How to Choose and Manage Your Kids Activities

How to Choose and Manage Your Kids Activities
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After-school or extra-curricular activities for kids is a big deal in today’s time and many hours are spent by kids (and parents!) shuttling from one activity to another.  Many a time especially with my first born I found that I would just enroll him in a class based on feedback from other moms without putting in too much thought into the reason and the longer term benefits of the class. Given the amount of time…and money it consumes, I have since become wiser and more prudent. Here are some tips to make the process more streamlined:

Set a Budget
Kids activities do not come cheap. On average at the rate of $20 per class, you are talking about at least $160+ for one activity over a 2 month period. These can quickly add up especially if the number of children and activities increase! So to ensure that you cover some of the key activities that your child enjoys and to have resources left over for something new, it always helps to set a budget. We typically find that setting our budget at the start of the school year works best. That way we can spread the different activities out over the year and avoid getting overloaded in any particular month.

Be Clear about Your Goals
While this may sound like a bit of overthinking, being clear about the purpose of the activity may help you save some time and money. If your main aim is to find a playgroup or a safe area for your child to mix with other kids then a more informal mom’s group or an event at the local library may do the trick. However if your objective is for your child to learn a skill such as playing the violin then it’s important to narrow down both, the skill that you want to pursue and the teacher that you pick since skills are built over time.

Assess Your Time Commitments
Activities are not just time consuming for kids….very often there is heavy involvement from the parent. The nature of parental involvement varies – for instance if a child is into playing for a swim or soccer team then it’s likely parents will need to ferry him/her to practice at least a couple of times a week if not more often. If you’re looking at math classes for kids such as Kumon or even having your child learn an instrument then parents do need to be involved to make sure the child is practicing doing the work on a daily basis. So if you’re already on a tight schedule, you  may not want to take on the additional stress of putting your child in a demanding activity.

Group lessons versus private
Group lessons, especially those offered in the school premises after school hours are a convenient option for most parents and it works well especially for group activities such as martial arts and drama.  But for activities such as music/instrument lessons or chess where your child could benefit from individual attention, you might need to assess the trade-offs. Typically the number of students in these group lessons may be high.  Also,  if your child is attending any of the after-school activities, it might be a good idea to drop in early a couple of times and actually see how the class is progressing.

Trial and Make-Up Classes
Do not miss the opportunity of attending a trial class.  There’s nothing like seeing the dynamics of an actual class in progress and more importantly, you can gauge how your child likes the surrounding and the activity. If there is no mention of a trial class – ask the teacher for one.  Also, be sure to be very clear about the make-up policy and if there are limits on their number.

There is no dearth of learning activities for kids and sometimes just putting a little thought into the process may help streamline the process of finding the best solution for you and your child.

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Author: schoolsnmore