Hi mamas :-)
Just wondering how many (if any) extra curricular activities you have your Kindergartener in, and what activities do they partake in? I think DD should be doing something other than school, but I don't want to overwhelm her, since she'll be in full day K. So far, we've considered soccer, dance, Girl Scouts & some type of martial art. She's only 5 so I'm thinking 1 is enough for now, and she has so many more years to try different things. What do you think/what works for your child?
ETA - DD is very social, active, quick to get bored, and she's also an only child.
One at a time is my rule. Summer is swim lessons, fall will be soccer, spring baseball, Looks like basketball this winter.
My suggestion would be to let school get started and let at least the first quarter go by before starting your daughter in an additional activity. Both of my girls came home from Kindergarten wiped out. My oldest would often fall asleep by 6 PM. My youngest would fall asleep in the car on the way home. Let her body adjust to the new schedule and the demands of that. Once homework gets started (most schools now assign homework in Kindergarten), you may find that even one activity could prove to be a challenge.
Kindergarten children... after ALL day in school... are very tired after school.
And they need to deflate. And/or they are very fussy/over-tired after school.
And they will have homework too.
I have 2 kids. One who is past Kindergarten and in 4th grade and my son who is now in Kindergarten.
He (and when my daughter was in Kinder), is VERY tired/over-tired after school. Main thing for me, was that they did homework after school. NOT at night time, it is too late and they are too tired by then. AND that they got enough sleep and not going to bed later at night, just because of activities. Weeknights.
That was the priority for me.
My daughter at that age, did dance class. BUT it was on the weekend.
My son, who will be 5 soon, is not in anything.
I go by my child's cues and needs.
My daughter, from 2nd grade, has been in Karate.
They only take kids who are 5 and older.
Because of their developmental ability to pay attention and be able to have the aptitude to listen, despite being tired. This Karate class, is at night WEEKdays.... and for 1.5 hours.
Activities/classes for kids, are either weekday, evenings. OR, on weekends.
I do not personally, believe in over-scheduling young children. For us, homework/school, is the priority.
And we only do activities, that our CHILD, is interested in. Not us choosing it for them.
Thus, they thrive and love whatever they do or are signed up, for.
And, personally, we do not believe in shuttling around the kids ALL weekend revolving around classes. We need downtime too, and our kids. To just relax and have family time.
AND yes, doing homework on the weekends too. Which is what kids, do get assigned.
It all depends on the child. (and the family) My sisters in law have multiple activities every week that keep them going every weekend. They both work. (which I think makes activities even more difficult)
My kids are not in much (other than girl scouts, and church groups) and that is difficult for us, because we are homebodies.
Try one, see if you feel like the other days of the week are empty... then maybe sign up for a spring sport.
My oldest has been playing baseball since he was 4. He did get tired when he started kindergarten but we did get through it. Now my younges isn't in anything yet. He will be in 1st grade this year. I think it depends on the child on whether they can handling the extra activity during the week or not. We do have a family policy though that it is only 1 extra activity (sports, outside class, etc) going on at a time. That helps keep the stress down.
When my daughter was in Kindergarten, she was in Karate once or twice a week, and swimming lessons once a week on the weekends.
Have you considered gymnastics? They usually have class just once a week so it's not a huge time commitment but it's great exercise and coodination for your daughter. Many gyms have a free trial to see if your child likes it first.
none right now because we can't afford them but we want to get our 4 and 5 yo both in karate and soccer.
When my daughter was in preschool, she had dance at night once a week and swimming lessons on saturdays, then in the fall, soccer on saturday afternoons. We didn't have a Girl Scout troop back then for kindergartners, if we did, I may have let her do that. My daughter would have had something on every day of the week if I let her, but it was too much for me. Our kindergartners didn't have homework, so we didn't have to worry about that. I would let her pick one or two activities per season to start out with.
At that age, I think 1 activity is enough because as others have said they are pretty tired after the day at school. As for choosing which activity is right, ask your child what she wants to do. Of course she doesn't have any experience with any of these things yet, but it needs to be something she is interested in or it may be much harder than you expect. Tell her which activities you are thinking about and ask which one she thinks she wants to do. Some places will offer a trial practice to see if it is something your child is interested in before you pay the fee to participate.
