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

[SL&AM]

My little girl started cheering when she was 4 years old, and I can tell you the tumbling classes were always sorta lax, but practice never was. That year was a half year team and at 5 it was a full year team, and practices were always very serious. She just turned 6 and can do a BHS and below; all of which came from that serious practice.

If it helps any at 4 she was on a Mini 1 team, at 5 she was on a Tiny 1 team (the gym restructured and actually didn't have a Mini team that year, since all of the girl's made the Tiny cut off), and this year was on a Mini 1 team until she was pulled because we move this week. With her birthday, she could be a Tiny this year or Mini or Youth. I'd never let her go onto a Youth team, but I'd be fine with Tiny's or Mini's.

 

[123jump4!]

@SL&AM Thanks for sharing. That sounds a bit much for me. "Serious practice" I think can wait a couple of more years for CP4. Sounds like your CP is doing good though!

 

[123jump4!]

Kids really can't learn much about anything until age 5. All of the classes up till that point are just to get them used to following directions and getting a feel if they like the activity. Yeah, there is the occasional 4 year old who can do some crazy skills, but for the most part even very talented kids don't start catching on until age 6-7.

I think I missed this post. I guess that kind of does answer my "dilemma" which was that I felt like it's too easy now and then WHAM if she joins a team it will be pressure to learn skills. (Which was probably just my paranoia anyway.) So are you saying that she's only 4 so it's fine to not be working on backbend kickover etc, and then when she's 5 or 6 there is still plenty of time to learn? I'm totally fine with that! But before she joins any team I WILL talk to coaches to ask what's expected and only let her join if we don't think it sounds like too much.

 

[darlingsmomx4]

I think I missed this post. I guess that kind of does answer my "dilemma" which was that I felt like it's too easy now and then WHAM if she joins a team it will be pressure to learn skills. (Which was probably just my paranoia anyway.) So are you saying that she's only 4 so it's fine to not be working on backbend kickover etc, and then when she's 5 or 6 there is still plenty of time to learn? I'm totally fine with that! But before she joins any team I WILL talk to coaches to ask what's expected and only let her join if we don't think it sounds like too much.

I understand your dilemma, while we have done good with my 5 year old when my older daughter was younger her best friend invited her to try a cheer class they were thinking about attending and they were the only ones who really had no skills at all and while it was something she would have liked to do even though she is a very confident young lady she didn't want the pressure or as she said the embarrassment of catching up.... But she was like 12. I don't think it would matter so much to anyone 10 or younger if they enjoy it or anyone for that matter any age if they work hard and want it. We worry too much as parents about how our child might be feeling but really only that child can make the decision on what, how, and when they want to learn.

 

[omgitssydthekid]

Our tiny team is more of a show team. There are only about six kids on it, and three of them are five. There is one three year old on the team, the other two are four. The five year olds are all in private lessons, which blows my mind, but to each their own.

 

[123jump4!]

Our tiny team is more of a show team. There are only about six kids on it, and three of them are five. There is one three year old on the team, the other two are four. The five year olds are all in private lessons, which blows my mind, but to each their own.

Show team sounds good for that age! Maybe the 5-year-olds are in privates because their moms are stressing about them being on competetive Mini next year... lol.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

If I hear one more mom say "Well, she's been dancing for 10 years" about their 12-year-old, I will lose it.

I refer to it as "cheer/dance inflation", similar to grade inflation.

This is going to sound awful but confession: I do not really count any "experience" that occurred before a kid was at least 5. POSSIBLY 4 if it was an actual team. (Ex: If they were on a Tiny or show TEAM at a gym or with rec/Pop Warner.)

Example: If a parent tells me or lists on a form: "She's 7 but has been cheering for 5 years" it kind of goes in one ear and out the other.

She is in first grade. She has not been cheering for 5 years. She was like, playing and in a toddler gym class for 2-3 years and actually cheering with a team for 2.

She has technically been cheering for 2 years.

Stop it.

 

[123jump4!]

I refer to it as "cheer/dance inflation", similar to grade inflation.

This is going to sound awful but confession: I do not really count any "experience" that occurred before a kid was at least 5. POSSIBLY 4 if it was an actual team. (Ex: If they were on a Tiny or show TEAM at a gym or with rec/Pop Warner.)

Example: If a parent tells me or lists on a form: "She's 7 but has been cheering for 5 years" it kind of goes in one ear and out the other.

She is in first grade. She has not been cheering for 5 years. She was like, playing and in a toddler gym class for 2-3 years and actually cheering with a team for 2.

She has technically been cheering for 2 years.

Stop it.

Agreed!

And I just remembered when we went to open tumbling a couple of times I chatted to a mom whose daughter started cheer at like 9 *gasp* and she is 10 now and doing great.

 

[Cheer Dad]

My 4-year-old doesn't even know what a BHS is... I know, we're way behind.

Note to confused people: There was an old thread called 3-year-old back handspring.

There was? Guess I'll have to go find it and see what it is about. ;)

 

[SL&AM]

Our tiny team is more of a show team. There are only about six kids on it, and three of them are five. There is one three year old on the team, the other two are four. The five year olds are all in private lessons, which blows my mind, but to each their own.

I've kept mine is privates because she's asked (it's where she got her BHS, and where she's learned drills for tucks and layouts...mainly a fear thing, not something her coach realistically pushed her to have). She didn't start until she was 5, but I took cheer as a very 'Ask me what you want to do, I'll work it in..." She started dance at 2 and did dance at 2 and 3, then asked not to go back, found cheer at 4 and would move into her gym if she could. Over the summer, she practices roughly 8-10 hours a week between team practice, technique classes, and privates.

I'm not a stressed out cheer mom though---I do what she asks for, as long as it's within reason. I've always watched to ensure she's not getting burnt out, isn't overwhelmed...etc. The second she shows signs of needing a break, I'll step in.

We move next week back home to Florida, and while we're not 100% sure which side of the state we'll be living onwe know we'll be on the East Coast for at least a few weeks.

Cheer is her passion, much in the same way Dance was my passion at the same age, so I'm fine with it. But each family has to do what is best for themselves, and I definitely don't judge those who do differently from us.

Her younger sister is into music; with no aspiration to be a cheerleader, she's 4 and I could not imagine her keeping the same schedule as my 6 year old. They're just 2 different little people with 2 different sets of needs.

 

[Just-a-Mom]

I refer to it as "cheer/dance inflation", similar to grade inflation.

This is going to sound awful but confession: I do not really count any "experience" that occurred before a kid was at least 5. POSSIBLY 4 if it was an actual team. (Ex: If they were on a Tiny or show TEAM at a gym or with rec/Pop Warner.)

Example: If a parent tells me or lists on a form: "She's 7 but has been cheering for 5 years" it kind of goes in one ear and out the other.

She is in first grade. She has not been cheering for 5 years. She was like, playing and in a toddler gym class for 2-3 years and actually cheering with a team for 2.

She has technically been cheering for 2 years.

Stop it.

We flat out tell them that. If you say your child has been in ballet for 10 years, your child had better be 15-16. Anything before they're 6 is considered "pre-dance" or creative movement (I'd concede maybe 5-years-old). Your child may have been in classes before 6, but she wasn't learning any ballet technique. Mom gets all affronted when we say that, but any dance studio/academy worth their salt better be telling you the same thing - or I'd question them taking my money.

Now don't get me wrong - those classes have their value, too. It is a LOT easier to teach ballet (or tumbling, or cheer, or whatever) to a kid that has been in classes for years, because they already understand the concepts (being in a room without mommy, basic movement of their bodies, listening and following instructions, etc). Just like regular school - pre-school has its merits, because kids are still learning skills that they'll use in school later (listening, playing well with others, etc). So, I am in NO WAY saying they are a waste, just that they are what they are.

The part I really don't get is WHY. I guess it's supposed to be impressive (another event in the mom olympics? In addition to most exhausting hours-per-week schedule, level, now we're adding earliest start age) - but if you're telling me that, and then your baby isn't AMAZING... uh, what does that say? I'm much more impressed with someone who says they've been in ballet for 2 years and we place them in Ballet III than with someone who tells me their child has been in ballet for 7 years and we place them in Ballet I.

I guess I'm just the opposite - I'm constantly trying to explain to EVERYONE why my daughter is not amazing, "Well, she only started last November! So it hasn't been even one year yet." I would most definitely NOT want someone to think she had been dancing for 10 years right now! :p

 

[FlexyTumblerMom]

I think I missed this post. I guess that kind of does answer my "dilemma" which was that I felt like it's too easy now and then WHAM if she joins a team it will be pressure to learn skills. (Which was probably just my paranoia anyway.) So are you saying that she's only 4 so it's fine to not be working on backbend kickover etc, and then when she's 5 or 6 there is still plenty of time to learn? I'm totally fine with that! But before she joins any team I WILL talk to coaches

I have seen kids as old as 8-9 come in brand new to an activity and catch up or even pass up kids who have been in that gym or dance studio since they were 2 w/in 2 years time - multiple times I have seen this. Yeah, a kid that starts something after age 11-12 will likely have a hard time catching up to those who have been doing something for years, especially in a fear provoking activity like cheer or gymnastics, but before 10 I think talent and the child's desire to catch up/get ahead can produce significant progress in a short amount of time.

 

[cheergoogle]

I refer to it as "cheer/dance inflation", similar to grade inflation.

This is going to sound awful but confession: I do not really count any "experience" that occurred before a kid was at least 5. POSSIBLY 4 if it was an actual team. (Ex: If they were on a Tiny or show TEAM at a gym or with rec/Pop Warner.)

Example: If a parent tells me or lists on a form: "She's 7 but has been cheering for 5 years" it kind of goes in one ear and out the other.

She is in first grade. She has not been cheering for 5 years. She was like, playing and in a toddler gym class for 2-3 years and actually cheering with a team for 2.

She has technically been cheering for 2 years.

Stop it.

Haha-- so you probably don't want to hear that my CP10 is now in her 8th year of all star cheer. :)

When she was on a Tiny team for 2 years it was definitely not a show team although they did compete less often than the older teams.

 

[cheergoogle]

I have seen kids as old as 8-9 come in brand new to an activity and catch up or even pass up kids who have been in that gym or dance studio since they were 2 w/in 2 years time - multiple times I have seen this. Yeah, a kid that starts something after age 11-12 will likely have a hard time catching up to those who have been doing something for years, especially in a fear provoking activity like cheer or gymnastics, but before 10 I think talent and the child's desire to catch up/get ahead can produce significant progress in a short amount of time.

In my experience this happens all the time. People expect the kids who have been in the program the longest to have the best skill level. It's not true at all. The kids under 10 in our gym range from level 1 (after multiple seasons) to holy-good-God level 5 after only a season or 2. It varies so much.

 

[oncecoolcoachnowmom]

^^^^Then there's this. People tend to think "MY KID HAS BEEN DOING THIS LONGER, WHY ISN'T SHE _______?"

There is Becky who came into our Y1 having never done all star before & progressed to crossing to Y2 in about 2 seasons (between practice, and privates, etc.)

Then there is Suzie who has been cheering since Mini 1 (same age as Becky) who is on season TWO of Y1 because she has not gotten the L2 skill set yet.

Suzie's mom once asked me "Is there a reason why Suzie has cheered here 4 years and is still Level 1 and that new kid is moving to Y2?"

Yes. That new kid has Y2 skills, ma'am.

This isn't school. You don't progress to a new grade every year!