When do you have time?

[Muskoka Skater]

Hi everybody, the first week of school here as just ended and all my activites are starting up again. I have alot more homework now that I'm an intermediate student (Grade 7) and I have no time to do homework! How do you skaters who are also students able to do all the homework, skate, and other activities? Thanks to anybody who has anwsers to help me!!

[Skittl1321]

Well, I'm not a student anymore- but having had to balance it all when I was, here are my tips.

First off- stay on top of things. If you have an assignment due at the end of the week, don't wait. Do it early in case anything else pops up. It's no fun to do a big book report the weekend before it's due, but if you have a busy week ahead, that weekend is free time and Thursday night might not be.

Second- take advantage of ALL time. Driving in the car to the rink? Work on homework. Waiting on the zamboni- work on homework. It might be "nerdy" to not hang out and chat with everyone, but if you want to get it done- that's when you do it. I also did my homework on the way to school in the morning on the bus- BUT NEVER do homework due THAT day on the bus, in case you get distracted and don't get it done.

Third- wake up half an hour earlier if you can. Use that time wisely. (I worked better if I woke up, ate really quickly, did my homework and THEN get dressed. If I did everything else first, then I would never get to the homework. BUT if you aren't getting enough sleep already- don't do this. Sleep is so important for young teenagers/kids who are still growing.

Good luck! Many many skaters, dancers, gymnasts, etc have balanced all the practices/rehearsals with school- you can do it!

[daisies]

I was your age about 25 years ago (yikes), but I did skate competitively back then, and it was basically a matter of getting up at 4:30am, skating before school, doing homework after school, sometimes skating at night ... and that's it. There really was no time for "activities" or a social life, unfortunately, but that's the price I was willing to pay.

(Then I quit skating to go to college and made up for all the party time I missed. LOL!)

[slusher]

As an adult who skates in with the kids and hangs out in the dressing room waiting for the session to start I have tutored many a teenager on French, geography and math, I draw the line at all sciences and English Lit. My suggestion: get your club to have some adults on the sessions :D

[jazzpants]

I ask the same question as an adult skater. Trust me... :roll: :giveup:

I have enough trouble as is keeping with a full time job, commuting, doing errands, cleaning, etc. as well as my workout. And not that I don't like kids... I love them... BUT I'm fortunately that I don't have kids of my own to add to the responsibility equation too. 8O

And social life???? Pretty much confined to my skating boards, emails and IM's, unfortunately. :giveup:

[xofivebyfive]

Well I only skate for an hour so I just do homework whenever else. I don't know how long you skate for every day, but I'm a junior in high school so you can't possibly have more homework than I do so it shouldn't really be a problem unless you skate like in the morning and afternoon for 4 hours a day or something crazy like that.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Well I only skate for an hour so I just do homework whenever else. I don't know how long you skate for every day, but I'm a junior in high school so you can't possibly have more homework than I do so it shouldn't really be a problem unless you skate like in the morning and afternoon for 4 hours a day or something crazy like that.

That's not true. It also depends on if the OP is doing clubs, extracurriculars, ballet, yoga, pilates, off ice training of some sort, etc. One doesn't have to skate 4 hours a day to be overloaded.

That being said, Muskoka skater, I often find myself in your position though I'm quite a few years older. With activities, skating, and homework it's not often I have much time to myself! It really comes down to time management, as others have said. Personally, I rarely watch tv, only go out on the weekends, and very often do homework on the weekends during the day to get ahead for the week. I also know exactly when I will have how many hours of each activity, and block in homework time during hours I don't have something going. Making a chart of your activities may help you see when you can fit in homework. It may mean you have to drop something enjoyable, such as talking on the phone with friends or IMing, etc, in order to get it all done. When you DO find your time for homework, use every single minute. Don't let yourself get distracted by phone calls, tv, taking time for a snack, or the other usual distractions that appear when you don't want to do something! Otherwise, you may have to choose what nights you can do without as much sleep.

[jskater49]

My daughter just doesn't sleep. She's a senior in high school and has a 3.8 gpa and sings in the chorus, used to be in the band, does drama and skates intermediate fs, just passed novice moves and silver solo dance and teaches learn to skate Wed nights and sat mornings.

She only skates in the morning - does her other activities in afternoon, does homework at night. I don't think she gets enough sleep. She's had to make choices and hasn't been able to do all the activities she wants because of skating. WHen I used to drive her to the rink and to school, she'd often do homework then. She takes her homework to competitions, but I don't see her working on it much.

I hate to say it, but I think her ability to function on very little sleep is what makes it work. :??

j

[jskater49]

Oh yea. DD RARELY watches TV.

j

[Sessy]

I don't even have a tv. Not any messenger chat programmes.

I have a social life, but, like, last night there was a barbeque from my student organisation (sorority? student party? or whatever, it's for law students at our university). While it was tremendously fun, after 2 hours I said, "sorry guys going home now". Now yesterday I didn't, but usually I'll have a ton of work to do after such a barbeque. Obviously no alcohol for me.

I can plan some of my classes, so I plan around skating hours, trying to get like four times a week, five if possible. I kept my classes off the friday for example, because there's like three hours of skating and an hour of ballet on fridays, and usually social stuff is on friday nights too (after the trainings, I'll just change shirts).

Also on the bus or train, I always read study stuff. I rarely read anything other than for my studies by the way. Haven't got the time.

I've had to skip trainings for university related stuff. You know, that's life. You wanna skate all you can, but it's not always priority number 1 if it's just your hobby, not your career. After all, something will have to pay for the skating in future years too. A mcDonalds job isn't gonna do that.
If it's your career, everything else will have to go. Priorities.

Still, planning aside, priorities aside, discipline aside - it doesn't always add up. For those cases, it's good there's energy drinks like red bull. Last year, I did a boards(wo)manship for our student organisation next to my studies, and I work part-time too, to pay for the skating and stuff (1 day a week max). My boyfriend also lives very far away. And while I was writing my bachelor thesis this year, I slept like 4 hours a night. Still went skating of course though! It helped me with the stress.
And sometimes it's just bluffing your way through. I'm thinking going to an online shop that lets you programme when you want whose birthday card sent automatically. I'm thinking pinkmonkey.com for summaries on books for English literature here - and even summaries of books for my law study are sold online (I've bought a LOT of those). So instead of reading the book, I read the summary - on the bus - and then if I'm asked to react in class, I can come up with something - not always correct, but at least it looks like I did my reading. Kind of important, cuz if teachers get the idea that you don't study, you'll never get cut slack again.
I wouldn't recommend this as a study strategy though. It's more like a "I don't have time to read it before class, but the night after class I'll read it". And the summaries are good for a fresh-up just before the exam anyway.

And frankly it's important to also take time to relax. When I was writing reports for the student organisation thing, I'd have a browser open on skating forums too. Needed to water it down with easy stuff, so that my mind would be able to keep the attention span up for the reports. Haven't used msn messenger in over a year though. THAT is where the time is going! Even though I type REALLY fast, I just used to fill that up by talking to like five people at a time. And ended up wasting hours.

[Morgail]

I see a lot of the kids and teenagers at the rink doing their homework before their sessions start, between their sessions (if they have a break), or while waiting for their parents to pick them up after skating.
You can work on it in the car or on the bus (if that doesn't make you carsick).
You don't want to cut back too much on sleep, but if you can get up a little earlier than normal, that could give you more time.
It might help to write out your schedule and see where you have gaps of time where you might be able to get some work done.

Unfortunately, you can only do so much and keep your sanity. You may have to cut something out. When I hit 17, I made a decision like that - I gave up skating. I didn't have enough time to skate enough to progress, keep up with school and college applications, keep a job, enjoy some downtime (which I desperately needed at that point), and hang out with my friends (which became a bigger priority for me at that time). If you want to make skating a priority, you may have to give up another activity, tv time, or time spent with your friends.

[Rob Dean]

I'll pile on with the no TV comment. I got rid of mine around 1990, and don't know where I would find the time to watch it today...

Time management is definitely the key, though. My son does his homework in the car on the way to the rink when he can (though it doesn't do much for legibility) and we try to keep him reminded that the homework needs to be kept up if he wants his priority for skating to stay where it is.

Me, I've been known to carry pieces of my second job (nicely portable paperwork where I can choose my own timing) to the rink when he's skating and I'm not, which is the adult version of the homework problem.

Rob

[doubletoe]

Hi everybody, the first week of school here as just ended and all my activites are starting up again. I have alot more homework now that I'm an intermediate student (Grade 7) and I have no time to do homework! How do you skaters who are also students able to do all the homework, skate, and other activities? Thanks to anybody who has anwsers to help me!!

Yeah, I think the clincher is the "other activities" part. For most really dedicated skaters, it's just school, skating, homework and sleep! During the school year, "social life" is that 15 minutes in the warmup room chatting with fellow skaters while putting skates on and taking them off. :giveup:

[Skate@Delaware]

Hi everybody, the first week of school here as just ended and all my activites are starting up again. I have alot more homework now that I'm an intermediate student (Grade 7) and I have no time to do homework! How do you skaters who are also students able to do all the homework, skate, and other activities? Thanks to anybody who has anwsers to help me!!

Yeah, I think the clincher is the "other activities" part. For most really dedicated skaters, it's just school, skating, homework and sleep! During the school year, "social life" is that 15 minutes in the warmup room chatting with fellow skaters while putting skates on and taking them off. :giveup:
I think you said it-if you are training for the Olympics, Muskoka Skater, (as I read in your tag line), then the other activities have to go. You train. Eat, sleep, breathe skating. Your coach becomes your 2nd parent. Most extremely serious dedicated skaters only have a social life at the rink and ONLY while they are there. Sad but true.

[TimDavidSkate]

From the age of 16 to 18, my Father woke me up and drove me to the rink at 4:45am to get to the 5:45 session :oops: ooooh I was so sleepy.

But now I only do that the week of competition, not that crazy to wake up every morning just to skate :giveup:

[sk8tmum]

Talk to your teachers. They need to know your training schedule, and when you will be away at training camps, competitions, etc. We had 2 nights last year when DD and DS when straight from school to ice, then off ice, and didn't get home until 9:00 (which is past bed time :lol: ). Negotiating with the teachers, they weren't expected to complete homework on those nights, and, where possible, they were given their work earlier so that they could get it out of the way. It helped!

Sure, you'll have some teachers who won't accomodate, but, generally, they are far more appreciative and cooperative if you're upfront about planned absences, and outside commitments, if you act professionally about it.

(P.S. I'm a teacher, and I definitely appreciate and respond favorably to this type of student communication!)

[jskater49]

Talk to your teachers. They need to know your training schedule, and when you will be away at training camps, competitions, etc. We had 2 nights last year when DD and DS when straight from school to ice, then off ice, and didn't get home until 9:00 (which is past bed time :lol: ). Negotiating with the teachers, they weren't expected to complete homework on those nights, and, where possible, they were given their work earlier so that they could get it out of the way. It helped!

Sure, you'll have some teachers who won't accomodate, but, generally, they are far more appreciative and cooperative if you're upfront about planned absences, and outside commitments, if you act professionally about it.

(P.S. I'm a teacher, and I definitely appreciate and respond favorably to this type of student communication!)

When we moved, I wrote a letter to the principal and to her teachers about my daughter's skating and schedule. At the time we actually had to drive 45 minutes to the rink in the morning and we live where it snows so that was also to explain any tardiness. (also she had to miss some early marching band practices) I only had to write a general letter like that once because it's a small school and now they all know her. We do try to give all the teachers a schedule of what competitions when she will be going. They've always been accommodating and one teacher even came to her ice show to watch her skate. It helps that she's a good student and it's never hurt her grades.

The USFS has a letter on it's sight -it's more for skaters who make it out of regionals but I attached that letter as well.

j

[Helen88]

I wouldn't recommend this but I always do my homework (going into year 9 in Britain - same as grade 9!? I'm 13) in the lessons we have really rubbish teachers in, or when I've finished my work instead of asking for an extension or something. It's got me into trouble more than once (and it might backfire, with you ending up with detention and even less time lol), but it gets it done!! Maybe if you finish whatever you're meant to be doing, ask to do your homework. Explain about ice time and so on. Good Luck!

[SynchroSk8r114]

I pretty much agree with the advice everyone else has given you: stay on top of things, minimize the social life, and prioritize, prioritize, prioritize! :lol:

But while we're all sharing our hellish skating versus family/friends/work/sleep stories, I figured I'd give you a little rundown of my typical week. (I'm a senior in college, intern at a magazine, coach, skate, skate on my university's synchro team, and have a boyfriend of 6 years whose been with me through this all! God bless him for it! :halo:

Sundays:
Generally, I spend this day catching up on homework and relaxing (ha!) until 2:00 p.m. At that time, I head to the rink to be on the ice coaching until 4:15 p.m. and then skating until 4:50 p.m. After that it's home to finish up any homework I didn't get done. Hopefully, I'm in bed by 10:00/11:00 p.m.

Mondays:
The only day I have off, so this day is class from 11:00-12:50 p.m. and then I get to work on homework or internship stuff for the week.

Tuesdays/Thursdays:
I usually wake up at 4:30 a.m. so that I can be on the ice for 6:00 a.m. for a lesson/practice. I'll usually skate until 7:00/7:30 a.m. and then head straight to my internship at a magazine for 9:00 a.m. I intern there until 1:00 p.m. then head straight to class after picking up some coffee if I have time. ;) I've got class until 3:15 p.m. followed by coaching until 5:30-ish. After that I go home, eat dinner, try and get some work done, and chill out if I can manage to squeeze that in, hahaha! :lol: Typically, I'm so dead tired that I'm in bed by 10:00 p.m.

Wednesays:
Brace yourself for this one... ;)
Another 4:30 a.m. wake up and I'm off to rink for a 6:00 a.m. synchro practice. At 7:30 a.m. synchro ends and I have aprivate lesson for dance until 8:30-ish. Immediately after that, I head home to get all my school stuff together, change, and grab a quick snack before heading to class from 11:00 a.m. - 8:50 p.m. with only a 2 hour break all day. That's when I eat lunch/dinner in my car while trying to do some homework/reading because it's quiet and no one can bother me there. :lol: I'm usually on my way home about 9:00 p.m., take a quick shower so that I can save time the next morning (Thursday) when I have to be up at 4:30 a.m. again, and then go straight to bed. Any work that didn't get done today is saved for mid-morning Friday.

Friday:
This is my favorite day of the week because 1.) class is only from 11:00-12:50 p.m., 2.) I get to skate in the afternoon for an hour (2:30-3:30 p.m.) before coaching until 5:50 p.m. I usually fly home because I'm waiting to see my boyfriend, as this is the only day we get to spend with each other because we both have insane schedules. He gets it though, thank God! (I just keep trying to tell myself 'This is your last year of college...work hard and finish so we can get engaged already!' Yes, my parents are making us wait til I'm done with school, but that's fine.) Anyway, today's usually a total loss work-wise unless I get things done before my 11:00 a.m. class.

Saturday:
I coach from 11:50 a.m.-2:00 p.m. then catch up on work, hang out with friends and the boyfriend, if I'm lucky. That's pretty much the extent of my social life. God, I love weekends!

[wasabi]

Sorry to write so much, but I do have a lot of experience with this, so bear with the long post.

Back when I was skating competitively, my schedule went something like this:

4:30 -- wakeup to get to rink for 6AM lesson
6-7:30 -- lesson and practice
8-3 -- school (I got my skates off, got changed and ate breakfast in the car on the way there)
3:30-6 -- practice again (got changed in the car) three afternoons a week, working out with a trainer the other two weekday afternoons
I usually got home between 5 and 6:30 depending on if I had training or skating, ate dinner, finished my homework, and went to bed.

Saturdays were for ballet -- no skating -- and Sundays I had a two hour afternoon session and ocasionally worked out on my own.

To add to this, I was in all honors classes in middle school and mostly AP ones in high school and had skipped a grade level in two subjects. I also played an instrument, but couldn't fit music in with all my classes, so I took it instead of lunch. I had a study hall for one day a week in middle school, and once in high school. I entered a few music competitions in high school and also, when I gave up afternoon skating because of an injury, started competing nationally on high school (academic) team. I fit my homework in during the 10 minute zamboni breaks and the five minutes in between class periods (I was also known to study though classes where I already had a pretty good handle on the material, though I wouldn't recommend this strategy) and got ahead during the weekends and evenings I got home earlier. I didn't start watching TV until my senior year of high school -- after I got into college and could relax a little in my classes -- and gave up reading for pleasure sometime around the fifth grade. I saw my friends one evening a week, but that only started when I gave up the two-practice-a-day schedule in lieu of only morning practices. My schedule my schedule from second grade to senior year was crazy enough that when I got to college (a top-10 school), I had so much free time I didn't know what to do with myself.

It's all about what you're willing to give up for the sport. Back when I was seriously competitive, I was willing to give up pretty much everything -- friends, free time, social events -- so that I could excel in skating and still keep up my schoolwork (because my parents' rule, as it should have been, was that as soon as my grades slipped, I would be done with skating). When I got a serious injury and had to take enough time off that it was clear I wasn't really going to go where I wanted to with the sport, I decided to keep skating, but to strike a balance with my schoolwork and social life, and to persue other passions as well. To excel in this sport -- even to make sectionals or nationals, let alone the Olympics -- you need to give up A LOT, and to make that kind of sacrifice, you need to really, truly will-die-without-it love it.

Believe me, it only gets harder from here. There were nights junior year of high school -- when I was only practicing once a day -- that I was up until 2 in the morning with homework, and I consider myself a very fast worker. If you've already given up everything but school and skating and are still having trouble balancing it, I'd recommend getting more organized. Write out all your assignments, every day. Get started on them right away, and use every spare minute (homeroom, the minutes in between classes, the drive to the rink, everything) to finish your work. Lay out your clothes and pack your lunch the night before, if you skate in the morning. Ask your teachers if they can give you any assignments in advance and finish them on the days you have less skating; work through the weekends; finish papers long beforr they are due. It's tough. You'll be tired most of the time. But it's manageable.

[Muskoka Skater]

I'm just going to through this in here that I already have no social life!

[mikawendy]

Oh yea. DD RARELY watches TV.

j

I did a lot of ballet when I was a kid and I was in the same boat. My mom and brother watched all sorts of sit coms and movies together. I still get teased by friends and my brother for having this void of tv and movies that I've never seen (I never saw Full House etc.). But I didn't miss it at all.

Also, to the OP, I was in a similar boat--and had lots of homework. I did not have a good game plan or good study skills in high school and I really paid the price. I squeaked by because I had a good short term memory (so cramming helped), but I also missed a lot of sleep because I was always trying to catch up on homework. Sleep deprivation is NOT fun!!! If you can develop a good homework/study strategy, you'll be way ahead of the game.

[Skate@Delaware]

I know school has just started, but in planning for next year, ask if you can go to summer school to get ahead of the game. My school district allows some students (again, with advance notice/planning) the option of taking classes during the summer to get ahead of the game.

For this year, you might want to see if you can do assignments over the holiday breaks. That might buy you some breathing room.

Also, look into using skating as your Physical Education requirement. The USFSA website has the information/forms for doing just that. We did try that with my daughter, but the school board turned us down (at least we tried).

At this point of the game, becoming super-organized is the key. You can't get behind at all or procrastinate in anything.

[Sessy]

Muskoka, in that case, are you sure you aren't either over-training or just trying to pull too much weight school-wise? Some people are just naturally gifted and will need like 10 minutes to get math, others will need hours and hours. And some will never even get it at all, no matter how much they study it - at most they'll learn by memory how to solve a particular type of math problem. You might not be gifted by nature to skate both on an olympic level AND get A's in school. You might have to be satisfied with C's (that is still a pass under the American system right? I'm a little vague on your grades, we grade from 1 to 10) or skate less and accept the consequences of that.
Or try homeschooling. I did the last three years of highschool like that, but not everybody could - you've got to be very devoted to getting your school diploma, else it's too easy to slip off. Frankly 12 is likely to be too young to study by yourself, and your parents might not be able to accomodate it.

It also says soccer under interests in your profile. If you play that still, you might wanna quit.

[Muskoka Skater]

I also did home schooling for 2yrs but my mom wanted to send me back so I could be more socialized!

[Sessy]

Totally unrelated to your original question: did you try having the "Mom, I'm in school now, but no matter how hard I try I still don't get any friends" talk with your mom?
It won't solve your time problem, but it might help you in the social field which will be very important too at some point. Cuz like 14-18 year old teenagers, they start picking on the outcasts in class to re-ascertain their own popularity/power/strength/position/whatever in the group, and you really don't wanna be on your own by the time that starts happening in the class. Been there done that got the scars.
Many parents just figure out that if you just send the kid to school, it magically becomes social - it's sort of their easy way out, that way they don't have to accept that there might be a problem that needs solving. Where as a truly social kid, even if it's homeschooled, will make friends at the skating rink or with neighbours' kids.

Another thing: when you don't get something in class, do you ask questions or just hope to figure it out later by yourself? The latter option takes a LOT more time. And the teachers are there to explain after all. Actually when you ask, you oftentimes find out a lot of people weren't getting it, but were just afraid to ask.

[Muskoka Skater]

Anymore ideas besides the ones above?

[sk8tmum]

I asked my students to give me a breakdown of how they use their time. Number one activity: the internet. MSN, e-mail, surfing, FaceBook, chat rooms, forums. I would check to see how much time you are doing this, and decide if it is productive, or not. The internet can be seriously addictive, and I know that some of my students tell me that they lose track of time when they get on it, and a 5 minute check in turns into a wandering 1 hour spent accomplishing little. And that one hour can be critical to finishing off a project or homework.

just a thought. don't know if you're a 'net person or not ...

[Muskoka Skater]

I don't Surf the net, go on FaceBook, or into Chat rooms. I do though check my E-mail once a day, go on MSN for a little bit but nobody is ever online, and I go into skating forums a lot more then I used to but not for that long. Im not much of a net person but I'm of one now then I used to be a couple years ago I went on about 1 every 2weeks!

[mikawendy]

Anymore ideas besides the ones above?

One thing I noticed in high school and college was that when I didn't sleep enough AND I didn't eat well, then I seemed to have a harder time learning things and remembering them. For example, I remember getting things mixed up in dance rehearsals a lot more when I was in college; afterward, when I was better rested and was eating better, I picked things up a lot more quickly. That may also translate to things like studying and doing homework.

[twokidsskatemom]

Many parents just figure out that if you just send the kid to school, it magically becomes social - it's sort of their easy way out, that way they don't have to accept that there might be a problem that needs solving. Where as a truly social kid, even if it's homeschooled, will make friends at the skating rink or with neighbours' kids.


Ot but my very social home schooled kids would agree with you.They both have friends of all ages. At the rink, and in our neighborhood.
I have no answer but good luck !!

[4rkidz]

I hate to say it, but I think her ability to function on very little sleep is what makes it work. :??

j

actually my daughter is the opposite, in order to balance life as an elite athlete and honour student, she sleeps on average 10 hours a night and eats every two hours (healthy) and tries to stay organized by pre-planning (i.e. snacks/lunch night before & clothing/sports wear bags packed night before etc.,) she also basically traded her social life for her sport but it has worked for her and gets to travel all over and have friends from all over (not to mention lots of aeroplan miles!).. my advice to you would be to eat healthy, gets lots of sleep and have balance in your life.

[Muskoka Skater]

I don't remember who told me to maybe give up soccer. Well I'm still gonna be playing soccer in the late spring and summer, but I turned down my school soccer team.