Parents How much to 'mark' through order w/ 7 y.o.?

[Butterfly]

Hi!
It has been my 7 y.o.'s gym homework to practice the order of her routines for quite some time now. She has been resistant to do so with me, but it's crunch time now and meets are here!

I'm trying not to put pressure on her, leave gym at gym, but at the same time, she needs to know the basic order of her routines (which she doesn't know 100%). She remembers not knowing her routines 100% at the beginning of last year and doesn't want to do that again.

I did mention that her teammates are 'marking' through the order of their routines with their Mommies, and she seemed surprised.

I'm not talking about tons of time here--I'm telling her things like 'lets run through the order of your floor routine 1 time before we leave and go play at a friends.'

Am I pushing too much? Is this abnormal for her not to want to learn her routines? A sign she doesn't love gymnastics as much as she used to? When I was a kid (dance) you couldn't get me to STOP practicing my routines.

For context--she is not at a competitive gym, it's her second year competing, and she will be in the local league.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I would have her watch videos of the routines. That can be done in the car, while waiting for appointments.

The bottom line is time.

It is really not a big deal if she forgets, she is 7.
She will remember eventually.
As she gets older she will remember quicker and be more inclined to want to put in the effort to remember.

So time will take care of it.

 

[mommyof1]

I would not help her mark or dance through routines at home unless the coach has taught you the routines and you are sure you have all the details right, especially if she's a compulsory gymnast. The danger of reinforcing bad habits or text errors is too great. If you are a former dancer, you also need to be aware that what is correct in gymnastics dance may look very wrong to you. Watching videos of high-scoring routines (if she is JO compulsory) or her own choreography or practice sessions (if she is in XCel or another program without compulsory routines) is safer.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I would not help her mark or dance through routines at home unless the coach has taught you the routines and you are sure you have all the details right, especially if she's a compulsory gymnast.

Only been at 2 gyms. Both gyms have asked this of the little ones.
Both gyms were keep gym in the gym, with this exception. First gym actually handed out the compulsory routine PDFs.

It’s not about anything more then remembering the order of the routine.

When they are that little and new, meets are overwhelming. A lot of them can barely remember to present.

It’s review the order, not practice the routine.

Current gym now that she is optional. Coach expects us to video their floor (without tumbling). They then expect the kids to watch it, over and over.

Again, strictly to make the order of steps muscle memory. They want them focused on the actual skills and performance. Not stressing and thinking about what comes next. Doing the switch leap not stressing if it’s in the right spot.

At 7 it’s not a big deal if they don’t and mess up. They are 7.

But it does help them remember the routines, which takes stress off them come time to compete.

 

[Butterfly]

OH! Yeah when I attempt to have her walk through the routine, it's with the USAG app acting as the model (both the video or the scrolling pics), not me! LOL that would be a sight to see
And it's more of me saying when she gets stuck, OK what's next? In an attempt to earn that muscle memory of the order--not HOW to perform.
But again, she is resistant to do this with me. Always an excuse, I'm tired, my feet hurt, ect.

 

[John]

Current gym now that she is optional. Coach expects us to video their floor (without tumbling). They then expect the kids to watch it, over and over.

DD's gym has the same expectations for optionals. Parents were told to attend the last half hour of routine choreography. We filmed the gymnast and coach doing the routine together in sync. The gymnast was asked to watch the video repeatedly.

At seven I would not force her. When she competes she will either succeed or fail and there will be consequences for both. If she was older and farther along I would be worried that she was not concerned, but at 7 let her be a kid.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

In general in dealing with little ones (actually it works as they get older too). I give choices (but always what I can live with).
The reality is no one, not even us grown ups respond well to do it now and lack of transitions. Really the whole family gets a 5-10 minute warning to come have dinner, husband too.

Hey we/you need to do xyz.

When they are little... Do you want to do it a or b.

I would do this when she was a tiny one. Umm do you want to brush your teeth now or in 2 mins. Kid always picked 2 mins but we stopped battling.

As she got older, its this needs to get done. Whats your plan? If she has none..... Here are some options? Which sounds good?

Now that she is getting older still, she has gotten pretty good at planning and time management. So when I ask what the plan is she usually has one.

 

[gymgal]

I used to run through the sequence of the routines with my daughter when she was younger and it really helped her to retain it in her head. This isn't an issue if the child is practicing it in the gym 3-4 days a week but at the time she was going only 2days a week and was not getting enough time to memorize it

Not sure this would work with a gymnastics routine (as you are trying to build muscle memory) but when I am teaching a child a basic daily routine, we used pictures/photos for them to put in order and verbalize the sequence. If they are reading, we use words. It helps them to have the sequence clearly in their head before they have to physically attempt it.

 

[sce]

If the coach gave this as homework, way is she surprised her teammates are doing it? Did she hear her coach ask har to do it?

If she knows it is her gym homework, ask how her when/how she wants to go about it.

 

[raenndrops]

I used to run through the sequence of the routines with my daughter when she was younger and it really helped her to retain it in her head. This isn't an issue if the child is practicing it in the gym 3-4 days a week but at the time she was going only 2days a week and was not getting enough time to memorize it

Not sure this would work with a gymnastics routine (as you are trying to build muscle memory) but when I am teaching a child a basic daily routine, we used pictures/photos for them to put in order and verbalize the sequence. If they are reading, we use words. It helps them to have the sequence clearly in their head before they have to physically attempt it.

When OG was little, we had a copy of the compulsory music (with words and without). We would play it on repeat in the car.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

When OG was little, we had a copy of the compulsory music (with words and without). We would play it on repeat in the car.

OMG I remember that boring monotone, oy oy oy

And yep the car is a great place to take hostages.

 

[SMH]

My 7 yr old likes to listen to the floor music (so help me) over and over saying the ‘moves’ as they would happen if she was doing her routine. It seems to help. Our gym also gave out a printed sheet with the (steps? Moves?) of the beam routine for the kids to have. Maybe just here and there, in the car, don’t make it a huge deal.

 

[sce]

When OG was little, we had a copy of the compulsory music (with words and without). We would play it on repeat in the car.

That is more commitment than I am capable of.

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Yep, this is recommended at our gym too and the coach will also pull out a high-scoring girl who has just moved up from that level to perform the beam and floor routines so the moms can video. We're not supposed to help them with their skills or anything, just memorize the routine. What next? Which arm/which leg, etc...I assumed it was just because we are a low hours program, but this thread let me know other gyms are the same. I'll suggest a run through to DD8 every couple days and she'll take me up on it about every other time. She doesn't like not knowing the routine when the coach has them run through and knows she's not going to pick it up easily just at practice.

If she fought me on it, I'd mention that her coaches recommend it and that all her teammates are memorizing, and that by not practicing, she risks being lost during practice or even a meet. And then I probably would leave it up to her, hoping she made the right decision.

 

[raenndrops]

That is more commitment than I am capable of.

lol, when it was playing, every other one was no words, and she would have to sat it herself... 2x correct and we were done. She was 6 when we did it... so the old L4 music.

 

[Texasmomof3]

We've never been at gym that wanted parents to do anything more than pay and drive.

 

[raenndrops]

We've never been at gym that wanted parents to do anything more than pay and drive.

We only practice 7.5 hours a week, and it was rare when my gymmies actually were able to go the entire time all 3 days, so the HC wanted OG (6 at the time and the youngest EVER on our team at that point... until YG beat her by 16 days 3 years later, lol) to have a chance or remembering the floor routine since she didnt get to practice it as much. They also came up with "names" for the beam skills and poses (my fav was "princess potty pose")... and she would go through the order of that too. I had the list in order, written out and she had one too with words and her own pictures to go with them.
In higher hour programs, I think driving and paying is good enough.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

A sample of a "with words version". This one is older level 4.

But you get the gist. I can assure you it was way worse for L2. I wanted to stick pins in my eyes. Its up there with strings practice when they are brand new.

 

[ladybird]

A sample of a "with words version". This one is older level 4.

But you get the gist. I can assure you it was way worse for L2. I wanted to stick pins in my eyes. Its up there with strings practice when they are brand new.

I have to say this version has been a running joke in our house for about 6 years now!

We do a highly exaggerated version of “prance, prance, weight transfer, stand” and all giggle hysterically. My non-gymnast dd is the best at it and should get a medal

 

[bookworm]

Ok, call me crazy but in all my years in and around this sport/gyms, I have never heard of such a thing...nor have my girls been asked to do this. When I saw the title of the thread, I clicked on it because I seriously had no idea what was being asked.

With that said, I would think one learns the order of their routine by doing it over and over at gym, and not by having one's parent drill them on it...