WAG New and would like advice for 5 year old daughter

[sglemon]

I really like the trial class option, to see how she does. Another suggestion, would be to ask the new gym if she could start out one day a week, until she has comfortably transitioned into the longer class, before jumping to 2 x week.

You also need to decide on what you are looking for in a program for your dd. if you want to go the competitive route, or the more fun recreational one. If you want her to compete, you need to consider the new gym.

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I would go twice a week, but have her leave earlier, as she adjusts she can stay longer.

 

[onebusymama]

I just now saw this thread. After reading your 1st post and only your first post, I was saying to myself "try the other gym". I think it was a good discision to do so. Also let your DD try the L2/3 class for a bit. If it's too much then scale back. She is still young. You don't want to push her away from the sport.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Although I know it sounds like a huge jump to go from 1hr a week to 6, IMO 6 hours a week isn't all that much for a 5 YO...especially if she isn't in any other activities... Also, if she's the talented type the early days of gymnastics are pretty fun because they are getting a new skill every week, and there's lots of celebrating, etc. so those 6 hours won't seem as long as they sound. It's when the new skills become slower to come by that things get rigourous and tough...(IMO that is the real test of if a kid has what it takes to stick w/ this sport...if they have the determinitation to "keep going" when a new skill doesn't come easy and others are getting it when they can't)...and she's probably got a while to go, at least a couple years, before that point hits cause it's L2/L3.

I agree to have her do a trail lesson and see what she says...if she thinks the hours are too much but likes the new gym, then talk to them about the possibility of doing less. If she loves it like it is, or hates it, you have your answer there too...

Good luck.

 

[mouey77]

DD got really excited about trying it out. Yes, in my conversation with the coach at the new gym, they will absolutely let her transition. She suggested we bring her Tuesday and have her stay 1.5 hours. We don't even have to register until she goes a couple of times. I think I was stressing about fun versus letting her try the competitive route and over thinking. Worst case scenario: we will go back to our old gym if it ceases to be fun and she doesn't like it. thanks for all of this great advice!!

 

[Galadriel]

give us an update in a few weeks!
hope it goes well

 

[mouey77]

I will! Thank you!

 

[krisnkids]

Sounds like a good chance for her to see what its like. Good luck getting her out of there after an hour and a half. If she's anything like my kids were they never wanted to leave.

 

[mouey77]

Update: I took DD to the level 3 team practices this week. She was definitely the smallest and weakest one. I asked the coach about this, but she insisted she is ready for this level. At first DD was really tired and about halfway through the practice wanted to leave, but by the end, she didn't want to leave and begged to go back. But, I was really overwhelmed by this gym. First of all, it looked like there were 4 or 5 different types of classes going on at once, so it was packed. That might be normal though for a larger gym--it had a herding cattle feel though. I was talking to two moms in the waiting area who are commuting three hours each way to bring their 6 and 7 year old daughters to this team practice twice a week. Also, the gym has a homeschooling program. Some of the kids have plans to drop out of their schools and enroll in the gym's school. I really got the feeling that if we aren't willing to invest that much and pay for 3 hour private lessons on Sat and Sun, they will not be as invested in DD. I just think this is too much for a kindergartner, and we have two other young daughters.

Meanwhile, I spoke with DD's old coach, and she told me that they left her with the preschool group because they planned to move her straight on to the level 2 team as soon as this meet season is over. She explained that the older developmental class is very large (true), and the instructors would have less time to give her individual attention to improve her form for level 2. (Although the preschool group recently has gotten large, and none of the kids are getting much individual attention.) She said they used to have an advanced preschool group to bridge over to team, but they are too short staffed to have this year. So she has been moving kids up to the larger developmental group to try to shrink down the preschool group. I guess this makes sense, but maybe this should be communicated to parents. Meanwhile, it appears that my DD is getting left back, and the parents whose kids got moved into the bigger group think that they were moved up because they are progressing.

DD now refuses to go back to preschool group because she wants to go to new gym. I don't blame her. I would be insulted if the kids around me were moving up and it looked like I was being left with babies. Old coach says she will do a weekly private lesson with DD until after meet season. This is a little bit of a headache. I am secretly hoping maybe DD will switch to soccer or tball.

ETA: Current coach advised us to "stay away" from new gym and said she was recruited there when she was young too. She didn't really elaborate though.

 

[gymmommy123]

I have yet to see a gym that didn't have a number of classes going on at the same time. It is expensive to run a gym, and I'm not sure many can afford to run with just one class going at once. So I certainly wouldn't let that scare me away. In fact, the gym being popular, with moms that feel the coaching is worth the long commute, would make me think they do a pretty good job. Most parents won't commute for hours, to go to a terrible gym. You can't ask one gym about a competing gym and expect them to give you an honest, unbiased opinion. They are 1) competing to keep you at their gym, 2) competing with their team, maybe they have a stronger team, maybe they've lost good coaches to the other gym, etc... and 3) they love THEIR gym, otherwise they wouldn't work there! It sounds like you have already made up your mind where you feel happier, and it may be at the smaller gym.... or continuing your search for the right gym by looking at other gyms too. I'm very quickly learning now, that once the move to competition comes around, there is a pretty big time and financial commitment.