Parents Meets on School days!

[Aussie_coach]

I think this one area where agreement will never happen. Every parent will have different beliefs and every family and every society will feel differently.

As happyfacemum said in Australia missing a day of school certainly would not be considered a big deal. But yes our schools are very different to the US. From what I have read it seems that in the US things like daily classwork and homework are a part of their school grades. Not so in Australia, kids will just work on a unit for several weeks and then do a test or assignment. The only thing that will count towards the grade is the test or assignment and it does not matter at all iff the kids did not do any work in class or at home. The work on the tests and assignments are covered over and over again just in case the kids missed it the forst 3 or 4 times. There is also FAR less emphasis on grades and passing even in the senior years. So yes our answer as Australians will be very different to the answers of our US counterparts.

However, having said that I have found it very rare (in fact not just rare I have never ever seen it before) that regular gymnastics competitions are held on a school day. Yes some school may be missed for travel on occaision but again its not that common. It seems to me that if I was running a meet I would want it to be as profitable as possible, so I would want to hold it on a day where I would get maximum people attending so I certainly wouldn't choose a school day, if I could possibly avoid it.

As a coach my stance would be of course to respect the wants of the family. If we did ever have a competition on a school day I would not expect any parent to remove their child from school if they did not want to. It would certainly be optional.

But I also think its unfair to expect that education has to be the number 1 priority in all families. It certainly would not be number 1 priority in my house. There are lots of families who have a different priority such as family, religion or work.

 

[Gymnasticsgirl521]

I have no issue with DD missing school for a meet or private. I think kids need a mental break from school so missing once a 9 weeks or twice is not an issue for us. Mind you we are a family that will pull them out for 5-10 days for vacation once a year too. I am not a big person on having to have perfect attendance.

We will have one this year that we will miss the day after since it is 4 hours away or so. Not a big deal a good reason for me to take a day off and spend some quality time with the kids. DS will miss that day too.

 

[NotAMom]

But I also think its unfair to expect that education has to be the number 1 priority in all families. It certainly would not be number 1 priority in my house. There are lots of families who have a different priority such as family, religion or work.

I think that is the most candid response I've heard that alludes to my comment. Even though I don't agree with it, I do respect that.

 

[Granny Smith]

Since the upcoming season is just getting started I can't really say what I will be dealing with. I do know that her flyaway meet she is off from school that Friday and Monday, so she won't miss any school.

Last yr she missed 2 days for 2 different meets, one was her flyaway and the other was a few states away, driving though. Those were the only 2 days that she missed of school. I have to say that I bet she missed less school than many of her peers.

My dd is not going to the Olympics and will never be an elite, her choice, but the flyaway is her reward for being a great kid. To each his/her own.

 

[gym law mom]

My gymmie didn't miss any school for gymnastics until she got to the optional level. Then they start going to the big invitationals that run from Fri-Sunday and she has been in sessions that are on Friday(in state) or been traveling to an out of state meet.

We make it clear it is her responsibility to talk with her teachers(she's in 8th grade) a week or so ahead of being off to get assignments and so far just about every teacher has been supportive. I know this year, she'll have 2 meets that fall over long weekends(MLK and President's Day), so that shouldn't be a big issue. I don't agree with going to an out of state meet and then having the girls stay an extra day or so to sightsee meanwhile missing school.

 

[Billy]

I don't agree with going to an out of state meet and then having the girls stay an extra day or so to sightsee meanwhile missing school.

I disagree with this. I think it would be a disservice to a child to not allow them to see a small part of the world in favor of hurrying back for another day of school. There's a lot to be said for living life and experiencing the world around us. One day to explore a new city can be far more educational than sitting in the classroom for one more of the 180 "school days" every year.

 

[Monkeygirlsmom]

wow I did not expect such a debate on this. I was just seeing others opinions.

I am planning on letting her , I know some areas around here do not have school that day so Im thinking they picked that for this reason.
This will be her first meet ever (other than the mini meets in the gym).

 

[Gymdad2]

I disagree with this. I think it would be a disservice to a child to not allow them to see a small part of the world in favor of hurrying back for another day of school. There's a lot to be said for living life and experiencing the world around us. One day to explore a new city can be far more educational than sitting in the classroom for one more of the 180 "school days" every year.

I agree with this post. Our school district is very strict about unexcused absences but they do have ALE excuses. These are Alternative Learning Experieces so whenever dd has to miss a day of school for a meet she turns in the ALE form and is excused. We have extended some ALEs for an extra day or 2 to explore a new place - Baltimore Md, Charleston SC and the grand canyon are examples of places where we have done this. I think it has been beneficial.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

My DD has only had one meet where we had to. Decide if we would pull her and DS out of school.

The meet was in Savannah GA and we had never been. We decided to leave a day early and pull them out of school. We did some sight seeing in historic downtown Savannah, walked River St and did a night time ghost tour. Everyone had a blat and learned a lot about Savannah. I had written to each princie ahead of time and the kids absences were to be excused if they wrote about what they learned in Savannah. They had fun doing this and I would do it again if the opportunity presented itself.

 

[kikimom]

Our 2nd level 6 meet is this Friday at 8am so we have to miss school. Luckily dd is a good student. Our meets generally are Friday, Saturday and Sunday and the coaches don't know which day/time slot each level will get until a few weeks before the meet - by then we have already paid so its hard to back out. Last year we had a lot of late Sunday night times some of them far from home -not sure which is better.

 

[mom2kazkids]

DD willl be missing school this winter for gymnastics. I will be taking her out in Jan for 4 days for a meet in Cancun, so it does become a vacation for her and I. Then in Feb she will be at the Chicago Style meet and we just found out from her coaches that she competes at 5pm on Friday, so another day will be missed. I am hoping that over winter break to get her homework that will be missed while we are in Cancun.

There will be 4 girls from her school missing for the Chicago meet as 2 are level 5 and 2 more are level 4's that compete at 8am on Friday.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

I think this happens more with the older optional girls who travel for meets in our gym. I do not think it is a big deal to miss a couple of days for a meet although I would not schedule a family vacation during the school year. I remember last year one of the optionals refused to go to a meet because she did not want to miss school.

 

[Midget's Dad]

TN Compulsory States are this weekend and Midget's call time is Friday. even though it is after school we are holding her out to let her sleep in that morning.

And we will be missing a few days for the Magical Classic in February.

I don't see an issue with it personally. It helps that Midget gets straight A's though.

 

[pixie flips]

Well, this Friday is the 2nd meet in a row that is scheduled on a school day. Not only that but the girls have to be there during school hours. I talked to the school about it and let them know the situation. Pixie's school is very supportive of her and know that she is a gymnast and they understand. The only draw back in this situation is that since she is not sick it will be counted as an unexcused absence. The students are allowed 10 unexcused absences a school year. The only time Pixie misses school, when she is not sick, is for gymnastics. I think the reason the school takes it as well as they do is because Pixie is a very strong student. I just hate having to pull her out of class, though. It feels like we're playing hooky, ha!

 

[NotAMom]

It feels like we're playing hooky, ha!

But, you are, aren't you?

 

[pixie flips]

But, you are, aren't you?

No. They know we aren't going to be there.