Number of extracurricular activities for ES kids
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Anonymous
| We live in the DMV area and the other day our neighbor whose kids are similar in age to ours shared all the activities they participated in. Six activities to include a reading/math enhancement class. He said "everyone" has their kid in this extra enrichment class. DD did a sport this fall and does music (previously tried Girls scouts and didn't like it). DS is in K and will try a sport this spring. We want to let our kids be kids but is "everyone" really doing all these activities? Also logistically a challenge for DH and I since we both work full time with no family help. Thanks for your thoughts! |
Anonymous
| No, not everyone is doing so many activities. Some do, some others do 2-3 activities, and others like us do one activity per kid per season, or even none at all. |
Anonymous
| Nope. But the people who ARE running them serves ragged have to tell themselves it’s necessary. |
Anonymous
| My kids do 3-4 activities per week. We found that all of their friends were doing things. If we didn't sign up, there was no one to play with during down time. But it is a bit of a circle -- you do the activities to meet people, make friends and stay busy. But then you really have to keep doing them because all of your friends are at basketball or swimming or wherever. |
Anonymous
| Our kids do a lot of activities in after care. Does your school offer after care classes? Then, we do one sport (or two, if kid really wants it) activity. That's enough. |
Anonymous
| We do one activity per season. I think that's plenty. |
Anonymous
| 2 activities (but one is travel sport). So 4-5 days a week, including Sunday games |
Anonymous
|
OP, I was just thinking about this too. Our oldest is in kindergarten. He has a swim lesson on the weekend and did fall t-ball which included one weekday practice plus a weekend game. That was enough IME, although I could see this changing as he gets a bit older. We're planning to sign him up for a class for the winter, either music or sports, but hopefully on a saturday or sunday. He goes to aftercare and between that and the adjustment to "real" school he just comes home so tired. His normal bedtime is 730-8 and adding anything to the evening routine makes that hard to achieve.
One of his buddies is in saturday language school, something else on sunday, and 3 weeknight activities. That just seems like a lot for a 5yo but all kids are different. |
Anonymous
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Our kid does 2-3 activities at once, but they aren't all at the same intensity. Soccer or ice skating lessons + girl scouts. She's asked to learn an instrument, so we may add that. As she gets older, things are likely to change.
I don't get the idea that you have enroll your kid in a million activities because their friends are enrolled in many. My kid is perfectly capable of playing by herself, or reading, or listening to music, or drawing, or playing a game with us. And she has lots of time with friends, too. I think that free play is critical for kids' development and happiness, so I protect that time like it's an activity. Also, I don't sign my kid up for stuff out of fear or FOMO. Other than swim lessons, which are a safety issue, her activities are driven by what she's interested in, because it's a lot less of a PITA to do these things if she wants to do them, rather than because we want her to do them. |
Anonymous
| My 2nd grade DD does gymnastics, karate, and a cooking class (this one is offered at her school as part of its after-school offerings) during the week, and has a piano lesson on the weekend. She practices piano every night. The three weekday activities each meet once a week shortly after school ends, so on those days she is really basically just getting home an hour later and then still has the rest of her evenings to relax. There isn't any out-of-class work for those, although she loves practicing her gymnastics for fun. Weekends are wide open except that piano lesson. It is absolutely not too much for her -- she truly enjoys all of them. There are a lot of hours in a week, and she has very little homework at this age. |
Anonymous
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OP here. Thanks to everyone who responded. When DD played soccer it was three days a week (2 practices and 1 game on weekends) and piano which others noted requires (mostly) daily practice. DS may do more than one sport (tae kwon do and soccer) because he expressed interest and has too much energy. Appreciate those who noted some do activities in after care which makes a lot of sense.
Needed the really check after our neighbor seemed almost incredulous we didn't do more....Anybody else do these enrichment classes? We make sure DD (2nd grade) does her HW and reads but seems like a lot for this age? |
Anonymous
| We do 2 activities that she loves + swim because it’s a life skill. All are on weekdays. We keep our weekends completely open for family time and spontaneity |
Anonymous
Kindergartner |
Anonymous
| Do what works for your kids and your family. I had one kid who had to be busy with activities. Some of my other kids couldn’t handle all those activities and refused to go or had meltdowns. Needless to say we reassessed and adjusted the schedules to fit the kids. I would guide my kids, but ultimately they have to want to do the stuff. Some kids like to stay home and read. Nothing wrong with that! |
Anonymous
We've never done an academic enrichment class. There are lots of ways to enrich your kid's life without a class -- trips to museums, finding books to read deeper into a topic covered in school, cultural festivals, etc. |