyish and she is bored to tears. When they give "free play" she does her flips off the bars and her tumbling, but they won't even try to work with her on any of those skills. I don't know anything about how competitive gymnastics works or what classes she should be in at what ages. As a mom, all I know is that my daughter is well ahead of any of the other kids I've seen in the 2, 3, and 4 year old classes.

If it's a parent/child class and she is bored - this may actually be coming from your perception of it being too 'easy'. YOU need to help her have/find fun and engage with the class. It may seem basic in your mind but a lot of it is there for a reason. Just doing 'harder' skills is often not developmentally appropriate even if the child is competent with current skills.

I think of pre-school gym as developing a library of movement and using it to assist with basic schooling to lots of color association and counting. Engage her brain the whole time, count with her, ask her to call out colors with you. Bound with her in a positive way Teach her to find fun in doing 'simple' things.

Kids who constantly need to do the next hardest thing are often not successful in gymnastics long term - being a great gymnast involves a lot of perfection and repetition of the basics.

 

[Dahlialover]

Keep her wherever she is learning to love gymnastics. At her age that is the only thing that matters. I’d then supplement with swimming lessons. Swimming builds a lot of the strength, coordination, and learning skills needed for gymnastics and it comes with the benefit of potentially saving your child’s life. Once she is 3, I’d visit gyms to check out their preschool classes.

 

[hokiepie]

Dominique Dawes isn’t affiliated with USA Gymnastics so they do not have a competitive team. In fact most girls who go through that “program” end up at Hills.

 

[Dahlialover]

Also, at many gyms, the staff and management for the recreational program is completely separate from the competitive program. A club can have good rec and a bad team or great team and terrible rec. Rec is often taught by teenagers with very little training.

 

[gymjunkie]

It's really hard to know what you mean by skill level, because you haven't actually mentioned any skills. Being bored to tears might be that the teacher isn't doing a good job of keeping the class moving rather than the skill level. A good gym is not going to do much with a 2.5 YO. At 3 if they are in an invitation-only class, they would be working more on strength and flexibility than additional skills. They would be learning rope climbs, leg lifts, pull-ups, and properly positioned bridges (but no backbends). The emphasis would be on the quality of how they condition rather than cranking out new skills every practice. There are often lots of games and contests to keep it exciting. If she's bored, she may be too young for the discipline and repetition of gymnastics. There are plenty of talented young kids with that issue and the answer is to wait until they are older to start up again (even 6 months makes a world of difference). Personally, I think too many talented kids start on the serious track too young. They look amazing until they are 10-12 and then they want to be done. I think young kids should be exploring lots of sports and activities as preschoolers and if gymnastics turns out to be their thing, they can get more focused on it around 5-7.

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

If she’s bored now in the “fun” class where they let her flip around, prepare to be REAL bored in preteam (presumably where she’ll go as she’s too young to compete). Preteam and lower compulsary is just endless repetitions of handstands, cartwheels, rolls. Over and over. My kid must have done millions of cartwheels with seemingly endless corrections. I was bored to tears just watching it lol - your kid has to have a solid desire to focus on minutia while getting critiques for hours on end for gymnastics

 

[Coach Kate]

If she’s bored now in the “fun” class where they let her flip around, prepare to be REAL bored in preteam (presumably where she’ll go as she’s too young to compete). Preteam and lower compulsary is just endless repetitions of handstands, cartwheels, rolls. Over and over. My kid must have done millions of cartwheels with seemingly endless corrections. I was bored to tears just watching it lol - your kid has to have a solid desire to focus on minutia while getting critiques for hours on end for gymnastics

This is a great point! I remember when I preteam mom told me she talked to a team parent who told her they do even MORE drills and basics on team and if her daughter didn't like preteam for that reason, team might not be for them.