We'd love to know what your thoughts are regarding childrens extra-curricular activities.

Do we push our children too hard? Do we encourage them to join too many extra activities such as sports clubs; football, gymnastics, rugby; beavers and scouts, brownies and guides; extra tuition in languages and sciences?

Many would argue that you can never do enough for the kids, but if they are absolutely exhausted at the end of the week and haven't even had the chance to go out to play with their friends, are we really doing what's best for them? Is it better to let them learn more through play and develop their social skills in a more relaxed and informal way?

Well my children havn't done much extra curricular activities up until this year.
Now Kira (8yrs) does Gymnastics on a monday, Brownies on a tuesday. Cole (6yrs) does Beavers on Tuesday.
It is not because I don't want them to do more but money wont allow - also by the end of the week they are exhausted! Especially when the week often includes a trip to a friends house for tea after school.

Some children have an activity planned for every night after school - I know my children couldnt handle this, but some children thrive on it - being bored when they are home, the extra activities keeping them occupied.

this is a hard one really
my children get really moody when tired so i have to make sure they have enough zzzzzzzzzz
thomas does street dancing on a saturday morning 10 am til 12.30 they do have competitions but he hasnt entered any yet the next one is in nov but im not letting him go as its from 9 am til 10.30 pm which i think is far to long for children
sophie and michael dont do any as yet as quite happy playing out and going on walks etc
i do think though that younger children get to much home work micheal is only in reception and gets writing and reading
thomas gets maths , english , mental maths , spelling and reading which i find is hard going as he does want to play out after school and relax a little after his tea
but then maybe its just me as i always hated homework anyway
i think as long as the children are enjoying things then keeping them busy is good

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I think if kids are exhausted then no they shouldnt do anything after school etc. they need to concentrate just on school and see how they cope with that.
Adam does a lot of extracurricular activities but he also has a lot of energy. He does beavers 6-7.30pm mon
football training 6-7.15pm tues
football training 6-7pm wed
dance 6-6.40pm thurs
and he has a match on a saturday morning 9.30-10.15am.
The girls go to dancing twice a week although one class is a preschool class on a friday morning they also go to an after school class on a thursday night which is 4-5.15pm and is tap and ballet. Hannah also wants to start football but she is too young yet and she has asked to go for swimming lessons but will make sure she is settles in nursery first.
I watch out for my kids tiredness and if they were to show any signs then the after school stuff would stop also if their school work dropped the same would happen. Adam is in top groups for all his subjects so I am happy he is coping well with everything. He doesnt have late nights as he comes home from activities has a quick shower and goes to bed so is usually asleep by 8pm and the girls are usually asleep by 7.30pm

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Can't afford for them to do anything extra that costs dosh!!

Lucas does football after school, but that's it.
I'm sure if money was no object then I'd be ferrying them all left, right and centre, but only if they wanted to do it. I could never be a pushy parent and force them into doing something they didn't want to or enjoy doing.

Elijah did do cheerleading a few years ago, but she wanted to stop, so I let her. It was a bit of fun for her and her mates and I guess they grew out of it.

None of my lot have ever shown an interest in the Brownies, Scouts and what have you, but my mum always said she'd pay for that if they did as my gran paid for me join the Brownies (I only stayed for about 3 months tho'!).

They might get extra tuition for certain subjects if they need it once they hit 4th year at High School (Year 10) as they'll have exams at the end of it.

I think kids need to be kids and have free time to do what they want and if that's something like Brownies, football, gymnastics or whatever and they enjoy it then that's fine, but I would never dream of forcing them to do something like those in 'thier time' if they didn't like it. (Extra tuition before exams is a different kettle of fish tho' )

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I think this very much depends on the kids in question and their personalities, and abilities etc, and its important to strike a balance between school-life, family time and playtime.
I personally think its fantastic if kids get out there and do something they really enjoy. It gives them confidence, self esteem and develops their social skills, and keeps them fit alot of the time, which in our currently climate of childhood obesity, is not a bad thing at all.
However, if kids are exhausted and their wellbeing and school work is suffering, then that is the time to clamp down on all the extra activities. As Vicky said, some kids thrive on it, and many have boundless energy so its not a huge effort for them to fill their spare time with activities, but I also think as parents, its sensible for us to decide what is best for each individual child. Also, finances dictate alot of circumstances.

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I agree with the rest of you. I depends on the child. All of mine are too young (in my eyes) to do any extra curricular stuff, but as soon as any of them wants to & they seem to be enjoying it, then that's fine by me! I used to go to Girl guides, was kind of made to by my step dad & never really enjoyed it, so I wouldn't make my kids do stuff just for the sake of it, it'd have to be something they really wanted to do.

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