What's wrong with a kid being "overscheduled"?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

As a former preschool teacher, I'm going to say that some kids can do this at 3, and the vast majority at 4. I mean, many of them are looiking at books, not reading them, but sitting for 5 minutes with a book is a realistic expectation before Kindergarten.

[Anonymous]

Nothing, mine is in daily activities, sometimes more than one a day and very active. Its usually about the parents not wanting to spend the money or drive. My parents had all kinds of excuses why we couldn't do activities and sports but it came down to them not interested and their needs came first.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

As a former preschool teacher, I'm going to say that some kids can do this at 3, and the vast majority at 4. I mean, many of them are looiking at books, not reading them, but sitting for 5 minutes with a book is a realistic expectation before Kindergarten.

You sound like a good teacher. Some of it is about structure and teaching them at the preschool level. We had amazing teachers who started this at 3/4 so come K, it was never an issue and they knew the expectations.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

As a former preschool teacher, I'm going to say that some kids can do this at 3, and the vast majority at 4. I mean, many of them are looiking at books, not reading them, but sitting for 5 minutes with a book is a realistic expectation before Kindergarten.

My kids in 4th and 5th weren’t coloring pictures. They were doing homework but when is all this down time “between classes”? Usually they are putting away things and getting out the things for the next class.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

I taught 4th and 5th graders. By that age, kids should be able to sit quietly and read or draw for 5-10 minutes.

I can see why you are no longer a teacher.

You seriously think a kid can't sit quietly for ten in FIFTH GRADE? Your kids must be feral monsters.

Getting crayons out in 5th grade in the middle of the day sounds weird. Is this some kind of no homework school?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

As a former preschool teacher, I'm going to say that some kids can do this at 3, and the vast majority at 4. I mean, many of them are looiking at books, not reading them, but sitting for 5 minutes with a book is a realistic expectation before Kindergarten.

My kids in 4th and 5th weren’t coloring pictures. They were doing homework but when is all this down time “between classes”? Usually they are putting away things and getting out the things for the next class.

“All of this down time” was 5-10 minutes before lunch or resource. Not enough time to start a new activity especially since other students were still working. Draw or read were the choices and many kids couldn’t handle unstructured time. They were used to always having something to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

I taught 4th and 5th graders. By that age, kids should be able to sit quietly and read or draw for 5-10 minutes.

I can see why you are no longer a teacher.

You seriously think a kid can't sit quietly for ten in FIFTH GRADE? Your kids must be feral monsters.

Getting crayons out in 5th grade in the middle of the day sounds weird. Is this some kind of no homework school?

Crayons? Reading comprehension isn’t your thing, huh?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

As a former preschool teacher, I'm going to say that some kids can do this at 3, and the vast majority at 4. I mean, many of them are looiking at books, not reading them, but sitting for 5 minutes with a book is a realistic expectation before Kindergarten.

My kids in 4th and 5th weren’t coloring pictures. They were doing homework but when is all this down time “between classes”? Usually they are putting away things and getting out the things for the next class.

“All of this down time” was 5-10 minutes before lunch or resource. Not enough time to start a new activity especially since other students were still working. Draw or read were the choices and many kids couldn’t handle unstructured time. They were used to always having something to do.

Guess you had bad classroom management skills. But sure, blame the kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I taught in a UMC area a few years ago and when kids are constantly in motion and have activities provided to them all of the time, they become anxious/uneasy when there is down time. “What do I do know?” They couldn’t sit and draw or read for a few minutes in between classes. They would ask that question repeatedly. Any kind of downtime was a problem that they wanted an adult to solve.

What age were you expecting kids to sit and read between classes?

I taught 4th and 5th graders. By that age, kids should be able to sit quietly and read or draw for 5-10 minutes.

I can see why you are no longer a teacher.

I still teach but another grade level.

I agree with you, 4th and 5th graders should be able to sit or read for 10 minutes! Is that PP saying kids can't? I took my 3rd grader to a medical appointment recently. It lasted an hour and he sat in the waiting room with a book (I had called and asked if it was ok with the receptionist).

[Anonymous]

At our public ES the 5th grade goal for independent reading is 45 minutes by the end of the year. They start at about 15 work their way up and it’s embarrassing how few of them can sit and read A BOOK OF THEIR OWN CHOiCE for 15 minutes. They fidget, they flip the pages too fast, they ask to choose another book, they stare into space.

Parents, if your child can’t read for 15 minutes on their own at 5th grade, you have failed.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Nothing, mine is in daily activities, sometimes more than one a day and very active. Its usually about the parents not wanting to spend the money or drive. My parents had all kinds of excuses why we couldn't do activities and sports but it came down to them not interested and their needs came first.

Your parents had jobs and likely knew how to budget.

[Anonymous]

I’m OP — the primary criticism is that kids don’t learn to be bored or to fill their time and that is absolutely not either of my children. My older child could and does fill hours and hours of open ended time with imaginative play. She doesn’t like to read as much as imaginative play but she also reads every day. She also spends a good amount of time just running around singing and dancing and getting into mischief with her sister. This open ended time is mostly on the weekends, summers, and days off school.

We have a nanny who does the after school driving so our family system is not stressed. We eat dinner together at 6:30 and have two hours for play/downtime before bed.

Besides the instrument she has 2 sports three days a week each. My kid has ADHD so I find the sports help her regulate. They are sports that are soothing to her nervous system. She’s a dream to be around afterwards — happy and relaxed.

The one thing we don’t have enough time for is weekday playdates but all the other kids are busy too so she wouldn’t be having them even if we didn’t have her in activities every day. We do unstructured play dates on the weekends.

I do agree that once homework or tutoring or little sister’s activities come into the mix this might be too many activities and we’ll have to pare it down.

[Anonymous]

I have one kid in elementary and two in high school now. All three of my kids love activities.

When I was a working mom of two, just one sport and one activity felt like a lot to me because I had to leave work early, pick up two kids and drive them to sports. It was not at all a lot for the kids. My kids would be running around at home or the backyard.

I eventually stayed home and my kids would go to sports practice multiple times per week. One kid loved art and science in addition to sports. The other kid plays multiple sports well. Both boys played their sport 3-6x per week. This is norm for good athletes. I mean they now have practice after school AT school everyday. No one would say they are overscheduled.

When kids are young and parents drive them, people often think having an activity daily is too much. I’m a SAHM and drive my kids to something almost daily. Every activity is something the child wants to do.

I have a friend and all three of her kids don’t want to sign up for anything. They don’t want to play sports. They don’t want to do any clubs at school. My kids are the opposite. They will excitedly sign up for multiple activities at school, want to do taekwondo, soccer, tennis, basketball, swim, dance, play instruments. We can’t do it all but we have something everyday.

[Anonymous]

There is data that shows that higher amounts of scheduled time have negative effects (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775723001504?via%3Dihub)

That evidence is a little off from how these conversations tend to happen on DCUM. because it shows the effects being concentrated in high school (whereas most posters here seem more concerned about scheduling at younger ages) and it includes time spent on homework (which I feel like most posters here are fine with, especially by high school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There is data that shows that higher amounts of scheduled time have negative effects (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0272775723001504?via%3Dihub)

That evidence is a little off from how these conversations tend to happen on DCUM. because it shows the effects being concentrated in high school (whereas most posters here seem more concerned about scheduling at younger ages) and it includes time spent on homework (which I feel like most posters here are fine with, especially by high school).

There is so much more expected out of kids today, far more than I remember from my childhood, kids are going to burn out. Of course parents want there kids to do well and be successful, but it seems to be costing kids their childhood.