After school activities

ooobedoo

I am pondering on what about the above, DS does Trampolining on a wed, and has just started swimming. I am thinking of either language, music or performing arts when he can swim.

What activities does everybody elses child do??? I am aware that whatever I do for DS, I will have to do for DD.

whereishergar

Mine does Cubs and Brownies (had to put their names down years in advance for this one!!), also do football training, and drama at local theatre which is fab. Plus the usual ballet/modern tap and karate. I am, like most, always in the car!!

ooobedoo

There only appears to be stagecoach in Portsmouth, and it cost a fortune!! If you don't mind me asking, how much do you pay per session???

BernadetteN

Why stop swimming lessons when your son can swim? Portsmouth has a really excellent swimming club called PORTSMOUTH NORTHSEA.

Our kids do only one main activity and that of ocurse is ..... swimming.

Personally, I don't think it is good for kids to have too many different activities. I read recently that a child continuing with the same sport throughout childhood has far better health into adulthood. How about acrobatics to go with the trampolining? Really anything that they will stick at is better than many different activities which they drop out of when they get bored.

Becles

Mine are allowed to do 2 activities a week. I limited them, as I was sick of ferrying them to places and the cost.

My eldest does football training on a Tuesday and plays for the school team on Thursdays.

The youngest does football on Tuesdays, and gymnastics on Wednesdays.

They keep pestering to go to other things, but I always say they have to give something up to go, and they've always stuck with the football and gymnastics!

Rachie_B

why not ask your son what HE would like to do ?

happychikadee

Rachie_B wrote: »

why not ask your son what HE would like to do ?

lol I was just thinking the same. My daughter, being an only child, loves her after school activities. She would do more but I can't afford it! Mondays is arts and crafts with the school (free!), Tuesdays is swimming, she can swim but is now building stamina, Wednesdays- day off!, Thursdays is Taekwondo and Friday was brownies until last week when she told me she found it all very boring so another night activity free:j She also has keyboard lessons on a Tuesday lunchtime during school time.
Every child is different, my daughter needs to be busy all the time. My fault really as I have always done things with her being worried she had no one to play with being an only child. I loved being busy as a child but my older sister hated clubs and refused to go to any!

ooobedoo

Blimey, If I left it to him, it would be a full time job and I would be bankrupt!!! lol!!!!!

I have discussed it with him and he wants to do everything..... He does trampolining, and after seeing the girls doing gymnastics he wants to be able to throw himself around like them but the waiting list is breathtaking........and not in a good way.

He is going to be 5 in Sept, and is soooooooooo ready for school and is getting bored so just want to try and expell some of this boredom.

rachnbri

My boys have beavers and cubs on a Tuesday night and Jujitsu on Thursdays - also eldest has drama club after school on Tuesdays (free!). They've both asked about other activities but I think family time in the evening is also important (me and OH both work full time) so I've told them if they choose another activity they need to give one of the other things up and they've both decided to stick with what they already do.

happychikadee

Depending on the school, but you'll find once he starts school there will be more choice of clubs to go to. My daughters school has football, rugby. music, arts and crafts, netball, choir, the list goes on. Some are free but the ones you have to pay for are alot cheaper than the out of school clubs. Although it was only for 2 terms, she even got to go to swimming lessons!

Poppy9

Don't go down the swimming club road unless you enjoy spending your life sitting pool side! DD learnt to swim at 5 and loved it. By the age of 8 she was swimming competitively and training 4 times a week at different pools across the county. Then there were the gala:eek: Usually she had to be pool side ready for warmup by 8.30am. Not so bad if it was in the localish pool but nightmare if you had to travel further. With the younger children you have to really stay with them as they can get a bit anxious with competitions. This often meant sitting in the stands till 7pm at night if they made the finals. Back again on the Sunday, same early start, for another day. It was so boring, just to watch your child swim for a few seconds every now and then (and they all look the same with club bathers and hats!!). Thankfully when DD was coming upto 11 and she was supposed to be training at 6.30am too as well as the 4 evenings she decided she had had enough.:T
Also some of the other parents at the galas take it so seriously. They have their clipboards and stopwatches and record their own time even though the pool has time pads fitted:o I used to be given dirty looks for reading my book in between DD swimming!!:rolleyes:Can't tell you how relieved and free I felt when she retired from competitive swimming. In addition to swimming she was also doing Brownies, Drama, Gymnastics, guitar and flute. When she finished Brownies I refused to let her join Guides unless she gave something else up - she didn't want to so no Guides!!

Now it's all so different. She started Comp last September and it's no longer cool to be doing all these things. So in addition to stopping swimming and Brownies, gymnastics went too. Now all she does out of school is guitar and drama :T oh and hockey straight afterschool (no driving for me there!!)- her fav hobby though is shopping with her friends!!

I'm glad she had the chance to try whatever she wanted and decide what she liked and disliked. It never affected her academic work and she had fun.