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

[Deleted member 18037]

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...

At the time my little one had to do this she was 6 and in gym 3 hours a week. And had never competed one meet. They were so little they could barely remember to look at the judge and present. In gym they were focused on specific skills that were not and should not have been worked on at home. Which was as it should be. Getting the order of the routine down. Kinda like they abc song. Easily done at home. And lasts a few weeks. Wouldn’t of mattered long term if it isn’t done. And no harm in doing it. Well except to the parent who suffers through it.

It’s kind of like watching kids play soccer for the first time. You’re lucky if they remember which direction to run if they remember to run at all. And which goal is theirs.

 

[wandrewsjr]

It would be pretty hard to practice one event's routine over and over again in the gym if only practicing 3 hours a week, needing to fit in all 4 events.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

It would be pretty hard to practice one event's routine over and over again in the gym if only practicing 3 hours a week, needing to fit in all 4 events.

Yep

 

[duyetanh]

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.

[/QUOTE
OMG....I had no idea this crap existed. What hell.

 

[CAKE]

Im humored by people that think helping your kid with gymnastics (within reason) at home is any different than helping a child practice a presentation, speech.. etc. Im not teaching the kid to throw a full, Im just willing to sit there and play the floor music and show her the video. Most people can discern if their kid is doing it like the one in the video enough to help a child learn this beginning choreography. Especially the young kids. This quickly passes as an option but floor timing is one of the things you can work at home!!!

Dont force your kid to do gymnastics at home, period.. but Im sorry I just strongly disagree that I cant help a young child atleast learn the sequencing. The refinement happens at the gym.. but I see no harm in using the video and app to help learn choreography. if there is a problem with the app, the USGA should not sell it to the public, only coaches. I know judges and they say they watch the videos to prepare before judging meets every season so if that is what they are looking at, it seems okay to do the same.

I dunno, maybe you guys all have wunderkinds but my 6 year old needed to do her routine at home (and constantly wanted to) or she would have been halfway through the season before she got it all, on time, and in order. I guess I could have just not cared about that and let her get frustrated at the meets more than she already was and just let it work itself out watching herself try to teach herself the order....or let her become frustrated to failure.. But instead, I downloaded that app and she was really helped by watching the videos, seeing the diagrams and having me help mark through it with her. She just simply did not get enough time hearing it in the gym with access to the floor to absorb it there.

At the higher levels, it is different. Id have no clue at all how to help with that stuff. By that time they are much older and have to be able to remember it for themselves. My kid needed to be taught how to logically approach remembering things and the coaches dont really teach them that. They teach them the choreography, but not the skill of remembering things. Of course kids are getting this from working through word problems and school projects.... but in the lower levels the kids are so young, I just think it helps them be successful if you can translate some of it for them.

YMMV.

 

[raenndrops]

At the higher levels, it is different. Id have no clue at all how to help with that stuff. By that time they are much older and have to be able to remember it for themselves. My kid needed to be taught how to logically approach remembering things and the coaches dont really teach them that. They teach them the choreography, but not the skill of remembering things. Of course kids are getting this from working through word problems and school projects.... but in the lower levels the kids are so young, I just think it helps them be successful if you can translate some of it for them.

YMMV.

Some kids are at higher levels not much older than 6. We have an 8 year old that could TECHNICALLY move to L6 in January... she won't, but she could.
Our coaches DO teach the skill of remembering things. They work on "what's next" as they teach the routines. They don't teach the entire routine at once. They teach the first part. They repeat the first part. They repeat it again. They watch someone do the first part to the music. They do the first part to the music (with someone doing it in front of them at the same time).
When they all have the first part, they add the next part. Same process. It takes several weeks - 7 months, but they learn the routine in order a bit at a time.
We only practice 7 hours a week (3 x 2.5 ... but with a 10 minute break each practice), so it is helpful for them to listen to the music and go over what they should do - but it isnt required and they remember it when they are ready. My YG forgot part of her floor routine her first meet (at barely 7) and she had been working on the routine for 7 months... and we listened to the music in the car occasionally... and she had spent time when she was younger watching her older sister do it and listen to it and say it... and she had been going to meets for 3 years and watching the routines. She simply got excited and skipped an entire part (Old L4, did the HS-FR and went straight to the run, run, leap- step- hop, slide to floor... leaving out the HS-BKO "pass"). It happened ONCE. She never forgot the routine again.

 

[CAKE]

Some kids are at higher levels not much older than 6. We have an 8 year old that could TECHNICALLY move to L6 in January... she won't, but she could.
Our coaches DO teach the skill of remembering things. They work on "what's next" as they teach the routines. They don't teach the entire routine at once. They teach the first part. They repeat the first part. They repeat it again. They watch someone do the first part to the music. They do the first part to the music (with someone doing it in front of them at the same time).
When they all have the first part, they add the next part. Same process. It takes several weeks - 7 months, but they learn the routine in order a bit at a time.
We only practice 7 hours a week (3 x 2.5 ... but with a 10 minute break each practice), so it is helpful for them to listen to the music and go over what they should do - but it isnt required and they remember it when they are ready. My YG forgot part of her floor routine her first meet (at barely 7) and she had been working on the routine for 7 months... and we listened to the music in the car occasionally... and she had spent time when she was younger watching her older sister do it and listen to it and say it... and she had been going to meets for 3 years and watching the routines. She simply got excited and skipped an entire part (Old L4, did the HS-FR and went straight to the run, run, leap- step- hop, slide to floor... leaving out the HS-BKO "pass"). It happened ONCE. She never forgot the routine again.

Oh, Im sure there are many kids at higher levels not much older than 6... I see them in gym all the time. They are wunderkinds. Congrats if you have one. But that isnt the norm. The normal 6 year old needs help from their parents still, lol. In every aspect of their life.

Im glad you have coaching that really gets through to your kid Im sure our current coaches do the same things, they are good coaches... but my kid is 6 and has never been required to remember anything longer than how to spell her first and last name, our address and phone number and our old coaches did NOT teach those memory skills! At school she isnt getting 4 events of choreography either... She is in the first play where she has to remember 2 sentences! In gymnastics we see kids do things so young,we forget what normal development is... my kids had 3 months to learn the routines after changing to a new gym where the norm is starting the season in the 9s.

Both of my kid's biggest struggle on floor is timing and choreography and I just dont think it's that big of a deal to help them. It is so taboo on these board to "keep gymnastics at the gym" and I get it to some extent but it is taken to such an extreme. All I know is when I helped my older kid get the timing down on that damn kick bend kick bend, land in that pointy toe move at the start of the level 3 floor so she could be on the rest of the routine, her coach told her it was the best floor routine of her life. Your welcome coach, for being willing to listen to that horrible music over and over and over while holding a camera so she could see if she hit the timing and go from never medaling on floor to taking first place on the podium! Id never expect that from a coach.. but my kid needed someone to be patient enough to sit with her and do it in a totally non judgmental way over and over.

If it works for your kid to just work on it at the gym, awesome! If they need to listen to just the music and that clicks for them, great! but why would a mother who had experience in dance be discouraged from teaching her child the way to mark through things? Id think that would be a fun way to be a part of her life and take interest in her sport!!!

 

[rjb123]

fwiw, when my DD did old level four, she had just turned six and still was getting that right/ left stuff straight! LOL! Her coach had me and another mom (this girl was also the same age as my DD) come in and video her doing the dance of the routines very slowly. She also narrated certain things she wanted the girls to remember in each move. She asked that we give the videos to the girls so that the could watch them and use them to help learn the dance portions. I think it probably did help a bit too. This was the only time that I had to do this- I think that once they learn how it works, they figure out how to pick up chore- especially in compulsory where it is so similar! (I thought of this as I found the video recently when cleaning up an old laptop and going through videos on it!)

 

[Deleted member 18037]

. She asked that we give the videos to the girls so that the could watch them and use them to help learn the dance portions. I think it probably did help a bit too.

When they are new to competing all the “stuff” they have to remember is very stressful.

Much like new readers. Reading is hard work until they get they hang of it. Same with math facts

And how do they get the hang of it. Repitiion. There is rarely enough time in practice for very young new gymmies to do the repetitions they need to get to just doing it.

Even now my L7 gymmie will review her floor on video before they start full routines as the season approaches after a few months of up training and no routines during the summer. She does this on her own now for as many times as she thinks she needs it. Old music with some changes, hardly at all. New music and routine, quite a lot. She has learned how to “learn it”. She gets it adds stress and affects her performance if she has to deal with too much to remember. She knows she needs to just have “it”. As quick as 2+2. She has learned how important making it muscle memory is.

She did not get that at 6. She was 6. She had to be taught it.