WAG Modified school hours for gym

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

My youngest dd is 7. Her gym has had her on elite track since she was put in pre team last year. ( I guess you can say she has natural talent) she just finished competing level 3 for experience and her coach is planning on scoring her out of 4 and 5 and compete optional next winter ( not sure what level yet). Dds coach came to me this past week to tell me this. He told me that we should talk to dds school about going on a modified schedule. Because he wants her to do morning training twice a week, Next school year instead of evening training. Right now she is doing 9 hours a week training with the level 5's( who do 12 hours ) and 3 hours doing tops. This is a lot of hours fora just turned 7 year old ( her birthday is march 16) but I told her that if she doesn't want to do that Many hours we don't have to. As well as if I think she's to tired I don't let her go to gym. Anyway I was wondering your opinion on asking the school to modify her school schedule, and if any of you do it. I really respect her coach and his opinions on things and I think if it will help her we're willing to try it out.just so every one know i always tell my kids if they don't want to do a sport they don't have to. I've also talked with dd about it and she says she wants to do it. Me and my husband just wanted to get other opinions on it.

 

[Quadqueen]

There have been several threads on this before. From what I've read here, there aren't too many public schools who will willingly allow this - but then again, maybe they have had this same situation occur before, if another child at your gym goes to your child's school.

What is the reason they can't get the hours during after school hours? I just can't imagine doing this at 7.

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

Her coach has told most of the reasons is because he wants her to able to workout in the morning have the rest of the day to do school. Their are about 5 other kids who do this but they live in a different school district. Her coach has also told me that he finds when they go to school all day and then go to gym at night they are tired by the time they come gym the next day and they don't workout too their best potential. I do think your right in that it's a lot but if we do this we're going to drop tops and do 2 days after school and either one morning trainings and 1 weekend training or 2 morning trainings 2 weekend trainings

 

[Quadqueen]

I guess if you and DD want to do it, the only way you'll know if it's going to work is to ask her school. Do most kids in this program at the gym do homeschool? That's the only way I could see it working out. I know private schools and schools in other countries seem to be more agreeable to an adjusted schedule. Here, I've never even heard of anyone being successful asking that their gymnast get out of PE!

 

[GYM0M]

I have a DD that has been fast/elite tracked. She turned 8 in February. She trains over 20 hours per week. This is our last year of traditional public school. Her coach feels her 'downtime' in school is unnecessary. He asked us in early December to look for some programs and he did the same. We have found an online public school that is self paced without certain time requirements. We are actively discussing schedules right now. I have researched a number of home schools. Our district will not allow students to miss school without absences.

 

[B&M's mom]

I have a daughter who is currently working on qualifying so I've been on this road. From my experience with my school district, you will get push back on this especially since most of the core subjects are taught in the mornings. Right now, my daughter leaves at noon for training. She is now in middle school and we were able to arrange her schedule to get the majority of her classes in the morning. She still has to be homeschooled in at least one subject which means doing it after practice when she's tired. Are you prepared to fill in those subjects that she would miss as she still needs to learn the content even if she's not in school?

But beyond the scheduling difficulties, sit down and take a few minutes to breathe. Moving to this type of schedule is huge. Is your daughter ready to be socially isolated? She will be just because she's not in school and doesn't have the social interaction with other kids. We didn't start the modified schedule until 6th grade so that my daughter fully understood what the impact would be. She comments about how she doesn't know her classmates and doesn't do any of the fun school related stuff. Doesn't mean she'd give up training but she is aware of her isolation. This type of training is also EXTREMELY hard on the body. My daughter only did 12 hours of training until she was almost 11 and a L8. She did not get injured during that time. Since she moved into elite training, she's had 3 fractures (all relatively minor) that are related to the fact that children's bones are not as hard as adult and fracture more easily. She's also battled Sever's and Osgood's. This type of training is hard! What is the rush for this training? She can't qualify as a jr. elite until she's 11.

Good luck.

 

[cbifoja]

We are like QuadQueen. Schools here are VERY uncooperative with gymnastics. No PE exemption, no modified schedule, no excused absences for meets.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I have a daughter who is currently working on qualifying so I've been on this road. From my experience with my school district, you will get push back on this especially since most of the core subjects are taught in the mornings. Right now, my daughter leaves at noon for training. She is now in middle school and we were able to arrange her schedule to get the majority of her classes in the morning. She still has to be homeschooled in at least one subject which means doing it after practice when she's tired. Are you prepared to fill in those subjects that she would miss as she still needs to learn the content even if she's not in school?

But beyond the scheduling difficulties, sit down and take a few minutes to breathe. Moving to this type of schedule is huge. Is your daughter ready to be socially isolated? She will be just because she's not in school and doesn't have the social interaction with other kids. We didn't start the modified schedule until 6th grade so that my daughter fully understood what the impact would be. She comments about how she doesn't know her classmates and doesn't do any of the fun school related stuff. Doesn't mean she'd give up training but she is aware of her isolation. This type of training is also EXTREMELY hard on the body. My daughter only did 12 hours of training until she was almost 11 and a L8. She did not get injured during that time. Since she moved into elite training, she's had 3 fractures (all relatively minor) that are related to the fact that children's bones are not as hard as adult and fracture more easily. She's also battled Sever's and Osgood's. This type of training is hard! What is the rush for this training? She can't qualify as a jr. elite until she's 11.

Good luck.

this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

[GYM0M]

My DD longs to leave the school as she is already socially isolated. She's taunted for her small size by kindergarteners, only has a few friends (cousins & their 'girlfriends' lol), is embarrassed when gym teachers call her out being stronger than the boys her age. Her true friends are at the gym. These are the relationships she can't live without right now. She loves gymnastics and has high hopes for her future. Each individual child is different. You have to evaluate your child on the parent level. What does her personality need? Not just the gymnast, but the child, too. This is a HUGE decision for families and one that is not to be taken lightly. Luckily the decision was easy for us bc of our child. Trust yourself to make the best choice for YOUR child.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

7 year old's doing 2 a days even twice a week is not appropriate.

 

[sce]

I don't have experience with this and have no idea who the school will respond. I wonder if part of the reason the gym is asking for this, is because she misses gym when she is tired. Maybe they feel are hoping morning training, and lessened school hours would be easier for her. They may also feel they can work on her specific training needs better when the gym is less busy

Dunno - I believe the Mom said morning instead of evening on those days, not 2 practices a day.

 

[Midwestmommy]

Call me cynical, but I think some gyms that require daytime training (home schooling or modified school hours) for elementary school aged kids that aren't level 9/10+ just may be doing it for their own financial reasons rather than for the benefit of the athlete. I personally think until a kid IS actually elite, modifying the school schedule (other than the occasional Friday meet) has more to do with money and convenience of the gym. Have them train when the gym is empty and not making money because most kids are, ummmm in school!! It rubs me the wrong way. To me it smacks of selling lofty dreams to teeny kids and parents when is too early to be doing so.....
Ducking for cover.

 

[Midwestmommy]

This is also why I am hugely in favor of keeping minimum age requirements in this sport. Seven year olds are unable to truly understand the demands these adults are placing on them and do most of what they do to please adults.

 

[magmom]

My son goes before and after school. The options at our gym are before and after school for 1.5 hours each, or just after school for 3 hours. The before/after works better for our family schedule. The only reason this works at our gym is that the elementary schools around here start pretty late in the morning. The middle schools start earlier, but some of them will substitute the missed period for PE. I would not have my son in this program if he were missing any regular school.

Dunno, why do you say it's not appropriate? Because of missed school or some other reason?

 

[raenndrops]

My OG alternately begs to do online school, then says she doesn't because she would miss her friends at school. The online school idea is mostly when the tween cattiness is at its worst (she is an all around good athlete - gymnastics, soccer, basketball, softball, football all show natural ability... and she is beautiful and smart and strong and has male friends as well as female friends). The other girls tend to say things about her (you can imagine what they say based on her hanging out with boys... plus there's the show-off, stuck up, brainiac aka nerd, and everything else).

She also likes the idea of going at her own pace so she can get through it all faster. IF she were to do online, her plan would be (assuming she got to start at the beginning of April): Finish 6th grade and get 7th grade done by June 15. Start back August 1 and do 8th grade and get through 8th and 9th and part of 10th by June 2015. For 2015/16, Finish 10th and complete 11th grade and start 12th grade (get most of the classes out of the way). In 2016/17, go back to her public high school so she could graduate with a "proper" diploma recognized by NCAA... and, since she would have most of her high school classes done, she would do College classes paid for by the high school. She would graduate in 2017... the same year as her older brother. She would continue with gym all the way through, but wouldn't have the stress of getting "busy work" done on the teacher's schedule.

 

[gymgal]

This is also why I am hugely in favor of keeping minimum age requirements in this sport. Seven year olds are unable to truly understand the demands these adults are placing on them and do most of what they do to please adults.

This may be a good generalization but it certainly not true of all children. I think you underestimate the drive these little girls have. Most times it is not coming from the parents or the coaches. It is coming from the child.

Call me cynical, but I think some gyms that require daytime training (home schooling or modified school hours) for elementary school aged kids that aren't level 9/10+ just may be doing it for their own financial reasons rather than for the benefit of the athlete. I personally think until a kid IS actually elite, modifying the school schedule (other than the occasional Friday meet) has more to do with money and convenience of the gym. Have them train when the gym is empty and not making money because most kids are, ummmm in school!! It rubs me the wrong way. To me it smacks of selling lofty dreams to teeny kids and parents when is too early to be doing so.....
Ducking for cover.

The reason the gyms want them training in the morning is because it is quieter, hence less distractions. And the girls have just had a good night sleep, are fresh and ready to work. Compare that to kids who had to get up at 6-7am, sit in school for 6-7 hours, have a small snack and go to practice for 5 hours, shower, eat, then spend an hour (more if they are older) doing homework before going to bed later than she should. My dd is not going elite. She's a level 8. And how I wish her gym offered morning practice for gymnasts who want it, instead of afternoon practices. Of course, we already homeschool so it's not as big an issue for us. just my two cents

 

[meganliz77]

IMHO, (and for what it's worth my 6 yo daughter isn't on a specified elite track) but boy would I have a hard time with my gym ever requesting this of my daughter. The speculation they want her there to be more alert and have more energy, etc. - I get it, but to place more importance on her training than her schooling would be difficult for me... And I think it would send a pretty clear message to my daughter, that I am unsure I would ever be comfortable with. The reality is that most of our kiddos do not make a career out of gymnastics. And those with aspirations of pursuing the sport in college, well, would still need a solid education to get them there. I would agree with others, that if faced with this situation, I would honestly consider homeschooling her. Good luck to you and her!!! She must be a very talented little girl

 

[Gymprincess]

Our school district is very kind about altering schedules for gymnastics, though we seem to be the exception. My mom went through a very long process to get the district to work with us when my older sister made the TOPS team. We now have six gymnasts at my school who all have altered schedules with one only being there for her core classes! On another note be careful doing this at such a hound age. Though it works for some kids only three of the girls who did this with my sister in elementary school are still in gymnastics. The other girls burned out, and now have strong feelings against the sport.
Good Luck!

 

[Gymprincess]

*young age.... Sorry

 

[2gymnastand1soccerplayer]

I've been reading all of the comments while waiting to pick dd up from gym, and I'm taking all of your comments in to consideration, so I asked her coach if we can have a formal sit down meeting on Friday before dds class starts. I never knew kids could be so harsh over little things. Has the isolation at school effected your dds in anyway. Sometimes I forget that she is just 7 and still has a long way before she can even qualify, and I just need to let her be a kid sometimes.