How to keep busy kids balanced?

[Cakes]

This is a bit of a cross post, but reworded :-)

 

I have a lovely and bright young girl, 11, who is a rising 7th grader. We will be switching to home school either for 7th or for 8th...waiting on a domino effect to make that determination. 

 

This child is a very driven dancer who is also a perfectionistic straight A advanced student. She has a very busy school year schedule with little down time. The down time that she has she likes to use in front of the TV typically while on her iPad. Yuck, but I get it. We all need to unwind and this is her way.

 

Now it is summer time I have 3 non negotiable daily requirements. 30 mins math (interactive online program...she chooses to do 4 sections which actually takes 30-60 minutes), 30 mins of reading and her physical therapy exercises which take about an hour. She has opted to add in swimming, 3x per week for an hour, as cross training for dance, at the recommendation of her teacher. She is also choosing to dance 8 hours a week ( 2 hours per day @ 4 days) the entire month of July to prepare for a summer intensive she is doing in Aug, which will have her dancing 6 hours a day for two weeks. And then of course there are the friends who come over to swim/ hang out and sleepovers. Playdates are frequent, probably 3-5 times per week.

 

Sheesh, even I am tired.

 

She also wants to write a series of books and start a blog, but I already know that won't happen with out assistance from me which very easily comes off as nagging....and really defeats the purpose. I know that if writing is not built into the schedule then it simply won't happen. But then that was her idea not mine, so maybe I should let it alone.

 

Even in summer she is quite busy. HOWEVER there are many hours in a day and my requirements only keep her busy for 2-3 (depending on how much time she spends on math). We are implementing no TV summer between the hours of 10-5. 

 

I am just wondering how everyone else handles summer free time AND how to you keep them reading and doing other great stuff? How do other families who are busy with extra-curriculars balance down time and work? With her schedule should I just back off and allow her to lounge and play on her iPad and not sweat it? 

 

 

[Ellie]

 

I am just wondering how everyone else handles summer free time AND how to you keep them reading and doing other great stuff? How do other families who are busy with extra-curriculars balance down time and work? With her schedule should I just back off and allow her to lounge and play on her iPad and not sweat it? 

 

Yes.

 

I never worried about keeping the dc reading or doing other great stuff.

 

If my dc had had the schedule your dd does, I wouldn't worry about down time or "work" (I'm assuming you mean Official School Stuff?).

 

I would probably not schedule "play dates." (In fact, that is a term I never heard until I began posting here.) When we were not running around doing all those classes and whatnot, we would be totally *home.*

[Cakes]

Thank you both for the perspective.

 

BTW, I hate the term play dates and I do not plan them for her. She likes to be busy (obviously) and pushes to spend time with friends as often as possible, given how hard she pushes herself I do my best to accommodate get togethers as often as possible. This is not a child who LIKES to lounge around a lot, but will default to lounging if there is nothing more interesting to do. I guess she needs her lounge time and I won't sweat it. 

[mom2scouts]

I also have a very hardworking dancer.  I would let your dd do what she wants in her free time. It seems she already has a balanced life between productive activities and hanging out with friends.

[Storygirl]

DD12 is also a dancer. Although my personal preference would be to school year round, with a lighter schedule in the summer to allow time for swimming and playing outside, etc., the reality is that she is just too busy. This summer she has two weeks at our local studio (8:45-2:30 daily), followed by four weeks at a ballet summer intensive in a city two hours away. Those classes will run 9-5ish, and she and DH will be commuting most days. That will be followed by a week at church camp with her cousin. So she has seven straight weeks of an extremely busy schedule. Crazy, but it is the normal life of a young dancer.  During these weeks, I will ask her to complete a lesson or two of math if possible so that she will not forget what she has learned (this likely will not happen every single week), and she will read books of her choice for the library summer reading program.  That's it.

 

Whenever she's home, the rest of our family will enjoy having her around, and we'll try to hit the pool as much as possible since she will not be able to swim for much or the summer. A couple of summers ago I thought I would have her do some academics in the evenings, but it just didn't work for her. She needs some time just to relax. We never invite friends over, but that's just our family culture. She has her social time when she is at dance, and her time at home is for family, so we don't have to fit in sleepovers, etc.