How many group gatherings do you do a week?

[lincap]

I am just wondering how many group gatherings your kids do each week.

 

I have 3 boys, 5yrs old, 2.5 yrs old and 10 months old. We go to our Homeschool Group that I direct once a week for 2 hours. (simple but fun program). The 5 yr old does gymnastics once a week for 1 hour. And that is it for organized activities.

 

But in chatting with some other moms their kids are in TONS of stuff:

example a 5 yr old: 2 homeschool groups that meet once a week each, AWANA, baseball... etc

 

Example 6 yr old: 2 homeschool groups, piano, swim, nature explorers, etc..

 

I am hearing that my almost 3 yr old *should* go to preschool even though we plan on homeschooling to make friends..

 

What do your kids do or did they do when they were 5 yrs old?

[jplain]

Heh. We do a lot in wintertime. I don't think I'll admit how many.

It'll suffice to say that most days we have a 1-2 hour afternoon activity.

Wintertime energizes me, and we all get shack whacky if we aren't frequently out doing stuff.

My kids are young, so academics (hypothetically ;)) don't take all day.

And there are a lot of great, inexpensive opportunities in our area.

Fortunately, my activity fever tends to calm down during fall and spring. :D

 

Nope, your 3yo doesn't need to go to preschool to make friends. Both of mine went to preschool, and the older one hasn't stayed in touch with preschool friends. I doubt the younger one will either (she's currently in her second year). I got more than the usual odd reactions from moms in preschool when they found out I homeschool, so that may be part of why we haven't stayed in touch. I think it was particularly difficult for them to accept because they were all in the throes of normal anxieties about sending their kids to preschool and (eventually) kindergarten.

 

Also, my 5yo is my youngest child. If I had even littler ones around, I definitely wouldn't be looking for additional outside activities.

There will be plenty of time for that, if you want it, when your littles get bigger!

Edited January 18, 2011 by jplain

[FloridaLisa]

There is no *should* or *best way.* I've found the amount of outside activities depends (in this order) on money available, the value of the outside activity, the energy/tolerance mom and kids have for outside activities. My just-turned 6 yo participated in a co-op on Friday, choirs sometimes on Wednesday nights at church and Awana on Wed. morning (3 min. from house). This is the first year he's done a sport for himself and I would have waited another year, but his brothers set me up. :001_smile:

 

Go with your gut. I like to have long days with no commitments so that we can go to the library, do field trips, I can cook or take care of the home and we can have our own routine.

 

Lisa

[JoyfulMama]

When my oldest was 5... We went to the library with a group once a week, and did a group art class on some Fridays, and went to Sunday School. In nice weather we were often at the park multiple times a week, but it was across the street, and much better than our postage-stamp backyard. So ususally 3.

 

Now we live in a different location.

When my 2nd was 5... Hmmm, he just turned 6. We do co-op twice a month, we do church twice a week (he sings in the choir), we meet with another homeschool group 1-2 times a month, and currently do sports twice a week. So weekly, I'd say 5 right now. However when sports are done it's back down to 3.

[NanceXToo]

My 5 y/o usually does one thing at a time. He did gymnastics once a week for a couple of months.

 

He currently does homeschool PE (along with his sister) at the Y once a month.

 

Next month, we will start a homeschool bowling league which will run for 10 weeks (again, he and his sister will both do that). That will be once a week.

 

In the spring he'll be starting tee-ball for the first time.

 

Here and there, there might be a little overlap, but for the most part it's 1-2X a week, usually once.

 

My daughter (age 10) does a bit more. She goes to Girl Scouts once a week over the school year. She does Judo once a week at the Y, ongoing. She will do the homeschool bowling as I said, which will be once a week, but only for ten weeks. And she does a library book club, but that only meets once like every three weeks.

 

With that said, I agree with the others- there IS no "right way" or "right" amount of activities- it should be whatever makes you and your children feel happy and content! That might be a week's worth of activities. That might be one activity a week. That might be NO scheduled activities.

[Kathleen in VA]

None. When my oldest were 5yo we only had one car so I was homebound. I lived like that until they my oldest was 12. Then both boys did Civil Air Patrol all the way through the end of high school. Ds22 is now a Senior Member. Dd18 took piano lessons from age 10 on up. The two youngest do not attend any outside activities - their sister is their piano teacher.

 

We've never had the extra funds to get involved in much and we live pretty far out so gas and time were also a considerations.

 

I think it depends on your children's interests, your budget (for both time and money), and your homeschool goals.

[snickelfritz]

I have to find a balance of activity/ time at home. Each semester, I end up tweaking until I have a good mix for us. My 5 year old does violin, soccer clinic (no games), & dance class. Church is only on Sunday. We "very" occasionally go to a homeschool playdate at our church. It's very flexible, but 5 year old has a good friend that goes.

 

Both girls have done gymnastics or dance or swimming since they were 2. So, we did things at 3. I don't think you have to. I just liked having scheduled physical activity.

[mktkcb]

When my kids were little, not very many. I did a co-op preschool with my girls when they were that age, and they were in AWANA. That was about it. We did PE with our homeschool group once a week starting when my oldest was 1st grade. We kept it pretty light in elementary, really. Once dd's hit Jr. High, though, my life was over LOL! Oh well. It's a season, and I'll miss it when it's over in about 4 years :o).

[JenC3]

We do 1. We meet with 2 families for an informal HS co-op on Fridays.

 

My dd takes ballet for 2 hours on Tuesday, but ds will not start anything until this spring. Dd also has a piano lesson, but it's by herself.

[Parrothead]

I have an only child and we live in a neighborhood without any other children so that makes a difference. She has:

 

Monday - ballet, karate

Tuesday - nothing

Wednesday - tap, jazz

Thursday - tai chi with mom and dad's class

Friday - little flowers club

Saturday - nothing

Sunday - Sunday school and church.

 

If we had been able to have more children and lived in a neighborhood where there were kids to play with after school I'd probably not have so many activities lined up after school.

[MaMa2005]

I really think it depends on your child and yourself. Ours looks like a lot for a 5 year old (PG), but he handles it all in stride. Time for work and time for play.

 

Mondays - we do not leave the house. Mondays are sacred! We get our studies for the week off to a great start that way.

 

Tuesdays - Enrichment classes from 9-12. School at home from 1-3. TaeKwonDo from 3:30-4:00

 

Wednesdays - School at home from 8-12. Co-op from 2-4. TaeKwonDo from 6:30-7:00. (Co-op is located at a church literally across from the entrance to our neighborhood. :thumbup: We also meet each semester for only 5 days of 'real' classes. The other Wednesdays are field trips, playing at the park, etc. that are easy to take or leave depending on how things are going.)

 

Thursdays - School from 8-12. TaeKwonDo from 3:30-4:00. Chinese Lessons from 6:30-7:30.

 

Friday - Enrichment classes from 9-1. Piano lessons from 2:00 -2:30. TaeKwonDo from 3:30-4:00. Finish up any left over work (which is very rarely) from 4:15-5:15.

 

While it looks like a lot, we live in ATL, which means driving anywhere takes at least 30-45 minutes (except TaeKwonDo - 10 minutes). Thus, DS has downtime to read, play his Didj, listen to music, etc. DH and I have really looked for signs of DS being stretched too thin and they aren't there. I wouldn't add anything else, but right now I have a happy, lovable son who loves everything he is doing.

[angela in ohio]

We do a few things, but no general group gatherings. We do things with a specific purpose. We always found behavior issues in non-directed group activities (and most co-ops) and that they weren't worth the time we lost.

 

My oldest goes to orchestra practice, music lesson, art classes, and volunteers weekly. My middle goes to two music lessons, art class, and volunteers as well. My youngest has Cub Scouts, wrestling (or whatever seasonal sport) practice, and art class. We all do a very small co-op with a few other families once a week, as well. We also do a field trip (art museum or history site tour, etc.) once a month or so.

[Veritaserum]

At this point the only regular group meeting we have is church on Sundays. I was going insane with too many things. I think I am almost recovered enough to let each child choose one extracurricular activity and homeschool group. Or maybe just homeschool group. :)

[Tarreymere]

Zip.

 

Right now we are not doing anything. We don't have a co-op. The kids are limited to one activity each during the rest of the year, so usually it is swim class or soccer or something like that. We do tend to get out more often to the lake or playgrounds in the summer, but in the middle of winter we hibernate at home. We do get outside to play in the snow and walk by 'our' lake, but we don't get in the car and go anywhere.

[Lady Florida.]

We did a lot when my son was younger. In fact from the time he was 5 to around 10, we were probably out more days than we were in. We did field trips and park days and co-ops, and whatever someone suggested. "We'll be there!", was usually my reply to any suggested activity.

 

But...he's an only child, and there were no kids in our neighborhood that he knew. He's now 13, there's 2 boys and 2 girls his age now living in our neighborhood (2 of them right across the street), and he's "over" a lot of the field trips. He's also made several friends in our homeschool group, so I'm no longer trying to help him find friends. And I admit, I was trying to find other homeschoool moms to connect with, so I guess I was looking for a friend or two also. Now we just set up days when he and a friend can get together. I get together with my hs mom friends at book club or game nights. We carefully pick and choose which activities to attend.

 

Most of the time when I ask him if he's interested in a particular activity, he asks who will be there. That tells me he's more interested in the social aspects (should I say socialization :lol:?). We tend to do school our own way anyway, so co-ops and classes don't seem to work for us anymore. I look at what social gatherings our group is planning, and give him x number of choices. He chooses which ones he wants to go with.

 

Sorry for rambling. The real answer to your questions is 1 or less per week, though it took us years to get to this point.

[AnitaMcC]

15yr old Dd:

Kung Fu 4-5 nights a week from 2 to 4 hours each.

Metal band that meets once a week for 3-4 hours on weekend.

Homeschool teen social group once a week for 3 hours.

She also competes in martial arts and take music lessons. But she isn't actually in a group setting or socializing at these times.

 

15yr old Ds:

Kung Fu 2-3 times a week for about an hour each.

Bowling league Saturday mornings for about 2 hours.

Civil Air Patrol every Thursday night for 3 hours plus additional activities and training every month or so.

Homeschool teen social group once a week for 3 hours.

 

11yr old Ds:

Public school 6th grade.

Kung Fu 2-3 times a week for about an hour each.

Bowling league Saturday mornings for about 2 hours.

Civil Air Patrol Thursday nights for 3 hours (he goes on a trial basis before he decides to join or not when he turns 12).

 

9yr old Ds:

Public school 4th grade.

Kung Fu 2-3 times a week for about an hour each.

Bowling league Saturday mornings for about 2 hours.

Cub Scouts den meeting once a month, pack night once a month, occassional outings.

 

These are pretty much regular activities that my kids do. There are occassional homeschool field trips with the oldest two in addition to what they already do.

[AnitaMcC]

I didn't answer the question of what my kids did when 5yrs old.

 

They all went to preschool for 2 yrs before kindy then on to kindergarten (they were 5 1/2 for start of K).

They all started scouts in 1st grade/6yrs old.

Twins started RE classes in 1st grade and went through 4th grade. Skipped a year and then they did homestudy for 6th and 7th grades, did classes for 8th and 9th grades. The youngest two did homestudy from start.

Dd started Kung Fu in 5th grade.

Ds#1 started bowling league around 5th grade.

 

The youngest two started activities sooner because it was easy to just have them join in with the oldest two for certain activities. Also no more babies/toddlers to take around with them.

They started Karate then switched to Kung Fu around 1st grade for Ds#3 and 3rd grade for Ds#2.

They started bowling around 1st and 3rd grade (think this is their 4th winter league year).

 

In summer they all did summer camps through school district for sports or park district for swim lessons, sports camps, etc.

Edited January 19, 2011 by AnitaMcC

[elizabeth]

Zero. I cannot tolerate groups of people. I particularly do not like small children. Really. I love my own dearly but have no desire to be around small children.

[Food4Thought]

We don't have any organized activities. I teach a piano lesson at a friend's house once a week, and the kids go and play with the others (mine are 5 & 7, theirs are 4, 7 & 9). We go to church on Sundays, and the kids sometimes do Children's Church.

 

We're much more active during the summers, but still spend more time at home then out. DS needs a lot of recovery time after being out (and so do I, to be honest!), so if we go out one day, we'll stay home the next.

[JudoMom]

When my oldest was 5, we did Awana & piano.

 

When my oldest was 6, we did Awana, piano & Judo. Our church dropped Awana after that year, and my guys participated in the replacement activity off and on.

 

Somehow, a year ago, our activities exploded. Now we all (minus dh) take Judo 2X/week, ds8 & ds6 take gymnastics 1X/week, the older 4 take piano 1X/week (a close friend teaches, and whoever isn't in a lesson gets to play with her kids), and we have public speaking 2X/month. The older 4 also attend an enrichment program 1 day/week.

 

My current 5 year old takes Judo with us (I help coach the junior class, otherwise I wouldn't have him out yet), plays at piano lessons, and gets to hang out with me at Speech and gets 1:1 time with me while his brothers are at the enrichment program.

 

We've never done preschool, though I considered it at various times.

[mcconnellboys]

My son has two classes on Mondays, an hour each. Only the first includes another child.

 

He has a one hour class on Tuesdays, which includes 4 other children. He attends a soccer clinic on Tuesday evenings, and I think there are a couple of dozen kids in that.

 

He is in an art class on Wednesdays and there are about 4 other kids in it with him.

 

He is in a Lit class on Thursdays with about 10 others. He has a coop that afternoon with from about 3 to a couple of dozen kids in his classes.

 

He plays on a soccer team that has 11 other boys on it....

[hsbaby]

Each child has a group activity about 4 times a week. This includes tutorial, a group I host, gymnastics, and hs open gym. We like to stay busy. I don't think there's a "right" number, just what makes you and the kids happy.

[sassenach]

In our slow season, we were going to 2 co ops, 1 park day, tennis for ds 2x/ week, ballet for dd 1x/week, church on Sunday and small group 1x/week. We also do a lot of play dates with neighborhood kids. It looks crazy, but the only part that was just too much was the 2nd co op. We're about to head into our busy season- swim and baseball. We are dropping 1 co-op and tennis, but adding baseball 3 days a week and swim 4 days, including Saturday meets/games. We will still have 4 days a week at home, which should bring balance to our school day schedule. Busy evenings are not a problem for us. We love being together at the ball field and pool.

[Ellie]

Let's see:

 

Sunday school (which of course we'd have done whether we were hsing or not) and children's church in the evening; Wednesday nite church (ditto); once-a-week dance class...I think that was it. Oh, we did soccer twice (not two years in a row, though), so that would have been two practices a week and one game.

 

Park day was once a month. No co-op, no regular field trips with others, no "play dates" (I never even heard that term until the Internet).

[WiseOwlKnits]

My 6-yo goes to piano and voice lessons (private), swimming, basketball, and ballet.

My 4-yo goes to swimming and basketball/soccer/baseball/kickball (whatever the sport of the season is at the Y...right now it's basketball). When he's 5ish, he's going to start Tae-Kwon-Do as well.

 

We don't do any co-ops, but we usually have a playdate 2-3 times a week with various friends.

[Outdoorsy Type]

I have an 8, 7, and 3yo. In previous years we had Sunday School. This year we have :

 

Sunday- Sunday School and Church

Monday- Co Op and Cub Scouts - light school day

Tuesday- stay home and do lots of schoolwork

Wednesday- Co Op and Church - light school day

Thursday - stay home and do lots of schoolwork

Friday - light school day since Husband gets home early. We usually do a family activity

Saturday - free