Extracurricular Activities

[ncmom2dawters]

We just finished our 2nd week of school. The general consensus is we are overcommitted this year. Those who have middle school age children ... how many activities are you involved with? How many days/how much time do you find yourself out of the house?

We've always homeschooled and until this year have found some balance between the extracurricular and getting our schooling done. I'm already dreading the stress ahead next week to fit everything in!

[freeindeed]

We have co-op on Mondays, dd11 has church youth group on Wednesday nights, and we all have church on Sundays. That is all we're doing right now. That is all we can do at the current season of life.

[tammieb]

We're the "oddballs" in our area....

 

We are about to start our 6th year homeschooling (YAY!!!). For the first year, we did pretty much nothing. Mom was getting her feet wet. For the next couple of years, we did WAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY too much!! About two years ago, we dropped out of EVERYTHING except church! It was intended to be just a temporary thing until we could figure out which groups / activities we could feasibly commit to. In the process, we started doing projects and field trips as a family and the kids LOVED it! Hubby and I had control over schedules and how things were done and schoolwork went MUCH smoother.

 

Not saying that's the answer for everyone, but we tried it and it worked for us.

 

Now we all take martial arts as a family. We count it as our PE time as we have access to a personal class during lunch 2 days a week. Both kiddos take an instrument with weekly lessons. And we have TONS of church activities. That keeps us PLENTY busy!!!

 

We try to do a field trip about once a month and have a few families we usually invite to come along.

 

Things have been going smoothly like this for about 2 years now, so we're just gonna keep it that way.

 

Hope you can find your balance! All of us homeschooling moms know it's tough to find at times.

 

Happy Homeschooling!

 

Tammie

[hsbaby]

Most of our activities are in the evening....dance, gymnastics, youth group, and guitar. The only thing during school hours is a tutorial on Thursdays.

[wintermom]

I think every family has their own level of what works for them. If YOU feel overwhelmed with your schedule, then see what can be cut back.

 

We have something outside the house everyday, but it's afternoons or evenings and we function alright with it. I know families with more than us who do alright and families with less.

 

I also have a few seasonal activities that happen only in the fall, winter or spring, and they rotate, which makes for something fresh and new throughout the year. We also take our summers off completely.

[LibraryLover]

I try to keep it all to a dull roar, but it's not easy. My kids have things they want to do.

Edited September 6, 2012 by LibraryLover

[shanvan]

I've got a 9th grader and 5th grader. We are going to be out on

 

Tues- afternoon for skating lessons (our PE), nights for 4H

Thurs- morning for a dog class and Thurs night DD will have sewing at our local library (we skip if we are tired)

Fri -nights for Ds's dog agility class.

 

ETA: They also skate another day for practice, but that is when we can fit it in, not a set day or time.

 

Piano- we haven't worked out the day of the week yet, but their teacher comes to our house. :hurray: She's still in high school, and she is fine with us skipping weeks if we get overloaded with school work. Ds may cut down to every other week anyway b/c it's not a passion for him and his school work load is increasing.

 

 

Only the underlined activities are full commitments. The others we will skip if we need the time for school work. All of the dog classes are pay as you go. We are doing them that way on purpose so that we can stay home on weeks we need the extra time. We may end up going every other week. Our church is putting pressure on us to continue with children's choir Wed afternoon every other week, but we aren't thinking it's such a good idea.

 

Then we may have some hikes with our naturalist group here and there, but overall this schedule is actually a relief to us compared with how much we were out this summer.

Edited September 2, 2012 by shanvan

[Luckymama]

7th grader:

 

3 evenings 90 minutes ballet

Saturday morning 90 minutes ballet

Saturday afternoon 1-4 hours ballet rehearsal

Friday 3:30-5:30 first Lego League team practice

 

Twice a month Girl Scouts 6-8 pm

Weekly flute lesson for 30 min

[Mommyof4ks]

We are out of the house 4 out of 5 days a week, but I have three kids all in two activities each plus Classical Conversations, so we are busy, but now that dd is 12 I can leave her home while I take her brothers to their activities.

[Dory]

We have cut the kids back this year. We now have ballet for dd and gymnastics for both boys on Wednesday and piano thursday afternoon. That's it. It's a little easier for me as I can drop the boys off at gymnastics and I don't have to stay with them every time. So we basically have one busy day a week.

[Mom-ninja.]

Karate 2x week in evening.

 

Piano Friday afternoon from 1:30-3:00 (for 2 boys)

 

Sometimes we do karate Sat. mornings. In a bit the boys will have piano class (theory) Sat. mornings and we won't do karate anymore on Sat.

 

Once a month we do a science class.

[Guest melimou]

- horse riding each Tuesday afternoon (this will stop when the weather gets bad)

- acting class Tuesday evenings for dd

- gymnastics Wednesday evenings for ds

- co-op on Fridays

- church on Sundays

We're waiting to hear what days Girls Scouts/Boy Scouts will be on but as it is now, we're already full on extracurricular activities for my taste.

[GWOB]

This year will be a personal nightmare for me. I have a 7th grader, a 4th grader, and a kindy kid. Here is our schedule:

 

Mon.- dd12 has piano at 11:15-12:00. Ds has piano from 2:00-2:45. We all have karate at 7:00.

 

 

Tues.- Nothing!

 

 

Wed.- Dd12 has confirmation. I will be teaching confirmation starting in Jan..

 

 

Thurs.- (nightmare day) Homeschool PE from 12:30-2:00 Dd5 has dance from 4:00-4:30. We all have karate at 7:00

 

 

Fri.- Nothing!!!

 

 

Sat.- First Lego League @ 9:00 for dd12 and ds9

 

 

Sun.- Church (I am a Sunday School teacher)

 

 

Add to all that 4-H projects and a dh who will essentially be unavailable from Oct. 1 through the end of November and you have one super stressing momma. We live way out in the country, so going home between things is next to impossible. And this is after refusing to sign up our soccer-loving kids for soccer! I think I failed to remember the "home" in homeschooling. And if anyone asks me about socialization I just may punch them.

[Grover]

DS:

Monday: nothing

Tuesday: Martial Arts (1 hr)

Wednesday: nothing (maybe art class in the am next term)

Thursday: Piano lesson (1hr)

Friday: gymnastics (1hr)

Saturday: choir (1hr)

Sunday: nothing

 

Each term we have two weeks with a 25 minute swimming lesson every week day.

[kroe1]

16 hours a week which includes performing art classes and volunteer work for DD12. This is only possible because we just have 1 at home.

 

:)

[MollyAnn]

Our first year homeschooling was nuts

Monday Co-op and Girl Scouts

Tuesday and Thursday Homeschool PE

Wednesday park day

There was something else on Friday but I can't remember what it was.

Plus Taekwondo in the evenings.

 

Our second year was almost as crazy.

 

This year we have Girl Scouts every other Monday

Park Day on Wednesdays

Taekwondo 4 nights during the week and Satuday afternoon.

Cub Scouts will be in there somewhere, just don't know where.

We needed to scale back and I think this year will go more smoothly.

[bettyandbob]

We've always done a lot. I usually have one night off, but not always. I used to feel overwhelmed. I don't have problems when I am disciplined with myself about organization and menu planning. Weeknights include one crockpot meal and two freezer meals (I cook and freeze soups , casseroles and other stuff quarterly) a week. Any dinner prep is done the night before or at 6am. I don't feel stressed if dinner is done.

 

This s very individual. What you can handle or want is different. You need to figure out what you want to support and how you can support it without being stressed. That balance is different for every family. The things families do to keep the balance are different too.

[mlktwins]

I have twin 2nd graders. We have more activities this year -- will be interesting. Here is our extras schedule.

 

Sunday - church

Monday - nothing

Tuesday - soccer practice in the evening (into early Nov)

Wednesday - Robotics class in the afternoon

Thursday - soccer practice in the evening (into early Nov)

Friday - swim lessons in the afternoon

Saturday - soccer game (into early Nov)

 

I am keeping all weekday activities to afternoon/evening in order to get school done first -- except we will be out Tuesday mornings for my WW meetings. For that, the boys will visit with Nana and Grampy while I do grocery shopping or other errands after the meeting.

 

I'm trying to meal plan on the weekends and make sure I have everything on hand for the week. I am looking to be low stress. We shall see :-).

[Mimm]

Everything piled up on Wednesday this year. On one hand, I like that, but on the other, it feels like we are home too much.

 

Wednesday we have co-op, piano lessons, church in the evenings.

Friday we have orchestra (my kids will be learning a second instrument).

 

And that's it for now. We've dropped a few things, most notably, Tae Kwon Do (which we may pick back up) and ballet. Also, we aren't doing Robotics this year.

 

We will be starting archery up at some point soon.

[Donna]

I have been enjoying our last week with fewer activities because the madness begins again this coming week after the holiday.

 

Mondays-football games for ds(14)

Tuesdays-wrestling practice ds(16)

Wednesdays- nothing...yet

Thursdays- wrestling practice

Fridays- violin practice with practice partner (maybe moved to Tuesdays), violin lesson, orchestra rehearsal all for dd(10)...yes we are out of the house all day long

Saturday or Sunday- trips to NY for fiddle lessons, Irish music gigs or sessions, weekend camps, etc....

[catz]

We don't have our schedule nailed down yet. My kids go to a circus arts program that is always annoyingly late with their schedule. But my kids (between the 2 of them) do music lessons with groups and performance committments, dance, circus arts, theater, my oldest is going to try a class at a co-op this fall, Spanish, playgroups. When my son is doing theater, we have weeks where we have no evenings at home. We typically sign up for 2-3 field trips a month on average too.

 

I think every family is unique here. My kids are extroverted and I've arranged my life so I can go for a jog or go run errands while they're at activities. Some families need more time at home. Some kids thrive on going to school and being booked all evening too. My kids are both ahead academically and that part of the day usually goes fast for them. I'm not in a race to get them to college, so slow and steady, and rabbit trails are typical around here.

[shanvan]

This thread is a relief to me. So many people think we are crazy for having such a busy schedule, but we've examined each activity carefully and they each serve important purposes in our children's education. I'm glad to see we are not alone.

[ncmom2dawters]

Thank you to those who have shared so far! It is helpful to see your posts.

 

My daughters are 6th & 7th grades. Our schedule right now (including travel) has us out of the house (at minimum)...

 

Mon. 5:15-8:45 basketball - 6th grader

 

Tues. 1:15-3:30 ...some weeks 12:15-3:30 - sign class + 6:15-8:45ish AHG - 7th grader (I am a unit leader)

 

Wed. - 2x-3x a month 1:00-4:30ish - service club (I started & am helping lead)+ library

 

Thurs - nonacademic co-op (I teach a club) + piano 12:15-5

 

Fri. - we are actually home

 

Sat. - 1-2x a month service or activity with AHG

 

Sun. - church - we've not yet joined any of the youth activities Sun. nor Wed. evening

 

I did not think basketball would start until Nov. when some of our activities would be ending. I've learned in Oct. we'll be adding at least one other day to the basketball schedule.

 

I also have my own small business. Work is sporadic. This week I worked Wed. & Fri. nights (well until about 1-2 AM the next day), Sat. AM then evening and will work some today.

 

My daughters, especially my oldest, were the first to express concern because they need more time for their school work. Leaving the house three days a week after lunch is just not working. We start school at 8:30. I've thought about starting earlier but our Mon. & Tues. night activities get us to bed late by the time we get home and wind down.

 

We all agree the class Tues. afternoon should be the first to be dropped. However, I committed for the semester. I feel awful about breaking my word if we drop out. Yet, if something does not give, it is going to be an unpleasant semester at our house. I think it is more the times of our activities than the number that is actually causing our problem.

Edited September 2, 2012 by ncmom2dawters

[Momof3littles]

Fall and Spring baseball for DS1 (8 yo). In fall ball, all games are on weekends, and sometimes there are 2 games per weekend. But practice seems to only be about one day per week. 5.5 yo dd is doing ballet again; last year she had a class at 5:30 but traffic is terrible at that time of day. It is a short distance but it takes us forever to get there during that time of day. This year I have her taking a class at 2pm. It cuts into our day a bit and messes a little with DS2's naptime, but I think it will be nice to not go in the evening. When DH travels for work, it is tough to juggle dance and baseball for DS1 if there is a conflict, so I opted for the afternoon class. DS1 can do some work while he waits. Before the Nutcracker, she'll have rehearsals in the evening periodically, and that will just increase as she gets older. Many of the 8-9 yo girls are there until 8:30-9 pm participating in rehearsals, which are all outside of class time. DD is in pre-ballet II, so this is probably our last year that we'll be able to do an afternoon class vs. an evening class. Hopefully in another year I can leave DS1 for a bit if I need to drop off or pick up DD at dance on a night when DH is traveling for work.

 

We do a small academic co-op 1 day per week.

 

DS1 is considering a Lego class available locally, but I am not sure about adding something else. Thankfully it is a punch card thing, but it is one more thing to drive to, and one more thing that will mess with DS2's nap.

[Amber in SJ]

I have a 10th grader, a 4th grader and a 2nd grader. Our schedule looks like this:

 

Monday- early afternoon guitar for one & piano for another (both teachers come to me. This is the day I do my "big prep & cooking" for the week

 

Tuesday- 10th grader takes outside Math class where she leaves at 11:30am & returns at 2:45pm. 10th grader assists in 4pm TKD class, 4th & 2nd graders take 5pm TKD class, 10th grader takes 7pm class. This is a crockpot or freezer meal night.

 

Wednesday- Entire family goes to choir rehearsal at 10am, library time at 11:30-12:30 then we walk home. 10th & 4th grader spend 2-4pm with an elderly friend learning to crochet, knit, sew and helping with light housework & entertainment.

10th grader has church youth group at 7pm.

 

Thursday- See Tuesday, but add date night.

 

Friday- Park day/ Co-op 3-5pm. Pizza/ Movie Night (homemade pizza & netflix or library movie) only interrupted when 10th grader has TKD forms class 2X/ month

 

Saturday- AM Ballet for 4th grader, AM TKD for 2nd & 10th grader.

 

Sunday- A day of rest that includes 3 hours of church, teaching 11 yo Sunday School and choir rehearsal.

 

Keep in mind that I do not drive, so all of these activities with the exception of church & ballet require a 20-30 minute walk each way. The 10th grader takes the light rail to her math class. The station is 1 mile away and the class is 1 mile from the other station. The 10th grader also takes a daily religion class from 6-6:50am everyday.

 

Whew! I am tired just typing that all out!

 

Amber in SJ

[torikei]

Mondays, we have violin, tennis, gymnastics, tumbling. Tuesdays are free and I'm trying to refuse to schedule anything on Tuesdays. Wednesdays we have gymnastics, tumbling and art classes. Thursdays we have tennis, gymnastics, and tumbling. Fridays are bowling league days. Saturday is gymnastics while Sunday is reserved for church and choir. My children aren't involved in a great number of activities. Everyone is involved in 1 or 2 things but nobody is really doing the same thing. I do tell them that going to public school would change this. We have to have some family time--ours is during the day. There are a few things I would like to change. Violin is smack dab in the middle of the day. I hate that. It interrupts our school and means I leave the house at 1:45 and don't get home until very late.

 

Tori

[Luckymama]

. I think it is more the times of our activities than the number that is actually causing our problem.

 

OP that could be the problem. My dd is in a lot of activities but the earliest starts at 3:30. The school day isn't interrupted at all.

 

In your case, I guess I would start school earlier on those days you have to leave right after lunch. Blech! Good luck :001_smile:

[m0mmaBuck]

Last year we were much busier:

Monday: DD's AHG

Tuesday: DD's dance and DD/DS rock climbing

Weds: DS's D&D and DD's AWANA and DSS Venture Crew

Thursday: various BSA committee meetings

Friday: DD/DS football or baseball (seasonal) and DS's Cub Scouts

 

This year we have toned it down. Only Weds and Fri have "must attend" activities (and Fri's may shift to Mon):

Tues: DS/DD rockclimbing (optional)

Weds: DS D&D, DD AHG, DD Awana

Thurs: DS/DD rocklimbing (optional)

Fri: DS Scouts

 

This will open up time for field trips, spontaneous bowling/skating/minigolf outings, and other fun. I want to make this year more relaxed and fun.

[Leah IL]

We are cross country/track runners in our family. My three teens run on a homeschool high school team in the Spring and Fall. They practice Monday through Thursday from 4-6 pm with meets on Saturdays and occasional weekdays, but my oldest drives now, so that is much less strain on me. My oldest also works about 20 hours per week. It is his responsibility to make all this work *in addition* to his schoolwork. He is learning a LOT about priorities!!

 

The younger three (9 yrs and 5 yr old twins) are on a free running team that meets three evenings a week which I help coach. The team meets three days a week, but it is casual with no pressure whatsoever to attend all practices. We generally go twice a week, sometimes all three. There are some meets in the Fall on Saturdays that we attend.

[myfunnybunch]

This thread is a relief to me. So many people think we are crazy for having such a busy schedule, but we've examined each activity carefully and they each serve important purposes in our children's education. I'm glad to see we are not alone.

 

:iagree:

 

Each child does music lessons and a physical activity as a part of school. 6th grade ds is adding a foreign language. All three boys have choir as an extra activity. They also have some individual interests that they want to pursue, and we've trying to figure out how to incorporate those, timewise and financially.

 

M- Karate, Spanish, Choir for the younger boys followed by choir for the oldest.

Tu-NOTHING. Ds9 wants to add ice skating.

W-Spanish, Guitar, Karate. Ds11 & ds9 want to add golf class.

Th-Piano, Karate

F-Swimming, Library Day. I'd like to add an art class, but I don't think we've got time.

Sa-We keep this open for house cleaning and family time.

Su-Church

 

I think we've got a good balance right now for the kids. Dh took over karate, so I have one activity for which I am not responsible.

 

Cat

[Tidbits of Learning]

We just finished our 2nd week of school. The general consensus is we are overcommitted this year. Those who have middle school age children ... how many activities are you involved with? How many days/how much time do you find yourself out of the house?

 

We've always homeschooled and until this year have found some balance between the extracurricular and getting our schooling done. I'm already dreading the stress ahead next week to fit everything in!

 

I have 2 middle schoolers, an elementary schooler, and a kindergartener. Last year was the first year that I really had to start watching our commitments. The girls really needed to get their work finished.

We had always done a co-op and dropped it mid-year. The big thing was activities during the day when you need to be schooling.

We picked up after school 4H last year that worked well. Our son does scouts which is also after school. We were able to make it to some of the big field trips of the year such as the Corn Maze at Halloween. We did the Christmas Cantata. We did basketball and soccer in the winter and spring. Again, all of that was after school hours. Basketball practice and soccer practice was after school and games were on the weekend.

We could not be on the go all the time and get it all done. They didn't want to work diligently after the fun of being gone all morning. It was also overwhelming and they were doing poor work just to get it done. My suggestion would be to only be out and about during school hours 1x a week if necessary.

My daughters are 6th & 7th grades. Our schedule right now (including travel) has us out of the house (at minimum)...

 

Mon. 5:15-8:45 basketball - 6th grader

 

Tues. 1:15-3:30 ...some weeks 12:15-3:30 - sign class + 6:15-8:45ish AHG - 7th grader (I am a unit leader)

 

Wed. - 2x-3x a month 1:00-4:30ish - service club (I started & am helping lead)+ library

 

Thurs - nonacademic co-op (I teach a club) + piano 12:15-5

 

Fri. - we are actually home

 

Sat. - 1-2x a month service or activity with AHG

 

Sun. - church - we've not yet joined any of the youth activities Sun. nor Wed. evening

You are going to be seriously burnt out or you are going to have to school until 9pm to get it all done. Is the basketball on Mondays after school? Anything before 3:30 pm needs to be re-evaluated. You have already said no one will miss the Tuesday class. If I were looking at your schedule, I would say you have to choose between Wed.'s service club and Thurs.'s co-op. Only keep one on the schedule. Don't feel bad for putting your family's needs ahead of another commitment.

I felt bad dropping co-op mid-year last year, but we had accomplished so little of our actual school work. We had to school through the summer and that wasn't fun at all. If you don't cut back now, then you will be so far behind at Christmas. I know. Christmas was the breaking point for me last year. We were only 1/2 way through where we should have been with our school work.

We try not to be out at all during the school day, but are doing a co-op again this year as long as the kids are on track with school work. I make sure that the load is light on Wednesday so we can finish our school work before co-op. It is the only day we leave the house during school hours. We don't join any field trips that are before lunch time and we only go to park days that start at 1 on Fridays. We only go then if all the school is done.

I no longer commit way in advance. I am vague. I see how our school week is going. I learned to pass the baton to others. There were commitments that I started last year that I had to get someone to take over. They did a great job. There is just no way to get through a middle school academic day and be out of the house that much.