What extracurriculars did you prioritize when your kids were young?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we started piano and a second language when my kids were that young.

+1. I feel a little bad that we didn’t do these.

Eh, I started music that young with my two. It only is helpful if they really really like it. Getting a four year old to focus on music when he isn’t interested is a painful way to waste time.

Agreed. We had a consult with a piano teacher who thought my kid wasn't ready to focus on lessons, so she kindly suggested we wait. (I've also heard it can be a good idea to wait until kids can read, which demonstrates that they have the necessary skills to read music.)

+1 I know a couple excellent piano teachers and they won't even consider a student until at least 6 years old.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:People always say swimming but I am not sure earlier for lessons is always better. With my oldest we spent boatloads of money and so much money on swim lessons from the time he was 6 months old. Sure he could kind of swim at 3 or 4 but we had to keep up the lessons so he wouldn't lose it. So many private lessons and very small group lessons. We must have spent thousands of dollars.

My younger son liked splashing around in a pool but didn't like lessons. We tried lessons once and realized it was a waste of money. The rec classes 5 and under didn't seem worth it. The summer he turned 6 we put him in a rec swim class and he ended up in a class with all older kids so he had to keep up. It was a two week every day class. By the tenth day of class he was swimming. By the end of the next two week class he could swim a lap of the pool - his form was awful but he was swimming in a month for around $120. He kept taking lessons and by the end of summer he was able to join swim team. He was a better swimmer at that age than his older brother was at 6 1/2 who had lessons from age 6 months that cost thousands in total.

+1 - we wasted so much money on swim classes on our kid; if we were to do again, would start structured swim at either 4 or 5 and before that just expose them to the water.

[Anonymous]

As toddlers we started with Music Together because I like music. After that we mainly followed what sparked an interest...

For DS -- A bunch of parent's at DS's preschool started a t-ball team so he did that because it was just fun to be with friends. We often walked past a tae kwon do studio when he was in preschool and he begged to do that. So started that at 4. He started rec soccer in kindergarten, again mainly because it was social. He tried church children's choir and hated it so we didn't push that. Then midway through K, he wanted to quit everything except soccer (at that point it was only once a week). School was really draining and he didn't want to do anything after school except play. Fine. Kept up soccer, by 2nd grade added a "kids fitness" activity during aftercare, added Boy Scouts, started a band instrument in 4th grade. He never had a real passion for any of it, it was all about the social aspects. By HS he did minimal extracurricular activities but played guitar on his own, joined the school stage crew, ran for fitness, and had a great group of friends who also weren't that into organized activities.

For DD -- Tried dance for about 2 weeks at age 4. She hated it. She had no interest in a soccer or t-ball team only wanted to be outside, especially exploring in the woods. I started a parent-child "nature group" with weekly outings to different hiking locations, nature centers etc. She also took a lot of short-term classes at nature centers and enjoyed art classes. Joined girl scouts in kindergarten. Eventually started a sport in 4th grade and continued that until early HS. Started a band instrument in 4th grade, played through HS and will continue in college. Her favorite things are still nature and art and she'll study both in college. She actually mentioned that early "nature group" in one of her college essays.

I think it's good to try a variety in early childhood to see what, if anything, sparks an interest. But also focus more on your kid vs. what everyone else typically does. I definitely felt out of step with the other preschool parents when we didn't make DD join the soccer team or stick it out with dance but noticing what she loved and reinforcing that was the right thing to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say swimming but I am not sure earlier for lessons is always better. With my oldest we spent boatloads of money and so much money on swim lessons from the time he was 6 months old. Sure he could kind of swim at 3 or 4 but we had to keep up the lessons so he wouldn't lose it. So many private lessons and very small group lessons. We must have spent thousands of dollars.

My younger son liked splashing around in a pool but didn't like lessons. We tried lessons once and realized it was a waste of money. The rec classes 5 and under didn't seem worth it. The summer he turned 6 we put him in a rec swim class and he ended up in a class with all older kids so he had to keep up. It was a two week every day class. By the tenth day of class he was swimming. By the end of the next two week class he could swim a lap of the pool - his form was awful but he was swimming in a month for around $120. He kept taking lessons and by the end of summer he was able to join swim team. He was a better swimmer at that age than his older brother was at 6 1/2 who had lessons from age 6 months that cost thousands in total.

+1 - we wasted so much money on swim classes on our kid; if we were to do again, would start structured swim at either 4 or 5 and before that just expose them to the water.

Yes, swim classes were a waste for my kids. They finally got it when we did private lessons where the teacher could really focus on them. They were 5 & 6 when that worked for us.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:People always say swimming but I am not sure earlier for lessons is always better. With my oldest we spent boatloads of money and so much money on swim lessons from the time he was 6 months old. Sure he could kind of swim at 3 or 4 but we had to keep up the lessons so he wouldn't lose it. So many private lessons and very small group lessons. We must have spent thousands of dollars.

My younger son liked splashing around in a pool but didn't like lessons. We tried lessons once and realized it was a waste of money. The rec classes 5 and under didn't seem worth it. The summer he turned 6 we put him in a rec swim class and he ended up in a class with all older kids so he had to keep up. It was a two week every day class. By the tenth day of class he was swimming. By the end of the next two week class he could swim a lap of the pool - his form was awful but he was swimming in a month for around $120. He kept taking lessons and by the end of summer he was able to join swim team. He was a better swimmer at that age than his older brother was at 6 1/2 who had lessons from age 6 months that cost thousands in total.

+1 - we wasted so much money on swim classes on our kid; if we were to do again, would start structured swim at either 4 or 5 and before that just expose them to the water.

Yes, swim classes were a waste for my kids. They finally got it when we did private lessons where the teacher could really focus on them. They were 5 & 6 when that worked for us.

Same. We sadly spent a couple thousand on the weekly swim classes for 3 kids. When we really saw progress was with private lessons— they might cost more, but you need way fewer of them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As toddlers we started with Music Together because I like music. After that we mainly followed what sparked an interest...

For DS -- A bunch of parent's at DS's preschool started a t-ball team so he did that because it was just fun to be with friends. We often walked past a tae kwon do studio when he was in preschool and he begged to do that. So started that at 4. He started rec soccer in kindergarten, again mainly because it was social. He tried church children's choir and hated it so we didn't push that. Then midway through K, he wanted to quit everything except soccer (at that point it was only once a week). School was really draining and he didn't want to do anything after school except play. Fine. Kept up soccer, by 2nd grade added a "kids fitness" activity during aftercare, added Boy Scouts, started a band instrument in 4th grade. He never had a real passion for any of it, it was all about the social aspects. By HS he did minimal extracurricular activities but played guitar on his own, joined the school stage crew, ran for fitness, and had a great group of friends who also weren't that into organized activities.

For DD -- Tried dance for about 2 weeks at age 4. She hated it. She had no interest in a soccer or t-ball team only wanted to be outside, especially exploring in the woods. I started a parent-child "nature group" with weekly outings to different hiking locations, nature centers etc. She also took a lot of short-term classes at nature centers and enjoyed art classes. Joined girl scouts in kindergarten. Eventually started a sport in 4th grade and continued that until early HS. Started a band instrument in 4th grade, played through HS and will continue in college. Her favorite things are still nature and art and she'll study both in college. She actually mentioned that early "nature group" in one of her college essays.

I think it's good to try a variety in early childhood to see what, if anything, sparks an interest. But also focus more on your kid vs. what everyone else typically does. I definitely felt out of step with the other preschool parents when we didn't make DD join the soccer team or stick it out with dance but noticing what she loved and reinforcing that was the right thing to do.

+1 all of this

I think for preschoolers especially it is not so much what activity it is but how it is taught and whether your child likes it. My 4 yo loves her soccer class but it is a small class and the coach is really good at getting the kids engaged in fun games. Have heard of some soccer classes for little kids that are really disorganized with too many kids. Also with gymnastics, we found a place my DD loves that is focused on little kids. She had previously tried a bigger place with lots of classes going on for different ages at the same time and it was too much for her. But my friend's kid loves the big place.

Also ages make a difference. Music Together was great when DD was 2. By the time she was 3.5 it was such a slog.

[Anonymous]

music is my favorite memory... we went to a little local company called Meadowlark Music. it felt relaxing to go, for me and my baby, rather than goal-driven, though the teacher would point out things we did that related to speaking and things like that. i remember it fondly now that my kids are older and am super glad i did something that i enjoy with them.

[Anonymous]

Swimming, ballet-

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I wish we started piano and a second language when my kids were that young.

+1. I feel a little bad that we didn’t do these.

Eh, I started music that young with my two. It only is helpful if they really really like it. Getting a four year old to focus on music when he isn’t interested is a painful way to waste time.

+1. Piano before age 6 is unnecessary and counterproductive.

[Anonymous]

I like music and swimming for that age. It’s all a bit of a rip off for kids before 8 but those seem slightly more worthwhile.

[Anonymous]

Heritage languages and swimming.