I tend to agree with susanc. Parents have been told repeatedly by the media that if their children are to be adequately prepared for University, they must start scheduling them in as many activities as the day will hold from the time they are able to hold their heads up. But we've seen the result of this, and there are a LOT of overscheduled, overstressed kids who barely have time to think. They are unhappy and some of them simply burn out and quit at some point.
There IS a happy medium. When I had my first child before his siblings cam along we would attend playgroups and a music/activity class at the bookstore. When his brother arrived, I would take each of them to swim/water play classes once a week. When their sister came along, we just skipped activities for a while!
Now that my youngest is 4, she attends swim lessons twice a week and dance lessons once a week while her brothers are at school. She loves those classes, and she is so interactive and ready for school that I am considering adding one more class for her! Her brothers, on the other hand, are tired after school. They really, genuinely need dependable, familiar downtime in their own home. So I take them to swim lessons only once a week after school so as not to fry them too much. As they get older they will surely be interested in more and want to attend more classes or group sports, but for now dh and I want to make school the primary foundation around which other things are built.
Parents know their own kids and what they are ready for more than anyone else. They know what their kids are ready for and what they enjoy. Sports (not team sports quite yet) classes like swimming or soccer skills classes are important for my kids, as both boys have slight gross motor delays. The coordination they learn in those classes (that I obviously haven't been able to teach them at home!) is important right now so they fit in with other kids. But if a young child ever expresses disappointment in having to go to a class, it is time to cut back.
We have years to make sure their extracurriculars are enough for a college resume. Early childhood is not the time to feel that pressure!
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I tend to agree with susanc. Parents have been told repeatedly by the media that if their children are to be adequately prepared for University, they must start scheduling them in as many activities as the day will hold from the time they are able to hold their heads up. But we've seen the result of this, and there are a LOT of overscheduled, overstressed kids who barely have time to think. They are unhappy and some of them simply burn out and quit at some point.
There IS a happy medium. When I had my first child before his siblings cam along we would attend playgroups and a music/activity class at the bookstore. When his brother arrived, I would take each of them to swim/water play classes once a week. When their sister came along, we just skipped activities for a while!
Now that my youngest is 4, she attends swim lessons twice a week and dance lessons once a week while her brothers are at school. She loves those classes, and she is so interactive and ready for school that I am considering adding one more class for her! Her brothers, on the other hand, are tired after school. They really, genuinely need dependable, familiar downtime in their own home. So I take them to swim lessons only once a week after school so as not to fry them too much. As they get older they will surely be interested in more and want to attend more classes or group sports, but for now dh and I want to make school the primary foundation around which other things are built.
Parents know their own kids and what they are ready for more than anyone else. They know what their kids are ready for and what they enjoy. Sports (not team sports quite yet) classes like swimming or soccer skills classes are important for my kids, as both boys have slight gross motor delays. The coordination they learn in those classes (that I obviously haven't been able to teach them at home!) is important right now so they fit in with other kids. But if a young child ever expresses disappointment in having to go to a class, it is time to cut back.
We have years to make sure their extracurriculars are enough for a college resume. Early childhood is not the time to feel that pressure!
April 15, 2008 - 7:40amThis Comment
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