Another pick the extra curr... swim team or gymnastics for 5 yo?

[staceyobu]

DD did gymnastics last year and loved it. Over the summer, we took a break from gymnastics and did swim lessons. She's now telling me she wants to continue swimming in the fall and doesn't want to do gymnastics anymore.

 

We have a homeschool swim team that does lessons until they are ready to join the team. We could start her on that in the fall.

 

Here's my pros/cons for each...

 

Gymnastics - seems more "fun" to me... running, jumping, swinging, etc; it would only be one time a week; younger brother could take a preschool class at the same time; she really loved it while she was in it

 

Swimming - would be with other homeschoolers and a good way for us to meet other homeschooling families, younger brother couldn't do it this year (but once he was old enough he could join in), however, will swimming back and forth get boring for a five year old? it's also twice a week... which would be more of a time commitment

 

Any thoughts on which would be best? I would like for her to do something "extra".

Edited August 9, 2010 by staceyobu

[In The Great White North]

I'm a little biased :D but I would let her swim. Because:

 

a. it's a lifelong sport

b. safety - I think everyone should be able to swim and swim well

c. fewer injuries

d. come home clean

e. twice a week so she has more opportunity to actually make friends

f. often less expensive (especially as they get older)

g. I like it :D

[MagnaSky]

I do not think swimming will get boring, she will be learning something new all the time. When she joins the team it will get even more exciting.

[Gwenhwyfar]

I'd let her do the swimming. She's only 5, so she doesn't have to be totally committed to one specific sport yet ;)

[staceyobu]

I'd let her do the swimming. She's only 5, so she doesn't have to be totally committed to one specific sport yet ;)

 

Yeah... I'm not as worried about long term commitment as her getting a month into swimming and then wanting to do gymnastics. At that point, we may be stuck for the year. I'm not paying registration fees for both. Maybe I should have just asked "will swim team get boring fast for a five year old?". And, with gymnastics, if she wanted to be serious, we probably needed to be committed last year!

[Lolly]

At five I would lean towards gymnastics. It is such a great activity that really develops all aspects of a young child's body awareness, strength, and flexibility.

 

But, with only twice a week for swimming (2 days is perfect for age 5), she shouldn't get bored at all. There are plenty of ways to keep swimming fun for the littles.

 

Honestly, if possible, I would let her do both. Monetarily I realize this can be an impossibility. I don't see 3 days a week out as too much.

[Rosy]

I would be torn...but not because of the boredom factor. I always try to pair up my kids' activities to minimize the running around, so that would put me in favor of gymnastics. However, swimming is an essential skill in our home, so I would want to do swim. So whichever one of those is more important to you, that's what I would pick. :P

[staceyobu]

Well, now she's telling me she thinks she wants to do gymnastics! AHHHH! She can swim already... I think this would be more learning correct strokes. I thought I wanted to put her in gymnastics until I listed the pros/cons. Now I'm leaning towards swimming.

 

I don't know that I can do both. Financially it would be rough... plus we will be doing several other things... classical conversations, up to THREE Bible studies throughout the week, playgroup, etc.

[FriedClams]

I would pick swimming. Fewer injuries, a lifelong comfort in the water is priceless, fun, exhausting. I think gymnastics is too dangerous and puts way too much impact / stress on developing bodies.

[plansrme]

I have a serious swimmer and a serious gymnast, both of whom, while young, are on track to compete in Div. I schools. So I am comparing apples to apples as much as possible, and not recreational swim to competitive gym or vice-versa.

 

You cannot go wrong with either sport at this age, but in addition to your pros and cons, here are the factors I would consider:

 

1. If she wants to compete, gymnastics will probably get more expensive than swimming (it is about twice what swimming is right now).

 

2. Swimming is not necessarily injury-free. Of course neither is gymnastics, but many people will say swimming is easier on your body. That may be true to an extent, but there are swimming injuries.

 

3. It is easier to move into swimming later in life, and practically impossible to move into competitive gymnastics after about 7 or 8. Our swim coach says former gymnasts make great swimmers. The body control you learn in gymnastics translates well to many activities.

 

4. Swimming can definitely get boring, but my swimmer loves practices

because she loves her swim friends.

 

5. Swimming at a competitive level takes fewer hours than gymnastics because the kids are swimming nearly the entire practice, while gymnastics involves a lot of waiting your turn for the equipment. My swimmer is at the pool a maximum of 12 hours/week (this could be more later), while my gymnast is at the gym 20 hours/week.

 

6. Think about what she is likely to be better at. If she has good fine motor control, gymnastics would be a good fit. If she cannot make coaching corrections easily, I would go with swimming--gymnastics is all about learning something new every single day, while swimming is just the same 4 strokes her entire career. This is something of an exaggeration, but not much.

 

Best of luck with whatever you decide. I love both sports and am thrilled that each of my girls ended up where she did.

 

Terri

[In The Great White North]

Yeah... I'm not as worried about long term commitment as her getting a month into swimming and then wanting to do gymnastics. At that point, we may be stuck for the year.

 

Well, now she's telling me she thinks she wants to do gymnastics! AHHHH!

 

If you think this is likely, I'd recommend you making the decision and not asking her anymore. She's too young for the responsibility/stress of that and obviously doesn't know what she really wants. As tempting as it is, to want to put the onus on her when she changes her mind in October, it's not really fair to a five year old. At 15, it will be a different story.

[gingersmom]

I would pick ice skating :001_smile:

 

Otherwise I would pick swimming.

 

And at 5 I would not expect her to pick a sport and stick with it for life.

[staceyobu]

If you think this is likely, I'd recommend you making the decision and not asking her anymore. She's too young for the responsibility/stress of that and obviously doesn't know what she really wants. As tempting as it is, to want to put the onus on her when she changes her mind in October, it's not really fair to a five year old. At 15, it will be a different story.

 

I'm picking. But, if she was dead set on one or the other, I'd let that be a big factor. I mean, I don't care which she does. The cost for this year is about the same and both have pros/cons. If she changes her mind in October, that's fine. I won't blame her. I'm just trying to get some general feedback on which a 5 year old might enjoy more.

 

I did competitive figure skating as a kid for years and years... which seems very similar in some ways to gymnastics. I know nothing of swimming. I can dog paddle very well. That's about it. So, before signing a kid up for a swim team, I'd want a little idea of if it's fun or not... If everyone had said "five is too young for swimming", then I would have put her in gymnastics for another year without thinking about it.

[staceyobu]

I would pick ice skating :001_smile:

 

Otherwise I would pick swimming.

 

And at 5 I would not expect her to pick a sport and stick with it for life.

 

I would pick ice skating too! But, the closest rink is two hours away. While I know of people who did that when I was a kid, I'm not gonna be the parent to do that! And boots, blades, sharpening, ice time... geez. Ice skating is not cheap!

[In The Great White North]

5 is about as young as I've seen on a swim team but the two days a week you describe is really developmental - not the "real" team. Sort of like overgrown swim lessons. On most teams, that age group doesn't even compete (would she?) and it is very low key.

[staceyobu]

5 is about as young as I've seen on a swim team but the two days a week you describe is really developmental - not the "real" team. Sort of like overgrown swim lessons. On most teams, that age group doesn't even compete (would she?) and it is very low key.

 

I think at age 6 they can start to compete. The competitions are optional. She'll be six in January.

[In The Great White North]

Oh, 5 year olds can compete. There were 4 or 5 at the meet last weekend. The question is whether you want to devote weekends to this and when the coach feels she's ready.

[Jan in SC]

Our swim team has a few free days to try during this time of the year. even if your doesn't, I would ask if she could try it for two days and then try one gymnastics class.

 

Over half of the girls where we swim are gymnasts that didn't want to compete anymore. However, they could not have gone in the other direction!

[JFSinIL]

I'm a little biased :D but I would let her swim. Because:

 

a. it's a lifelong sport

b. safety - I think everyone should be able to swim and swim well

c. fewer injuries

d. come home clean

e. twice a week so she has more opportunity to actually make friends

f. often less expensive (especially as they get older)

g. I like it :D

 

I agree with all of the above (ok, except g as I do not swim ;-)

 

We have family friends - their youngest did gymnastics for years and it got so costly as she got better and better at it that she finally had to give it up. Swimming is a life-long usable activity.

[Greta]

My philosophy has always been that while I require certain subjects in our school work, what sport she wants to be involved in is entirely my daughter's choice. As a result, when she was your dd's age, we did some bouncing around. First gymnastics, then dance, then back to gymnastics. But ultimately she landed on taekwondo. She is very passionate about it, very dedicated, and I think (though I admit I'm biased) she's pretty darn good at it too. And this is something we never would have discovered if I chose her sports for her, because I never would have thought of it!

 

So my vote is: let her decide. Explain to her that whatever decision she makes, she will have to stick with it for x amount of time, as dictated by contracts or other practicalities. But don't be surprised if she wants to try something different later on. I don't think that's a bad thing. But that's just my opinion, which you are of course free to disregard! :D

[nmoira]

If I had to pick one, it would be swimming, simply because I think this is a critical skill for everyone.

 

And at 5 I would not expect her to pick a sport and stick with it for life.

:iagree:

 

Our girls do a mix of sports, of which swimming and non-competitive gymnastics are year round. This year they both did basketball (casual league) and are now taking ice-skating lessons (we live less than 10 minutes from a rink, so it's silly not to be able to skate). My eldest also played volleyball once a week for three months. If one or both develop a passion for a particular sport, we'll revisit our many-but-fun-and-casual policy, but our goal is to have the kids able to pick up and go in just about any situation in their future lives. For me, this include billiards, and for DH, darts and bowling. :D The girls insist that sailing falls into this category, and who am I to argue?

[bettyandbob]

5 is a hard age for a child say what they want and understand they must stick with it for a year. When my kids one of them did swim team and she was almost 6 at the time. Typically we did swim lessons once a week fall, winter, spring and some other sport. A couple of years the other sport was gymnastics. I think they are both great sports. Swimming is harder to make "fun". I would talk to the coaches carefully about that and even observe a couple of practices before making a commitment to get an idea.

 

Since she is leaning towards gymnastics again, I'd be inclined to go with that, emphasizing the year long commitment. Then, I'd plan on joining a summer swim team next summer to get a feel for that experience in a low key manner. Find out now where the summer teams are and when their registrations begin. In my area registration begins in March and if you wait, there will be no place for your child on the team.

 

Another thing I'd begin doing is analyzing the costs of these activities. As children get further along in any activity the fees really rachet up. You may want to decide what kind of program you can go for within each sport with the financial commitment in mind. Some gymnastics programs have nonteam programs, but they may not be worthwhile for participation. Some swim clubs have low key 1 and 2 day a week practice groups, but depending on the club they may not be useful either. I think it would be easier to guide a child toward the program you can handle in terms of time and money at 5, rather than at 8 or 9 telling the child she has to drop her team because the time and financial issues got to be too much for the family.

[Audrey]

DD did gymnastics last year and loved it. Over the summer, we took a break from gymnastics and did swim lessons. She's now telling me she wants to continue swimming in the fall and doesn't want to do gymnastics anymore.

 

We have a homeschool swim team that does lessons until they are ready to join the team. We could start her on that in the fall.

 

Here's my pros/cons for each...

 

Gymnastics - seems more "fun" to me... running, jumping, swinging, etc; it would only be one time a week; younger brother could take a preschool class at the same time; she really loved it while she was in it

 

Swimming - would be with other homeschoolers and a good way for us to meet other homeschooling families, younger brother couldn't do it this year (but once he was old enough he could join in), however, will swimming back and forth get boring for a five year old? it's also twice a week... which would be more of a time commitment

 

Any thoughts on which would be best? I would like for her to do something "extra".

 

 

I would say to let her try the swimming. At 5, it's good to change things up so kids get a chance to explore varied interests.

[unity]

I had a serious swimmer and a competitive gymnast, and recently my swimmer has decided to try to cross over (it's tough, but as a boy it's a little more doable). It kind of breaks my heart that he quit swimming, since he was dedicated and fast and very promising. Also, I totally agree with the comments about fewer injuries and lifelong sport.

 

Sometimes I wish I hadn't encouraged my daughter to do gymnastics. When she was 3, 4, 5 yo she was so adorable in her little leotards doing her little skills...and it was such an honor when they put her on the competitive track. Now, though, I get freaked out when I see the kinds of stuff she is learning--it just looks so dangerous. I can't watch her practice at all. I see team gymnasts with injuries all the time, and I know we are in a gym that takes it slower than others around us in order to avoid injury.

 

But she and my son both argue that gymnastics is more fun than swimming, which honestly is just laps and more laps. They do what they can to make it fun, but you can't argue that there is a lot more variety to the workouts in gymnastics.

 

But these are not really issues that probably concern you, with your 5 yo just having a fun extra-curricular!:001_smile: Honestly, though, I would pick both if you can swing it. Swimming is so important; it's almost like math until they are very competent (way more so than any 5 yo would be). But gymnastics is so much fun, and they are so adorable in their itty bitty leotards! (I never learn!)