Up until now, my kids (3 and 4) haven't had formal sports activities. I've just enrolled my little one in gymnastics (her first class was today and she is in love) and my tall one is starting soccer on Thursday. They share everything (room, friends, a lot of their clothes, most of their toys, etc.) and I thought it would be nice for them to have something that was just theirs. Also, their natural aptitudes are fairly different, so I wanted their sport to be something that fits their personality and skills.
I am playing with the idea of putting both of them in a taekwondo class. Both of them do MUCH better when they have an outlet for their physical energy and they really enjoy playing with other/learning from other adults. They don't tire of either quickly. On the other hand, they are still very young and I don't want to overload them (or me - it's a lot of driving and $) too quickly. I like the idea of them learning self defense, confidence, discipline, etc. What do you all think? Is this sounding like too much?
Up until now, my kids (3 and 4) haven't had formal sports activities. I've just enrolled my little one in gymnastics (her first class was today and she is in love) and my tall one is starting soccer on Thursday. They share everything (room, friends, a lot of their clothes, most of their toys, etc.) and I thought it would be nice for them to have something that was just theirs. Also, their natural aptitudes are fairly different, so I wanted their sport to be something that fits their personality and skills.
I am playing with the idea of putting both of them in a taekwondo class. Both of them do MUCH better when they have an outlet for their physical energy and they really enjoy playing with other/learning from other adults. They don't tire of either quickly. On the other hand, they are still very young and I don't want to overload them (or me - it's a lot of driving and $) too quickly. I like the idea of them learning self defense, confidence, discipline, etc. What do you all think? Is this sounding like too much?
ETA:
My 3 y/o is in Gymnastic, 45 minutes x 2 per week and my 4 y/o is taking Soccer which meets for 35 min x 1 per week. Part of my thinking was to try to make it more equivalent.
The gymnastics classes are more coached and in a more colorful environment and are absolutely perfect for my 3 y/o. There could be no activity that I can think of that she's better suited for and she was glowing and bouncing up and down, she was so happy today (I get to jump backwards into a pit of cubes!! BACKWARDS!!!!!. AND do FLIPS on bars!!!!!)
My 4 y/o has a much higher stamina. She loves running and is QUICK. This is a kid whose favorite animals are angry leopards and dinosaurs. She enjoys competition and large groups of kids, especially during organized boisterous games (like tag and the such). Her birth mom was very, very athletic (and passionate about horsemanship) and it provided her with an outlet and a feeling of success. I think my little bean has some of the same tenancy and I would like her to have a chance to connect with her body and feel her blood pump. She just started riding a bike without training wheels and she was sooooooo proud of herself. I want to nurture that. It's good to see her so lit up. It's kind of unfortunate that she is only going to do this for 35 minutes because I think she's going to really, really enjoy herself.
This has gotten longer than I intended. I'm excited right now, it's been a fun day.
I would let them enjoy the one class personally - next year enroll the older one in two and the following year the younger one. Even then with kindergarden/pre school etc I think it is a bit much - kids just need to be kids and play in the grass and mud for no reason at all.
I'd stick with what you're doing. Once you're in the swing of it if it feels like you (all of you) want to do more THEN sign them up for something else.
If this is their first time in organized activities, it's probably plenty for them, and you've got two so your doing double what they are. Just relax and enjoy. You can ALWAYS sign up for taekwondo later if you think it's missing from their lives.
HTH
T.
Unless it is a preschooler based class, I would wait a year or two (or more) longer for Tae Kwon Do. Soccer, dance and gymnastics are great for their current age, but Tae Kwon Do is really best starting around 6 or so, ... that is the age most *decent* schools start, and even then it depends on maturity. And I love Tae Kwon Do, I'm a black belt and a national champion, that opinion is just based from my experience in the sport and in teaching little ones. So really, I would wait for this particular activity.
it sounds like what you're doing now is working fine. if they're absolutely mad keen on doing more i'd probably give it a shot, but you'd be teetering on the edge of over-scheduling.
i'm sort of old-school, though. i think kids need lots and lots of unstructured time to develop imagination and self-entertainment skills.
khairete
S.
Not every single spare minute has to be filled up with scheduled, planned extracurricular activities. Children need down time too. When do they have time to sit and read or color? When do they have time to just veg out and do nothing for a while? I wouldn't have them do more than two activities each, personally, or you risk over-scheduling them. Kids get anxious and stressed out when they're constantly stimulated. They can be active, but you also need to give them time to be kids and be at home and have family time.
I would do one thing at a time at this age. How often does the gymnastics class meet? The soccer? I don't know a whole lot about the gymnastics, but I know soccer meets quite a bit and ends quickly...doesn't it? I would just judge from how often the already enrolled activities meet. If each meets once a week and the self defense meets once...no big deal, but if each class meets more often than once a week I would stick with what you have going for now. They are still pretty young, after all. :)
I would wait at least a month to see how they are doing with their current activities and if they (and you) feel they can handle any more. Mostly out of sheer bad timing, my 5-y.o. son is currently enrolled in three different organized activities (golf, piano, and baseball). We are taking it month by month to see if it's too much, but so far he is telling me that he is having so much fun. Thankfully, he is only in half-day preschool three times a week. I think it would definitely be way too much to have all that on top of a full-time school schedule.
I think it depends if they are asking you for the karate, if they are, I would wait 2 months. So all of you take some time and see if your already classes aren't too much for one of you or if they are still interested, etc.
I can't tell you how many times I sign in my oldest daughter in different classes. Some because she "love it" and some because I "thought" she would, only for after a month she wouldn't want to go anymore.
There are not a good or bad answers, some kids (and parents) do very good with many activities, others don't.
If things go fine, I would just put the older in Karate, so that both have only 2 days of classes and the rest of the week free for now. Perhaps the older can teach the little one at home, how cute!
They just started with organized activities. Give it some time to see how they react and how it affects you and your schedule before adding another one. Go slow. No need to rush into something.
Takwondo and/or Karate takes focus and concentration. Around my area, they will not take anyone younger than 4, and sometimes depending on maturity levels, even later (5+).
You don't want to burn them out before grade school! LOL!
I think what you have is fine for this age.
My almost 4 year old takes swim, tumbling, and dance every week. She also takes a drama class, and we do story time. And then one morning a week she does a co-op preschool. She's been doing story time and swim since 6 months, and then, each year, we've added one more class based on her interest. She has breaks from some classes, so it's only a few weeks where she is doing them all at the same time. It isn't too much for her at all! 30-45 minutes a day? What's that when you can run and bounce for 6 hours a day!
They have so much energy when they are little, let them burn it in constructive ways!
I let the grandkids do as much as they want. I try very hard to find ways to pay for their classes like working for the people who own the studio or cleaning one of the board members houses. It is the only way we can afford for them to do anything.
We do gymnastics, tumbling, show team, hip hop, tap/ballet combo, and a kinder gym class that is the first stage for little ones. The younger one also does soccer and T-Ball. We do BMX with the older girl, the younger boy still uses training wheels so he can't ride the bikes for BMX yet. Once he is off training wheels he will use her old BMX bike though.
The girl wants to take piano and twirling and voice and soccer and softball and....you get the idea.
She did tennis this past summer and loved it too. I will let her continue that since the coach allowed us to help clean the tennis courts as payment for the lessons. But as for the rest, she can wait until she is just a bit older and maybe pick another activity. I think once she hits next summer she will start fine tuning her choices. I want her to have a lot of experiences to fall back on to see where her interests take her.
The boy has sensory issues and has a hard time staying in things that are too organized. It is certainly easier for us if he doesn't do anything but it will come, I know he will find some things he likes. I would like for him to like football but only if I can find a way to pay $100+ each semester they offer it. I liked playing in band and going to football games in high school but have no idea of the rules of the game, I think it would be a good outlet for him too.
At this age, my kids were in Gymnastics and swimming.
You know your kids best...so whatever you feel comfortable with I am sure will be the correct choice!
I say, since they are not in fulltime school yet, go for it! During the school year I limit one activity at a time but will do 2 in the summer.
Lots of martial arts studios have a free trial period so that you can check out a few classes to gage your child's reaction.
Our 6-year old son has been taking piano lessons since the beginning of summer, and we just started him in karate last week. He freakin' LOVES karate. Even though we now have him in classes 3 days/week, he doesn't see karate as a "class"...it's just fun and awesome for him.
He's only had 2 classes, but he's already broken his first board and we're seeing better cooperation around the house. No way am I stopping now!
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