To much work for a 5 yr old or Will she be fine ?

Question

my daughter started kindergarten last week which she loves .. She goes to a special academic magnet school.. where she will have about a hr of homework a night ( her class is more like 1st grade with spelling words and all ). anyways she is also in voled in gymnastics this summer she when 3 evenings a week for a hr and a half a day. I'm thinking this is to much for the school yr what do you guys think?? is 2 days 2 much ?? also if it was up to my daughter she said she would go 7 days a week:)

Answer 1

The homework seems excessive and so does gymnastics 3 nights a week. A kindergartener should have no more than 10-20 minutes of homework a night, if any homework at all. As a teacher, I follow the standard of no more than 10 minutes a night per grade level. For example, no more than 30 minutes a night for a 3rd grader, 40 for a fourth grader, etc. Even if your daughter is an advanced learner, she is still just five years old. There will many years ahead for her to participate in athletics. Find a program in which she can still develop her gymnastics skills by going only once a week or just on the weekends. The school she is in sounds like a great opportunity but perhaps a bit too rigorous for a typical 5 year old. Public schools do a great job of challenging advanced learners without the pressure of an hour of homework a night...that's insane no matter how bright she is.  

Answer 2

That's great that she loves gymnastics and is apparently gifted.

I don't know what my 4th grader's homework will be like this year, but last year in 3rd grade, he had homework every night but not an hour's worth.  Your daughter is 4 years old and getting an hour of homework already!  That seems way too much to me.

Last year, my first grader received homework on Weds. that was due the following Tuesday.  The school eased them into homework, not threw a ton of work at them at the beginning of their academic years.

Re: the gymnastics.  I think 3 nights a week for 90 minutes a night is too much.  She needs her homework time and her sleep.  That's great that she wants to go 7 days a week, but with her new school routine, she's going to get very tired, very fast.

She's not even 5 years old.  As her mom, you need to find balance in her life: school, sleep, gymnastics.  School work and sleep should be considered priorities before gymnastics.

Answer 3

Every child is different, some can handle a heavy schedule,  others cannot.  You need to keep the lines of communication open with your daughter and talk to her about it.  Even a 5 year old can decide for herself and the process of deciding for herself will make her more mature. The homework is a good thing as long as she enjoys it,  usually overachievers do,  but you will be able to tell if its too much along with the gym.  You sound like a wonderful concerned mom, i'm sure you will make the right descision along with your daughters help.  good luck  

Answer 4

if your daughter is willing to work hard and do what she has to, i don't see why she shouldn't at least be allowed to try all of this.

while gymnastics IS hard work, it's also something i bet she finds fun, which means it's also recreation.

many valedictorians are very busy people and tend to seeem like they have too much going on, but they like it like that (had a friend who was and the more she had to do, the happier she was).

Answer 5

i agree with luv3.

she will still excell in a regular school. she will be at the top of her class. let her experiece gymnastics and see where she goes with it.

Answer 6

I know EXACTLY what you are going through as my youngest daughter is in the same situation currently with about the same amount of homework.  She has worked hard to achieve what she has being a level 3 at 5 years old but also knows that school work is important as well.  She was going M-W-T- & Sat so I kept Mondays, placed her on Friday's Team as well as a Saturday work out.  This way, she has at least Tues-Weds-Thurs to ensure she can concentrate on homework as well as just play.  I felt that although she WANTS to do more, I really don't want her to suffer from burnout (and if you are a gym mom like me you know exactly what I'm saying here) at an early age and therefore, am hoping this solution works for her.  Also, when the summer comes, most of the girls bump their hours up to workout everyday anyway.

Good luck!!

Answer 7

The homework is okay, if she's mature enough.

However, get her in a different gymnastics class where she only goes once a week.

Answer 8

I think the homework is way too much. An hour a night for kinder even if it is a magnet school sounds really excessive.  

I think you need to figure out what is important to you and your daughter.  Is the gymnastics really important or is the magnet school really important. I would choose the one you think is important, push it and cut back on the other.  

Answer 9

Well I'm not sure what your daughter's academic ability is. If she is in an advanced school like that then she must be very bright. Kindergarten in general has been becoming more and more advance over the years.

Just remember that she is a kid and she needs to get the time to be a kid. So make sure she gets some time to enjoy herself and if she loves gymnastics then she needs to get some time doing that. Perhaps you can see if there is a place around you that offers it on the weekends so that she is not too worn out on the weekdays. If not two nights a week would probably be alright. If it seems like it's too much for her then you can always make an adjustment but it doesn't hurt to give it a chance. I'm sure she'll be getting a good night sleep on those days though.

I'd give it a try and if it's too much then you can drop it down to one night.

Answer 10

I think you'll be able to make the homework a fun exercise, which will help prepare her for homework in the future.  

I don't think it's too much work for the child, unless this is just the beginning of a process of you "living through her", that is, pushing her to excel where you didn't (i.e. "you're not going to fail like I did!") or even where you did ("I did well at this, so you will too!").   I've seen both variations on that theme, and it's often not a pretty picture in the future.