How do you decide how to spend your xtra-curricular money?

[Alicia64]

I'm having a very hard time deciding between:

 

karate

 

piano

 

swimming

 

gymnastics

 

I guess my main question: my boys LOVE karate. But I really would like them to do piano.

 

I'm not sure what I'm asking, but how do you make these kind of decisions?

 

Alley

[TechWife]

I think you should go for the karate if that's what your boys are interested in.

[SilverMoon]

If you only want to choose one I'd go with the karate for now. There is plenty of time for adding piano later. :)

 

My kids are all about scouting, so that's what we focus on.

[Amy Jo]

I think you should go for the karate if that's what your boys are interested in.

 

:iagree: - my boys love Taekwondo, it teaches valuable skills and requires them to keep a good attitude. We are doing piano at home with Mrs. Stewart's Piano course - if they like it we will look into lessons. But I will always require them to have a physical hobby / class - so if one DC choose gymnastics that would be fine with me. From my experience, I won't bother with swimming lessons until DC are able to put their faces in the water.

[NanceXToo]

I would ask them what THEY wanted to do, and I'd go with that.

[AngieW in Texas]

I'd go with what they want to do if the cost is reasonable.

 

My oldest did Tae Kwon Do for three years. It was relatively expensive at $90/month plus $90/year plus $40/quarter (altogether about $110/month). When she switched from TKD to kickboxing, the cost dropped down to just $40/mo. She's not doing any paid classes right now. She just has her two dual credit classes at the cc.

 

My middle dd gymnastics. At one point she was taking two classes/week and that cost $95/mo. There were no additional fees though. Now she's taking just one class/mo and it costs $60/mo.

 

My youngest is taking guitar. She's in group lessons that cost $40/mo right now, but she's going to switch to private this summer, so that will jump to $90/mo. She wanted to take horseback riding lessons, but that would have cost $160/mo. I just couldn't pay that much on an ongoing basis. I let her do horseback riding during the summers, but even then, I could only shake loose enough for her to do one lesson/week for 6-8 weeks.

[Sherry in OH]

We don't consider piano or learning to swim to be extra-curricular.

 

Karate versus gymnastics versus swim team - let them pick.

 

If you don't have the money for swim lessons, you or another member of your family could teach them basic swimming safety rules. You may even be able to teach them to swim on your own.

[Susie in CA]

Well, in our family we do one sport class and one music class. Ds 11 does Karate and Piano. Ds 9 does Soccer and Piano.

 

Susie