Parents Balancing gymnastics and academics

[Fliptwisttumble]

Would LOVE to have a program like that available, CGM. One more for my list of "reasons to move to Canada."

I will comment that programs like that aren't available in every City. There isn't one where we live, but there are a couple of girls in DD's gym who live a half hour or so away, and their City has a similar program. But, it appears that at least in our province the school boards are so much more flexible than those in the states.

I'd kill to have a program like that for DD - even with the incredible flexibility being shown by her teachers and principal. She is smart, so they just seem to NOT be keeping track of what she isn't learning - if she's there, she's there, if she's not, they don't seem to care (or send the work home for completion later).

You are always welcome here, and we have "free" health care too

 

[MaryA]

You are always welcome here, and we have "free" health care too

Yeah, that's actually reason #1 on my list. #2 is "people drive on the right and pass on the left."

 

[Fliptwisttumble]

Yeah, that's actually reason #1 on my list. #2 is "people drive on the right and pass on the left."

And we actually wave thanks to drivers who let us in, too

 

[rgmom]

It is very tough this year, our middle school teachers love to give homework and our public school administration has been completely inflexible. Like Mary A, my daughters are 12 year old level 8s. Luckily we live only 10-15 minutes from our gym. The girls get home by 3:00 PM and train 23 hours a week. They are off one week day, so that's when they do projects, test studying and now they also have Bat Mitzvah practice on that day. Because this is their Bat Mitzvah year, it is extra challenging! LOL. Weekends are also now devoted to school work, as opposed to socializing with friends. They do their homework every single free moment they can, including in the car on the way home from school, in the car on the way to the gym and many nights, they are up to 11:00 or so. The girls do make it work, but there are definitely sacrifices involved (mostly social).
Unfortunately, our school district was not too willing to work with us this year, but I will approach them again regarding next year, hopefully with more success. If anyone has any words of wisdom of how to approach the school administration would be much appreciated!!

 

[shelovestoflip]

I agree with the comment that it all works out, but I will add, one way or another

My dd is 16 yo level 9. She goes to a very academically aggressive school. She is taking AP classes. She has a lot of work and I worried how will she keep up? She uses every free minute of her day to work on homework. She trains 5-9 M-Tu-Th-Fr She gets home about 930 and showers (can't stand the chalk) then hits the books (and texts her boyfriend). She goes to sleep by 1130 most nights. It definitely can be done.

My daughter is similar...just started HS and is most likely competing Level 9. She is in all Honors classes (no AP in 9th grade) and as others have said, she has learned to be organized! She will do 'easy' HW at lunch, will spend time on Sunday getting ahead when she can.

She is at the gym 5-9 four nights a week (sometimes 5) as well as Saturday. She, too, gets home at 9:30 and showers, finishes up anything left and hopefully is in bed by 10:30 though I"ve noticed closer to 11 this past week!

If I had thought about it when she was in 2nd grade, it woudl have freaked me out and I prob would have had her quit! I'd suggest to the original poster that you take one day (year) at a time. If they make to to HS and optionals, they've figured out a system on their own!!

As for modified schedule...I never asked for one as my daughter loves school. She loves the teachers and the social piece. So for us, it wouldnt' have made sense to miss out.

However after this semester, she will be done with her PE requirement as kids that have an outside sport can get a PE waiver. Yay! That study period will come in handy...she doesn't have one this semester!

 

[Iwannabemargo]

Wow your homework burden still really amazes me. P&F is year 4 (your third grade) and has 1 hour homework a week plus reading, spellings and times tables.

Little boy is in secondary school (your 6th grade) and gets maybe 1 1/2 hours a week, Big Boy is in his final year of secondary (10th grade) and gets at most 2 hours a week.

 

[dani4]

is anyone willing to share a state in the US where sports are given special accommodation in public schools?

of all the thing I have learned on CB since joining, this concept is the most fascinating to me thus far.

i've never heard of such a thing in our area, though i admit we haven't had sporty kids previous to our youngest, the gymnast. i am all but certain i would be laughed out of the office of any public school around here for asking about a modified schedule, different HW policies or any other special accommodations involving sports.

but then again, i haven't tried yet...

Don't even get me started on the NYS school system.. I'm bitter about it right now for reasons unrelated to gymnastics or flexible scheduling. My sister just went through hell with the education commissioner in Albany, trying to get her emergency teacher certification. And she finally gave up. Her principal and her students are devastated- here was a knowledgeable, passionate, gifted teacher, with a PhD and college level teaching experience (in SCIENCE), who could handle the inner city classroom... and the bureaucrats kicked her out of the classroom. Now those kids have no science teacher and my sister has no job. My mother taught in the NYC schools for her whole career, my grandfather was a principal.. and no one remembers the system being this rigid.

Sorry, that was completely OT. I think it's worth asking, but I would not be surprised if they did laugh you out of the office. And it's stupid.

I don't live in NY anymore. I'm not sure the schools around here are any better. In fact, I suspect they may be worse.

 

[MaryA]

Wow your homework burden still really amazes me. P&F is year 4 (your third grade) and has 1 hour homework a week plus reading, spellings and times tables.

Little boy is in secondary school (your 6th grade) and gets maybe 1 1/2 hours a week, Big Boy is in his final year of secondary (10th grade) and gets at most 2 hours a week.

Clearly where your kids go to school they have learned that more work doesn't necessarily equate with more learning.

 

[Deleted member 15064]

Don't even get me started on the NYS school system.. I'm bitter about it right now for reasons unrelated to gymnastics or flexible scheduling. My sister just went through hell with the education commissioner in Albany, trying to get her emergency teacher certification. And she finally gave up. Her principal and her students are devastated- here was a knowledgeable, passionate, gifted teacher, with a PhD and college level teaching experience (in SCIENCE), who could handle the inner city classroom... and the bureaucrats kicked her out of the classroom. Now those kids have no science teacher and my sister has no job. My mother taught in the NYC schools for her whole career, my grandfather was a principal.. and no one remembers the system being this rigid.

Sorry, that was completely OT. I think it's worth asking, but I would not be surprised if they did laugh you out of the office. And it's stupid.

I don't live in NY anymore. I'm not sure the schools around here are any better. In fact, I suspect they may be worse.

I really don't understand that kind of inflexibility with teachers. There is a shortage of science teachers (and math) in particular. My 10th grader just started out the year with no chemistry teacher for several weeks.

Your sister sounded more than qualified. GRRRR!

My youngest is in a charter school. While I don't believe they are allowed to hire non certified teachers, I know they have no union, and have flexibility in terms of school hours and curriculum. (to an extent).

Private schools around here are known to hire non certified teachers.

Sorry to hear that bureaucracy blew it with your sister, dani.

 

[dani4]

I really don't understand that kind of inflexibility with teachers. There is a shortage of science teachers (and math) in particular. My 10th grader just started out the year with no chemistry teacher for several weeks.

Your sister sounded more than qualified. GRRRR!

My youngest is in a charter school. While I don't believe they are allowed to hire non certified teachers, I know they have no union, and have flexibility in terms of school hours and curriculum. (to an extent).

Private schools around here are known to hire non certified teachers.

Sorry to hear that bureaucracy blew it with your sister, dani.

The crazy thing was that when the principal hired her he said "don't worry about it, we'll hire you as a sub now but you'll definitely get your certification- we'll help you." He's a new principal though and didn't really understand the uphill battle that it would be. In the end it came down to the superintendent refusing to write a letter to the commissioner- and she wouldn't explain why. The reason my sister was initially denied her certification was because some of her teaching experience was technically as a TA, but that was only because she was still a grad student at the time and SUNY didn't have the $$ to pay her the full adjunct salary- she was fully responsible for the classes, from lesson planning to lecturing, writing exams, and submitting final grades. The department chair from her SUNY school wrote letters to everyone in the school system explaining that she in fact was a full teacher, they just had an agreement to classify her as a TA because they couldn't afford to pay an adjunct- and they could get away with it because she had yet to earn her PhD at the time. She got completely screwed.

The good news is that her principal has written her a great letter of recommendation and will recommend her to be hired at any other school. She just needs a district where the superintendent will specifically request her emergency certification to be granted, and then it will be done. It's such total BS. Arrrgh.

Thanks for listening to me vent- and sorry that it is soooo OT.

 

[wgymmom]

We homeschool.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

The schooldays sound very long in US! And the practices are long also. I wonder how you ever have time to be with your kids!

In here for example an 8 year old second grader's schooldays start at 8:30 am and end at 12:30 pm. One day (usually Friday) is shorter and only 3 hours. And they walk or bike from home to school and back so the travel time is only like 5-15 minutes in the average size towns. Kids that age usually have team practice from 4 pm to 6.30 pm and only 3-5 times a week. So they have like 4-5 hours to do the homework after school or 2 hours after gym. And they get hardly any homework anyway.

An average 15 year old gymnast's (9th grade) schooldays are 6 hours long (from 8 am to 2 pm) and if they go to sports school there is 2 morning practices a week that include in the school schedule. Then they go to gym at 3.30 pm and leave at 7.00 pm. And they have 3 hours to do the homework at night and usually Fridays and/or Sundays are off.

When a gymnast goes to high school she/he usually chooses to spend there 4 years instead of normal 3. That way they have much lighter schedule and they can train and have time to study.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

@gymisforeveryone , is your school day anything to do with your winter lighting hours ? Sounds much more civilised.

 

[gymisforeveryone]

@Iwannabemargo

I don't think so... The schooldays are short because the schools don't have any extra activities like in US (and UK?). But of course it's nice that the kids have a few hours in the winter time to play outside after school before the sun goes down. Right now in here the sun rises at 8 and sets at 5.30 pm. In December it rises at 10.30 am and sets at 2 pm.

I know that even if the school days are long in US they don't actually study all the time, am I right? In here they only get the real schoolwork (math, sciences, history, languages) plus music, art and PE done and then they are free to go home. Their classes are only 45 minutes long and then there is a 15 minutes break after a class.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

here in secondary school the classes are now 100 minutes. They start at 8.30, break for lunch at 1 and finish at 3. They have 3 lessons a day. I think there is a small break around 10.

 

[MaryA]

The schooldays sound very long in US! And the practices are long also. I wonder how you ever have time to be with your kids!
.

But the US's educational system stacks up so well when compared to other countries! Oh. Wait. Sorry. No, it doesn't. But our health system... no, not that either. And our government... Oh, never mind.

 

[gymmomof1]

It is very tough this year, our middle school teachers love to give homework and our public school administration has been completely inflexible. Like Mary A, my daughters are 12 year old level 8s. Luckily we live only 10-15 minutes from our gym. The girls get home by 3:00 PM and train 23 hours a week. They are off one week day, so that's when they do projects, test studying and now they also have Bat Mitzvah practice on that day. Because this is their Bat Mitzvah year, it is extra challenging! LOL. Weekends are also now devoted to school work, as opposed to socializing with friends. They do their homework every single free moment they can, including in the car on the way home from school, in the car on the way to the gym and many nights, they are up to 11:00 or so. The girls do make it work, but there are definitely sacrifices involved (mostly social).
Unfortunately, our school district was not too willing to work with us this year, but I will approach them again regarding next year, hopefully with more success. If anyone has any words of wisdom of how to approach the school administration would be much appreciated!!

Lol seems like we are in the same boat . This is the first year dd has more homework than time to do it. Practice is Mon, Tue, Thurs and Friday 5-9 during the week and use to be able to do it before practice or first thing before school. Now that she is in 6th grade the homework seems to have doubled and shes up until 11:00-not good. I am considering meeting with her teachers to see what we can do or even the principal to see if she can do studyhall instead of gym since she does 4hrs of physical activity 5 days a week!. Next year it should be no problem because she will have studyhall.

 

[rgmom]

Lol seems like we are in the same boat . This is the first year dd has more homework than time to do it. Practice is Mon, Tue, Thurs and Friday 5-9 during the week and use to be able to do it before practice or first thing before school. Now that she is in 6th grade the homework seems to have doubled and shes up until 11:00-not good. I am considering meeting with her teachers to see what we can do or even the principal to see if she can do studyhall instead of gym since she does 4hrs of physical activity 5 days a week!. Next year it should be no problem because she will have studyhall.

I so wish they had a study hall!! I think we are the only middle school in the USA that does not. LOL. Let me know if you have success with her teachers and principal.

 

[gymmomof1]

I so wish they had a study hall!! I think we are the only middle school in the USA that does not. LOL. Let me know if you have success with her teachers and principal.

You bet. I'm waiting to see if it slows down first lol

 

[LizzieLac]

Too much homework, too much pressure, and not enough "understanding" of the lessons learned outside of the textbook.

How do they deal? They do homework whenever they can, learn to prioritize, and hopefully become efficient at it.

I try to MAKE SURE that they have some regular old kid fun whenever they can. They need balance - meaning time that is not school and not sports (even though they love their sports). They need to spend time with friends, play with the dog, go out for ice cream, and yes, even watch TV.

I admit I worry most about the stress level that is being created by my school district, which is very competitve, and then combined with the workouts of both kids. My DS is travel level soccer and baseball player and while those practices are not as long as gymnastics, he is just as "busy" with sports. It is a lot of pressure for these kids, so FUN has to be part of the equation, IMO.