MAG Home schooled?

[Cheryl]

High school sports routinely practice 3 hours a day, 5 days a week. At least that is what my daughters tennis and soccer practices.

Son practices gym 16 hours a week during school, 20 during summer. What is crazy to me is that a neighboring gym with a very small team (12 boys, level 6-10) have Level 7 and up practicing 27 hours a week, and none of them have ever made nationals.

 

[Madden3]

Ok, so that brings us back to the OP's - and my- concern. Do you have suggestions re: getting homework done, and getting enough sleep, for the HS athlete? (or younger athlete practicing lots of hours)?

 

[Aussie_coach]

Wow, that is intense. Here it’s pretty normal for high schools sports team to practice one recess per week, and that’s it. High school sports competitions are held during school hours. One afternoon a week the kids all stop lessons after lunch and everyone plays sport against other schools, or recreational sport at their own school if they are not in a sports team. Those hours are unheard of.

 

[skschlag]

Ok, so that brings us back to the OP's - and my- concern. Do you have suggestions re: getting homework done, and getting enough sleep, for the HS athlete? (or younger athlete practicing lots of hours)?

So, for the past 2 years, D has done homework in the car on the way to gym when possible. He has also eaten dinner in the car and slept in the car a lot. Last year, as a freshman, we were able to get him 1 off period, 1st hour. So with the way they do their schedule, that meant he could either sleep in 4 days a week or he could go to school and get caught up on work. We also got him on a gifted plan (ALP) for psychomotor giftedness, which allows accommodations for him at school.

Freshman year was tough. This year, he has 2 off periods (the last 2 of the day) and he will leave school at lunch to go to practice from 2-6. THen home by 7 (we live about an hour from the gym). He has to do online classes each summer, but it is worth it to him.

 

[Madden3]

Yes, there is a great deal of hyper competitiveness here. Our school has a division 1 football team, which I guess means all the sports compete at that level (?) (Someone told me that part, so not sure.) So maybe it is more practice than other schools just to keep up. I imagine the football, basketball, and soccer teams practice even more.

The problem is that this creates a situation where the kids are not getting enough sleep. Everyone blames video games/social media for the sleep crisis, and obviously those things make it much worse. But even a kid who is never on social media is not going to get enough sleep with the way the school and sports are scheduled.

Not enough sleep for kids is a pet peeve of mine. Growing brains and bodies need sleep!

Unfortunately, I asked and even if my son were still in gymnastics, he could not waive PE as a Freshman and it is tough to get a waiver as an upperclassman as well. I think this is a state-wide rule. I kind of like the idea of my son doing PE to break up his heavily academic day (he had no interest in taking art or music electives) but of course it depends on what they actually do.

I did not go to the athletic intro meeting, my husband did. He told me that the coaches think it is ridiculous that the kids doing team sports have to do PE.

 

[skschlag]

Yes, there is a great deal of hyper competitiveness here. Our school has a division 1 football team, which I guess means all the sports compete at that level (?) (Someone told me that part, so not sure.) So maybe it is more practice than other schools just to keep up. I imagine the football, basketball, and soccer teams practice even more.

The problem is that this creates a situation where the kids are not getting enough sleep. Everyone blames video games/social media for the sleep crisis, and obviously those things make it much worse. But even a kid who is never on social media is not going to get enough sleep with the way the school and sports are scheduled.

Not enough sleep for kids is a pet peeve of mine. Growing brains and bodies need sleep!

Unfortunately, I asked and even if my son were still in gymnastics, he could not waive PE as a Freshman and it is tough to get a waiver as an upperclassman as well. I think this is a state-wide rule. I kind of like the idea of my son doing PE to break up his heavily academic day (he had no interest in taking art or music electives) but of course it depends on what they actually do.

I did not go to the athletic intro meeting, my husband did. He told me that the coaches think it is ridiculous that the kids doing team sports have to do PE.

I tend to agree with your husband and tried to get it changed in our district. If you are in a State Sponsored sport, then you can get credit, but not a sport outside of the school. They agreed to waive 2.5 (so in our district that is 1/2 a semester) credits for PE but they just moved it somewhere else. So instead he will do online summer PE. Then we CAN count gym. They gave the excuse that there is more to PE than just physical activity. I argued that there was more to gymnastics than any PE class could teach, but I did not win. They would not make an exception. Sad, really..

 

[samsmama]

I have definitely thought about homeschooling, not so much FOR gymnastics, but because the schools are so unwilling to accommodate kids like ours. I had to go over our principal's head to the superintendent to get permission for a fifth grader to leave 30 minutes early 3 days/week last year to get to practice. All he was doing during that time was essentially study hall/catch-up time. I am dreading that process again this year. Thankfully after this year, he'll be in middle school, which gets out at 2:15, but at that point, he'll have practice 3-8:30 four days a week, plus Saturdays. That doesn't leave much time for anything else, including sleep when school starts at 7:30. Minor accommodations would go a long way, but it's almost not worth the battle.

DS mostly hates school and I work from home so homeschooling is theoretically possible, but the things he likes best -- band, art, etc. -- are the parts of school that would be the hardest for me to replicate at home. If we can get through the next three years, high school should be more flexible -- in our district, you can do your entire degree online or mix-and-match between in school and online -- but I worry that the stress of getting everything done (and the lack of time he has to do anything other than gym and school) will push him to give up on gym before then.

 

[Madden3]

Have you looked into the options in your area for homeschoolers? My homeschooled kids take art classes and have taken piano for years. Now, in my state, if you use the charter school option for homeschooling, you receive funds for classes and materials. This is probably not an option in most states. But if you live in an area with a lot of homeschoolers, you may find there are many classes and groups that might serve those needs. Also, if he would be ok with music lessons, rather than band, private teachers tend to love homeschoolers and their more flexible schedules. It is amazing what you can find once you get plugged in to the local homeschool network- for example, locally there is a music college program that sponsors an orchestra for young people that many homeschooling families take part in.
Not trying to be rah rah homeschooling. There are many challenges with homeschooling!!! Just mentioning the above because personally I was amazed at the variety of options available for "outside" classes and instruction available for homeschoolers. But this may just be my area, I never homeschooled anywhere else.

 

[jenjean70]

Yes, there is a great deal of hyper competitiveness here. Our school has a division 1 football team, which I guess means all the sports compete at that level (?) (Someone told me that part, so not sure.) So maybe it is more practice than other schools just to keep up. I imagine the football, basketball, and soccer teams practice even more.

The problem is that this creates a situation where the kids are not getting enough sleep. Everyone blames video games/social media for the sleep crisis, and obviously those things make it much worse. But even a kid who is never on social media is not going to get enough sleep with the way the school and sports are scheduled.

Not enough sleep for kids is a pet peeve of mine. Growing brains and bodies need sleep!

Unfortunately, I asked and even if my son were still in gymnastics, he could not waive PE as a Freshman and it is tough to get a waiver as an upperclassman as well. I think this is a state-wide rule. I kind of like the idea of my son doing PE to break up his heavily academic day (he had no interest in taking art or music electives) but of course it depends on what they actually do.

I did not go to the athletic intro meeting, my husband did. He told me that the coaches think it is ridiculous that the kids doing team sports have to do PE.

Here in Texas there is an athletics class for the specific sports. It was like this even when I went to school eons ago. Athletic kids NEVER take PE. That's so strange to me.

 

[Seeker]

Kids in our state cannot get out of PE - it’s a state mandate. Even if you’re on the Olympic team, you’re taking PE. They cover Health in that class as many other sports than the one you specialize in.

 

[skschlag]

Kids in our state cannot get out of PE - it’s a state mandate. Even if you’re on the Olympic team, you’re taking PE. They cover Health in that class as many other sports than the one you specialize in.

Health is a separate class here. I hate PE in school. That is where D always got injured. Glad we have an option, even if I have to pay for it!

 

[samsmama]

Here, starting in HS, you can take PE online either in the summer or during the school year. DD is doing the school-year online PE this fall so that she can take some other electives she's excited about (and because she hates PE!). That course includes health and in 10th grade also includes driver's ed. So I think that will work fine for DS, we just have to get through the next three years first.

 

[skschlag]

Here, starting in HS, you can take PE online either in the summer or during the school year. DD is doing the school-year online PE this fall so that she can take some other electives she's excited about (and because she hates PE!). That course includes health and in 10th grade also includes driver's ed. So I think that will work fine for DS, we just have to get through the next three years first.

MY oldest did both required PE classes online because he HATES sports, and this way I was able to work with him on finding some lifelong activities he might enjoy, rather than just him dreading dressing for PE and ultimately skipping. WIth D, he has one left, which he will do next summer, and a health class left, that he will either double up next summer or take the following summer. That way he can leave early for practice during the school year.

 

[Seeker]

Health is a separate class here. I hate PE in school. That is where D always got injured. Glad we have an option, even if I have to pay for it!

I don’t disagree - always got her out of PE in our former state. But sometimes it’s easier to convince the school to allow taking an elective online versus getting out of PE.

 

[skschlag]

I don’t disagree - always got her out of PE in our former state. But sometimes it’s easier to convince the school to allow taking an elective online versus getting out of PE.

Yup. Gotta follow whatever rules your state is playing. lol. And they change constantly!

 

[jenjean70]

Health is a separate class here. I hate PE in school. That is where D always got injured. Glad we have an option, even if I have to pay for it!

Health is separate here too and PE is where my son got injured and couldn't tryout for baseball. They learn about different sports in Elementary and middle school- they can choose to specialize in high school.

 

[sce]

My ds is level 10, 21 hours a week and dies online high school.

 

[raenndrops]

Yes, there is a great deal of hyper competitiveness here. Our school has a division 1 football team, which I guess means all the sports compete at that level (?) (Someone told me that part, so not sure.) So maybe it is more practice than other schools just to keep up. I imagine the football, basketball, and soccer teams practice even more.

The problem is that this creates a situation where the kids are not getting enough sleep. Everyone blames video games/social media for the sleep crisis, and obviously those things make it much worse. But even a kid who is never on social media is not going to get enough sleep with the way the school and sports are scheduled.

Not enough sleep for kids is a pet peeve of mine. Growing brains and bodies need sleep!

Unfortunately, I asked and even if my son were still in gymnastics, he could not waive PE as a Freshman and it is tough to get a waiver as an upperclassman as well. I think this is a state-wide rule. I kind of like the idea of my son doing PE to break up his heavily academic day (he had no interest in taking art or music electives) but of course it depends on what they actually do.

I did not go to the athletic intro meeting, my husband did. He told me that the coaches think it is ridiculous that the kids doing team sports have to do PE.

Ohio just recently made a rule (I think it went into effect last school year) that if you participate in SCHOOL sports or Marching Band, you can get a PE waiver, but you still need to make up the credit with something else. 2 years of a team sport covers your entire PE credit requirement (or 2 sports in different seasons).

 

[sce]

I tend to agree with your husband and tried to get it changed in our district. If you are in a State Sponsored sport, then you can get credit, but not a sport outside of the school. They agreed to waive 2.5 (so in our district that is 1/2 a semester) credits for PE but they just moved it somewhere else. So instead he will do online summer PE. Then we CAN count gym. They gave the excuse that there is more to PE than just physical activity. I argued that there was more to gymnastics than any PE class could teach, but I did not win. They would not make an exception. Sad, really..

E did online PE. There was vary little work required.

 

[skschlag]

E did online PE. There was vary little work required.

My oldest did both, and D has completed 1. THey each required weekly participation in discussion boards, multiple papers, and a ton of workout hours. Easy for D....struggle for A!