Parents What to do coach wants child at gym at 2 and school doesn't end till 2:37

[z2akids]

I have a thought that i hadnt seen mentioned yet about one thing to keep in mind about the schoo's unwillingness to accommodate an early release. Sure, the last 15 minutes of the school day is often not a highly structured academic time and is often comprised of cleaning up, gathering books for the night, figuring out homework, etc. If OP's DD were to leave early, she would likely cause disruption in the actual academic portion of the day. She will have to gather her items, get homework assignments, and clean up in the previous 15 minutes while the rest of the class is still working. I understand it would be nice for the school to work with her daughter. But, from the perspective of her classmates, I would prefer that my child's education not be interrupted by unneeded distraction

 

[MILgymFAM]

One thing I never hear mentioned about homeschooling: Isn't there a significant economic impact to the family? I work at home, so I have some flexibility, but if I were home schooling, I wouldn't be working. We'd lose my income, and in our case, that would mean that we couldn't afford gymnastics (or electricity, for that matter). A lot of times, I hear homeschooling tossed out as a solution to all kinds of problems, and I am just boggled that so many people can afford to do that. We sure can't.

I am a stay at home parent, so the decision for us to homeschool wasn't monetarily based at all. Based on my experience when I did work outside the home, though, I would say it wouldn't be that much of a stretch. The last time I worked full time, my girls weren't gymnasts, but they were active dancers. They danced about ten hours a week, which doesn't begin to touch their combined hours in gymnastics, and in order to make it work then I had to jump through hoops. I had to pay babysitters, drivers, buy premade food on occasion, and generally drive myself crazy at the same time. When I stopped working those costs all disappeared. I also discovered that for us, it was better to live on less income but with more time to raise my kids. That is truly not an option for everyone, but for us, after taking out care workers, transportation costs, and the costs of me keeping my job (gas, training, lunches/dinners, wardrobe and gear)- it wasn't worth it to keep working outside the home. I do look forward to when the girls have graduated and I can get back to work, but for now it was the right choice for us. My husband isn't in a very high paid career either, we really just learned to live on less.

 

[2G1B]

I fear I would spend my whole day saying, "Hey, get off of Minecraft and do your work!"

I do spend my fair share of time saying that Minecraft us NIT schoolwork.

I am a SAHM (have been since they were born except for when my twins were in kindergarten, I went back to work for 6 months and then my husband and I decided that for us it was easier to have one parent stay home. Neither of us chose careers with flexible hours. I made less than him, so I stay home).

 

[2G1B]

Oops, "NOT", not " NIT".

 

[3gymgirls]

As a teacher, I have a hard time imagining a 3 hour school day. Our students spend 2 hours a day on reading and language arts through the 8th grade. If you are a student that needs additional support to reach the benchmarks, then you have additional instruction time. Our students also have PE class every day, music class most days, and regular Spanish, library, computer, art, and guidance class. Our school utilizes a lot of direct instruction techniques with a variety of kinesthetic, visual, and oral activities. I believe our school does a great job preparing our students for high school and beyond. Is every moment spent on the core subjects only? No, but our students need the arts (which are an integral part of the STEAM movement) and other subjects as well as independent work time to help them become well-rounded adults. My children will not be elite gymnasts, but I think I would feel the same if they were optionals instead of level 2s right now. They will not be gymnasts forever, and I want them to have these skills while their brains are able to learn them more easily.

I'll step off of my soapbox now. Bonus points to anyone who read it all and can guess what subject or grade level I teach.

 

[momnipotent]

Middle school art or ELA?

 

[duyetanh]

Third grade

 

[Sasha]

I just wanted to weigh in on the wasted time in school point that someone made.

We are lucky enough to have a special high performance athlete program in the public schools here. It starts in grade 4 and runs through high school. Basically they fit the entire regular curriculum into a condensed 3 hr school day. They have 1 hr less per 2 weeks of art and music, and phys Ed is graded by the coach. Everything else is fit into that 3 hr day.

Obviously there is no lunch or recess, no library visits, oh and only 1 computer lab per 2 weeks. But all core subjects are fully taught. The class size is small, only between 12-14 kids. All kids are highly motivated and no behaviour or learning challenged students.

They also end up with no more than an hour of homework a day, minus special research projects that go on over time.

You would be so surprised what can be accomplished in a school day when all that other nonsense and the distractions are all taken away.

There are all types of athletes in the program, gymnasts, hockey players, figure skaters, dancers, tennis players, etc.

That being said, when dd was in grade 3 we started taking her out of school once a week 2 hrs early. Our regular school time is 9:00-3:30. Dd now goes 8:45-11:45 in her program. They also have an afternoon option of 1:00-3:00.

This is exactly what I would choose for 2 of my kids (the athlete ones) if I had this opportunity. No such option here, I'm afraid. Sounds like a great system for the right kids (not everyone of course)!

 

[3gymgirls]

Elementary music and reading interventions. Have taught middle school and high school choir and band in the past. This assignment allows me to have nights and weekends free for gymnastics, soccer, softball, and their other activities.

 

[MILgymFAM]

With all the talk of schedules and buses and everything else, I thought I would share this- I received it today in a local group to which I belong. This is one elementary school in our district. They all have their own separate bell schedules, from elementary on up. This district does have free buses, but not to where we live, no matter the distance. It's silly all the stuff you have to keep straight just to pick your kid up on time!

 

[duyetanh]

That schedule is not even crazy compared to where I used to work...I would have loved that schedule as a teacher compared to what I had!!

 

[MILgymFAM]

That schedule is not even crazy compared to where I used to work...I would have loved that schedule as a teacher compared to what I had!!

Everywhere else we have lived, the school had a single schedule. For example in NY my girls went from 8:35-2:35 everyday. Every grade in the school had the same schedule. Now our CA district has five elementary schools, two middle schools, and a high school. You don't know which you will get until the week before school (except the hs, obviously) and they all have schedules like this, but different from each other. I just cannot understand why it had to be made more complicated in the first place. My hat is off to you, because it drives me bonkers.

 

[GymAuntie]

One thing I never hear mentioned about homeschooling: Isn't there a significant economic impact to the family? I work at home, so I have some flexibility, but if I were home schooling, I wouldn't be working. We'd lose my income, and in our case, that would mean that we couldn't afford gymnastics (or electricity, for that matter). A lot of times, I hear homeschooling tossed out as a solution to all kinds of problems, and I am just boggled that so many people can afford to do that. We sure can't.

Excellent point. I think many who consider it are one income families. They also may have middle school and above kids who can enroll in online programs. Others might have a family member do the teaching or hire a private tutor. Where my sister lives a new trend is hybrid homeschooling -- formal schooling 2-3 days per week and homeschool the others. Homeschooling is becoming so common now that I'm guessing parents have way more resources. When I was in school the only people homeschooled were the religious types and kids too sick to come. Now it amazes me just how many parents are choosing this. If my sister did this, it would be my mom and a private tutor doing instruction and my sister keeping her job. Personally I do not feel that this is the best option for any child but you gotta do what you gotta do.

There are also many boxed homeschool curriculum options now covering all religious and sectarian angles. I know of 3 Catholic boxed ones right off the top of my head and 2 Baptist ones. It isn't like parents have to create the lessons any more. You can pay for those. Plus I guess homeschooling can be done outside traditional school hours.. Maybe kids will go Fri-Sun instead of Mon-Fri. As long as you get the required instructional hours in (state determined) then you don't have to stick with traditional hours. I read on Perez Hilton that Kylie Jenner just earned her diploma in August because she didn't do her homeschooling every day. Sad I know that.........lol, but it tells me that as long as you get the work in before the start of the next academic year then you're gold.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

@MILgymFAM that is truely bonkers

Here pretty much everyone does Primary (rising 5-11) 9-3.30 ish, secondary (11-16) 8.30-3.00 ish (give or take 5 min each way, simples !

 

[NMNorskie]

Our kids go to elementary from 9-4 on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesdays, they go from 9-12:45. I had never heard of the early release on Wednesdays thing, but apparently it's common in some parts of the country (United States). Unfortunately, there aren't nearly enough after school care slots available for the number of people who need them, which means it's much tougher for SAH parents to go back to work after the kids start school, because of that early release on Wednesdays. I know a ton of moms who are having to wait until their kids enter middle school in order to go back to work. For people who actually need the money, it's a problem.

 

[mom2newgymnast]

This is something I am worried about for my dd next year and she is not at an elite gym and is not anywhere near a level 8! We have a complicated school system here with 3 tiered school start times/busing and multiple bell schedules and calendars. My dd's elementary school goes 9:15-3:45. Right now her practice starts at 4:00 and is about a 20 minute drive from her school. 3 days a week I line up in carpool by 3:15 in order to be towards the front of carpool. We still don't get out of the parking lot until 3:50 minimum which puts us at the gym around 4:10. She still has to change into her leotard when she gets there, so she is routinely 10-15 minutes late to practice. And this has been going on since training group so this is the 3rd year. She's in second grade and a level 3. Of the 11 girls on her team, at least 5, that I know of, have parents that check them out of school 20-30 minutes early, 3x a week, so they won't be late. They have schools that are apparently okay with them doing that, my dd's school is not. I also have not tried that hard, because I don't want her missing school routinely for gymnastics.

Next year, if she moves up to level 4, the practices start at 3:30. They just changed that this season (it used to also be 4:00). Which means she'll be 45 minutes late next year if I don't check her out early. I'm not going to worry about it yet, but as the time gets closer I am sure it will be a concern. I don't want her missing that much practice, but I really don't want to check her out early. I wish the other parents hadn't gone along with it all this time, so that they wouldn't have changed the schedule to 3:30. Most, but not all, of the elementary schools get out at 3:45 and I just don't understand why they need to start practice before school gets out. It's really frustrating to me.

 

[wgymmom]

My 2 cents:
I had early release for gymnastics in both Jr. & Sr. High. It didn't affect my ability to get an undergrad academic scholarship or get into grad school. Too many people confuse education with school. The reason I did so well in academics had nothing to do with the schools I attended, or how many hours I sat in their desks. It was the influence of my parents that made the difference. First and foremost, they shared their own love of reading and learning with us kids. Although I attended a top school district, my mother was the one who taught me how to write a proper essay (after seeing what the schools considered acceptable). I did well in advanced math thanks to my dad who helped me get through a period of time when I struggled in intermediate math (after spending a year with a teacher who had no success teaching me). My parents frequently discussed current events with us, talked politics and took us to visit historical places of interest (and we spent more time at these places than the 2 hour field trips the schools provided). My parents also allowed me to pursue my deep passion of gymnastics. All those hours/years in the gym ended up being the most important piece of my real life education. There were 3 of us at school who left early to get to the gym. All 3 finished college and took successful jobs in the corporate world. Two of us found our way back to the gym at some point and now coach I am throwing this out there, because there seems to be this idea that if you don't sit at a desk for a required number of hour every day you will end up illiterate and unemployed. That's just not true. On the other hand, I know a decent sampling of adults who ARE somewhat illiterate and underemployed and they did not get early release for sports! It's just not as black and white as some here are making it.

I wish I could like this 1000 times!!

 

[strawberries]

Yes, I had wanted to like it that many times as well!

 

[twinmomma]

I just wanted to weigh in on the wasted time in school point that someone made.

We are lucky enough to have a special high performance athlete program in the public schools here. It starts in grade 4 and runs through high school. Basically they fit the entire regular curriculum into a condensed 3 hr school day. They have 1 hr less per 2 weeks of art and music, and phys Ed is graded by the coach. Everything else is fit into that 3 hr day.

Obviously there is no lunch or recess, no library visits, oh and only 1 computer lab per 2 weeks. But all core subjects are fully taught. The class size is small, only between 12-14 kids. All kids are highly motivated and no behaviour or learning challenged students.

They also end up with no more than an hour of homework a day, minus special research projects that go on over time.

You would be so surprised what can be accomplished in a school day when all that other nonsense and the distractions are all taken away.

There are all types of athletes in the program, gymnasts, hockey players, figure skaters, dancers, tennis players, etc.

That being said, when dd was in grade 3 we started taking her out of school once a week 2 hrs early. Our regular school time is 9:00-3:30. Dd now goes 8:45-11:45 in her program. They also have an afternoon option of 1:00-3:00.

I have a really hard time with art, music, and computer time and even recess being categorized as "nonsense and distractions." If Kyla Ross can attend traditional schooling and go to the Olympics, I don't see why it can't be done. I also have a hard time that there's no "learning challenged" students in this group of athletes. So you only get accommodations for athletic endeavors if you aren't dyslexic or need other additional support. I'm honestly shocked there's a public school system that can afford to get away with this, both from a monetary standpoint and that they haven't been challenged on it. I'm sure there are plenty of high performing athletes that have learning disabilities that would love to take part in the added schedule flexibility. I wouldn't be surprised if this becomes an issue.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Public schools, They serve the public as in the masses/ majority.

There is only so much customizing they can do (and yes they can do better).

It is not a system that lends itself to individual needs.
When you provide a service for that many kids there needs to rules, start times, end times.

And needs change with the community at times. Full day Kindy and PreK is probably more about working parents then the need to have kids in school all day.

If you are looking for a custom fit, odds are you are not going to find it in a public school, with rare exception.