5th grade practice ending at 830pm next fall.

[Anonymous]

Don't most elementary schools start at 9 or later? 7 to 8:30 does not seem like a late practice for kids who can sleep until 8 or 8:30 in the morning.

[Anonymous]

I think this is pretty normal. I used to think this was crazy but this year my third grader has been doing gymnastics from 6:30-8:30. This summer my five year old and my third grader will both be doing 5-8 PM twice a week but in the fall it will change to 4:30-7:30. Some girls in the higher levels stay from 4:30-8:30 , I’m not sure how they end up finishing homework.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't most elementary schools start at 9 or later? 7 to 8:30 does not seem like a late practice for kids who can sleep until 8 or 8:30 in the morning.

No. Most DC elementary schools start between 8:15 and 8:45. Maybe there are schools in the suburbs that start after 9:00, but I don't think it's the norm.

[Anonymous]

Are you in Montgomery County? This is a direct result of the overdevelopment in the area, IMO. Not enough field space for the kids to have practice at a reasonable time.

My 10 year old 4th grader has had rec (REC, not travel) baseball games from 8-10pm on weeknights. It's crazy. Definitely too late. The kids are pretty much done after a long day at school. But, there just aren't enough baseball fields for them to play on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 13 year old (U15 next year) will have soccer practices that end at 9:30ppm next year---30 minutes away. He will only be in 8th grade. That was a deal breaker for us.

Up until then they ended at 8pm.

Both my kids need a lot of sleep. They naturally fall asleep by 9pm. We always aimed for bed time by 8:30. A few night a week it was about 30 minutes later.

I see 14 year olds showing up to start practice at 8pm and I think that is way too late, but it has become the norm in this area. It wasn't when I was a kid. It is a space issue. I don't like it.

Yep, space issue and a side effect of the overcrowding. Developers are allowed to build thousands and thousands of additional housing units, but without the appropriate green space set aside. And, schools, but that's probably another thread.

[Anonymous]

1/3rd of FCPS elementary schools start at 9:15.

[Anonymous]

You are lucky to get the practice times so far in advance. We usually have about a weeks notice for rec sports.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are you in Montgomery County? This is a direct result of the overdevelopment in the area, IMO. Not enough field space for the kids to have practice at a reasonable time.

My 10 year old 4th grader has had rec (REC, not travel) baseball games from 8-10pm on weeknights. It's crazy. Definitely too late. The kids are pretty much done after a long day at school. But, there just aren't enough baseball fields for them to play on.

That's insane.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My son is on the late schedule for MCPS. School starts at 9:25am. There is no reason why there can't be practices starting at 8am or even earlier.

Just like the after school practices when parents work, carpools would be established

Are you coaching something at this time? Can I join? That would be great! Do you know of facilities that are staffed and available in this timeframe? My early risers would love this! I guess we would have to build in shower time between practice and school. I did not think to look for this when looking for leagues. Is it a real thing?

[Anonymous]

In 5th grade, my kid had a Friday night practice 7:30-9:00 THAT was a drag.

But it is one night a week. The children will survive.

[Anonymous]

My 11 year old 5th grader has swim practice from 8:15 - 9:45 once a week, the other night is an earlier practice. It works out well for us as she can get her homework done, have dinner and some down time before practice. She gets home around 10, quick shower and bed by 10;30.

[Anonymous]

My 6th grader had practices until 9 pm at a location 30 minutes away this year, and it was difficult to manage. Not only did it affect the 6th grader, but also younger siblings. You have to make the parenting choice about what is acceptable for your family.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My son is on the late schedule for MCPS. School starts at 9:25am. There is no reason why there can't be practices starting at 8am or even earlier.

Just like the after school practices when parents work, carpools would be established

Are you coaching something at this time? Can I join? That would be great! Do you know of facilities that are staffed and available in this timeframe? My early risers would love this! I guess we would have to build in shower time between practice and school. I did not think to look for this when looking for leagues. Is it a real thing?

My daughter did Girls on the Run in elementary school in part for that reason: it was a good way of getting in some exercise and fun before school started at 9:25, without interfering with homework, dinner or bedtime.

Her bus didn't get her home until about 4:20, so it was tough on all of us to do homework, eat dinner, squeeze in an activity (including travel to and from), shower, and still be in bed reading by 8. Anything that resulted in a bedtime later than 8:30 has always been a deal-breaker for us, because she needs another hour to actually fall asleep, no matter how tired she is, and too much activity close to bedtime makes it worse.

But 8am GotR practice worked perfectly for all of us, especially since it was at the school, so nobody had to pick her up afterward.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Don't most elementary schools start at 9 or later? 7 to 8:30 does not seem like a late practice for kids who can sleep until 8 or 8:30 in the morning.

A lot of kids wake up early to go to before care since parents have to work. Not all can sleep until 8 or 8:30.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:1/3rd of FCPS elementary schools start at 9:15.

A lot of MCPS elementary schools start at 9:25.