School Days Missed Due To Skating
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My daughter is 12 years old and competes about every other month for freestyle and is on a precision team. Most of the time competitions are on weekends but testing is always during the week and sometimes competitions or travel mean missed school days. How do you handle letting schools know about days missed due to skating? Some teachers are supportive and others aren't. It seems that parents end up playing a game trying to figure out how a particular will react. This year my daughter has 7 different teachers so it isn't a matter of trying to appease just one or two. There was an article about it in the USFSA Parent Newsletter but still - how do you decide whether to just outright tell the teachers that a day or part of a day may be missed on occasion without having negative effects from the teacher? Mary |
Amanda'sMom says:
Always be upfront with your child's school when it comes to missing days for skating competitions and tests. Since you will know ahead of time when your child will be competing/testing, please notify your child's school of the dates that your child will be competing/testing. I always send a signed note addressed to the school Principle so that he can notify my child's teachers of any absenses. Also, let your child's school know that you would like any homework assignments ahead of time so that your child can complete them. My daughter's school gives 2-3 days for any missed assignments.
I find that attending my daughter's parent/teacher conferences is a good way to discuss and answer any questions that the teachers may have about my daughter's skating.
Linda says:
Perhaps you could start by talking to the school principal or your
daughter's guidance counselor. They should be able to direct you to which
one person should be notified of skating related absences. Being honest with
the teachers, even if they don't support the skating, is a better approach.
You want to at least let your daughter know that she should be honest.
Again, appoaching a guidance counselor, trusted teacher or principal may
help in cases where the teacher is non-supportive.
Deciding when to pull a child from school is different and depends on the child and what is happening at the school. You can start by listing events, both skating and school, such as skating testing, compeition, school subjects and test or projects. Then prioritize the list and use that as a guide. A skating test may take precedence over school if test dates are infrequent but competitions may not but that is a decision that you have to make.
Since you are bound by the rules of a precision team, you have to follow them. If your daughter is a solid student, she may be able to miss more school. As a student is older, missing school is more difficult. You do not want grades to suffer for skating. Discussing this before any competitions or skating tests and missed school, may help the teachers to understand the absences. You may also want the teachers, who may be unsupportive, to tell you the reasons. They may have valid concerns that you can take care of to prevent problems.