Summer hours?

[MaryA]

Just curious how many hours your kiddos do in the gym on a weekly basis over the summer? This will be DD's first summer in a private gym program... At the Y, summer hours were the same as the rest of the year. Also she's moving from compulsories to optionals, so another big jump in hours from that. Right now she's doing 13.5 hours (15 if she stays for Friday open gym) and this summer she'll be going for 24.5 hours! :yikes:

I hope/assume that there will be a lunch break in there somewhere, and hopefully some fun stuff too (of course to DD nothing is more fun than gymnastics, but you know what I mean). Just wondering what your experiences are with summer practices... # of hours, do the hours increase, how does you kid adjust to the increase in hours? Until this past September, DD only did 7 hours a week so these are huge jumps for the whole family to adjust to!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

OMG...you're forcing me to think about that already and we haven't even been to nationals yet. yikes!

 

[MaryA]

OMG...you're forcing me to think about that already and we haven't even been to nationals yet. yikes!

What can I say? Our gym owner is VERY organized. Summer schedules were in our folders this week.

An aside, 4x a week the practice will start with a 2 mile run! Lordy, these kids are going to be FIT!

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i'm organized too! about a week before they get outta school!! LOL

 

[monkeysmom]

Just a plug for all the gyms to decide sooner, at least for younger kids. It's the lament of many single and/or divorced parents that when it comes to kid activities, there seems to be an assumption that all the kids come from a family with a stay at home parent-- or maybe not, but that at least folks aren't aware of how incredibly difficult it is to do the summer scheduling. The time that nannies need a family commitment mostly came and went already. The summer care program through the school required a deposit in February. Many camps are starting to fill up in March. Coordinating/partnering with other families takes some time to figure out. Which weeks are allocated for vacation needs to be planned ahead and in some cases OKd with others where you work. Our gym is giving us practice schedules by mid March and here's a enthusiastic, loud, heartfelt--THANK YOU!!!!!!!! Much better than finding out in May like last year. Very appreciated.

 

[Quadqueen]

um, MaryA, you have FOLDERS?!! we're lucky if we get an email about summer schedules by the end of May/beginning of June. Grrrr....
But, I can say, our summer hours stay pretty much the same as they do during the school year. We are on the low end for hours as it is, though.

 

[TexasRose]

Our hours stay the same for each level over the summer. Our level 3's go 3 hours a week, level 4 go 6 hrs, level 5 goes 9 hours. The girls move up levels in May and begin the new hours then. So DD will go from 3 to 6 hours a week. I'm loving that the gym is offering day time and evening practices for team so parents can choose the most convenient time for them. Since the gym offers a full day summer camp DD will go to that at 8am and do those activities until team practice from 12-3, then back to camp until 6pm. So when we pick her up after work we're home for the night! I also appreciate that the summer camp info is already out because we both work and have to arrange child care in advance. I love the camp at gym because they'll do a structured tumbling or ballet class 1 hr each day in addition to open gym time, swimming at the Y, going to the park, and going to the movies. And they also offer half-day camps for a week each. We did the tumbling camp last summer and DD learned a lot and had a blast. I love summer

 

[Aussie_coach]

Remember that your child won't be in school. In a normal week she would probably be in school for 35 hours per week plus do the training. So that would be 42 hours a week when she was at the Y, and 50 at the new gym.

So by comparison she should cope with the hours.

 

[wallinbl]

Hours don't change for DD. I think the gym likes the summer camp money for the rec kids, so they don't move any team practices to morning hours.

And, yes, please get your schedules out early - especially that mandatory team camp that everyone is waiting on dates for so they can schedule vacation!

 

[kimskids]

I have no idea what summer hours are going to be yet. We are also in the process of changing gyms so I have no idea if they new gym keeps the same summer schedule or goes during the day in the summer....????

 

[Faith]

Hours don't change in the summer- in fact she gets two weeks complete break!

Which I am quite pleased about, last year when she was only training once a week I think a weeks camp would have been beneficial, but now I think the rest will do more good both mentally and physically (and financially!)

 

[bookworm]

My girls have always done around 24 hours in the summer ...our nice normal gym does these hours Monday through Friday so we get the weekend off

 

[MaryA]

Remember that your child won't be in school. In a normal week she would probably be in school for 35 hours per week plus do the training. So that would be 42 hours a week when she was at the Y, and 50 at the new gym.

So by comparison she should cope with the hours.

Yes, and the gym hours are during the day so we will all be home in the evenings... Very exciting! Physically, I think 24 hours in the gym will be a lot more taxing though. And she will NOT like the fact that she will have to go to bed earlier than her twin sister!

 

[ThreeGirlsForMe]

My daughter, also a level 6, went from 14 hours at the beginning of the year to 15 and is now doing 19. Our level 7's do 20. I hear they will be doing the same hours during the summer but only going M-F - every day for 4 hours. But since we have not gotten schedules yet, I will have to wait and see what they finalize. She is struggling to keep up the schedule as she is a kid that needs more sleep than others.

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

Our gym is still deciding on hours, it will either stay at 12 or go down to 8 hours a week. 4 hours at a time, 2 or 3 days. This is for a minimum of 4 weeks spread throughout the summer however you would like. This is for all levels as I am at a small gym and we only have 10 girls this year that compete!

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

Our hours do not change in the summer. I always find it odd that gyms do have different summer schedules as most parents still have to work during the day even in the summer.

 

[lhmom]

DD's hours will increase in May because she will be officially "moving up" to level 5. Hours will increase from 9 1/2 to 12 1/2. No change from what she will be doing when school starts back in August. Good luck to your girl! She will be seriously fit shape!

 

[wallinbl]

DD's hours will increase in May because she will be officially "moving up" to level 5. Hours will increase from 9 1/2 to 12 1/2.

DD is always disappointed to hear from anyone at other gyms that get to practice more. She does 9 hours @ L5. Other local gyms do as many as 14. She'd love to go as much as the other gyms do.

 

[Esoteric]

I have not officially heard about summer hours, but if it is like last year, dd's schedule wont change. Last summer- her first training level 4- the coach had the girls come in in the morning, which I loved. Get them in and out before it gets hot and enjoy the summer. The kiddos could swim that way too, as opposed to swimming before an evening practice which may make hands more prone to bar issues and tired muscles all around. The level 5-6 HC has a M-F full time job, so her girls practiced same hours year round. I am anticipating dd to move to level 5 soon, and am not looking forward to hot, muggy, evenings in the gym. The good news is that the level 5's go TU, WE, Fri from 4:15-8:15, so we can take a few extended weekend camping trips with no schedule conflict. DD hates the idea of being out of gym for 3 days in a row, (she goes M, W, F now,) but another local gym has open gyms on Sunday evenings, so I can bring her there to get wiggles out if need be.

 

[Krystan]

Wow! You should count yourself super-lucky that you know the schedule already! At our gym we usually find out late-May to beginning of June. They need to wait until they decide who to move up, etc, so they can figure out numbers and coaches. Last year we had the same number of hours as during the year (9 hr for L5), but they've been changing things around this year so anything could happen. FYI, I think there was a poll last year about how many hours people go during the summer - you might try searching for it just to see.