T has been suggesting that I put the kids in for a while and now that swimming lessons is over I finally decided to give it a try. Being a bit apprehensive about my pregnancy and possible bed rest and my current lifting restrictions I figured I would opt out of a parented class for JA and let him try on his own. I found a class for 3.5-4.5 year olds and put both kids in.
Today was the first class. The kids loved it but it was painful to watch. As it turned out their class of 4 kids was actually made up of 3.5-4.5 class and the 4.5-5.5 year old class combined. Wouldn't you know it, JA was in the class with 3 girls that are around the 5 year old mark. JA is a VERY young 3 year old and is as tiny as a 2 year old (25lbs. His lack of knowledge and skills were shinning. His poor teacher spent most of her time guiding him and directing her efforts in his direction. Simple things like telling James to "walk on the black mat and jump on the yellow x, do a hand stand against this wall and do donkey kicks over here" were a bit too complex for him.....so many new concepts and words all at once.
It was really hard to watch because I felt so bad for him. He AMAZED me with how well he did with following along and listening during the hour. You obviously just want your child to fit in and not stand out but that was not the case. If nothing else it made me feel even more confident in my decision to hold him back from starting school for an extra year. I am confident that once he becomes familiar with the equipment, concepts and routines over the next couple weeks he will be doing so much better. Everything was so foriegn to him. I kicked myself the whole time for not teaching him a few things at home first and for not attending a drop in gym time recently.
The teacher asked me to switch him to a parented class so we had to switch our schedule completely to get both kids in classes at the same time. I am still not supposed to lift James so he will really have to do his best with my assistance in our new class. Maybe next year we will try again!
A few pics of today's class:
Warming up with ribbon wands
Listening while the beam circuit was being explained
Bear walks on the beam
Learning how to walk on the beam
So fun. I love gymnastics. I miss gymnastics. But...I'm pretty sure my body couldn't handle it now. In fact, I just was doing some handstand walks for my kids and....UGH....not so good for the back. :(
ReplyDeleteNext year will be better, for sure.
So....you have the same teacher that I just had a hard time with. She was always after Zach, very impatient and just wasn't that nice. Never smiled, hardly any praise. Granted, Zach wasn't fabulous at listening, but he's only 3! That list of instructions that she rattled off is ridiculous to expect a three-year-old to remember, especially ifvits their first time in a class. I know how you feel Sheri. She told us to do a parented class too, which I just can't with the other two. :(
ReplyDeleteI always have fear like this especially when putting Landon in swimming since he's really timid in the water. But you comments combined with the above comments make it seem like this girl shouldn't be teaching a preschool class. Kinda sad for her to give up on him after the first class.
ReplyDeleteThis coach was just filling in for the day BUT I have made some calls into the owner and director and waiting to hear back so I can express my concerns with them. As a coach it was hard for me to watch the way she treated the kids!
ReplyDeletecool! I've heard that our local gymnastics place has a punch card (buy ten visits and drop in when it's drop-in time) and I'm thinking I want to do this.
ReplyDeleteI completely forgot you worked doing that! We did gymnastics once and of course Ryker loved it, but our class was huge and waiting for turns was really hard. I hope that the parented class works out for you! Poor little JA! He's so cute :)...and p.s. I have been soooo happy that we've waited to start kindergarten for Ryker. It was completely the right choice for him. I know you will do what is best for JA...especially since you are a teacher too and have that experience.
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