How expensive are your kids' extra curriculars, music, sports, art and various related activities?

[Pen]

I realize that even for the same exact activity it could vary a lot depending on where people are located and the level of involvement, and perhaps age, of the children, but I am wondering what others of you are doing and how much it is costing. Also, I am wondering if children help to contribute to meeting activity costs and if so, how. And does it matter if the activity is one they want to do or one you have pushed them to do (if you have such distinctions)? Do you have a yearly budget for extras per each child and if so, and if you are willing to share about that, how much is it and how did you decide what was reasonable?

 

I am interested in both what is "outsourced" and what perhaps in your situation can be done at home.

 

 

[Rosie_0801]

I spend more money on petrol than I do on the extra-curriculars. One homeschool group is at a park, so costs nothing but petrol. The other may be at a park on in a hall. If it is in the hall, it costs $5 for hall hire and occasionally a few bob extra to cover materials. Art lessons cost $10 per week, plus materials and that's just basic drawing supplies, so not much. Swimming lessons cost about $12 per lesson. That includes any extra pool admittance, for her, so if my mother has appointments in that town, we'll hitch a lift with her so dd can practice a bit more.

[Chris in VA]

We pay a dollar a minute for piano lessons. Dr pays for her own mission trip thru funds she earns by setting up our church's bell choir practice tables each week, and by participating in other fundraising opportunities. She takes the ps orchestra trip and pays about a third of it by doing weekend lockup at our church.

[Butter]

A small fortune.  About $5,000 a year for taekwondo (but that is for all 6 of us, and includes kickboxing which my husband and oldest son take, and two are training to become instructors; two of us do 2 hours a week, one does 2-3 hours a week, one does 4-6 hours a week, and the other two practically live there).  Then there is extra private lessons here and there with masters.  For example, the two oldest did an almost 2 hour XMA private lesson with Mr. Chat (blue Power Ranger from Lightspeed Rescue) yesterday and a 3 1/2 hour seminar with him today and that sort of thing adds $500-1000 more a year.  My middle son does swim team which is $70 a season (2 months once a year).  Last summer that one did swimming lessons (he loves swimming as much as my oldest loves taekwondo!) for 6 weeks for $40 a week (4 lessons a week).  Both of the little two may take a week or two of swim lessons this summer, too.  Other activities are just random and cheap.  Like we usually go to the monthly homeschool skate time.  That's $5 a kid.

 

The kids do not contribute to expenses currently, however once the older two are paid employees of the taekwondo school, they will be contributing since it more than doubles our cost for them to be training to become instructors and spend so much time taking classes than if we just did the basic at least two classes a week for the family.

[FO4UR]

I'm guessing it has been about 1,000 for all 3 kids this year.  That includes basketball, piano, gymnastics, swimming pool pass, and any gear that goes along with those things.

 

 

[Mom2OandE]

We dropped Piano two months ago. Our lessons were at our house but $30 for 30 minutes. Dd is pursuing her real passion and it's expensive.

 

Rhythmic Gynnastics..... 10 hours a week $275/month, gear and Leo's $500-1000 a year, choreography and private lessons $4-500 a year, meets and coaches fees $200-350 each plus travel expenses for her and us. We had four this year of which two involved flying to other states. We fight like mad to make it happen and sacrifice a fair amount of other things. It keeps her grounded and focused.

 

Edited to add in summers and fall she pet sits and helps neighbors. Last year (11 at the time) she earned enough to pay for choreography and private lessons.

[Mabelen]

We dropped Piano two months ago. Our lessons were at our house but $30 for 30 minutes. Dd is pursuing her real passion and it's expensive.

 

Rhythmic Gynnastics..... 10 hours a week $275/month, gear and Leo's $500-1000 a year, choreography and private lessons $4-500 a year, meets and coaches fees $200-350 each plus travel expenses for her and us. We had four this year of which two involved flying to other states. We fight like mad to make it happen and sacrifice a fair amount of other things. It keeps her grounded and focused.

You are paying less for 10 hours a week than what I was paying for 6 hours a week for my daughter. For that amount of hours, our gym charges over $400 a month. Other gyms in our area are comparable in cost. One of the reasons why we just stopped, however beautiful the sport is.

[Jackie]

My child is only in kindy, so though we do several activities, they are all low commitment, not competitive, and generally inexpensive. The particular lineup changes as I let her choose activities for different sessions. Her current sessions are ending and since she will be camping a bit over the summer, we won't start up again until fall. In the fall, she will do one music lesson, one sport, and 1-2 other classes of her choice.

 

For music, she will start with a weekly Meet the Instruments lessons (a music studio that has a variety of instruments on hand for students to try out and will do introductory lessons using any of them that a child is interested in) and then choose an instrument for ongoing lessons. The Meet the Instruments lessons cost $25 per half hour session. Most instrument teachers around here charge $20 per half hour. Obviously, once she chooses an instrument, there will be the expense of buying that instrument.

 

For sports, there will be a variety of introductory, minimally competitive sports through the YMCA or Parks and Rec. Sessions typically run 6-8 weeks for $40-50 per session. There are sometimes incidental costs, like needing a mitt for tee ball. She'll participate in about 4-5 of these sessions over the next year. My husband and I are generally unathletic and I want her to explore sports. She won't be exposed to them through us directly.

 

Other lessons she has done, and will probably cycle through again, are dance, gymnastics, and swim. these are through the Y or a local dance studio. Sessions are usually 8 weeks long for $40-70 each.

 

The amount was decided upon somewhat randomly. It could be altered if needed, in either direction.

[Brit29]

My high estimate is $1000 a year. That includes piano, gymnastic, swimming lessons, and dance. It also includes swimming lessons for my son, but doesn't include their soccer league, since it's not year round. 

[sdobis]

$40 per kid for track

$500 for football

$12 per week for homeschool skate

$25 per week for art lessons

 

My son has a job. He will pay 100% for football this year, but we've always paid in the past.

My daughter is going to missions camp. She's doing odd jobs to pay for it. She loves to find ways to make money. She wants to participate in a $50 track camp and has offered to pay for it.

[Sneezyone]

We're at $7-8K/year with the bulk going to gymnastics. DD is competing two levels/seasons this year so leos x2, assessments x2, meet fees and travel x2. Monthly tuition for 14 hrs. is $320.

 

Pinto league baseball is under $300 for the whole year, including pictures, uniforms and equipment. I would like to transition him to track tho. DS might re-start piano this summer at $35/lesson. We'll see.

 

Both will have summer swimming lessons but I'm not sure about the price yet.

 

As DC get older, they may be able to make some $$ babysitting, teaching toddler classes, working fast food, etc. but they will not be expected to contribute to most extra curriculars unless DH and I can't afford it anymore. We require 70-75% of the kids' income and cash to go into savings.

 

ETA: DH has always been willing to fund physical and academic activities to the extent our kids' passions drive them and our budget allows, but we will not fund things like cars (we'll match), formal dances and greek memberships. The kids will pay that out of savings.

[regentrude]

Currently, DS is doing Judo and TKD.

Judo $45/month, 4 hours/week

TKD $25/month, 4 hours/week.

plus gear and occasional travel to tournaments

 

DD used to ride horses and sing in choir.

riding $30/lesson. leasing a horse was $200/month

children's choir $150/semester ; university choir free

 

We fund those activities. Our budget allows it without requiring the kids to contribute.

[madteaparty]

We've chosen to spend a lot for foreign language instruction. I'm not going to add that up ;)

I can see sports getting expensive but DS is not serious about any sports so I stopped spending there. Piano and art classes are inexpensive here, it's a rural area. I would pay more, frankly.

[3andme]

I don't think I want to add it up but it's over $8,000 a year for 3 children.
 

Gymnastics (9 hrs a week) + travel etc.. - $4,000/yr

Rock Climbing - (2 hrs a week) - $1500/yr

Piano Lessons - $45/week appx. $2000/yr

 

Summer Camps - $1500

 

[SKL]

Horse riding:  $50/kid x 2 kids x ~40 weeks per year.  $4,000.

Little Gym:  was roughly $3,000 per year (for 2 kids) for as many classes as they wanted to take.  It will be less if we only sign up for 1 class next year.  (Still deciding.)

TaeKwonDo:  about $3,000 one-time fee to take all 3 of us up to Black Belt, plus belt testing fees of $60/belt/person.

Rec Center family membership:  around $320 discounted.  Unlimited swimming, use of indoor track and exercise equipment, discounts on classes....

Rec Center swim team:  $65/kid/6-8wk session so about $800/yr for 2 kids (if we keep going year round).

Rec Center soccer:  Can't remember.  :)  I think it was $70/kid for the year (Spring & Fall seasons).

Piano (we are dropping after May):  $19/half hour/kid.  We have been going biweekly this Spring.  When the teacher came to the kids' school, it was weekly and totaled about $1,200 for the school year.  I will start teaching them at home in June.

Yoga:  $7/class/kid when it is offered.

Archery:  $2/class/kid when it is offered.

Scouts:  modest annual amount, maybe a couple hundred bucks.

Natural History Museum:  $90/year family membership, includes all sorts of programs + parking.

[Arcadia]

Music, art and sports are considered fine arts and PE so we spend a lot on outsource classes but none for extracurricular. We spend close to $10k this year on outsourcing. It would be higher next year as my 9 year old's flute lesson is currently a group class which is much cheaper than the typical one to one rate in my area. My 10 year old might start lessons too instead of self learning. Lowest rate is $50/30mins so far for one to one music lessons since we haven't decide on teachers.

 

My kids aren't doing any competitive sports so our sports expenditure is very low, since we have a condo pool to swim in, free tennis courts to play in and leisure golf for juniors is cheap for residents at the city's golf course. Competitive golf and tennis lessons would be costly.

[maize]

Too much.

[happypamama]

Martial arts for the three older children, soon to be a little more to include the fourth child -- one class a week for each child -- more than I pay for the loan on my van. And worth every penny and every minute I drive and wait.

 

Occasional homeschool science classes at a local college (2 1/2 hours each) -- $10 per child. Very high quality, especially for the money.

 

Current MusIQ subscription for keyboard that I need to cancel because they're just not using it that much (Rocksmith and Synthesia have taken over) -- $12 a month, whether it's one person or seven. Synthesia and Rocksmith cost initially for the keyboard, guitars, cords, and programs, but now they only cost the occasional few dollars if people want new songs, and the kids are learning to play guitar and keyboard pretty well.

 

Support group -- $10 per year, which gets us some social events for free, plus periodic field trips or other events varying in price from a couple of dollars for the family to $5 or so a person. Plus a large investment of my time and energy since I'm on the Board of Directors.

 

Homeschool classes/events at the library -- free, although we haven't actually participated in any, since they're not really at a great time for us. But we could!

 

Kids did a free tennis camp for several weeks in the past summers, but they don't want to this year.

 

And that's really it. More doesn't work right now because of time, finances, and logistics, and that's okay! When my parents are staying at a nearby campground (which they do for large parts of the summer), we swim at the pool there, so they do have some swimming skills.

[Shellydon]

Piano $60 per month for weekly lessons, same for violin. Guitar $80 per month for weekly lessons.  When we did gymnastics, $85 per month for weekly practice. Currently spend $200 per month on music for 3 kids.

 

Co-op classes cost us $1800 ish each year.

[Amira]

Oldest ds has guitar, middle does piano. Each of their teachers comes to the house for weekly, hour-long lessons for about $65/month at the current exchange rate. They play hockey twice a week for an hour for about $55/month each. Oldest ds has a programming teacher who comes for 90 minutes a week and we pay him $100/month. Middle ds has a weekly hour-long design class for $65/month. That teacher also comes to the house. They also have a Spanish teacher who comes three times a week, but that's not an extracurricular here. We pay him at a slightly higher rate than the other teachers and he teaches the boys separately.

 

We've never been able to do so many extracurriculars before except in Kyrgyzstan. There we paid something like $25/term for the two older boys to do after-school activities at an international school. They went 2-3 days a week for an hour or two in the afternoons. Right now dh's employer pays for most of the extracurriculars which is a major advantage to some international jobs.

[kiwik]

Ds6 does gym at $80 for each 10 week term (4 school terms a year). Ds8 does French at $130 a term, soccer $65 a 3 month season and will be doing netball for 10 weeks at $25. Both boys do free mini soccer through the school in the first and fourth terms if it doesn't clash with anything. Ds8 may do cricket this summer and my mother will pay for them to do a two week swimming intensive ($110 each) in the fourth term. Honestly on my income it is a stretch but it is cheaper than paying for the gifted programme. DS8 loves French but he did tell me today that he would like it to go faster.

[Loesje22000]

Arts Lessons - 60 euro / year

folkdance - 50 euro / year

 

Day activities during schoolholiday: 8 euro / day

 

Summercamp:

150, 300, 200 euro / week

Two of them are all in, one just daycamp but with ponies

 

Belgium is pretty socialistic in some ways.

The positive side of it are cheap youth activities.

[LMD]

Just added it up and we're at over $5000 a year for violin lessons for dd, ds1 & ds2. Their teacher is an amazing Suzuki teacher and includes group, theory & string orchestra sessions. That amount doesn't include instrument maintenance, strings & bow re hairing is probably another $500-$1000 per year...

 

That is more than $100 per week and is as far as our budget stretches, this is where we have chosen to invest our money and time.

 

My inlaws sometimes pay for school holiday swimming classes.

[snowbeltmom]

We average about $1500 per month during the school year and about $2500 per month during the summer months for tennis for my two youngest.  That total includes the everyday costs of lessons/clinics and tournament expenses that include transportation costs, hotel rooms, entry fees, etc. 

[MEmama]

The only extracurriculars DS currently has are sports. Most are through the public middle school so those are free, except hockey and Nordic skiing. Last year those were around $200 each (skiing was through a private school, but he might change teams next year and hopefully the cost will go down).

 

He competes in a lot of 5k and 10k races, bike criteriums, and triathlons throughout the region, so that cost adds up. If we have to travel for an overnight, we just make a fun family adventure out of it and do other stuff together after his racing.

[SporkUK]

Hobby Group they made with some other local kids is free other than transport to their friends' house or food when they come here every few months. They do sports and gaming and tree climbing and such through this depending on what they decide this week - or what the older kids decide that the younger kids can do and will go along with  ;)

 

St John Ambulance is £6 each per month plus their uniforms which were about £25 each for A-8 and M-5 who are Badgers and just over £40 for two uniforms for O-10 who is a Cadet. The uniform costs will go up once they're old enough to train to be a Cadet First Aider as they require special hi-vis coats for when they do events cover (which O-10 is very excited about becoming but is still a few years off for him as they need to be 14, I think) plus transportation costs which so far are pretty low as it is just down the road from us but will go up once they can and want to volunteer for events cover. They do so much there that it's good value for money on top of being able to learn how to do so much good with others. 

 

We did a BSL family course last year, but that was funded by a local charity group so only cost transport. They're continuing with the local practice group and an online course which will be a few bob. O-10 will hopefully be joining the kids course for BSL this autumn after he turns 11 which will give him much better practice and leads to qualification in it. They do local workshops for other things but I don't spend much on that, maybe £50 for each of them in a year - but that's likely to go up s they get older for other things. For now, I teach music and art, but my eldest is likely to need more in the next year or so which I haven't found prices for locally yet. 

 

So, not very much, less than £500 a year for all of them, but I foresee this shooting up in the future when more opportunities are available to them.

[UCF612]

Oldest does swim team and basketball but not in the same season. Swim is 4 days a week at $40/month. Bball is $65 for the season.

 

Youngest does soccer 2 times a year at $65/season.

 

Both are starting golf this summer, which is free but if they love it I don't know what we'll do for continued lessons.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

We do martial arts once a week @ $165/month for the six of us. We're still white belts and I don't know what grading costs. I need to find out in case any of us made the list to grade next week.

 

The girls and I did a 3 month sign language class that was $100 per family. We'll probably do it again in the fall.

 

The kids all take piano lessons. I teach the younger two and mine and DH's former teacher teaches the older two. He doesn't charge us though so piano is free except for buying books occasionally.

 

Every year we get a family membership to a museum, zoo, or aquarium. This year, two local living history museums offered a deal where you could buy a membership to one and get a free membership to the other. It was $65 and they're both great museums that my kids love.

 

I'd love to add swimming lessons at some point. I nearby town is offering free lessons this summer but they're only registering residents right now. I'm hoping they'll still have spaces left when they open it up to non-residents. We could pay for lessons somewhere but we want to be careful not to over extend ourselves financially.

[Chrysalis Academy]

My kids' extracurriculars are absolutely limited due to cost. They both want horseback riding lessons and horse camp, that's our biggest single expense.  Lessons run $135/month, and this includes a work-trade Shannon does for one lesson a month.  I can't afford another fee like that for Morgan, plus she's not old enough to do a work trade, so she does vaulting at $48/month.  Camps run $400/week for day camp and $800 for sleepaway camp. Again, Shannon is able to work off part of the cost for her sleepaway camp.  The kids' contributions are that when relatives give cash for birthdays, Xmas, etc. the cash goes to lessons/camp.  And Shannon works - once a week during the school year, and a couple of weeks each summer wrangling for the day camps.  I like that her contribution is labor, working for something she cares about and learning in the process.  I wish they could do more, but I can't afford more till Morgan is old enough to start work-trading too.

 

The other big thing is theater - $500 for a 3-week theater camp, $100 for classes, main stage productions are technically fee-free, but with required ticket purchases etc. it's usually ~$200/show.  That is dirt cheap, as Shannon is outgrowing the local program I look around and see that typical fees run ~$600 for a main stage production. Not sure how we'll pull that off.

 

So, $3500/year for horseback riding, and $1500/year for theater?  seems about right.  And this is why they don't do any of the other things they'd like too - no instruments, voice, dance, etc.  Kids are expensive!

[Ethel Mertz]

Jazz Drumming Lessons = $1,200 a year. Sticks, music, and occasional replacement of cymbals and drum set components add another $500 a year.

 

Voice Lessons = $960 a year

 

A week of Adubon summer camp = $800

 

Summer swim lessons = $100

 

Yearly birding conference = $300

 

Total = $3,860  

 

Yikes. I had no idea.  :svengo:

[J&JMom]

I am surprised to see the wide spectrum of prices for similar activities.

 

Last year my two boys took TKD lessons at a local church for $7 a class (2 classes a week x 2 boys) ~ $120/month, but we dropped this year because DS12 wanted to join a gaming club that meets on the same night.  Other TKD schools charge almost 2x and we just can't/won't afford that.

 

Local Rec center for indoor track/basketball court/pool for $750 a year for our family.  

 

Scouts. $1,500-$2,000 a year for dues, uniforms, camp outs/activities (usually about 6 a year each boy), gear, and summer week camps. As DS12 ages into the high adventure stuff, the camps will increase dramatically (summer from $225 to $700 or more).  He better sell a lot of popcorn, lol. 

 

Piano:  Currently, DS9 is in lessons along with myself for $80 a month per person plus books. I hope to get DS12 enrolled in the fall. I taught them at home and it wasn't a pleasant experience (by the time our homeschool day was done, I had no patience left over for piano) so music has a bad taste in his mouth. But the teacher is wonderful so I hope he'll warm up to her and music again.

 

Memberships: We have a museum membership at $100 a year.  We go to the zoo 1-2x a year on half price day for $20 each, and other museums when cheap or free.  However, we did go sleep overnight at NASA with Scouts and stay three more days to visit family and museums - that trip cost over $500 and, yes, it was school :)

 

So, replacing TKD with piano, rec center, and scouts, we pay about  $5,500-$6,000 a year.

[Mabelen]

Ours is on the high end. My daughter loves being involved in several activities. She just ended the most expensive one, rhythmic gymnastics, in part due to high costs and also due to its extensive time requirements. That still leaves two dance classes at $65.00 a month and piano at $25.00 per 30 minute class for year round activities. Then swimming in the summer is around $250.00 and we add a couple of inexpensive water sports half day camps at $100.00 per week. We are planning on buying our city museum family annual membership for $200.00 and she wants to start a new less intense and expensive sport which would be around $100.00 a month to start.

[SeaConquest]

Soccer is currently around $500/year, but will increase to $1000-1500/year if he moves to the academy team for U8.

Guitar lessons = $125/month

Mixed Martial Arts = $160/month

Summer Camp = $1200/month

Homeschool PE class = $50/month

Parkour = $40/month

Swimming =  $170/month

[Pen]

I want to thank everyone for replies thus far. I'd give every post a like, but haven't got enough likes.

 

I am learning about some different things that seem to exist in different places like St. John Ambulance which sound interesting. And what is BSL?

 

And Audubon Summer Camp, and several others also sound interesting to know more about.

 

All these replies led me to more questions also. How did you end up trying the activities that you tried, and how did the children (or you) find a particular one for them to focus on, if they did?

 

 

 

We have done things that seemed to pop up, or "came our way" so to speak, or that ds learned about somehow and asked to find if there was a way to do that where we are, or that I thought he should give a try.  Some things we have tried to do have not worked out, like last summer (I think it was, how time flies) a theater program we signed up for and which was supposed to be significant for ds's summer folded.

 

In retrospect some activities tried have turned out to be not very good fits, but I guess at least interesting to have had the experience.  Others even if not followed up on for a long time have seemed more valuable.

 

We have some activities that could be free or almost free, but they may not be ones that ds has been drawn to.

 

Where I am private lessons we've tried tend to run around $25 - $30 per session whether the session is an hour or half an hour--when it is for an hour it is usually either a less experienced teacher or an activity that includes preparation (example, horseback riding lesson tends to be on the long side, but includes grooming the horse, saddling it if it will be ridden with a saddle and so on).  Group lessons or fees generally run less than that.  Group things have been nice for the social aspects sometimes, but progress has tended to be made faster with a private lesson.

 

We are in a rural area, and I have a disability so things available very locally have been favored. Otherwise things that are located in our nearest "city" which is itself pretty small for a city.  I have also tended to make it just one special outside activity per any time period. This summer ds would like more than one special activity--which especially in view of the theater program that got cancelled leaving nothing seems okay if we can manage to swing it, but I think we may try to alternate a few different things instead of trying to do more than one of them in the same week.... like one or two brush up guitar lessons, a horseback riding lesson some weeks and maybe something group from parks and recreation department that would happen in another part of the summer.

 

My ds has gotten very interested in pursuing ice skating at more than just an occasional trip to the rink level, which looks like it will be the most expensive thing he has done so far.  

 

Except perhaps for his chickens who are very expensive for organic food, coops, etc. --  but I will try to keep in mind someone's comment about comparing their livestock to someone else's therapy.  And we do get eggs.

[Farrar]

Way too much. BalletBoy's ballet is a lot. Part of me wants him to not be promoted to the next level just to avoid the $800 fee increase. Theater isn't that cheap for Mushroom either. Piano lessons are really pricey, though we're going to take a break from those.

 

I nixed two week summer camps this summer for that reason. They got a week only. Most of the other stuff we do is cheap though. BalletBoy's marimba isn't too much. Mushroom's soccer is only $50 per season (fall and spring). Co-op is free. Destination Imagination is cheap (or it was until they got to Global Finals this year and then it went up exponentially). We do other things like occasional rock and tree climbing, but I don't consider that extracurriculars really. More like treats.

 

 

[Farrar]

All these replies led me to more questions also. How did you end up trying the activities that you tried, and how did the children (or you) find a particular one for them to focus on, if they did?

 

We live in a city and I don't mind driving so nearly anything the kids want to try is available to them. Some of it is definitely word of mouth and what we hear about - I don't think we'd be doing a marimba ensemble if we hadn't known other kids in that group, for example. When the kids were little, I was sure to let them try art, music, dance, theater, different sports, gymnastics... We didn't try everything - I've offered nature classes and martial arts in the past and gotten no takers, for example. Some things they clearly loved and others were just okay. And we went from there.

[Jackie]

All these replies led me to more questions also. How did you end up trying the activities that you tried, and how did the children (or you) find a particular one for them to focus on, if they did?

 

 

We chose music/instrument lessons for DD because DH and I both believe music has great benefits; DD is free to choose any instrument she likes as long as we can find an instructor. And provided we can physically fit the instrument into our smallish house.

 

We are doing seasonal sports this coming year specifically so DD can try them out and learn if she likes them well enough to continue any.

 

The others we have simply gone through the YMCA and Parks and Rec catalogs and given her choices among anything available to her age. There is no one thing that she really focuses on, switching between various gymnastics, dance, and swim so far. If she becomes serious about one, we will then look outside of the Y and P&R, which usually offer beginner lessons. We live in a small city and only offer what is available here; anything more would be a 90 minute drive.

[FairProspects]

$2200 /yr for instrument lessons, recitals, camps, etc. (will increase next year as ds 2 joins an orchestra)

$500 /yr for YMCA sports

$1000/yr programming tutoring

 

I didn't include classes & tutoring that I require as part of homeschool since we don't think of those as extra-curriculars. We do require instruments but I think that still counts as something we would pay for even if they attended school elsewhere.

[Aurelia]

Tumbling is $80-100 per month, depending on the number of hours per week at the gym, plus another $20-35 for things like open gym and skills clinics. November-May has competitions at about $40 per month, if we don't do any out of state ones (we didn't this year, still trying to decide about next). She also takes a homeschool gymnastics class, one hour per week is $30, but she wants to go twice a week, so that will bump up to $40 per month if there are openings.

 

We don't pay for guitar or horseback riding lessons, other than the occasional song book or new boots.

 

 

[73349]

Piano lessons are $1200/year, plus the books.

 

Swimming is $20/lesson a few months a year, and when there's no swimming going on, I often sign him up for Parks & Rec sports (currently soccer) at more like $10/week. Art classes would be similar in cost.

 

Most nature programs through our Parks & Rec are free or very cheap (maybe $3).

 

Our hs activiity group is $5 a session, but we don't go every week. (It's free when it's held somewhere besides the church, because then there's no rent to pay that week.)

[kirstenhill]

I've let my kids try out different things as they have interest. They have friends who do a variety of activities and they hear about those from friends. Or they are just exposed to various activities through whatever random way and ask if they can try it. For example, my kids saw a hip-hop/breakdancing performance in our neighborhood, and DS6 was absolutely in love with the idea and asked if he could take a class. He had been asking to quit TaeKwonDo for a while as it just wasn't a good fit, so we made the transition to Hip Hop dance instead. My DD tried out gymnastics a couple times as well as dance and decided those weren't for her long term.

 

As I hear about different things (especially free/cheap things) my kids might like to try out, I ask them if they would like to try it. We've done an inexpensive summer tennis program in past summers, but opted not to do it this year b/c of scheduling issues and the fact that it isn't as cheap as it used to be. But my boys will both do a free soccer program for a week, and older DS will do a week of touch football camp that is free. We live in an urban area, and there are quite a few cheap/free programs that are good for kids just wanting to try things out.

 

One things we have is co-op (I basically consider this an extra curricular since it is for enrichment) - $600/year (but it will be closer to $800 next year when DS3 is in preschool class instead of nursery).

 

Tae Kwon Do - DH and DS8 are taking TKD currently, which is $120/mo for both of them for unlimited classes per month

Guitar - currently $60/month for DD, though I used to pay $100/month with our former instructor! May double in the future since DS8 wants to take lessons as well.

Dance class for DS was around $100 for Jan - May - we joined after the term started, and they were eager for another boy for the boys' hip hop class because it was small, so they gave us a discount. Not sure how much the full fee will be if he continues in the fall...I cant remember how much the regualar rate was.

Summer activities - $350 a summer for pool membership and swim lessons. Each of the three older kids is doing one camp this summer, for a total of maybe $250ish.

 

We did a public speaking club for the older two kids this year, and the fees were maybe a total of $100 for both kids all year. Including membership and a conference. We're not continuing that. We might start a diy.org club which would be pretty low cost - maybe a small charge If we have to rent a space.

[Aurelia]

 

All these replies led me to more questions also. How did you end up trying the activities that you tried, and how did the children (or you) find a particular one for them to focus on, if they did?

 

 

 

 

We live in a rural area, so options are pretty limited. Also, I don't have a ton of money, so we looked for things that were local and not crazy expensive. When DD first started doing tumbling, it was a 1 hour per week recreational class at a rented space in town, and tuition was something like $40 a month. Then they built the current gym, and DD started going for more hours, so we started spending more money. She has always been the type of kid that would rather be upside down or jumping on a trampoline, so it was a natural fit. 

 

Our neighbor trains horses and also teaches the neighborhood kids to ride. DD rides (and is learning more barrel racing and drill-team stuff) for free in exchange for helping the neighbor train horses. 

 

Guitar came about because she saw me learning to play (using Rocksmith and NYC Guitar School) and wanted to learn, and I had a friend who was a professional musician (now retired) who offered to teach her for free, as long as she was interested. 

 

She did swim team one summer, but we had to drive 40 miles a day, 6 days a week the whole time (which meant leaving the house at 4:30AM on Saturdays), and it wasn't worth it. It was the closest team to where we live. Dance wasn't quite as bad since it was only an hour or two a week, but it was just as far away. 

 

Her dream is to do flying trapeze, but the only place that teaches it is a 2 hour drive (one way) from our house and charges $80 for a single 2 hour class. She would like to do vaulting, also, but the vaulting stables around here charge $150 a month, and it's only an hour a week. Tumbling is simply more cost effective for us, plus DD actually gets the amount of exercise she needs (which seems to be higher than "average" kids). 

[chiguirre]

Voice and violin are a buck a minute at a local music school with experienced teachers with master's degrees in music. There are cheaper options if you choose a less credentialed teacher.

 

$500/year plus concert dress ($100, hopefully good for several years, or $10-$20 for a used one if you're lucky) for a high quality home school choir. This isn't cheap, but the instructors are really good and it's well worth the cost. The home school string ensemble cost about the same but the level of instruction didn't justify the cost.

 

Church choir is free. The level of instruction isn't as good as the home school choir, but there is instruction and a committed staff. It's been an excellent experience for my kids.

 

The home school tennis team is free. Next year, I think I'm going to put T in 3 hours/week of group classes at the local country club. That's $200/month for non-members.

 

Girl scouts cost $50/year in registration and dues for our troop. I've paid $20 per badge workshop for council activities this year and $5 for locally organized workshops. Next year there will be more cadettes and we'll do the badges with the troop. Summer sailing camp costs $750 for 2 weeks including the sailing instruction. That's a mega bargain compared with other summer camp options in my area.

 

Speed roller skating is $5/session. There are usually 3 sessions per week.

 

Rowing is $100/month for as many practices as you want.

 

A local honor/service society is $20/year plus a $10 t-shirt.

 

Christian Youth Theater is $140/class session and $150 per show. You must enroll in a class to audition for a show.

[Dmmetler]

Cheer -$28/ month, about $100/yr for competition fees, about $100/yr uniform, shoes, poms (usually she can use everything but shoes for 2-3 years, so it's a big expense when she changes levels, but other years it's usually only a $50 pair of shoes), travel varies depending on whether they qualify for state (and we usually spend a couple of days in Nashville when we go, which raises the cost). Her team does not go to Nationals.

 

Tumbling $120/month for classes/open gym time, about $100 yr in leotards, no travel or competition fees.

 

Dance $35/month for one class, plus about $100 for shoes/Leos/tights and about $75 for recital/costume. She's only done one class the last 2 years, and currently plans to not dance at all next year.

 

I don't count piano as extracurricular since it's part of school for us, but it's about $75/month, including books and materials.

 

The expensive one is DD's herpetology. A single conference is usually a couple of thousand dollars in travel costs, although she usually gets registration waived, and while she is able to participate in the lab and field work free of charge, driving 3+ hours on a regular basis adds up fast, as does materials (college textbooks, lab and field gear, hiking boots and waders....). Oh, and animals add up, too-we've never bought an animal, but we've spent a lot to care for, feed, and house "free" animals. It's "school", but it's expensive in time and money.

[LibraryLover]

I'm down to funding extras for just one child. It's an enormous amount.  My dh says 'at least it's cheaper than showing horses."  Or it was.  We recently wrote a check for a residential SI. I also just bought 5 pairs of pointe shoes which will probably not last the spring.  It seems a little crazy to spend on one child when so many children don't have the basics. Inequity weighs on me.

[Amira]

Usually our extracurriculars have been based on what's available where we live. Middle ds loves ice hockey but we haven't been able to find a way for him to play everywhere we've lived. Both boys started with piano but we happened to find a great classical guitar teacher in a little town in Kyrgyzstan and my oldest wanted to switch. We haven't always been able to find an affordable classical guitar teacher for him though. Sometimes they've taken convenient art classes, especially in Kyrgyzstan. They also took a chess class in Kyrgyzstan. A friend of ours here works for IBM and was willing to come teach programming classes. They did rock climbing here for a year because there was a class at a nearby university and they wish they could keep doing that. Community Ed classes in the US are great, and they've taken middle school classes at community colleges.

 

Mostly we've tried to find ways to encourage their interests. Now that they're both in high school it's easier to pick things that they want to focus on.

[Meriwether]

TKD - $300/month for 5 people

 

Piano - $216/month for 3 people

 

Fencing - $10/month for 1 person plus required gym membership $110/month for 7 people

 

Soccer - approximately $150/spring or fall season

 

gas, uniforms, weapons, equipment, tournament fees, hotels, one time fee activities, music, federation fees, etc. easily bring our total up to $1000/month. Church camp will be another $1500 for the three oldest kids.

 

It is expensive. It takes almost all of our discretionary and entertainment money. If our finances change, extracurricular activities will be the first things to go.

[ScoutTN]

For this summer and the coming school year:

 

Piano for two kids, $2300.

Art and Drama tutorial for two kids, $1550

Ballet, $700

Summer camp, 1 week each, $400

Summer swim team for two kids, $350

School year sports for Ds, $300

AHG, $100

Choir is free (and excellent) at our church. :)

 

Total $5700

I have a part-time job (10 hrs a week) so that we can afford these things. It also pays for all our books, school supplies, field trips as well as books and lectures for me.

 

We consider the first two part of school.

Dd works fundraising with her troop to cover part of the cost of camp and most of the cost of camping trips and other troop activities for AHG. As they get older and more able to earn, we will expect them to earn some of the funds for their extras.

 

I am fairly certain that music will continue to be a significant cost for us, that sports costs will go down as my kids get a little older and move toward physical activity outside of lessons and in non-competitive settings, that summer camp will be a steady thing for many years to come and that scouts will be a major commitment. Expecting BSA to be more costly than AHG due to high adventure type activities and more camping. (Ds will join as a Webelo.)

[MinivanMom]

Ballet (for 2 kids) - $265/month

 

Instrument lessons (for 3 kids on 4 instruments) - $490/month

 

Instrument rental - $140/month

 

Sports (for 3 kids in 5 different sports) - $60/month

 

Scouts (1 kid) - $0/month (just the uniform/book expenses each fall - maybe $50-ish)

 

We don't do activities for our kids until they are school age, but then we let them try pretty much anything they want within reason. We find out about different opportunities mainly by word of mouth or through our city's rec guide or our local parents magazine. We are also a very active family in a very urban area (hitting museums & street fairs on weekends for fun), so my kids tend to have lots of cultural experiences that make them aware of possible interests. My oldest daughter plays an unusual instrument. We were at the art museum one Sat (when she was 4 yrs old) and wandered outside where our symphony was rehearsing for an outdoor concert they were going to be giving that evening. She saw her instrument and just fell in love. She begged and obsessed for years before she was finally big enough (physically) to start lessons at age 9.

 

We want their activities to be something they're passionate about. They can try whatever they want or drop whatever they want as they try to figure out what that is. We only request that they finish each season/class/yr of lessons and work hard in the meantime. Then they can add or drop as they like; we just go with it.

[Chrysalis Academy]

 

 

All these replies led me to more questions also. How did you end up trying the activities that you tried, and how did the children (or you) find a particular one for them to focus on, if they did?

 

 

 

Theater we tried when she was 7 because we have a great local youth theater, blocks from our house, and some of her older friends were doing it.  She fell in love, so we knew that was a hit.  We tried soccer - she just wanted to pick flowers and chase butterflies, she was totally uninterested in the team/sport/winning thing.  We tried piano, and I hated having to nag her to practice, and once we decided to homeschool I decided that I was going to have to be the enforcer about other things, and we dropped that.  It wasn't a hill to die on, though I regret they don't take piano lessons.  Horseback riding she begged for for 3 years before starting.  So, I guess we tried stuff, and it was really obvious when it clicked and when it didn't.

 

Interestingly, my younger loves all the same things my older does - their personalities and temperments are totally different, but their interests are really similar.  So we've been able to keep on with what works, for the most part.