All-Star 4-year-old Cheerleader To Be...

[darlingsmomx4]

I have a 6-year-old and a 4-year-old. CP6 has just joined a mini 1 team and I have been worrying she's "behind" and needs to "catch up" with the rest of the girls. It's ok now, I have calmed down a lot and she's doing fine on the team.

CP4 has just started a "tiny cheer class" at the same gym. It's... well... quite funny to watch. There are a couple of 3-year-olds who can not follow direction much, they run off to their moms all the time for a hug or potty break. The tumbling skills that are worked are forward rolls and handstand against mat with spot (basically coach holding child upside down). They also do some cute jumping and stunting.

My CP4 loves the class. She says she wants to do cheer every day... But she thinks it's too easy. She can already do forward roll to standing, and is beginning to do handstands and cartwheels on her own. (She also does a gymnastics class once a week.)

So, I feel like CP6 is being pushed almost too much and CP4 is not being pushed enough!

My question is: What is it like at your gym? Do you have 4-5-year-olds in your cheer or tumbling classes and what skills are they learning? Or what did you or your child do at that age? I'm also curious about Tiny teams, what do they learn there and is it a lot of pressure? (If she joined a team it would be next season, when she's 5.)

My daughter turned 5 in May and started cheer inn May she had no skills at all. She now can do a front and back roll, backbend, handstand, front limber, almost front walkover, back walkover, bridge kickover, round off, right, left, and middle splits. She has gained skills pretty quick and she has practice twice a week for 2 hours and the. A 3rd optional tumbling which she hasn't had time to attend since starting kindergarten. Her team is 5-8 year olds and she is at or above the skills of most on the team and she is one of three 5 year olds. Hope this helps.

 

[TheVipersMom]

I finally got to watch the Terror Tots! What a great routine. The tumbling was fun to watch. I am so jealous

Yes, I love the whole routine but their tumbling was so clean- squad straight leg back walkovers! I see a lot of level 2 teams that do Bwo BHS and they can't even straighten their legs!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Nothing to really add other than discussion of solid level 1 tumbling for younger kids makes me happy.

People don't believe me, but I can immediately tell from someone's BHS that they skipped Mini/Tiny/Youth 1.

 

[Pebbles49]

ushed enough!

My question is: What is it like at your gym? Do you have 4-5-year-olds in your cheer or tumbling classes and what skills are they learning? Or what did you or your child do at that age? I'm also curious about Tiny teams, what do they learn there and is it a lot of pressure? (If she joined a team it would be next season, when she's 5.)

I will answer this question but at this point I already told my daughter's story and refuse to write on it again... In my opinion, it does not matter what my 4 or 5 year old was doing and I think this is a veil attempt on your part to continue to compare other children's performances to your children and again, this is not a good thing... One child may progress quickly and then burnout after 3 or 4 years and another child may start off slowly and flourish and top everybody in the sport... Let a child learn at their own pace and stop comparing when and how skills are obtain by others...Just be happy that your children are enjoying themselves...

Tbh, I am glad that my child chose this sport and started at 8, almost 9 and she came from a different sport (gymnastics) because she has a greater appreciation for this sport... I really think that had I placed my daughter into this AS cheer world, she would had quit the sport already...mainly because I would have chose this sport and not her... Frankly,when I see the Tiny teams, I always wondered how many of these children are going to burnout quicker and how many actually chose this sport and/or are they forced to be on the teams by an overzealous (mostly) Moms...

The Tiny team at my gym seems to be little children, who are having fun and I see a lot of games being played... Most of the teams practice like 1 hour - 2 days a week and they almost all are 5 year olds on the team and no 3 year olds on the competition team. The Tiny team, most of the girls, I think this year they have 2 boys, the children mostly have BWO, FWO, Cartwheels, forward and backward rolls and I must say, there are some who are almost 6, that crossed over to the Mini 1 team, but not many, maybe 1 or 2...However, at my daughter's old gym, they had a Tiny team, which had mostly the 4 and 5 year olds and exhibition Tiny team and most of the children are 3 and 4 year olds on this exhibition team...

 

[123jump4!]

I will answer this question but at this point I already told my daughter's story and refuse to write on it again... In my opinion, it does not matter what my 4 or 5 year old was doing and I think this is a veil attempt on your part to continue to compare other children's performances to your children and again, this is not a good thing... One child may progress quickly and then burnout after 3 or 4 years and another child may start off slowly and flourish and top everybody in the sport... Let a child learn at their own pace and stop comparing when and how skills are obtain by others...Just be happy that your children are enjoying themselves...

Tbh, I am glad that my child chose this sport and started at 8, almost 9 and she came from a different sport (gymnastics) because she has a greater appreciation for this sport... I really think that had I placed my daughter into this AS cheer world, she would had quit the sport already...mainly because I would have chose this sport and not her... Frankly,when I see the Tiny teams, I always wondered how many of these children are going to burnout quicker and how many actually chose this sport and/or are they forced to be on the teams by an overzealous (mostly) Moms...

The Tiny team at my gym seems to be little children, who are having fun and I see a lot of games being played... Most of the teams practice like 1 hour - 2 days a week and they almost all are 5 year olds on the team and no 3 year olds on the competition team. The Tiny team, most of the girls, I think this year they have 2 boys, the children mostly have BWO, FWO, Cartwheels, forward and backward rolls and I must say, there are some who are almost 6, that crossed over to the Mini 1 team, but not many, maybe 1 or 2...However, at my daughter's old gym, they had a Tiny team, which had mostly the 4 and 5 year olds and exhibition Tiny team and most of the children are 3 and 4 year olds on this exhibition team...

I won't even try to defend myself against your assumption. Feel free to think what you want about me.

Thanks for the info about your Tiny team though. This is what I still can't get my head around. You (and others) are saying you have 5-year-olds in your gym doing BWO, FWO... but my 4-year-old is in a class that are doing forward rolls on a cheese mat. I guess I don't want her to be not challenged at all now, and then next year if she joins a team it's all of a sudden pressure to quickly learn skills that she didn't even get the chance learning beforehand. Do you see what I'm trying to say? That's why I was asking what other 4-5-year-olds were doing.

Not even sure if I want her on a Tiny team next year. Only if she really begs to for some reason. If not, she can keep doing gymnastics and/or a cheer tumbling class if she wants to when she's 5. It could be that she chooses gymnastics over cheer! Her coaches say she's talented. That's fine if she wants to do that. I just think gymnastics is so hard and cheer seems like more fun. But it's up to her to decide.

 

[tdittmar]

Cp is 16 and has had shoulder repair and is having a facet injection in her spine next week. She started cheer when she was 5 and hasn't stopped since. I was that mom that had her at team tumbling and private lessons on top of her regular practices. Her cheer career will end in March ( if her body holds out that long) because she has the body of a 60 year old. If I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn't push her to gain any skill. I would sit back and enjoy watching her pee her pants or wave to me from the floor while her teammates are tumbling all around her. Sigh*

 

[123jump4!]

Cp is 16 and has had shoulder repair and is having a facet injection in her spine next week. She started cheer when she was 5 and hasn't stopped since. I was that mom that had her at team tumbling and private lessons on top of her regular practices. Her cheer career will end in March ( if her body holds out that long) because she has the body of a 60 year old. If I could go back and do it all again, I wouldn't push her to gain any skill. I would sit back and enjoy watching her pee her pants or wave to me from the floor while her teammates are tumbling all around her. Sigh*

Oh no... That doesn't sound good. Thanks for sharing. Noted. But I'm not letting any of my kids go to the gym more than twice a week at this age. That's why I haven't put CP6 in tumbling class on top of her regular 2x week practice. CP4 does a 1hr gym class and 45 min tiny cheer class, a week.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

I would sit back and enjoy watching her pee her pants or wave to me from the floor while her teammates are tumbling all around her. Sigh*

Some of my funniest stories come from when I was helping out our Mini team coach at comps!

My favorite:

5 -year-old Mini walks out onto the mat. We are in that silent period right before the music starts. She fidgets nervously and right as the music turns on, YELLS to the coach in the front row "WHERE DO I GO?" as everyone else starts doing jumps.

So cute.

 

[tdittmar]

Some of my funniest stories come from when I was helping out our Mini team coach at comps!

My favorite:

5 -year-old Mini walks out onto the mat. We are in that silent period right before the music starts. She fidgets nervously and right as the music turns on, YELLS to the coach in the front row "WHERE DO I GO?" as everyone else starts doing jumps.

So cute.

We finally have a tiny team at our gym this year and I keep joking that I'm more excited to watch them than I am my own kids team.

They are a hoot!

 

[SheCheers]

I won't even try to defend myself against your assumption. Feel free to think what you want about me.

Thanks for the info about your Tiny team though. This is what I still can't get my head around. You (and others) are saying you have 5-year-olds in your gym doing BWO, FWO... but my 4-year-old is in a class that are doing forward rolls on a cheese mat. I guess I don't want her to be not challenged at all now, and then next year if she joins a team it's all of a sudden pressure to quickly learn skills that she didn't even get the chance learning beforehand. Do you see what I'm trying to say? That's why I was asking what other 4-5-year-olds were doing.

Not even sure if I want her on a Tiny team next year. Only if she really begs to for some reason. If not, she can keep doing gymnastics and/or a cheer tumbling class if she wants to when she's 5. It could be that she chooses gymnastics over cheer! Her coaches say she's talented. That's fine if she wants to do that. I just think gymnastics is so hard and cheer seems like more fun. But it's up to her to decide.

My 4yo is in a class for ages 4-7. They're doing forward and backward rolls on a cheesemat. They're doing spotted handstands against the wall. They're doing bridges. And sometimes they work cartwheels. She gets through it without crying and its a successful day. Said 4yo has an older sister who would have been bored to tears in this class at that age. She was on a show team of 3-7 year olds back then, though. Most of the kids on the team couldn't do many skills and spent most of their time spinning in circles or rolling on the floor. But my kid was happy so I dropped an ran. EVERY KID IS DIFFERENT. You'll really need to ask the gym their expectations of their tiny 1 team. Our gym's tiny 1 is competitive, but not at the risk of fun and they certainly don't pressure them. Other gyms might just be fun, or might be competitive and high pressure. Every gym is different. In hindsight, if I was at a gym that did any high pressure for youth age or lower without making it enjoyable, I'd move on. It's not worth it.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Sidenote: I also think that there is a culture in youth sports that dictates that your kid needs to start out EARLY DOING AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.

You can see it in the "Baby Cheerlebrity" phenomena. Everyone is so eager to show that their kid is whipping through to OMG in 3rd grade. It's all about having more and more skills at a younger age. Ex: "Look at my 7-year-old doing Level 5 baskets at Insert Mega Gym Here camp. #futuresmoed"

No longer is it socially acceptable for your 5-year-old to just be bridging to a walkover, doing a BWO, etc. by the end of Minis. She needs to have a BHS by the end of her Mini season because the prevailing line of thought is "Level 5 by age 10 or bust."

Let me be the first to tell you that it really is okay for your kid to just be doing rolls and kick overs on the cheese mat at 5 years old.

If I could tell any parent one thing, it's that your kid is not failing at cheer because she is not Level 2 by age 6 or Level 5 by age 9. Really.

Or go ahead and push, but don't be surprised if you end up with a kid who burns out and hates cheer by 3rd grade.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

Not to mention that I fight the urge to comment on the fact that their 2nd grader's "layout" is really a low hands-free tumble of death.

But that's none of my business.

 

[123jump4!]

@SheCheers Thanks, good advice, and obvious really. I want to find a class or team that I think is the right level and atmosphere for my youngest. It's not urgent but definitely by next season, IF she still wants to do cheer. Ditto with CP6. Not 100% that current gym is ideal for her.

CP4 loves her preschool class and I know it's perfect for her. She is challenged just the right amount and also having fun. I don't write on message boards about preschools because I feel no need to.

So that's my ultimate goal, to feel happy and have no need discussing on here. Thanks for the input!

 

[amy1k]

^^^totally agree. Around here, there are only a few level five teams. Really, even few level 4. I've seen maybe one y4 team, most youth teams have been y3 or below. Maybe one j4 team. Anyway, STILL there are many, many youth aged (even mini aged) kids doing two private lessons a week...just so they can brag that seven year old Susie has her full. Flying privates as well. I can't tell you how many videos I've seen captioned "Susie's flying college level!"

Agreeing with cool mom! Lol! Need to quote!

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

My favorite video is captioned "Look at her! Only 8 and flying level 5!" (At a well-known college camp.)

Last I checked, L5 skills were not hard at all when you're under 40 lbs and performing them with SENIOR-AGED/COLLEGIATE LEVEL BOYS.

Let's get some video of her flying Level 3 with her Y3 peers and see what that technique looks like.

Don't worry. I'll wait.