Parents Homeschooling in the gym?

[Natasha]

Wow-didn't intend to incite a riot here! We've been at other gyms and know people atbother gyms and this is the only one that has this homeschool program. So my experience has not shown this to be the norm. I did also look at some other older posts regarding this and saw that gyms can run into potential problems doing this because in a group setting it can become looked at as a charter type program. I'm not simply throwing garbage out. And my DD is part of the elite program, just not homeschooled like a handful of her teammates are. We all make sacrifices. There have been some things that have happened that have made me question this program and it's fairness to the gym as a whole. Maybe other similar programs are run better and more tactfully. When I give my money to this or any gym, I want to know it is for the improvement of all the athletes, coaches, equipment & facility- not to improve a select group.

I am confused. In the intro thread you introduced yourself as your dd being a six year old bronze competitor. That is very different than an elite program, so I am not sure what you are referring to when you say your daughter is part of the elite program. I may be wrong, but I do not know of any 6 year olds in elite training.

The fact is that all gymnasts at the lower levels contribute financially in a small part to the upper level gymnasts at any gym whether they have homeschooling available or not. I paid much more per hour for training when my dd was attending only 6 hours than I do now that she attends 18 hours and has the highest paid coaches. If that weren't the case, many optional level gymnasts would not be able to afford to continue training. And, I certainly couldn't afford the $15 per hour rate we paid when she was a rec gymnast!
One thing that I have learned is that gymnastics as a whole, is not a sport that lends itself to "fairness." Accepting that fact will make the journey much more enjoyable. It has been full of life lessons for my dd about how life is not fair sometimes and we are faced with the choice of how we are going to respond when those situations arise. Also, sometimes what is "fair" and what is "best" may be in direct conflict. I would rather have what is "best."

 

[bookworm]

I am confused. In the intro thread you introduced yourself as your dd being a six year old bronze competitor. That is very different than an elite program, so I am not sure what you are referring to when you say your daughter is part of the elite program. I may be wrong, but I do not know of any 6 year olds in elite training.

This confused me too, but I just thought I had missed something...

 

[emorymom]

I just thought she was trying to say that her daughter was being fast tracked.

 

[gymmomtotwo]

Just wanted to head off anyone thinking that my prior post was a criticism of homeschool per se. I know that Homeschooling can be done in such a way that kids do have plenty of interaction with other kids, interesting experiences in the community etc. With the state of some schools, I totally get why people do it. I'm mostly referring the the extraordinarily limiting world of spending the entire day at a gym and going to school with the same people you do gymnastics with. I'm assuming absolutely no exposure to members of the opposite sex (unless there is a boys team), no change of scenery or friends etc. This may be best for short term gymnastic success, but I see difficulty down the road when the child enters college, and has only had exposure to gymnasts and the safe little world of the gym. Yes, they may travel, but it's done under the careful watch of coaches and parents. It's harmful to the kids future to be so narrowly focused. What if an injury ends the kid's career prematurely? They have no life to fall back on. No school or school friend, no clear idea of what life is outside the gym. No clear picture of other interests they might take up. I say this from experience. The world of swimming is pretty sheltered and consuming, and I had some difficulty figuring out who I was after it was over. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been if I spent my entire adolescence at the pool.

 

[DND]

Just wanted to head off anyone thinking that my prior post was a criticism of homeschool per se. I know that Homeschooling can be done in such a way that kids do have plenty of interaction with other kids, interesting experiences in the community etc. With the state of some schools, I totally get why people do it. I'm mostly referring the the extraordinarily limiting world of spending the entire day at a gym and going to school with the same people you do gymnastics with. I'm assuming absolutely no exposure to members of the opposite sex (unless there is a boys team), no change of scenery or friends etc. This may be best for short term gymnastic success, but I see difficulty down the road when the child enters college, and has only had exposure to gymnasts and the safe little world of the gym. Yes, they may travel, but it's done under the careful watch of coaches and parents. It's harmful to the kids future to be so narrowly focused. What if an injury ends the kid's career prematurely? They have no life to fall back on. No school or school friend, no clear idea of what life is outside the gym. No clear picture of other interests they might take up. I say this from experience. The world of swimming is pretty sheltered and consuming, and I had some difficulty figuring out who I was after it was over. I can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been if I spent my entire adolescence at the pool.

Well said! I wish there were more schools around that were centered around all athletes/sports. This way for those who do want to "have the best of both worlds" so to speak; a good education and a chance to go after their dream they would not have to sacrifice one for the other. They could be in an environment with a variety of kids with similar goals and still want a good education, but also train and go after their dream.

I know there is a lot of free time in my DD's day a school (she is young BTW); three recesses, arts and crafts, do as you please time etc. The amount of time spent on ELA, Math, Science and Social Studies is really limited. In my dream world if there was a school for athletes that started at lets say 8am and really they could fit in for lack of a better word the core curriculum that was done by 1pm then the child could still train for 5 hours and have the evening with family as they could be done by 630 or 7pm and get rested and even have free time.

Just a thought!

 

[bogwoppit]

In QUebec we have many Sports Etudes programs in schools. Student from grade three and up can attend school in the morning and then participate in their chosen sport in the afternoon. Admittedly these programs are only available in the big cities, and mostly in the French school system. But it does allow many students to pursue their sport to a higher level without sacrificing their academics or having no free time. The academic programs are accelerated and they do no phys ed in school.

In our rural area, and our very small high school (150 student from 7-11) our elite athletes can miss as much school as they need to to train and compete and are given academic support from the teachers. SO they do a hybrid of home school, remote learning and in class time. It works great.

It is a shame that there isn't more flexibilty in the education system. I think homeschooling is great, but it certainly isn't for every family.

As to the OP's gym, this is more common than you would think. If homeschooling is not for you then it shouldn't change anything in your situation.

 

[Natalia]

In QUebec we have many Sports Etudes programs in schools. Student from grade three and up can attend school in the morning and then participate in their chosen sport in the afternoon. Admittedly these programs are only available in the big cities, and mostly in the French school system. But it does allow many students to pursue their sport to a higher level without sacrificing their academics or having no free time. The academic programs are accelerated and they do no phys ed in school..

We've just moved back to France and DD is in a "sport etudes" program,I drop her off at school in the morning,the gym picks up the girls at school an hour earlier with the other students who are also in the program and I just go and pick her up at the end of practise.Its fantastic!It also helped her make new friends as she practices with some of her classmates.

 

[MaryA]

We've just moved back to France and DD is in a "sport etudes" program,I drop her off at school in the morning,the gym picks up the girls at school an hour earlier with the other students who are also in the program and I just go and pick her up at the end of practise.Its fantastic!It also helped her make new friends as she practices with some of her classmates.

Very jealous!

 

[bookworm]

We've just moved back to France and DD is in a "sport etudes" program,I drop her off at school in the morning,the gym picks up the girls at school an hour earlier with the other students who are also in the program and I just go and pick her up at the end of practise.Its fantastic!It also helped her make new friends as she practices with some of her classmates.

Very jealous!

I'm jealous too

 

[Pickle's Mom]

Just wanted to head off anyone thinking that my prior post was a criticism of homeschool per se. I know that Homeschooling can be done in such a way that kids do have plenty of interaction with other kids, interesting experiences in the community etc. With the state of some schools, I totally get why people do it. I'm mostly referring the the extraordinarily limiting world of spending the entire day at a gym and going to school with the same people you do gymnastics with.

I completely agree. I don't think there is anything illegal or innately unfair about the gym providing a room to parens who choose to homeschool, but I'm not sold that it is really in the best interest of the children.

Spending all day around kids with the same goal as you is incredibly limiting. One of the wonderful aspects of homeschooling is that it gives parents the opportunity to introduce their childen to more of the world than can be accomplished in a regular classroom. However, this seems like the opposite of that.

That said, I certainly understand the need to save on gas, travel time. And perhaps these parents are doing a tremendous amount of enrichment we aren't aware of.

 

[Flossyduck]

I've been following this thread with interest and can see that it raises many issues and feelings, which are now straying away from the original topic - so apologies for continuing that. We are some way off this stage (and of course it might never come) but we have it in the back of our minds, as we live about an hour from gym and the girls one and two levels up from my daughter are required to start morning sessions (as well as after school), if at all possible.

Quite a few of us travel so there has been some discussion about whether to try and attend a school closer to gym, even though that might be remote from home, or whether to do the drive and miss more school. There was some mention of bringing in tutors and working in a room at the gym.

It was the above comment about schooling in the gym being limiting which prompted me to comment. My daughter attends a tiny rural school, with an entirely white, mostly middle class intake. Going to gym provides more contact with an urban, diverse group of people than she has ever experienced in her life. She is working out with kids from a much broader range of backgrounds, goals and priorities than she meets at school or at home. The only thing many of them have in common is gymnastics. Spending time chatting to the other parents, although I can see that their commitment to gymnastics is great, they definately don't all have the same expectations for their children - even the ones on the elite track.


I'm not convinced that schooling in the gym would be any more limiting for her than continuing to be schooled in her little rural school, or home schooled amongst similar minded people. It really depends on how it's done, but I would be happy for her to have chance to learn alongside some of the girls from gym, who all bring different things to the table.

She has already picked up on the talk and I have reassured her that, when the time comes, we will do the absolute best for her, so that she can be as good as she can be at school, at gym and get lots of time with her family (doesn't that sound easy?!)

I guess every childs circumstances are different and as parents we all want what is best for them. I am going to try and keep an open mind until and if we have to make a decision. At this stage we are very happy with her current school and the drive but we certainly haven't ruled out home schooling and we haven't ruled out home schooling at gym, because I think it might well broaden her horizons if done properly.

 

[EmmasMommy]

I think it sounds fair for the reasons Esoteric said. I am sure it's legal. Homeschooling does not need to be done from the home. You can even join a homeschooling op, where maybe one mom teaches art, someone's dad teaches spanish, etc. The way it's handled by the state is through testing to make sure the kids are learning what they need to and covering the material.