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Afterschoolers and outside activities/extracurriculars


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I'm beginning to think about the year ahead as it is nearly time to begin signing up for dance classes, piano lessons, and all those sorts of things. Previously dd has taken dance class although last year she decided to take art lessons instead of dance. As she is 8, I'd really like for her to take piano. She is also old enough we could consider 4-H. Our ds will be in K and may or may not do soccer. I think tiger cubs are an option at that age also.

 

Looking at these opportunities in addition to church activities is making my head spin and wonder how we'll get any substantive afterschooling done. I was wondering what types and how many outside activities my afterschooling peers and their children do.

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My son is 5 and going into 1st grade. He's been taking piano since March on Thursday nights. And when the weather isn't too hot (October - May) he takes a sports class through city recreation on Saturdays. Right now he doesn't have any interest in playing a team sport, I know that would take up more of our time if he did since there would be practices and games.

 

We may add karate Wednesday nights though but my husband thinks that might be too much.

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Spy 6.5 is going to do guitar class 30 mins/wk and also will be going to chess club 1hr/wk. Apart from that we also do arts and a couple of other things together as a family and for fun time. We do these in baby steps and in a fun interactive way, he doesn't feel overloaded. And also I choose activities that I think will hold his interest, so I don't have to nag him around.

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*I* am overscheduled. My kids are more than happy to go go go.

 

DD - religious school, Kumon, dance, Cadettes - This will be her first year of middle school, so she wants try out for a play and write for the school literary magazine and newspaper.

 

DS - religious school, Kumon, tennis, soccer and the occasional after school "Computer Explorers" class

 

ASing seems to get harder as the kids grow older not only because of extracurriculars but also because of the increased homework load. Our ASing has changed a lot over the years.

Edited by ack25
forgot Scouts!
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My daughter is 8 and starting 3rd grade. She has practice for her sport four days a week. She has dance one night a week and an additional sport one night. I am hoping to add in piano this fall and once the school year begins she starts Juliettes. She has Sunday and one weekday where she has no activities. She feels like her days off are very important to keep free - and I agree. I would cut her sport back but she is developing a very deep interest and would be very upset - the only way to get better is practice and at her level practice is playing games with other girls.

So our schedule:

Sun - free

Mon - sport practice followed by a fun casual dance class

T- free

Wed - long day - sport practice from 3:30-8 (she is not practicing the entire time-we break and have 90 minutes for dinner)

Th - sport practice

Fri - casual fun sport (purely recreational and almost free different from her serious sport)

Sat- sport practice (done by 11)

She does an online math program in the morning after breakfast. I think our afterschooling focus will be grammar as it is glossed over in school.

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My son will be in 1st grade in the fall.

 

He goes to his piano lessons 1x per week.

 

Swimming every Saturday.

 

This is my plan for the Fall (I'm already experimenting with it now):

 

Monday through Friday:

* Before he goes to school every morning, he'll be schooled with Math OR History.

 

* When he arrives home from school, he'll get 30 minutes for schoolwork review & homework.

 

* After schoolwork, he'll get some free time. Then we will have an English lesson & Piano practice.

 

So in summary he will have Piano, Swimming, English, History & Math.

Edited by LimitBreak
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*I* am overscheduled. My kids are more than happy to go go go.

 

ASing seems to get harder as the kids grow older not only because of extracurriculars but also because of the increased homework load. Our ASing has changed a lot over the years.

 

 

same here -- a lot of the extracurriculars are educational (music, soucts etc) but our formal afterschooling has decreased as they've gotten older. We try to have a family culture of learning that permeates trips and our daily life, but the workbooks etc have taken a back seat. I still do use a lot here for music, books, documentaries etc. that are part of our fun time.

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Looking at these opportunities in addition to church activities is making my head spin and wonder how we'll get any substantive afterschooling done. I was wondering what types and how many outside activities my afterschooling peers and their children do.

 

During the school year, my eighth grader will be doing the following:

 

1 hour of music lessons with his tutor

2.5 hours of fencing on the weekend with optional Monday and Wednesday sessions, too

1 hour of volunteer work (school requirement)

 

We tend to do the bulk of afterschooling during weekends.

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I think tiger cubs are an option at that age also.

 

Just FYI - Tiger Scouts doesn't start until first grade. Cub/Boy Scouts did not follow along with Girl Scouts when GS created the Daisy level for Kindergartners.

 

HTH!

 

On topic - Before Kindy, Boo danced for 2.5 years. During Kindy, she chose not dance, but as the GS leader of her troop, we just keep really busy with GS activities and that was enough for the year. Going into 1st this year, (besides continuing with GS) Boo has expressed both an interest in going back to dance and playing baseball (after watching a couple of her cousin's t-ball games). I will mostly likely make her choose between the two. as our time is limited since I work full time.

Edited by piraterose
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Looking at these opportunities in addition to church activities is making my head spin and wonder how we'll get any substantive afterschooling done. I was wondering what types and how many outside activities my afterschooling peers and their children do.

 

 

Far less now that we're in full-time school. Dd would do everything under the sun if there were time and money for it, so we try to let them have "their" sport. Dd9 and ds17 play soccer, and ds8 plays baseball. Thankfully, there's not much overlap between the two sports here. Dd9 and ds8 are in Taekwondo two days a week. Dd has just decided not to continue with Girl Scouts, but ds will be joining Cub Scouts. These are all things we find great value in and so reserve the time for them. They very much want to take piano lessons but we haven't figured out how to work that into the schedule (or the budget) yet. :( Dang school.

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