Extracurricular Activities?

Are your kids involved in any activities? My kids are in preschool 2 mornings a week, and that's about all the social interaction they've had so far. I've been a SAHM from the beginning. They play with some friends around the area and when we get together with cousins they always have fun. But I've always worried a little because my kids are on the shy side, take awhile to warm up, and my son doesn't have too many boys around to play with. I thought maybe in the summer I'd sign them up for something they can do separate from each other. Now that summer is almost here, I'm running out of time.

I was thinking swim lessons - it's only 8 sessions over a few weeks. I don't know that it will do much for social interaction, but I think it would be a good idea to get them more comfortable in the water. But they would be together, so it won't do much for social interaction.

I was thinking t-ball for my son. I really want him to get more involved with other boys and so he can see that boy things are fun too. But so far all the leagues I've found are co-ed. I'm not sure if my daughter would want to play, but putting them together would sort of defeat the purpose for me. But he does like baseball, so I think he might like it. For some reason I can't find any soccer leagues around for kids younger than 5. That seems like the thing to do, when it comes to starting young kids in sports. Maybe I am starting a little on the young side?

I looked into some dance or gymnastic classes for my daughter. I'm not sure that she's shown an interest in it, she's pretty clumsy! But she loves all things girly. And she's very shy - she might hate it not being with her brother, but over time it might be good for her. But I can't believe how expensive these classes are! Anywhere from $50-120 a month! She's only 4, and like I said, I'm still not sure what her interests are and I don't know if it's worth it.

Nowadays it seems like the thing to do to get your kid involved in anything and everything. It wasn't like that when I was a kid. I'm just curious what other 4 year olds are doing? If they're not involved in something now, when do you plan to start?

 

My two are involved in full time Pre-K and that's it. I don't have time to be shuffling them around at night or on weekends. In fact, I'm trying to figure out a time to put them in swim classes because I feel that those are a necessity. All the other classes and team stuff can wait until they want to do it.

 

You might try your local YMCA. I know that at ours soccer starts at 3. I don't know what the other sports are. I have also found the YMCA to be usually a very reasonably priced option. The only problem you might have is that you're past a lot of the deadlines for summer sports. Almost all of the summer sports around here have a sign-up deadline of April 30.

Good luck and just ask other mom's at the park or preschool. They'll probably know the specifics for your area.

Marissa

 

The only things my girls did at 4 were library programs, play at the park (with whoever happens to be there), and at 4 1/2 started half-day pre-k 5 days a week. Many of their classmates are in dance, t-ball, soccer, tennis, swim, gymnastics, art classes, music classes, etc etc etc. I work full-time and our wonderful sitter takes them to the library and the park. We have play dates too, but really at this age I can't see spending $150/month PER KID for a 1 hour a week dance class (yup thats the going rate around here). And I can't imagine shuttling them to many classes per week either. I'd rather they had time to dig in the dirt at home, make up their own games, and just be in the moment.

Now that they are 5 and are showing interest in certain things, I'm looking into activities for the summer. They may go to dance or gymnastics (each has her own prefence), and I might do a one-week half day science camp. I don't think they missed out because I didn't start them on activities earlier. While that might work for some families, I'm the kind of person who needs down time, and I think my girls are that way too. Too many scheduled things in one week does not make for a happy home for us.

 

Mine were in full-time daycare starting at 8 weeks, so they got plenty of social interaction! But we also did a lot of activities on Saturdays starting when they were 3.

They did ballet starting at 3 and have continued it ever since (though we've taken a semester off now & then for various reasons). They also did gymnastics from about age 3-5 but we had to quit when they turned 6 and it started conflicting with ballet. And, they have both taken swimming at various times, and Sarah did soccer through the YMCA last fall after school.

I don't remember how much the dance classes cost, but I don't think it was $150 a month. We pay something like $300 a semester (about 4 months) now, and that's through the actual ballet school. At the rec center, it was cheaper.

Anyway, I don't think they need it for social interaction, but my kids have enjoyed pretty much all their activities. And there is some social interaction for the parents too -- I used to look forward to gymnastics because some of our friends did it too, and I got to sit in the waiting area and chat to the other parents.

 

My two go to a 2 day a week (for 3 hours each day) preschool. We have had them in soccer in the fall, T-Ball for the spring and I'd like to do swim lessons in the summer because they really do need to learn how to swim and be safe in the water.

 

Mine started swim lessons around 3, but that was more for their own safety around the water than social interaction. They were in pre-school when they were 4, 5 days a week. Other than that, they did play soccer when they were 5. I think the sports are good for them to learn to be a team player, to actually see it in action.

 

Oh, about the swim lessons, they really did love them! They took them for three years in a row and they are phenomenal swimmers now. Last summer they even were allowed to jump off the diving board into the 12 ft section after passing a swim test.

 

We're going to start soccer this fall, when my twins are 3.5, and then they'll do t-ball in the spring. 1 activity per season is what we allow. With 4 kids once they all get going in activites I won't be able to take them to much more than that.

 

Does your pre-school offer any classes? Our daycare (which becomes pre-school for my girls in the fall after they turn 3) offers dance, tumble time, martial arts, "sports" (a generic intro to all things athletic, including soccer, t-ball, basketball, etc.), and phonics extracurriculars to all kids enrolled in preK3 and preK4. The cost is usually between $20 and $50 a month (in addition to tuition), depending upon what type of class you choose.

I second the recommendation for the YMCA programs. They're generally great and cheap. However, I would caution you to maybe wait until they're closer to 4 before enrolling them in a soccer or t-ball program. In my experience, 3 year olds are more likely to burst into tears and run off the field to mommy than actually play sports. At every 3-year-old league game I've ever been to, at least half the kids refuse to play. I would caution you to also avoid enrolling them in more than one program at a time. My plan for my girls is to do swimming lessons this summer, dance lessons in the fall (they've shown a very strong interest in ballet), and maybe soccer next spring.

If there are no YMCA programs near you, try your public library, the nearest science or children's museum, or your city's parks and rec dept for art classes and summer day camps.

 

My boys attend presschool 3 days a week. Our preschool offers classes. Usually eight week classes 1 hour a week. So far they have done track and field, soccor, basketball and they are now doing t-ball. I love it since I don't have to take them anywhere and it is about skills not competition. Plus it is in a familiar environment with kids they already know.

My boys are very active so I also have them enrolled in gymnastics 1x a week. They both love it. Its a co-ed class so it might be a place to start. I started dance at age 3 because I was not coordinated and I was left handed so my mom felt it would be good for me. In addition at least for my boys I prefer they take gymnastics now while they are little because they will never be competitive in it and the older they get the more competitive it gets. At least in our area. They will be to tall but I feel that gymnastics gives them a good foundation for many sports since it works on coordination and muscle control. The boys take classes through the local community center which is another place to check besides the YMCA.

My boys take swim lessons They been taking swim lessons since they were 2.5. There are 4 kids per class and parents do not participate. I like the idea of swim lessons because it is the one sport that will save your life. Plus my husband and I are swimmers so I wanted to start them young.

 

i put my girls in dance at age 2, and i would've done it sooner if i could've ^_^ but i'm a dancer and i just couldn't wait to show them the joy and awesomeness that is dance!
they go to preschool one day a week.
sunday school every sunday.
story time at various libraries.

i think that's enough for now. however, i believe learning how to swim is a MUST, so i'm looking into that for summer.

 

Honestly I tried last year (they were almost 3.5) and it was a disaster. It was classes through the YMCA, where parents wait outside... The first day they cried a lot but it was better after 15 minutes, the second time they didn't want anything with it, cried for 20 minutes until we left, the third time then cried as soon as we pulled into the parking lot... So I'd say it really depends on your kids, but mine were NOT ready, and I kinda wish I had known about it before signing them up.

We had swim lessons as well, but we were with them in the water so it went better. I'm not ready this year to try it again... maybe next Summer. I'm still convinced that it depends a lot on the teacher too. We'll just get the pool membership this year and go with them to try and get them to swim.

 

My oldest goes to all day every day pre K as well as daycare before and after school. He plays Lacrosse on weekends. The twins are in all day daycare and are go to gymnastics on saturday mornings. Come fall, my oldest will more then likely play hockey and the twins will go into swim lessons.

 

Outside of swim classes where DH and I were in the water with them, we didn't start activities until the kids were almost 5. My daughter started ballet this year (just before her 5th birthday) and my son is in T-ball this summer. Even as they get older, DH and I don't intend to overschedule them. Most likely one activity at a time until they are a lot older. That is our goal anyway, but we will see what happens.

 

Mine do not go to daycare or preschool, so I felt it necessary to have some kind of interaction with other kids. We enrolled them in gymnastics/tumbling because it is still relatively unstructured and it is active enough for my wild boy. Ours is through a local YMCA and only costs $25/kid for 5 weeks.

 

I am SAHM so they don't go to daycare or preschool yet. I enrolled them in preschool for fall which they will be attending 4x /week 3 hours/day. At this point they go to regular library stories 2x per week for preschoolers, also 1x per week they go to My Gym. go to parks daily,IKEA play area every 2 weeks(leave them there for an hour when I do my shopping or ice cream eatingMollies Stone market has play area also so I do my shopping there weekly.

 

I preface this with : My twins are younger than yours, both girls, and independent from each other (though they love to check-in with each other). We also don't do preschool and they have shy patches, but typically their curiosity about what's going on overrides the initial curiousity.

Check out your local (city and county) parks and recreation department. Typically they offer a broad range of low cost classes all summer long. Plus, at least here, you can sign up at any time (even after the class has started) PROVIDED that there is space available. We do a gymnastics/movement class all year long. For the summer, we're also considering a painting class and a separate art class. We do these things together, but you could always book different classes for your two. Perhaps art/painting for your daughter, if she's not into dancing, and ceramics for your son (messy hands = boy fun). The classes would probably be co-ed, but these get your kid "exposure" to other kids without the committment to or scare factor of joining a team (if that is an issue). Also, try meetup.com to see if there are any playgroups near you. These are groups of moms and caregivers who meet up to socialize their kids without there being a truly structured activity or organized sport. It's just fun play. Again, these would probably be co-ed, but if your goal were simply to let them try things independently, you could take one on one week and the other the next.

 

This semester they have had preschool 2 mornings a week. Alex also has had PT on Mondays, feeding therapy and EI family training on Wednesdays, special needs preschool services from the district on Thursdays (an itinerant teacher, PT and OT), and OT on Fridays, so it's been hard to fit in anything else.

This summer we're taking advantage of a good deal at My Gym; there twin rate is $105/mo and that includes unlimited classes and free play. We're doing that for June and July.

By next fall they'll have preschool 3 mornings/week, Alex will have graduated from most of his therapies, and they'll get swimming one day a week at preschool. I want to do T-ball when they're 4.5 (next summer) and swim lessons after that.

 

When they were younger, we did story hour at the library, music classes(8-10 weeks long). The boys started soccer in the fall right before their 4th birthday. Dh is a big soccer player. They did indoor soccer right before their 3rd birthday. With the boys in soccer, I started Annabella in dancing last fall. It was a mommy and me class. She will do ballet in the fall. The boys have soccer, and I wanted something for her to do, and just her and me. She will probably start soccer in the fall as well.

The boys are playing soccer this spring. N loves it, and A enjoys it to an extent, but I think he'd prefer catching butterflies. Lol! Swimming lessons are a must. They each got 7 swimming lessons to a place nearby(where I went as a kid!), it's just a matter of calling up and getting them in.

 

The only thing my girls did at this age was ballet/tap. It was one class a week that focused on both disciplines. They had a wonderful teacher and it not only taught them dance, but also discipline and how to stay focused. It was August through May, then we had the summer off. We tried gymnastics after ballet was over for the summer when they were 4 and it was a disaster. At 5, last summer, they were much more focused and paid better attention. Ballet was great for them.

 

I'm a SAHM but have been sending the boys to "school" since they were just under 2. They were recently going 2x/wk but now they only go 1x, mainly to cut cost right now. This next week Monday will be there 3rd class in swim lessons and I'm sooo glad that I signed them up. They are being taught valuable info in being safe around the water and it's another area for them to work on their listening and instruction skills. They don't really get to "interact" too much w/ the other little ones but it's still a participation type of thing. They absolutely love it and are doing fantastic!!! So proud of them!

I would love to sign them up for other activities but not sure what yet. Their sister is almost 18 months so I'm going to be sending her to "school" (daycare) 1x/wk once she turns that age so it's cheaper to send her. I'm not so much worried about all the shuffling around; just more of all the money it costs to keep them doing things!! But in the big picture - totally worth it! Good luck with your decision!

 

So excited to have my girls all summer and finally start some activities. They love doing things and have been asking to dance! We are staggering small programs and trying out a few things. Creative dance and tee ball first half of summer and gymnastics and a mini picasso art class second half. And then we will probably visit park and zoo of course a billion times. I set a budget I was willing to spend and then I looked at programs from there. They average 8-9 dollars/class for each kiddo. Teeball is through YMCA as others posted. Teeball and gymnastics will be during the weekend so daddy can come, but dance and art will be for me to take them to during the week. It was a rough semester but I have student teaching this fall and will be done so I am looking forward to doing a lot of things together. I say go for what you are comfortable with. They may surprise you if you are nervous...and everything is a learning experience, right? Good luck mama!