Are these too many activities for a 4yo?

[Anonymous]

She will fo to preschool 4 mornings a week and come home for lunch and nap. These are all weekday afternoon activities:

Dance class 1 hr
Gymnastics 45 min
Music 40 min
Swimming 30 min

She’s done the last three for a few months and expressed interest in the first. Weekends we keep completely free for outings or get-togethers

[Anonymous]

Sounds crazy to me.

[Anonymous]

That’s not a life I want, but you do you.

[Anonymous]

This is more than my 4yo does but she goes to school 8am to 3pm. We do one 45 min dance class on Saturdays and a gymnastics class on Thursday afternoons. Starting in November she'll do swimming instead of gymnastics.

I think if we were mornings only for PK, we'd do more classes because she really responds well to the structure. It's not just that it's engaging while she is there, it's that it helps to structure our days and gives her week some shape. I have surprised myself -- I did not expect to be that into activities, especially this young. But when we decided not to do toddler soccer (she hated it and it's just running around at this age so not a big loss) I realized we needed something because she just needed more structure than spending all her afternoons and weekends at home or at the playground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is more than my 4yo does but she goes to school 8am to 3pm. We do one 45 min dance class on Saturdays and a gymnastics class on Thursday afternoons. Starting in November she'll do swimming instead of gymnastics.

I think if we were mornings only for PK, we'd do more classes because she really responds well to the structure. It's not just that it's engaging while she is there, it's that it helps to structure our days and gives her week some shape. I have surprised myself -- I did not expect to be that into activities, especially this young. But when we decided not to do toddler soccer (she hated it and it's just running around at this age so not a big loss) I realized we needed something because she just needed more structure than spending all her afternoons and weekends at home or at the playground.

Yup, mine only goes to school 9-12 so it’s a lot less. I think a lot of people send their kids to daycare 8am-6pm every day so more activities on top of that sounds crazy.

[Anonymous]

If you ever find yourself asking the question, then the answer is yes.

[Anonymous]

As long as both of you are ok with it, it’s fine.

[Anonymous]

Sounds insane to me, but you know your family and your kid.

[Anonymous]

Whatever you want. Why does she nap at 4?

[Anonymous]

Would be way too much driving time for our family.

[Anonymous]

Go for it. If interest fades in one or two you can start to weed them out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:She will fo to preschool 4 mornings a week and come home for lunch and nap. These are all weekday afternoon activities:

Dance class 1 hr
Gymnastics 45 min
Music 40 min
Swimming 30 min

She’s done the last three for a few months and expressed interest in the first. Weekends we keep completely free for outings or get-togethers

You know your kid best...that's it. My DC was very under-scheduled based on people around us but it was right for him: too much activity stressed him out and he would get sick every single time. Got so sick of "Why isn't dc doing travel sports/XYZ?" types of questions. It was right for him, period. Other kids like/need more activity. You alone will know.

[Anonymous]

Yes

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Would be way too much driving time for our family.

Two of these activities are walkable and the other two are a 3 min drive, so that’s not an issue.

[Anonymous]

I have 3 kids so that would be a lot for my 4yo. She does one ballet class per week. Her older siblings play multiple sports and have something every afternoon.

My 4yo does play dates a few times a week.