Not Enough Hours In The Day!!

[Bash and Crash]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Did you read the OP? She gets home at 4. It can happen based on whether she uses school bus, public transportation, or gets picked up by a parent at a certain time.

This was the main reason we moved into a condo 2 blocks from school when my son entered high school. It is a 5 minute walk.

I know kids who come to the club at 3:30 after finishing school at 3. It requires good traffic and small distances, and eating something in the car.

School is different from when you were a kid. Classes are exhausting as the demands are more. Competition is much higher since your days.

If she gets home by 4, why not a quick snack, nap, and hits the courts at 5 or 5:30 and finish around 7-7:30, home for dinner and an hour or so for homework. If she is getting a good 1 1/2 of drilling, hitting everyday she can keep with the others.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by TCF

Lee, I would only add that the amount of homework these days is many hours more than when I went to school. Its crazy how much work most kids have to take home now.

Not really here in CA. The homework is very controlled till high school. Starts from 15 minutes a day in Kindergarten and maxes out at maybe 45 minutes in the 8th grade, with many times the homework already "completed" in school.

High school 9 and 10 were also easy. Maybe 1.5 hours max. But now in the 11th grade with APs, it is up to 2.5 hours (max). And weekends too.

Very manageable indeed.

As a side note to you parents: Singapore which has the largest short-sight problem in the world has done research and figured out that excessive reading (due to homework) till the 5th grade is a key factor. After that it does not seem to matter. You will notice immediately how many kids in Singapore wear glasses. So, please do not burden your kids with other than the minimum mandatory homework in elementary school. It is bad for their health, and does not help at all later. No one really cares about academic performance in elementary school.

[TCF]

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[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Bash and Crash

If she gets home by 4, why not a quick snack, nap, and hits the courts at 5 or 5:30 and finish around 7-7:30, home for dinner and an hour or so for homework. If she is getting a good 1 1/2 of drilling, hitting everyday she can keep with the others.

Depends on the weather if 7pm is still a playable time.

But of course it is feasible. But is it enough to compete against kids who are home-schooled/charter schooled/academy schooled whose time is explicitly managed for tennis? Maybe to get into high school team. But maybe not enough for college scholarships or turning pro.

[Bash and Crash]

Originally Posted by TCF

I like CA system then better. In FL., every school and teacher is graded and have huge incentives to have kids score well on FCAT and other standardized tests. My daughter's 7 year old friend carries homework home that boggles my mind.

Depends where you are in CA TCF, many of my students have loads of school work plus the work their parents give them, have had students that have taken SAT multiple times before they are even in high school, although I do live in a highly competitive educational area.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by TCF

I like CA system then better. In FL., every school and teacher is graded and have huge incentives to have kids score well on FCAT and other standardized tests. My daughter's 7 year old friend carries homework home that boggles my mind.

Same here. They are called CST (California Standardized Tests) and were a by-product of NCLB. It means students are taught what is required very thoroughly as the school's funding depends on that, but on the other hand it has failed where the funds are lacking in general. Testing does not turn a bad situation into a good one, just shows it is bad. Many schools have been penalized for their poor API scores but the reason is really the demographics - schools can't do anything about that. Which means that NCLB has also been a nice excuse for the school districts to ask for more money.

The standardized tests also mean that teachers have become like corporate employees. Polite but distant, no wasted words, and no digressions into side topics. In other words, no memorable, eccentric teachers you loved or hated. They do their job like robots, they go home.

[hhollines]

[quote=TCF;7110658] The fact is the vast majority of girls do not love tennis.[/QUOTE


The vast majority of girls (or boys) may not love tennis b/c the parents are not creating a tennis environment that breeds and nurtures that love and that's unique to the individual kid . . .

As you say, for some, that may be 5-6 hrs. per day and, as I said, for others it may be 2 hrs. per day, or every other day . . . and some may add 30 min. every year and be dominate later and playing considerably more than they did at 12 yrs. old b/c it happened naturally.

The fact is, 5-6 hrs. per day doesn't guarantee anything. If that is what the kids wants, heck yea, do it. If not, create a program that they do love (or find what they love). In this junior tennis world, most girls and boys do not like tennis b/c many parents force too many daily tennis hours on the kids and kids naturally do not want to disappoint their parents and go along with it. I've seen it over and over and I'm sure you have.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Bash and Crash

Depends where you are in CA TCF, many of my students have loads of school work plus the work their parents give them, have had students that have taken SAT multiple times before they are even in high school, although I do live in a highly competitive educational area.

I bet you are in the Bay Area.

[Bash and Crash]

Originally Posted by sureshs

Depends on the weather if 7pm is still a playable time.

But of course it is feasible. But is it enough to compete against kids who are home-schooled/charter schooled/academy schooled whose time is explicitly managed for tennis? Maybe to get into high school team. But maybe not enough for college scholarships or turning pro.

Well she is only 11, ramp it up as she gets older or add more time if she can handle the load. I have a student who has one 2hr lesson with me and sets up the rest of his week with partners (one is recent college D1 that I set up) and he continues to climb ahead of full time students here in NorCal. Parents of the full timers always ask his parents where does train, and they can't believe it.

[TCF]

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[Bash and Crash]

Originally Posted by sureshs

I bet you are in the Bay Area.

Yes sir, and my wife is a teacher.

[sureshs]

Originally Posted by Bash and Crash

Yes sir, and my wife is a teacher.

It is becoming like that here in SD, but somehow my son landed up in the "loser" school district (which is the biggest one and caters to the widest and toughest demographics, as well as more affluent areas like ours). My colleagues have all "fled" to the smaller more affluent school districts north of here where the high-value real estate is. The competition there is getting out of hand, with students taking PSAT or SAT multiple times, taking SAT coaching, more than 10 APs, etc. We try our best not to get our son into that "group."

But people say we should have moved to the affluent school districts long ago and made a mistake by not joining the rat race.

[hhollines]

[quote=TCF;7110739]

Originally Posted by hhollines

True....5-6 hours does not guarantee a thing.

But having a girl who is athletic, talented, and LOVES tennis, vs having one with the same attributes but tolerates tennis.

I would think the tennis lover is the better long term prospect.

I agree with you . . . "love" vs. "tolerate," I couldn't agree more. My daughter LOVES tennis but not 5 hrs. per day and that's my point. 2 hrs. is fine for her and over time, she may add more court and down the road play 3, 4, or 5 hrs. a day but this is why it's an individual thing and I'll take 90 minutes of pure focus vs. 3 hrs. of crap (I'm sure you agree). If you get 5 hrs. of focus, that's great for that individual. Truth be told, at 5 hrs. a day, my daughter's grades would likely suffer unless we home schooled and that's no option for my family (education first).

However, you can do amazing things with "love" and a "smile," and it can grow.

Most juniors "tolerate" or "hate" tennis because of their parents (at least from what I've experienced).

[ga tennis]

Thanks for the responses

[Misterbill]

Originally Posted by LeeD

I've heard that, funny.
Had girlfriends with kids that age, and currenlty g/f's nephews that age.
Don't you believe it. There playing with their computers and texting when you think they're doing homework.
Yes, homework takes a real 2 hours. Maybe 3 if they're slow.
Texting and playing video games takes more than 3 hours a day.

Right on! Kids are clever at hosing gullible parents. One parental check of the computer history or cellphone sent items/inbox can do wonders in reducing future homework time.

The few school systems I am familiar with provide estimates of average homework time. So if parents are concerned that homework is taking too much or too little time, there are at least rough benchmarks to go by. If junior is significantly exceeding the average estimated times, there may be a learning/study issue to deal with................or something more mundane.

[crosbydog]

I have resigned myself to the fact that my 11 y.o. won't make big improvements until school is out for the summer. She is routinely up until 11 pm doing homework

[ga tennis]

Originally Posted by Misterbill

Right on! Kids are clever at hosing gullible parents. One parental check of the computer history or cellphone sent items/inbox can do wonders in reducing future homework time.

The few school systems I am familiar with provide estimates of average homework time. So if parents are concerned that homework is taking too much or too little time, there are at least rough benchmarks to go by. If junior is significantly exceeding the average estimated times, there may be a learning/study issue to deal with................or something more mundane.

She doesn't have a cell phone or computer.

[ga tennis]

[quote=hhollines;7110816]

Originally Posted by TCF

I agree with you . . . "love" vs. "tolerate," I couldn't agree more. My daughter LOVES tennis but not 5 hrs. per day and that's my point. 2 hrs. is fine for her and over time, she may add more court and down the road play 3, 4, or 5 hrs. a day but this is why it's an individual thing and I'll take 90 minutes of pure focus vs. 3 hrs. of crap (I'm sure you agree). If you get 5 hrs. of focus, that's great for that individual. Truth be told, at 5 hrs. a day, my daughter's grades would likely suffer unless we home schooled and that's no option for my family (education first).

However, you can do amazing things with "love" and a "smile," and it can grow.

Most juniors "tolerate" or "hate" tennis because of their parents (at least from what I've experienced).

Keep posting you seem to really understand the process. People can learn ALOT from you.

[klu375]

Originally Posted by TCF

... The fact is the vast majority of girls do not love tennis.

Sure most of them do not but still play and practice. First they do it to please their parents, then to protect their ranking and social status and finally they realize that they can cash in on college acceptances/scholarships. So it is a complicated love/hate relationship.

Sureshs, girl's tennis field is very shallow. Semi-talented girl absolutely can get a tennis scholarship practicing 10hrs/week. More talented/athletic girl can get a scholarship to a ranked D1 team on this schedule. Majority of 5&4 stars and even some blue chips go to regular school and do not practice more than 12hr/week. During school breaks/summer they are obviously training more - 20-30hrs/week.

[sureshs]

Regular school followed by rigorous summer camp seems to be an option. I read about a high school girl who went to Bolliterri every summer and came back in fall with a significantly increased level of play.