Gymbaroo Question

[sarah81]

Hi,

I have just moved from SA to WA and want to enrol my DS almost 3 in Gymbaroo or the cheaper equivalent. I also have an 8month old who is not crawling just wriggling and is still happy to sit in a pram or be carried in the sling if my back can bear it.

My question is has anyone found the cost of Gymabroo to be worthwhile? And have you ever taken your second child along to the class in a pram or sling? I have been told by Gymbaroo and the cheaper one that I shouldn't bring DS2 at all.

I find this a bit strange as in SA we did kindergym and there was babies in prams and slings everywhere. As we are new to WA and have no family here I don't have anywhere for DS2 to go anyway.

Thanks,
Sarah:)

[Chickadee]

I did Gymbaroo at 2 centres in Perth. At the 2nd one I did occassionally see mums bring in their babies to their older child's class, either in a sling or in a pram in the waiting area.

Some centres aren't set up with the waiting area in the same room as the class is, so keeping an eye on the pram would be tough. And there wasn't room in the class area for a pram.

Of those with slings, usually the baby was just an infant, under 3 or 4 months. And even then the mums sometimes had a hard time keeping up with the older child during mat time, and definitely had a hard time helping them on equipment. I wouldn't want to be prepared to lift and possibly catch my toddler if I had a baby in a sling or even a backpack. You really do need to make sure you yourself have the best possible balance and reaction time to help your child.

[Chickadee]

Oh, and I did find Gymbaroo useful. Partly because it gave me a better idea of what DD would be capable of physically (I had no idea she'd be able to climb a ladder as early as she did) and also the songs and rhythm stuff for development. We still use some of the games at home. And Chloe loved it.

You could maybe look at some alternatives like toddler dance, or maybe a music program?

[sarah81]

Thanks Martha,

Sounds like Gymbaroo has more of a physical element for the parent than what I did in SA. I may try dance for him instead. It is a pity because DS1 is so active and agile he would really enjoy it. :)

[Chickadee]

I'm not sure what you did in SA, but the Gymbaroos I went to in Perth had a lot of climbing frames, ladders to climb or crawl across, trampolines, ladders set up at a height to hang from or swing across. At 3, your little guy might be able to do most of it by himself with less help from you than what my 1-2 year old needed.

They should be having an open day around now that you can go to and actually do a mini-program to see what it's like. Or just ask if you can go and watch part of a class one day. If the people running the centre aren't willing then find a different centre. There are at least half a dozen around Perth.

[sarah81]

Kindergym had similar equipment but I seemed to manage with bubs in a sling. It was fairly unstructured, easy going type of class and DS was able to most of equipment by himself with the odd hand to hold by the end of last term.

I may try to find family day care for my little one or try music/dance.

Thanks :)

[redbaby]

Hi there sarah,.. I am a little wary of Gymbaroo,.. we had a major issue with the instructors here in Sydney,.. Scarlett (at 14months) refused to sit on the mat for the beginning of the session,...one of the instructors ran and grabbed her when she ran off (before I had a chance to get up) and then proceeded to dicipline her, without my permission, and in front of the entire group. Shouting at her to not run away etc,.. I was stunned and very upset,..and suggested that it was not her place to dicipline my child, to which she suggest 'I leave then, as she could lose her job if Scarlett did not sit on the mat'.... so we left,. and were refunded our money.

[sarah81]

Oh that not a nice experience at all, at 14 months they are not always going to sit on mat when told to. I am glad you got your money back. :)

I really liked the easy going nature of my kindergym in SA. If your child didn't want to do mat time or just had tanty no one blinked an eyelid and just carried on. I guess that is the kind of place I am looking for.

[Mummabear]

I know Manxie uses babyroo (the baby version of gymbaroo) regularly. I went once but the woman was a damn fruit loop. Comparing the development of the babies with other babies she knows. Telling Mums that their babies should crawl at 4 or 5 months if they're doing their job well as mothers. Blah, I don't need that stress. He'll do stuff when he's ready to do it. Simple.

What Kindergym did you use in SA? I'm in SA and would love to do something like that - more relaxed and welcoming.

[sarah81]

I went to the Colnel Light Gardens one, also have heard the Unley and Goodwood branches are nice. Your local messenger should advertise the branches in your area or ring Gymnastics SA.

It is was around $50-$60 a term as compared to $100 plus for Gymbaroo. Do have it here in WA I just don't have one in my area. Otherwise I would do it here.

At Kindergym the leaders just did song/group time and then it was free play with the parent without a lot of direction from the leader, which is different from Gymbaroo from what I can gather.

Thanks for the info, it is good to hear others experiences.:)

[Chickadee]

Sarah,
At both the Gymbaroo centres I went to in Perth (Nedlands and Joondalup) the staff were very nice and certainly understanding about kids not wanting to sit still at mat time. Generally it was left up to the parents to soothe/reprimand their kids. When the group leader at Joondalup did get up to retrieve a child at mat time she was always gentle about it and did it in a positive way, ie saying things like "come on, wouldnt you like to come and sing" or would let them sit in her lap for the activity. I did two terms at Joondalup in toddler classes and experienced 3 or 4 different staff leading the goup and they were all great.

The gymbaroo "routine" is:
- free play on arrival, for around 5-10 minutes.
- 1st mat time: Hello song, clapping games & rhymes, exercises, dancing. Treasure bag. Around 10 minutes.
- equipment time: around 10 minutes. The equipment would be set up in rows and parents/children encouraged to do it in certain orders (like go through one row and then move to the next) but it rarely worked that way and nobody cared much. Parents actively help their kids, staff are also there to help with some of the things. Equipment included: tunnels, ball pits, lots of ladders and climbing frames, balancing activities, craft table
- 2nd mat time: More songs and rhymes, playing with shakers or tambourines. Exercises, dancing. Parachute game (children under a parachute, and then bouncing small pom poms on it. DD LOVES this one!) Good bye song.

[Manxie]

Hi Sarah


I know Manxie uses babyroo (the baby version of gymbaroo) regularly. I went once but the woman was a damn fruit loop. Comparing the development of the babies with other babies she knows. Telling Mums that their babies should crawl at 4 or 5 months if they're doing their job well as mothers. Blah, I don't need that stress. He'll do stuff when he's ready to do it. Simple.

Think prom queen might have caught her on a bad day:D The leader did say something which upset me-I think people forget how sensitive you are as a new mum! But there are other leaders there and we have been enjoying a variety of different people taking the class for the last 5 sessions or so. I think its very worthwhile I agree with Prom Queen that bubs will do things when they are ready but I dont think there's any harm in a little gentle encouragement IYKWIM. I have seen it work very well with bubs who have low tone.

Anyway we have had the christmas break and I am now back at summer school and I have to say we both do really enjoy it. I have spoken to kindergym at Colonel Light gardens and they are going to call me to check it out when the re-open in Feb so its good to hear you had a good experience there. My only question is did you get enough out of the freeplay when they were little? At the moment (DD is 5 months) I find that we are so limited in what we can do that its a little boring and I think we get more out of the structured stuff at this stage. I could use some advice as I am going to have to commit to Babyroo for another term before I can check out Kindergym so dont know what to do!

Anway Sarah back to your question, LOL! I havent seen anyone at my group with older siblings with them. I'd say go along and try the free session and talk to the leader. I am sure the quality of the class depends on the leader and they are all different so you wont know until you try.

Apologies for rambling:rolleyes: