Girls On The Run experiences?

[Anonymous]

Thinking of signing up my 3rd grader this year, but the description gives me pause:

1) Coaches are not athletes and are not teachers... that may prove a challenge with an athletic 8-year old with a strike for clowning around. Can they teach her the art of running properly? Stretching? Warming up? Can they manage her straight-out-of-the-bed behavior?
2) There is a lot of talking in the session, and I worry that my attention-challenged girl will get tired really fast of the being talked to before school even starts (am program in our school)
3) Could not find any curicullum / list of actual topics. That again may backfire.

Could someone enlighten me?

What I was hoping to find was an athletic program with great guidance on exercising right, on planning ahead, on setting goals and meeting them. Toss in a few girl-affirming cheers, and an attitude adjustment for heading into school. My worry is that the energy-burning + goal setting/planning side are diluted with a lot of talk on topics my 8-year old will find boring, or that I would find inappropriate for the age. Not looking for yet another situation in which a girl has to sit and listen before heading into school for a sit and listen day.

My kid is athletic and a bit of a clown -- and she *hates* sitting around and listening. This would be her first athletic / running experience. She swims competitively, and works better in fast-moving programs rather than on the "gentler" kind.

Is this a good match?

[Anonymous]

My athletic ADHD DD had trouble being serious and paying attention during the talks and bc the leaders are parents they didn't necessarily have the skills to deal with that

She got a lot out of the running part but didn't want to do it again

[Anonymous]

Hi, OP. This will probably be a long response, but let me try to give you some answers.

1. Girls on the Run (GOTR) is not a running program. It is a character development program (my words) that uses training for running a 5K as the basis for delivering a curriculum geared towards the physical, mental and emotional health of young girls. If you are looking for a class or camp or group to teach your child running form and how to race varying distances, something like a track team for young kids, this is not it. It's not that the running is diluted by the talks (your words), those talks are the point of the program!

2. Coaches might be teachers, parents or volunteers from the community. In all cases, they have undergone background checks, CPR training and GOTR coaches training in delivering the curriculum. Your daughter may end up with coaches with a running background themselves who might be able to offer running form-specific tips to the girls, but that's not a specific objective of the program or requriement for the coaches. The real requirement is an interest in girls, the issues they face, and a commitment to giving them the tools to empower themselves as they approach their tween and teen years which are scary times to navigate.

3. Each session is comprised of a few components - a warm-up, discussion/activity around the topic of the day, the running portion, and a cool-down/summation of the topic. In many cases, the running itself is not just straight laps, built in are given activities or objectives or instructions.

4. You didn't mention whether you are in DC, MD or VA. The curriculum is the same nationwide, but call your local council office and they can talk to you about the curriculum. They usually work through issues focused on me-my immediate family/community-the broader world/community. Topics have included things like healthy eating, bullying, gossiping, media images and messages.

I was a coach for a number of years and had a couple of girls who sound like your daughter. One in particular comes to mind (she is now a smart, funny, beautiful and self-confident member of her high school's track team). Yes, she was bouncy and squirmy and a handful during her first GOTR season as a 3rd grader. By her final season three years later, she was thoughtful and brought a lot of insight and compassion to our discussions. I also coached girls who were forced to be there by their parents, and hated running. And everything in between. Like any good parent, teacher or group leader, the ideal coach will find ways to motivate and bring the girls together. I communicated with my girls' parents regularly, letting them know what was on the agenda so they could follow up on the topics of discussion at home., and occasionally requesting their help in reminding their daughters how to respect others and take turns listening and sharing or whatever during the sessions. IME, most of the girls were on the same page after a week or two with consistent, firm, loving coaching.

Call your council office and talk to the program director and ask her your questions. I love and believe in this program, but also believe you need to be clear what it is and isn't before signing your daughter up for it. Good luck, I hope your daughter has a great school year.

[Anonymous]

It's better when it run by parents. The teachers are too strict and rarely run the girls. My DD who did it for 3 years in elementary, became bored and disinterested when the teachers took it over in 5th grade and the mean girl cliques swamped the group.

[Anonymous]

My ADD fifth grader loved it for the past two years - our coaches were young women volunteers who were not teachers or parents....

[Anonymous]

My ADD fifth grader loved it for the past two years - our coaches were young women volunteers who were not teachers or parents....

[Anonymous]

DD has participated for 3 years and loves every minute