Report Cards: How strict is your DD's gym?

[MdGymMom01]

For many of our kids it is that time of year again--Report card time! Dani did well--all A's and B's , so her and I were very happy. I can tell that school is getting harder for her--she used to be able to "coast by" with little effort and not much studying and get straight A's, but now that she is in the 5th grade, she is finding out that she does have to put in that EXTRA study time and really be on top of her classwork and homework assignments.

So, my question to everyone is this: Does your gym have a requirement on report card grades in order to compete? Our gym's policy is that you maintain at least a B average in each subject in order to compete during competition season. So, basically NO C's or lower on the report card. That's pretty tough IMHO, but then again, in my mind extracurricular activities such as sports (gymnastics) are a priveledge for my kids and they should keep their grades up at all times.

What are your gym's requirements on report cards?

 

[gracefulone]

We didn't have one. It was exclusively up to the parents.

I like the idea of having one though.

 

[nevertooold]

We do not have grade requirements for the girls to compete.

IMO sometimes it is the kids who are struggling either socially or academically that NEED gymnastics. Just as all kids are not good at gymnastics, not all kids are good at test taking, or grade earning in school.

We allow kids to come late, leave early or skip practice if they need to for schoolwork, but do not penalize the ones who don't make good marks.

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

If I recall our gym has a rule, but I don't remember it LOL !!

DD pulled all b's & 1 a. Her interim was a little low - had a couple C's and I told HC I may have to pull her 30 min early each practice, but she pulled them up so far. School is not easy for her, I am happy with her b's for the mist part. I think she could have pulled up one to an A with a little more effort. But she is one to usually try her best.

I think parents need to set the bar for their kid.

 

[taximom]

Our gym doesn't have a grade policy.

Nevertooold raises some valid points.

Corky does very well in school perfectionist in every area of her life but younger sister really struggles academically and the gym gives her a level playing field with her same aged peers. If Corky's grades were to suddenly fall I would look at her training hours and probably adjust them accordingly but yet I don't think I would respond the same way for my other daughter. She gets way to many positives out of gym to take those opportunities away from her. Equal, no... but fair in the sense that each child gets what they need!

 

[mariposa]

We do not have grade requirements for the girls to compete.

IMO sometimes it is the kids who are struggling either socially or academically that NEED gymnastics. Just as all kids are not good at gymnastics, not all kids are good at test taking, or grade earning in school.

We allow kids to come late, leave early or skip practice if they need to for schoolwork, but do not penalize the ones who don't make good marks.

I agree with this 100%.

 

[Panda-girl's Mom]

Daughters gym rewards them if they get good grades gives them credit towards open gym or tutition. I do not know the exact amount but they make copies of them and she keeps them in a file. I do not know what they do if they do not do well since daughter usaully does alright and gets money towards open gym.

 

[marie83]

We do not have grade requirements for the girls to compete.

IMO sometimes it is the kids who are struggling either socially or academically that NEED gymnastics. Just as all kids are not good at gymnastics, not all kids are good at test taking, or grade earning in school.

We allow kids to come late, leave early or skip practice if they need to for schoolwork, but do not penalize the ones who don't make good marks.

This is my gym's policy as well. We are a completely separate entity to school. If parent's feel that their child needs to work harder at school and not come to gym, that is totally up to them. We are just concerned with how they are doing in the gym!

 

[gymmomntc2e6]

We do not have grade requirements for the girls to compete.

IMO sometimes it is the kids who are struggling either socially or academically that NEED gymnastics. Just as all kids are not good at gymnastics, not all kids are good at test taking, or grade earning in school.

We allow kids to come late, leave early or skip practice if they need to for schoolwork, but do not penalize the ones who don't make good marks.

This is my DD. She does ok in school, but not great. Two years ago she was a shy, withdrawn (except at home with immediate family) and had virtually no self confidence. She didn't think she was smart and compared herself to other kids in her class and that better.

After being on team for two years she is self confident, outgoing, social and no longer compares herself to her peers. She is ok with it now if someones does better than her in school or gym, and is truely happy for them. If you ask her what changed her she will say 'gymnastics'.

 

[MdGymMom01]

Personally, I think it should be more on a case by case basis. I do think that our gym's policy is a little strict in that not every child is an A or B student all the time. I am not sure how they enforce this policy or if it is a more of a "guideline". I haven't heard of anyone from dd's team not being able to compete because of grades so I'm not too sure how accurate or enforced this policy is. I just know that I am supposed to hand in a copy of her report card every quarter.

I do agree that with the kids that have trouble in school or struggle with grades, a sport such as gymnastics actually helps them bring their grades up because it teaches discipline, time management and responsibility.

 

[ThreeGirlsForMe]

Our gym does not have any policy on grades and leaves that up to the parent. For us, school comes first and we have let Emma know that. She knows she needs to have her homework complete before she goes to the gym becuase by the time practice is over it is too late to be doing home work (she is 8 and her practices run till 9 pm). It only took one missed practice for her to realize that we were serious ;-)

Personally, i think the gyms need to leave this up to the parents. While they can encourage or reward good grades making it a requirement is not fair to those children for whom and A or a B is an elusive goal. Some students, even when trying their best, just aren't able to accomplish this and for them having something that gives them pride is even more important.

Just my .02

 

[bookworm]

The gyms we've been in and are currently in never have had a grade policy but I think that that's really a parent issue. If my kid was doing poorly in school but well in gym, she might just need that self esteem boost to plug along. Fortunately, my daughter has always been an honor student but she has missed practices if she's had too many tests, or too much homework...that has happened rarely because my DD is really pro-active about her schoolwork so when she tells me she needs the day off from practice, I listen.

 

[gymgramma]

No grade rules for competing. Pizza party to the level with the highest grade pt average

 

[momof5]

Our gym has no rule. Its up to the parents which I like. As the parent of a gymmie that really struggles in school I am happy when she gets a C because I know how much effort went into that grade. I would never pull her out if her grades slipped. She needs it for her self esteem since school is such a struggle for her. For me effort is more important then grades. If she didn't have time to put much effort into grades then I would reconsider. I am so glad that this is not an issue at our gym. Some kids can't make those A"s and B's.

The NCAA has similar policies. You have to have a 2.0 to be eligible to compete.

 

[gracefulone]

I forgot to add a little sidenote about my highschool track team.

My highschool had online grade monitoring, webgrader, where teachers constantly edited grades; and online gradebook if you will. On Mondays, each member of the track team was required to print his/her webgrader and hand it in to the coaches. If there were any Ds or Fs, you then had to attend a 'study table' for one hour after practice the next day. By the last few weeks of the season, study table participation was at 0.

 

[bookworm]

I agree with Momof5...some kids will really struggle to get a C and others will get As effortlessly...I never punish my children for grades..to me, if you've worked to the best of your ability, that's all I can ask...

 

[CoachGoofy]

We don't have a grades policy, & strongly feel it's up to the parents. We have an extremely inclusive program as far as taking students with learning disabilities & the like onto team is concerned (if they can learn the skills & are ready & able to put in the work, I'm delighted to have them), so tying in an area of strength with an area of weakness seems grossly unfair and needlessly frustrating for some kids.

If parents choose to set a report card rule, that's totally up to them, & we've had kids leave early for school stuff. This is all fine with us.

 

[MdGymMom01]

No grade rules for competing. Pizza party to the level with the highest grade pt average

I like this idea! It motivates the kids to get good grades (YUM! Pizza Party!!) but it doesn't necessarily put too much pressure on them in regards to maybe not being able to compete because of lower grades.

 

[bogwoppit]

But it doesn't reward hard work, that is why I wouldn't be into it. Not every kid who works hard is an A, B or even a C student. I know lots of kids who sailed through school without wroking too hard and getting all A's, but it didn't mean they worked for it.

Bring me a report card that says "works to the best of her ability" and I'll be thrilled, bring a report card with all A's that says "inconsistent effort" and I'll be unhappy.

Reward the work not the grade.

 

[MdGymMom01]

But it doesn't reward hard work, that is why I wouldn't be into it. Not every kid who works hard is an A, B or even a C student. I know lots of kids who sailed through school without wroking too hard and getting all A's, but it didn't mean they worked for it.

Bring me a report card that says "works to the best of her ability" and I'll be thrilled, bring a report card with all A's that says "inconsistent effort" and I'll be unhappy.

Reward the work not the grade.

I agree with this. My kids report cards have an "Effort" grade after each subject as well--1 being Excellent, 2 being satisfactory and 3 being Needs improvement. I think this is good because as long as the kids are putting in good Effort, it doesn't matter to me if the grade is an A or B or even C for that matter.