Is this enough activities for a 1st grader?

[Anonymous]

One solo sport (tennis) and one creative (dance). She hasn’t expressed interest in organized sports or music yet. She does each once a week after school and comes home the other three days for free play

[Anonymous]

Plenty.

[Anonymous]

Plenty. Anything more is over scheduling your kid.

[Anonymous]

The question should be, is it enough for YOUR 1st grader. If she’s home at 3 and watching TV for several hours while you’re working then no that’s not ideal.
If she’s outside playing with neighborhood kids or having play dates, or needs time to decompress from her day, then yes those 2 a week are fine.

[Anonymous]

Yes is it enough for your kid? If mine doesn’t do hard physical classes or play he would be jumping off furniture and climbing the walls. In first grade we did 2 MMA classes, swim once a week, and baseball one practice one game once a week.

Depends on your child’s energy and interest level.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes is it enough for your kid? If mine doesn’t do hard physical classes or play he would be jumping off furniture and climbing the walls. In first grade we did 2 MMA classes, swim once a week, and baseball one practice one game once a week.

Depends on your child’s energy and interest level.

+1, my 1st grader needs more activity than that. In K, we only did one after school activity, assuming we'd fill the other days with playground visits and play dates. We'll play dates wound up being once or twice a month, instead of once or twice a week (partly because other kids were in activities!). And the playground wore thin with that frequency.

So this year DC has an afternoon club one day, swim another day, dance another day, and soccer on Saturdays. I've learned not to rely on playdates to keep us busy.

[Anonymous]

I think it’s fine. My first grader expresses interest in trying lots of things so to accomplish that we are up to 4 days per week of activities (1 activity is on the weekend). A couple of the activities are full year commitments, and the other two activities we rotate seasonally so she can try new things and determine what she likes and is good at most. Right now we have gymnastics, dance, piano lessons and she’s starting basketball this fall through the rec. She does appreciate having free play at home and down time so I think this is our max.

[Anonymous]

I agree that's plenty, but to people who think anything more is overscheduling: I think it is kid dependent as to whether more is too much. It also depends on family priorities. Our is based on kid interest and socialization since we are new to the area:

-school choir once a week (for socialization, it is by grade)
-soccer once a week with a weekend game most weeks (for socialization, it is by grade; and for coordination since my kid is always falling down. Kid asked to be in this sport.)
-heritage language one morning per weekend (parent background)
-private music lessons once a week (kid had been asking consistently for almost a year)

If it turns out to be too much, we may take a sport break in the winter. Kid seems to get plenty of time reading and hanging out at home, riding his bike, baking with mom, etc.

[Anonymous]

Serious question- do your children also attend aftercare or do you have a stay at home parent/nanny? I would love to have my child in more afternoon activities but I don’t think she could handle it after a full day of school and then aftercare.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Serious question- do your children also attend aftercare or do you have a stay at home parent/nanny? I would love to have my child in more afternoon activities but I don’t think she could handle it after a full day of school and then aftercare.

Mine is in aftercare but I do have some schedule flexibility and can pick up early for activities. She does a school club in lieu of aftercare one afternoon a week but since it's at school, I don't have to do anything. Then twice a week I do an early pickup from aftercare (4 or 4:30) and take her to an activity. Sometimes DH can do it if it's on the later side, if I have a work conflict.

We both have a decent amount of flexibility in our jobs and that helps.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree that's plenty, but to people who think anything more is overscheduling: I think it is kid dependent as to whether more is too much. It also depends on family priorities. Our is based on kid interest and socialization since we are new to the area:

-school choir once a week (for socialization, it is by grade)
-soccer once a week with a weekend game most weeks (for socialization, it is by grade; and for coordination since my kid is always falling down. Kid asked to be in this sport.)
-heritage language one morning per weekend (parent background)
-private music lessons once a week (kid had been asking consistently for almost a year)

If it turns out to be too much, we may take a sport break in the winter. Kid seems to get plenty of time reading and hanging out at home, riding his bike, baking with mom, etc.

Sounds great to me. There is a very vocal group on DCUM that is anti-organized activities in general, and they basically think every kid is over scheduled. They are a minority! We do a similar amount of activities to you, and my kids also have plenty of time for playdates, reading, just chilling out. They get plenty of sleep. The nice thing is when they are still in lower ES, they don't really have much homework! They really enjoy their activities, have learned a lot, are getting physical activity, learning to be part of a teams, and have made a lot of friends through them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The question should be, is it enough for YOUR 1st grader. If she’s home at 3 and watching TV for several hours while you’re working then no that’s not ideal.
If she’s outside playing with neighborhood kids or having play dates, or needs time to decompress from her day, then yes those 2 a week are fine.

This! My DD does a lot better with structure, which means she is in a lot of activities.

[Anonymous]

My DD who is the same age does the following:

Sunday: Winter Swim - this is keeping up with her summer team friends
Monday: nothing
Tuesday: club swim
Wednesday: Girl Scouts every other week; soccer practice
Thursday: club swim
Friday: nothing
Sat: soccer games in the morning

It looks like a lot but if they want to do multiple activities it adds up quick. We prefer being busy. If she just comes home from school and plays with neighbors or hangs out around our house, she is not tired. Super active kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:One solo sport (tennis) and one creative (dance). She hasn’t expressed interest in organized sports or music yet. She does each once a week after school and comes home the other three days for free play

Activities don’t have to be organized. You can practice tennis together. Bike ride, playground the usual.

I tried a few things with my oldest but dance / ballet was all she wanted.

If you had a different activity every day that would be too much. Jack of all trades, master of none. Hopefully you’ll be able zero in on her favorite in a few years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:One solo sport (tennis) and one creative (dance). She hasn’t expressed interest in organized sports or music yet. She does each once a week after school and comes home the other three days for free play

Activities don’t have to be organized. You can practice tennis together. Bike ride, playground the usual.

I tried a few things with my oldest but dance / ballet was all she wanted.

If you had a different activity every day that would be too much. Jack of all trades, master of none. Hopefully you’ll be able zero in on her favorite in a few years.

You think kids should specialize… in 1st grade? I think it’s fine to try lots of different activities at that age. Heck, at any age.