Children Benefit From Extra Curricular Activities

When raising a family, deciding on extra curricular activities is a huge decision. When is a good age to start? What can we afford? What can we commit to from a perspective of time and travel?

When we were raising our family, many of our friends enrolled their children in organized activities at the age of 3. We tended to wait until the children were closer to school age, although we felt pressured to do what other families were doing. As parents, we often fear that our children will be disadvantaged if they do not do what other children their age are doing. Enrolling your child in extra activities depends a lot on the personality of the child and what you can handle as a family.

We started our son with skating lessons at the age of 5. Many of our sons' friends were already playing "squirt" hockey by this age, but as a family we did not feel we could manage hockey at the time. In the fall of his Grade 1 year, we introduced him to the Cubs and Scouts program. He absolutely did not want music lessons which did not disappoint us as we knew he would eventually be introduced to music in school. For the spring and summer seasons our son played baseball and took swimming lessons. The swimming lessons were more our idea than his because both my husband and I had a fear of water and we simply wanted him to know how to swim.

All in all we felt we were giving our son a good variety of activities.

The Boy Scout program was wonderful for teaching about respect for others as well as respect for nature and the environment. The boys went camping so they learned many skills for survival in the wilderness. They also learned about the importance of reforestation and actively took part in major tree planting projects. Our son learned how to build a car from a block of wood and some wheels, and then competed in a race with it to see who built the fastest cub car.

Baseball was very good. It taught our son the values of being a team player and how to handle wins and losses respectfully. It kept him physically active and helped him further develop his hand/eye coordination. He personally felt baseball was a little too slow for activity at times, but he carried on with it anyway.

Our son was a very slight build with very little body fat so he shook like a leaf in the wind while at swimming lessons. Frankly, he did not enjoy them at all to begin with.  He did not fear the water, as his parents did, but we encouraged him to persevere at least until he could swim well in the deep end of the pool. The further he advanced in his swimming levels, the more he seemed to enjoy them.

Grade 1 brought a fair bit of reading homework, which we expected, so we were careful not to fill too many evenings with organized activity. We also tried to leave time open for unstructured play time and simple down time. Children in the first years of school  often require a fair bit of rest so it is important to allow sufficient time for that.  

Every winter for several years we faced the same question " Can I play hockey?", to which we normally replied "no, we can't fit hockey in around our work." Our son was becoming increasingly dejected at our response. It was very obvious that this was an activity he seriously wanted to participate in. So we thought we should let him try it out and we would figure out a way to make it work. Considering he was so far behind the skill level of most of the boys playing, we expected frustration to set in. However, our son was determined to improve his skills. By the end of the first season, you could not pick him out as the new player on the team. His passion drove him to work hard and it was evident he loved playing. He was not a super star, nor was he a goal scorer. He had great skills for setting up plays and he read the ice well. He loved being a part of a hockey team and he worked hard at it.

The hockey schedule was quite demanding so our son decided he would give up the Cub program. We were fine with his decision. He had learned a lot from it and took many life skills with him. We continued to stress the importance of school and homework. Neither were to suffer as a result of a busy hockey schedule. It was interesting to note that when hockey season started, our sons' grades often improved. It kept him organized, exercised and healthy.

Eventually, our son was cut out of hockey because genetically he was simply too small to play competitively. He was not naturally aggressive in a "tough" sense either. However, leaving hockey opened the doors for the school band, volleyball, basketball, snowboarding and later on, a part- time job. The experience of the variety of activities was wonderful and a great advantage to our son's development.

The important points to remember when deciding on extracurricular activities for your child:

• If you have more than one child, coordinate activities for each child (if at an appropriate age).
• Choose activities wisely. Your child should be suited to the activity. Do not choose an activity simply because his friends are in it. Playing with your friends is a bonus, but making new friends has its benefits as well.
  
• Do not stress your child by having him too busy. For example, with music lessons, you need time for the half hour weekly lesson, plus time every day to practice.
  
• Help your child make commitments. Explain to your child, if he starts something, he should finish it. Quitting should not be an option unless there are extenuating circumstances.
• Give your child the support and encouragement to do the best he can at whatever activity he chooses to do.
• Stress the importance of homework commitments. Do not let games and practices become excuses for unfinished homework. Our son missed one practice because of homework he postponed. He never missed a practice again.
  
• Attend your childs' practices, games, achievement nights, recitals, etc. Car pool when you need to but attend as often as you can. There is nothing more rewarding for a child than to be acknowledged by his parents for something he has accomplished.
• Know your child's coach. This person will be teaching and guiding him while he learns new skills.
  
• Know the parents your child is carpooling with. They will be responsible for your child while under their care.
  
• If extra curricular activities are too expensive or time demanding, encourage your child to participate in intra-mural activities at school. These are often played during the lunch hour.
  

Extra curricular activities are very important for children.  They help them develop new and different skills .  They teach them the importance of being both an individual and a team player.  They teach them how to strive for achievements and how to handle disappointments.  They teach them how to take safe risks.  Children learn about commitment. They learn organizational skills - how to juggle homework with play and how to do well at both.  Involvement in extra curricular activities will give your child experiences that will serve him well into his adult life.