After School Activites for Your Child

August 26, 2008 Uncategorized No Comments

Now is the time of year when parents start to think about what their child should or could be involved in after school to keep them busy.  Soccer?  Scouts?  Football?  Dance lessons?  Violin or piano lessons?

While all of these are great ideas and wonderful ways to keep busy, being too busy is not good for most children.  Here are some ideas to think about:

  1. Children work hard during school and need down time,  time to just do whatever they want,  time to just “chill out”.  A good standard to follow for children 6-10 years is 2-10 hours a week of extra-curricular events.
  2. Remember homework comes first.  Don’t let your child grades slip because of being over committed.
  3. Don’t let your child’s extra activities prevent your family from sitting down at the dinner table together.  Family life is important and eating together every night is a good way to discuss the events of the day.
  4. Keep bedtime the same every night.  Don’t let extra activities last so long that your child cannot settle down to sleep at night.
  5. Finally, if you notice that your child is crankier than usual or is not wanting to participate in the activities that are scheduled, don’t be afraid to pull back a bit.  Take a look and reassess the situation.

Whatever you do with your child, remember that the goal is that your child become a happy and well adjusted child.

Any comments?  Feel free to leave a comment.  Always interested in what parents and teachers think.