School Phys Ed Exemption

[tazsk8s]

What are everyone's thoughts on school phys ed exemptions for competitive skaters? Does anyone here have their kid getting out of Phys Ed. at school due to skating? If so, can you give me some input on how to approach the school, what to say or what NOT to say? Taz Jr. will be in middle school next year. I don't know of any other competitive skaters in our district, so I don't know if there is a precedent for this sort of thing (although the kids in neighboring districts seem to get PE exemptions rather easily so I'm crossing my fingers). Jr. is currently Pre-Juvenile, skates 6 hours a week, plus another 2 of off-ice conditioning. We're hoping to squeeze in just another hour or so each week next year. She's getting a ton of exercise already, I'm hard-pressed to see what she really "needs" PE for. We plan for her to go to Regionals for the first time this fall, even if it is at the non-qualifying Pre-Juv level.

Having one additional period per day to play with might also help with her academic scheduling. She is likely to wind up in at least some honors classes, and she also plays the French Horn. Most kids in our district start band instruction when they start middle school. Hubby is a former band director, and thought that was awfully late to start, so he has been giving her lessons at home and she will be more than ready to play with the 2nd year band in the fall. However, they warned us that it may be hard to schedule her with the older kids as there aren't as many scheduling options for honors classes because there are fewer sections of honors. My thinking is that if we can get her out of PE they'd have an extra period to play around with.

Ironically, hubby is dead-set against the idea of a PE exemption even if it would mean the difference between her wasting the year in 1st year band, or being productive in 2nd year. He seems to think that middle school PE has some redeeming socialization value. My recollection of middle school PE was that it was h*ll on earth, so naturally I'd like to spare my kid that experience.

I am interested in hearing any and all input on this.

[Elsy2]

I guess if I were going into middle school, I'd be more intimidated about joining the 2nd year band with older kids than anything else. I would prefer to be with my own grade, but that's just me. My daughter did not have PE in middle school because of band. Band took the time up that she would have been in PE. So, if your daughter wants to join the 2nd year band, and a PE exemption gets her there, then I'd pursue it. If she would rather be treated like a "normal" kid at school and blend in (the way my daughter would prefer), I'd allow her to do the PE like all the kids. If she doesn't care about the PE, then pursue an exemption.

You just need to find out which counselor or staff member to talk with and set up a meeting. Explain her skating interest and schedule and your reasons for wanting the exemption, be it to pursue band or honor classes. Be prepared with any info from the other district to refer to.

Most of the skaters I know who have PE exemption actually leave school early to skate.

I personally enjoyed PE....a good PE program is fun and a nice break from sitting at a desk. You get to hang with your friends, and hopefully experience a wide range of sports. I recall doing gymnastics, swimming, basketball, tennis, track, and field hockey. I really enjoyed being introduced to those sports.

Your daughter is young, and parents know best usually, but I think she needs to have a say in what she is comfortable doing, and what priorities she has. You really didn't say what she wanted in your post...

Oh....Yes, I do have my daughter exempted from high school PE, and have arranged that her skating gives her the PE required credit. She leaves early to skate.

[dbny]

Originally posted by tazsk8s
My recollection of middle school PE was that it was h*ll on earth, so naturally I'd like to spare my kid that experience.

Same here :evil:

I know for a fact that in NYC the :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: Board of Ed does not allow such an exemption, although they do have billiards as an option for phys ed in high school:roll:

[IceDanceSk8er]

Originally posted by tazsk8s
What are everyone's thoughts on school phys ed exemptions for competitive skaters?

This is a very good post. My daughter received a semi-exception from PE when she was a freshman in high school. We were lucky that the PE Director understood competitive figure skating, and after he spoke to my daughter's figure skating coach, she was assigned other activities, like weight training, which would benefit her. I think if your child is in training it is definately worth stating your case to the PE Director, and having your child's coach and a strength and conditioning professional (who has trained skaters) take part in these conversations as well. There are certain PE activities that are detrimental to a figure skater, such as swimming.

[tazsk8s]

Originally posted by Elsy2
I guess if I were going into middle school, I'd be more intimidated about joining the 2nd year band with older kids than anything else.

Neither hubby nor I are not particularly worried about this. Jr. has been on a little different page than her peers, socially, her whole life. In 2nd grade she qualified for the district's gifted program. She was breezing through the regular ed program and we wanted her to do it for academic reasons, but it involved being bused to a different school, away from her neighborhood friends, so we asked her how she felt about it. She looked at is as a chance to meet other, new friends...four years later she still sees the neighborhood friends almost as much as her school friends. They have the honors classes at all of the middle schools, so she will be going back in with the neighborhood kids again, and having to fit in with different groups that have formed since she's been out of that daily loop, as well as the new kids from other grade schools. Most of the kids at her grade school live in a different neighborhood and will go to another middle school. And two of her good neighborhood friends are a year ahead of her in school, and in band, so it isn't like she is going to be completely alone in the higher level band.

pursue it. If she would rather be treated like a "normal" kid at school and blend in (the way my daughter would prefer), I'd allow her to do the PE like all the kids. If she doesn't care about the PE, then pursue an exemption.

Your daughter is young, and parents know best usually, but I think she needs to have a say in what she is comfortable doing, and what priorities she has. You really didn't say what she wanted in your post...


Point well taken. At least right now, she doesn't particularly care one way or another about PE. She enjoys the fitness things when they come along, like this week when she came home exulting about coming in 2nd in the class and 5th in her entire grade in the mile run. Endurance work in off-ice definitely helped her there. Things like basketball, soccer, volleyball, hmmm, anything involving a ball, she's not all that thrilled with and isn't all that good at.

Thanks for your comments!

[tazsk8s]

Originally posted by dbny
Same here :evil:

I know for a fact that in NYC the :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: Board of Ed does not allow such an exemption, although they do have billiards as an option for phys ed in high school:roll:

Oh, brother, what's next? Playstation games? Pinball?

And there are some out there who say figure skating isn't a sport...:roll:

[tazsk8s]

Originally posted by IceDanceSk8er
I think if your child is in training it is definately worth stating your case to the PE Director, and having your child's coach and a strength and conditioning professional (who has trained skaters) take part in these conversations as well. There are certain PE activities that are detrimental to a figure skater, such as swimming.

I am curious, how is swimming detrimental to a skater? I have heard this before but never thought to ask why.

I mentioned the idea of a PE exemption to two of Jr.'s coaches a few months ago. Both of them were willing to write letters and provide whatever documentation the school requested verifying her training schedule and activities. I am amazed that schools don't follow up on this...I work in a high school (different district) and know of one young lady who has given up competitive skating not only still has her PE exemption, but is requesting one again for next fall.:x People like this give the whole concept a bad name. If Jr. were to quit skating, you can bet she'd have her tail back in PE pronto.

[Elsy2]

I'm curious about the swimming too. We have never taken our suits to swim during a competition, as it does tend to exhaust the muscles when that's the last thing you need at competition. I see plenty of other skaters in the hotel pools though. Since daughter attends a summer skating program there is precious time or energy left to swim anyway....but we don't avoid swimming altogether either.

As for the socialization issue, she probably is better socialized than many...party due to skating. I find that many people think skating has isolated my daughter from a normal social life. I have found it to be her saving grace instead in this area.

I think TazJr. sounds like she will adjust very well to whatever you decide to do!

[IceDanceSk8er]

Originally posted by tazsk8s
I am curious, how is swimming detrimental to a skater? I have heard this before but never thought to ask why.

You should probably consult a PT expert for a more definitive answer, but my daughter's PT told us that swimming over uses muscles in the legs and don't maintain strength.

[jp1andOnly]

Swimming turns your muscles to jello, especially warm water. It also changed the feeling of the ground, if you swim for a long period of time. My brothers coach banned him from swimming at a competition. One time he snuck down and swam. Skated like crap the next day. From then on he saved the swimming until after the competition.

[arena_gal]

PE can include non-physical activies such as "health", which is things like healthy eating, sex ed, organization of phys ed activities to be a playground leader, that sort of thing. At our board, 25% of PE is actually Health and is spent in a classroom.

She might need to do some additional work besides the physical activities of skating, but maybe she helps with learn to skate and that sort of thing?

TheKid got a D in phys ed one year, apparently they were working on modern dance. Years of skating choreo, ballet and off ice classes didn't seem to have any bearing on the final mark, there was a paper that had to be written along with the physical activity and it didn't get done.

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by dbny
Same here :evil:

I know for a fact that in NYC the :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: Board of Ed does not allow such an exemption, although they do have billiards as an option for phys ed in high school:roll: It was my daughter's school that got us into ice skating, as it was offered as an option her first term in Year 10 (aged 15+). But the second term not enough girls wanted to do it (an all-girls school!), so the option offered was, would you believe it, 10-pin bowling! I mean, am I missing something here, but surely those girls got more exercise walking to and from the bowling alley than they did when they were there, no?

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by Elsy2
I'm curious about the swimming too. We have never taken our suits to swim during a competition, as it does tend to exhaust the muscles when that's the last thing you need at competition. I see plenty of other skaters in the hotel pools though. Since daughter attends a summer skating program there is precious time or energy left to swim anyway....but we don't avoid swimming altogether either. Always swim after skating, never before, is my coach's rule. I don't swim much these days, but when I'm on a camp, skating 3 hours/day or more, I find I really need to swim afterwards to stretch my back out. A few lengths of the pool and a soak in the jacuzzi, and I'm fine - but only a few minutes in the jacuzzi, or you end up with no muscles next day (been there, done that, but luckily I wasn't skating that day!).

[lord farquad ;)]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by tazsk8s
[B]I am curious, how is swimming detrimental to a skater? I have heard this before but never thought to ask why.


I am a competitive swimmer. I actually swim better than skate, but my coach always advises never to swim and then skate. But every saturday I go to my morning swimming practice which is about 1.5-2 hrs. and then I leave right away from that to skating practice and I don't find a big difference with my performance in skating. I NEVER skate and swim on the same day if it's a competition day though.

My coach also thinks even though skating and swimming on the same day isn't really a good thing, she says that's where I get all my endurance from and that I should continue swimming to X-train. :)

[Elsy2]

It's good to hear from someone who both swims and skates....It reminds me that as a teen I was invincible and could handle hours of athletic endeavors of various kinds without any trouble....Oh to be young again...sigh. I used to train as many hours in gymnastics as daughter does skating, and would swim hard after 3 hours in the gym.

The point as it relates to this thread is that an hour of PE may not be necessary, but it probably won't wear out TazJr. either!

[climbsk8]

I've heard that it can confuse the muscle memory in your leg muscles, because gravity is suspended when you're in the water. Of course, I imagine you have to spend substantial time in the water to feel this...

Also, I've heard that getting water in your ears can throw your balance off. Does that make any sense?

[tazsk8s]

Originally posted by Elsy2
As for the socialization issue, she probably is better socialized than many...party due to skating. I find that many people think skating has isolated my daughter from a normal social life. I have found it to be her saving grace instead in this area.

I hear some of this from people too. Seems to be a stereotypical perception of skaters. I don't get it at all. I've gotten to know the kids pretty well from being out on the ice with them and the overwhelming majority are friendly and well-adjusted. There's always going to be the one or two that give the rest of them a bad name, but that's true no matter what sport you're in.

[tazsk8s]

Thanks for the info on swimming and skating. I've had my daughter's coaches recommend that she not swim at out of town competition hotels til after she's skated and always assumed that they just didn't want the kids staying up til all hours of the night in the pool. It never occured to me to ask if there was a detrimental effect on the muscles or anything.

[Sk8Bunny]

In middle school, a year of PE was required for students, but after talking to my princpal, my mom got me permission from the school to be excused from the PE course since i skated a lot. i think a document or something was signed by both of them. Then when i entered high school, my school gave me the option of doing indepent PE with my skating. THis would mean i would keep a weekly chart on my skating practices(how much i practiced), and then only once a week, or once every 2 weeks, i would have to go in to school a few minutes early and give the update to the PE instructor, and then i think they told me i would have to do one paper a semsester about my sport or something, but only like 2 pages long. anyways, this was the option given to us, however, i had room in my schedule to take dance class, which i did for fun, and this also counted as PE credit, so i didnt need to take indepent PE, but i thought it was kool my school was willing to work w/ us for skating.

[BABYSKATES]

I will be interested to see what happens with your daughter and her PE waiver. My daughter has one more year in elementary school. Luckily, elementary school PE is only one day a week and she enjoys PE. Middle school will be another matter, however. With daily PE, I'm afraid of over use injuries. Little skaters far exceed any mandated amount of time required by any school district to satisfy the PE requirement.

Maybe the USFSA has information you can use to make your case for a PE waiver for your child.

Good luck!

[jazzpants]

Tazsk8: I hated PE in middle school and high school. (I'm a "not so proud" product of the public school system in a major urban city.) I saw no redeeming socialization value at all being in PE when I was growing up. To add to that, the PE teachers I've had for the most part certainly were not role models for "acceptable socialization skills." Quite a few of them aren't even role models for "physical fitness" even! :P (I had a discussion with one of my former PE teacher about all the other PE teachers at my school when we bumped into each at a health club working out many years later. It was quite an eye opener! 8O ) And, of course, I made very, VERY few friends when I was in middle school and high school. So much for school PE and "socialization." :roll:

Here's a thought... is there any way where you have a partial PE exemption where on days that the PE teachers do running or calistenics that she shows up for it and on days where they're playing basketball, baseball, etc. that she makes up for it in ice time? That may help address some of the socialization concerns that your hubby has (since she's still participating in some of the PE stuff that should help her with her skating) but still gives her the benefits of being a competitive skater.

It's laughable to read about the short sightedness of people who think 1) figure skating is not a sport. (I'd like to see THEM go a few laps in power stroking class nonstop!!!) :P and 2) that socialization only belongs at school's PE class. If they only know my story... :roll:

[BABYSKATES]

One of the reasons I want my child out of regular PE is because of the running and calistenics. Usually this is done on the asphalt which is terrible for anyone's legs, not to mention a young athlete in training. I know a skater who does middle school PE (she skates every day but not a lot of hours and isn't doing really big jumps yet) who has shin splints and achilles problems from pounding on the cement. She is now allowed to skip the running part of PE.

One other thing, if your husband is dead set against it, it may not be worth the fight to get your child out of PE until she is adamant about it herself. If she feels she needs it, Dad may more happily go along with it. I don't know about your family but in ours, when Daddy is unhappy EVERYONE is unhappy!:cry:

[jazzpants]

I should also add that, personally, I would have preferred the off ice training in lieu of PE altogether, (but I was aiming for a compromise.) As Babyskates's mom says, the concrete is very hard on the body, even with good running shoes!!!

These days, I can't do much running or even speed walking on the treadmill anymore even b/c it aggravates my lower back. My two options for cardio now are inclined bike or elliptical trainer. I, of course, went for the elliptical trainer myself! It's like running, but w/o the hard impact of the ground!) ;)

Of course, as always, YMMV...

[Lili]

I tried to get out of gym my Junior year of High School (soon to be Junior in college now), and they would not let me. They said that it was a state requirement that all students take gym and pass. I refused to take gym, so my Senior year in high school I filled up my classes with art (which was a good thing, I found out that I wanted to major in Graphic Design), and took independent gym.

The way I went about it was I had my coach write a letter to the phys ed department, and the principal, explaining how much skating I did, etc. The gym teacher was behind me on it, but the school would not budge. :evil:

[tazsk8s]

Thanks, everyone! Lots of good comments and suggestions!

Arena_gal, the middle school does include a portion that is in the classroom and labelled "Health". I think it's all of three weeks out of the year. I had forgotten about that, I'm sure we'd have to either find a way for her to attend that somehow, or be responsible for that part of the curriculum. Even the kids I do know who have PE exemptions in other schools are required to take it.

Babyskates, we have managed to keep Taz Jr. pretty much injury-free thus far. Worst things that have ever happened to her were a chipped baby tooth from falling into the boards (no real harm done, tooth fell out a long time ago), and a fat lip from being accidentally knocked to the ground in a fluke collision with another skater. Of course, the usual bumps and bruises, but nothing that has ever required doctor's intervention. I definitely intend to keep it that way! The potential for overuse injuries is a definite concern of mine.

Jazzpants, I bet we could probably trade similar school PE horror stories. :cry: The worst part WAS the so-called "socialization" experience - adolescent girls can be so awful to each other! Some of this took place in the class itself, but the worst of it took place in the locker room, out of sight of the teacher. I hadn't thought of a partial exemption as a compromise. Although a partial exemption wouldn't help if we're trying to use it for scheduling purposes, it might be something to shoot for if they absolutely won't go for a total exemption. Regarding cardio, I can't do the treadmill either. Nor can I handle running. Too jarring on the knees (ok, so like on-ice jumping ISN'T? :oops: ). Stationery bikes are ok, I can handle the stairmonster ok too, which is interesting because a lot of people hate that thing!

[jazzpants]

Originally posted by tazsk8s
Jazzpants, I bet we could probably trade similar school PE horror stories. :cry: The worst part WAS the so-called "socialization" experience - adolescent girls can be so awful to each other! Some of this took place in the class itself, but the worst of it took place in the locker room, out of sight of the teacher. I hadn't thought of a partial exemption as a compromise. Although a partial exemption wouldn't help if we're trying to use it for scheduling purposes, it might be something to shoot for if they absolutely won't go for a total exemption. Regarding cardio, I can't do the treadmill either. Nor can I handle running. Too jarring on the knees (ok, so like on-ice jumping ISN'T? :oops: ). Stationery bikes are ok, I can handle the stairmonster ok too, which is interesting because a lot of people hate that thing! Yeap! I can relate *VERY* well to those PE horror stories. I was so glad to be out of PE when it was over. On ice jumps is nothing like off ice jumping, believe me. It's much more jarring on the knee and the lower back even on those matts at the rink. (Guess how I know this?) :roll: Gor me personally, I'd rather have the full exemption b/c I feel that giving the personal training that I have now, I'm actually much stronger than I was in junior high or high school. But you know... if your kid is adjust well to the PE classes and she doesn't have a problem with it, a partial exemption would work too.

I've found that elliptical trainers (if you can find a gym that has it) is the best solution to the cardio problem. It's easy on the back and knees and but still allows you to use your upper muscles/arms to help you get more out of your workout. (Heck, I'm losing weight on it now. I'm not complaining!) :P

BTW: I was told Stairmasters, if done wrong, are also bad for the knees by my chiropractor... so be careful and watch your form!

[Hester Prynn]

Interesting dilema...

From personal experience... when I was in high school in NJ, I took a full schedule of classes minus electives and left school at 11:45. I'd skate from 12:15 until 6 (spread out with breaks) My first class in the morning was PE. I've always loved PE. Nothing to do with the "socialization" value of it. I didn't speak to most of the girls anyways.. just did my own thing. Found PE as a nice stress reliever and well ended up learning alot. My Jr. and Sr. yr in high school in FL, I ended up in weight training. Turns out that the weight training coach was also the conditioning and training specialist for a nearby university. All I can say is that it has done wonders for my skating. I've had the option to not do PE at all... but have always wanted to take it.
That's just my view. Personally, a little extra exercise didn't kill anyone.

As far as the swimming goes... it's part of my x-training program. I swim everyday sometimes before but usually after practice. Has been very beneficial for my stamina. Before I compete I usually take a nice quick dip in the pool and then relax in the hot tub after I've competed. Living in Miami and having a pool in your backyard... swimming isn't an issue with skating. Coaches used to say no..then they realized it was helping.

Hope it helps.

[vesperholly]

In my high school, we had gym every year, every other day. There was the option of taking it every day for two years and then you didn't have to take gym at all for the other two years.

Schools around here constantly are giving parents problems with getting out early.

Jocelyn

[Candleonwater]

Unfortunately for us, since my daughter goes to a Catholic school, opting out of PE is not an option until at least 9th grade. When it does become an issue, I plan to sit down with the PE teacher to make sure what he's having them do won't work against all her training.

As for swimming - I can understand not swimming right before competing, but I have ALWAYS been told it's a better activity for skaters than gymnastics. Mainly because swimming elongates the muscles where gymnastics bulks them up.

[garyc254]

My girlfriend's daughter is a skater and is homeschooled. For her PE requirements, skating counts. She keeps a log book of her hours of practice and lessons, then has her coaches sign it for verification.

[Mrs Redboots]

For those Britons and Canadians among us, skating is also a skill that counts towards the "Physical" part of the Duke of Edinburgh's award at every level. Again, the coach can sign the relevant documentation.

[kayskate]

My recollections of middle school PE are not especially positive either. I was a very shy child and not athletic. I do not think school PE helped in either of these areas. I agree w/ the person who said middle school (and adolescents in general) can be very cruel. Unless your child has the type of personality that she fits in well w/ the group, she may feel left out in PE. There is nothing more humiliating to a teenager than being chosen last for a team sport. If your child is athletic (other than skating), she will probably enjoy PE.

Kay

[land64shark]

Middle schools here in my part of Florida don't require PE. It is an elective as is band, art, chorus, etc.

[kgl2]

Our coach was the one who told us how school administrators hate to hear the words "home school". Turned out to be all we really needed in the first place. If worse comes to worse, as it did in our case, threaten to home school your skater, thereby depriving the school of their tax dollars. I got what I wanted which was an early release and an "independent study" PE class. She logged her hours at the rink, gym and dance floor, wrote up some very creative documentation for the areas of fitness her training covered and we were fine. Later they opened up the option for other serious athletes who were not part of the school team sports.

[Jeujeucda]

I have nothing to add about PE exemptions, but I used to be a comptitive swimmer in high school and the first two years of university. After that I dropped out of it but maintained my own training. When I graduated I eventually dropped that (5 years ago now).

Starting last summer I picked up figure skating and ballet intensively... and once in a while I'll go swim too, as skating and ballet works my lower body really well but not the upper. When I swim, I go just as hard as I used to in training, just with more breaks. I'm fairly positive this is much more intensive than most people when they jump in the pool. However, I haven't noticed anything negative to my skating from swimming. I think perhaps it's detrimental only if you're not swimming with proper efficient technique? I'd imagine that would be the case for most skaters, as they wouldn't have trained in swimming and so may not be using their bodies properly in the water, thereby using energy and muscles improperly?

Jeujeucda

[96.23??]

Today I went in to school to see if I could get an exemption to gym.. answer: nope! I am deffinately not looking foward to this at all :( ... tazsk8s how did you approach the school?

[jp1andOnly]

I think you need to get your parent to do it. They have to provide documentation and such. If you go yourself, it just looks as if a kid wants to do anything to get out of PE

I believe you can only get out of PE if you have to leave school early or are a competitive skater. At least thats how it worked in Ontario at our school

[tazsk8s]

Hi,

I had no luck either. Taz Junior starts school today, in fact, PE uniform in hand. :(

I spoke to the assistant principal a couple of weeks ago when I had her on the phone regarding another issue. She was very pleasant but informed me that the district makes no allowances whatsoever for getting out of PE at the middle school level. My guess is they don't want to deal with the logistics of having to make sure this particular kid would have had PE 1st hour or last hour so they can come in late or leave early. Nor do they want to set the precedent because then other people will be requesting this for their own kids. It's frustrating - it is ***extremely*** easy to get out of PE for skating in the neighboring district where many of her skating friends attend school. The AP did say there is precedent for this at the high school level. They allow varsity athletes to get out of PE during their "season". They don't have a school-sponsored swim team, but a couple years ago a group of club swimmers were allowed the varsity exemption anyway. If you are in high school and they give exemptions for sports teams, perhaps that is one way to pursue it.

Hubby was absolutely NOT going to give in anyway, he would be really torked if he knew I'd even mentioned it to anyone at the school. At least now I can shift the blame to the school and not be mad at hubby about it anymore.

Sorry I didn't have any better news - I feel your pain!

[96.23??]

Originally posted by jp1andOnly
I think you need to get your parent to do it. They have to provide documentation and such. If you go yourself, it just looks as if a kid wants to do anything to get out of PE

I believe you can only get out of PE if you have to leave school early or are a competitive skater. At least thats how it worked in Ontario at our school

I did go with one of my parents this morning.. still a big fat no. :( There is something i could do which im not too big on .. it's where I don't do gym this year but in gr. 11 I do a course for girls where it's more of a cardio course.. but I really just want to get this stinking gym over with! :S

I thought i would be able to get an exemption because I do three other sports too... :P oh well.. The counselor told me that if I really really don't enojoy gym we will talk it over again but I'm pretty sure I will still have to do it.

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by 96.23??
I thought i would be able to get an exemption because I do three other sports too... :P oh well.. The counselor told me that if I really really don't enojoy gym we will talk it over again but I'm pretty sure I will still have to do it. When you say "gym", do you mean gymnastics? If so, that's superb cross-training for skaters. If you just mean PE in general, do you have a choice of sport? My daughter started to have choices once she went into Year 10 (in this country, the year you are 15), and one of her choices was ice skating - that's what started us off..... The point is, you may be able to choose sports that are good cross-training for you. Perhaps whoever's responsible for your pastoral care at school would be able to help?

[96.23??]

Sorry if I wasn't clear :) I meant Phys. Ed.

Well here you need One Phys. Ed. Credit. Which they really want you to take in Gr. 9. They want this because for those who want to stream into more Phys. Ed. in the next years can do so and the others can pretty much drop it after Gr. 9.

At the moment to X-train I will be doing, pilates, ballet, and swimming.

[Mrs Redboots]

So what sort of PE (as we usually abbreviate it) do you have to do? A great nuisance, I do agree, but if you can choose something that's quite fun, it becomes bearable. We were allowed to choose in years 12 and 13, but not before (lacrosse, ugh!!!!).

[mikawendy]

I knew ballet dancers who were allowed out of PE classes because their ballet academy (very elite, sending many students on to professional companies) had made an arrangement with the surrounding school districts. Only dancers at a certain level or above were allowed this exemption, and they were dancing for about 6 hours every school day. They were admitted into these levels by audition and had to give up their elective classes at school as well, so that they could leave after lunchtime.

That said, I also know some dancers and skaters who received exemptions from doing certain kinds of PE, namely running. For dancers with turned-out feet even when they're not dancing, the running is very bad for the knees (because of the turned-out feet), and these girls' doctors had written them notes. They still had to show up in gym uniform but were allowed to do stretches and sit-ups instead of running.

[96.23??]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
So what sort of PE (as we usually abbreviate it) do you have to do? A great nuisance, I do agree, but if you can choose something that's quite fun, it becomes bearable. We were allowed to choose in years 12 and 13, but not before (lacrosse, ugh!!!!).

I'm not quite sure I get what you mean.. in a PE class you will usually go through the big team sports: soccer, base ball, volley ball, basjet ball.. and other things like badminton , dodge ball, track and field etc. Too many to think of right now :)

[jp1andOnly]

beks,

To me it sounds like you want to get out of PE because you don't like it. It doesn't sound like you need to leave school early to train. If you really wanted out of the class this year and needed to get out of it, you would take the gr 11 girls course.

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by 96.23??
I'm not quite sure I get what you mean.. in a PE class you will usually go through the big team sports: soccer, base ball, volley ball, basjet ball.. and other things like badminton , dodge ball, track and field etc. Too many to think of right now :) How does that work? At my school, we did lacrosse three times a week and gymnastics twice, in the spring and autumn terms, and in the summer term it was tennis three times a week and swimming twice (this in the first five years of secondary school, now known as years 7-11); in the last two years one could choose what one did, within limits. I did judo and scottish country dancing, if I remember rightly.

My daughter, however, did far less sports, as is the modern trend. They "tried out" a lot of things: netball, athletics, swimming, aerobics, dance sport, etc. These days I believe they play hockey, but in those days they hadn't a pitch. In Year 10 they were given a choice of what they could do, including ice skating and ten-pin bowling. And when she was in the last two years of school, they had a fitness centre which they could use when they had free time.

I was wondering if they let you "sign up" for whichever sport you fancied, be that a team sport such as football or something more individual like gymnastics or dance sport. But if you have no choice... still, you might find you like, and are good at, ball sports.

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
I was wondering if they let you "sign up" for whichever sport you fancied, be that a team sport such as football or something more individual like gymnastics or dance sport. But if you have no choice... still, you might find you like, and are good at, ball sports. [/B]

I think the particular PE activities must vary by school district and grade level (and perhaps a little by country).

For example...
When I was in school, in middle school and high school, we had running one day a week. The other 4 days were dedicated to units--e.g., soccer for 4 weeks, American football for 4 weeks, gymnastics for 4 weeks, square dancing for 4 weeks, etc. When it rained,we did something indoors like crab soccer (it's like soccer but with a big inflatable ball and everyone scrambles around on hands and feet like a crab), kickball, tetherball, etc. We didn't really ever get to choose our sports. I remember HATING 6th grade PE because our teacher was convinced he could teach each of us to juggle. We each had to make beanbags at home and practice. I was HORRIBLE and to this day I cannot juggle more than one beanbag at a time. But I loved gymnastics because it was very much like dancing. (The boys HATED it.)

My doctor said he thought I shouldn't do running in PE because of my turned out legs from ballet, but I did it anyway and didn't have knee problems then.

[Lanie]

Although I'm not a parent but a student (senior now, woo hoo!) I have one more semester of PE to go. Funny that as bad as CA schools are, they make you take two years of PE! I took adapted PE in my freshman year because I have lung problems, and they still made us run the mile and everything...it about killed me. Now that I've started skating and I'm on the academic decathalon team at my school, I've decided I'm going to talk with the counselor about that last PE semester because academic decath is interferring with the ballet class I was intending on taking; we have a show the same day we have our qualifyer to county competition! I don't want to get up at 6am, drive to another city, get back and go do a dorky school dance show until 11pm, that's for sure.

I just wanted to thank you guys for the observations you've made about all this since it makes me feel better about it; there are no other skaters in my school (performing arts/tech magnet school) and so tomorrow I'll be talking with the counselor and see if we can make this work because I don't want to waste time in academic decath for ballet (although it would help my skating; I'm starting Pilates too). Anyway, thanks again everyone...really helped with the opinions and how to go about doing this. The parental units are behind me (my dad LOVES that I'm skating, which is funny considering he hates watching it!) so I think it'll all work out. :)

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by Lanie
Funny that as bad as CA schools are, they make you take two years of PE! This is slightly off-topic, but don't you do PE in school for health and fitness, rather than as an academic discipline? In this country, although schools nowadays seem to do it far less than they did in our day, it is done to enable you to keep fit. In my day it was also done to promote "team spirit", whatever that is, but nowadays it is thought to be bad for the little dears to compete.....

[Lanie]

I really don't know why we have phys ed. It was always just there. I guess it's to promote good health and fitness. I never really thought about it, I just went along with it.

[jazzpants]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
This is slightly off-topic, but don't you do PE in school for health and fitness, rather than as an academic discipline? In this country, although schools nowadays seem to do it far less than they did in our day, it is done to enable you to keep fit. In my day it was also done to promote "team spirit", whatever that is, but nowadays it is thought to be bad for the little dears to compete..... Well...supposedly PE here in California is supposed to promote "fitness" and "good sportmanship."

In reality: HA!!! What "fitness" and "good sportmanship?" :evil:

There is NO SUCH THING in public school PE (at least not in SF!) You'd be surprised at the characters that are running the PE classes back when I was in high school! Most of the male PE teachers there were into the "alpha-male" thing and I hated it!!! :x I found out about it 15 years after graduating from one of the PE teachers!!! Even *HE* thinks it's a joke! If I knew what I know now back then, I would have continued skating through high school and begged my parents to get me an exemption! :roll: