What’s really worth it during the elementary years?
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Anonymous
DP. You don’t like the wording and articulate that rudely, but the PP’s concept is accurate. |
Anonymous
pp isn’t wrong that exercise is important for everyone but “full stop” is THE most annoying phrase ever |
Anonymous
We did/do 2 activities at a time in early ES. 1 sport, 1 non-sport. Non-sport our kids' chose was always an instrument (then they were mad they could do Girl Scouts), and sport varied. We have 3 kids and the schedule has been manageable, they have free time, they all have done fine in school, and they learned hobbies. Helped that I work only during the school day so they didn't have to do before or after care and I have some summer flexibility. |
Anonymous
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DS (3rd grder in the fall)
Mon to Fri 8:30am to 5-6pm at school Mon- PE ends at 6:30pm Tue- online language class after dinner Wed- soccer practice ends at 7:30pm Thur- online languahe class after dinner Fri- free Sat- soccer game, swim class Sun- swim class DD (will be kindergartener) Mon- free Tue- free Wed- free Thur- PE ends at 6pm Fri- free Sat- gynmastic class Sun- swim class She tags along and go to all soccer practice/game. Both kids want to do ice skating & basketball, and I CANNOT add that into our schedule. |
Anonymous
Pp here. DD go to beforecare/aftercare as well. IF I have flexible work hours & work remote, I would want to give up aftercare option, and drop them off to attend interesting classes during aftercare hours. |
Anonymous
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Music
Math Sports Music is a gift for its own sake but also because it supports the development of math brain. Math because our kids are gifted and schools did not provide enough challenge. RSM is the best, although Beast Math/AOPs is good, too. Don’t do drill and kill like Mathnasium. In fact anything rote at this age will kill love of learning. Sports because being active is important for healthy, socialization, and confidence. Boys socialize and interact primarily through sports. Girls who play sports are more confident and have better self-images, including body image. Impact sports help kids grow sturdier brains, may be correlated with greater height. Exercise reduces stress. You can’t start many sports after the elementary years unless the kid is very athletically talented. Soccer, hockey, basketball, lacrosse, tennis needs to start young, 4, 5,:6. Baseball you can start up to about age 12, swimming & volleyball, too. Football, for a skill position you need to start young, for lineman positions can start anytime if they’re decently athletic. Track, too. |
Anonymous
| Making sure kids are strong swimmers is important to us - for safety reasons. We are not into any competitive sports, but the kids took years of swimming lessons and are capable swimmers who are unlikely to drown. |
Anonymous
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Swimming, for safety.
Gymnastics is an excellent foundation for most other sports. With my youngest, I'm skipping music lessons, tutors, and extra academic classes and committing to reading an hour a day, working through Beast Academy at a gentle pace, or helping with schoolwork. I did too much running around with an older sibling and feel like I can streamline things with a younger sibling now that I have a better grasp. |
Anonymous
I like the way you’ve put this. More specifically, for our family, learning to read, to swim, another language, an instrument, and to “do” for themselves (cooking , cleaning, chores) were all worthwhile. Being active (a sport, dance, hiking, biking) was and continues to be something to make time for and, if necessary, spend a reasonable amount of) money on. The other big one was to be home for dinner as a family. That one didn’t fall til late in HS but most of us made a big effort to try to make dinner whenever possible. Oh, and, a set…and early bedtime. The kids barked….but they thank us now. Being well rested and well fed prevents so many issues. |
Anonymous
Some activities have a higher commitment. We are doing one sport at a time for my son because more than one was too much. He’s 8 but he has 3 practices a week then 3-5 games a weekend. He plays football, lacrosse, tennis and basketball but we only do one at a time. The next sport is a rec league that has 1 practice and 1 game a week but when it’s a slower period he can play with friends. He also does a Christian peer group. |
Anonymous
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There is no one right schedule, because every kid and every family is different. We have one with ADHD, and while we started with "only 1-2 activities" at a time, that child had energy to burn, and if they didn't, everyone around them (family, teachers, classmates) were miserable. So that kid had a physical activity nearly every day. Another child needed more down time/alone time, so they had fewer.
Essentially, we allowed each child what they needed. Both excelled in school, in various magnet programs, both went to great colleges for undergrad, even with some merit aid. Both visit friends from HS when home on break and have made good friends at college as well. We are tremendously proud of both of them, and it didn't matter that one participated in more activities than the other - both got what they needed to be successful and happy |
Anonymous
I disagree, as an adult having a basic foundation in a lot of sports is really helpful. I know the basics and can comfortably jump into casual tennis, golf, skiing, swimming, volleyball, soccer, softball, basketball etc. That makes rec/social engagement really easy. |
Anonymous
+1 this is my parenting approach too |
Anonymous
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What’s worth it to us?
- family travel, we travel several weeks in the year or months a summer to the mountains and beach abs prioritize visiting family while they are alive - sports, been great for socialization and physical activity - getting to know other families and being involved in the community during the elementary years, we want them to feel like they know the other kids well that’s they are going to school with so we do a lot of family things or travel, carpools etc - emphasis on EQ and relationships, life skills like finance and business - volunteer work - faith, attending church and having a faith based community |
Anonymous
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Musical instrument, sport (swimming), scout, and church.
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