Involving Your Child In Extra Curricular Activities
Extracurricular activities can be instrumental in the full and vibrant growth and development of your child
. However, it can be difficult to know when your child is ready to participate in them.The truth is that the right decision is based on your child and his or her temperament, personality, and preferences. There are some basic guidelines that can help you make this decision with your child.
In Kindergarten children still love to play. Free and simple playtime should be encouraged.
Play encourages the use of imagination and creativity that will extremely useful later in life. However, social skills are often very shallow at this point and they need to be developed.
One or two after-school activities a week is plenty of activity for your kindergartener, even if it is as simple as having a friend over to play. It is best to simply let your kindergartener get used to going to school every day.
This is a big change in his or her schedule and it will take some getting used to. However, once he or she seems to have adjusted well, you can let him or her pick an activity that he or she has an interest in.
The activity could be sports, art, dance, music, or so forth. When your child enters first grade he or she should be well adjusted to school.
He or she should be ready to participate in more after school activities including play dates, playground visits, and one or two after school activities. The best choices of extracurricular activities are non-competitive sports or other physical activities.
During this time your child is learning how to use their body more fully and they are becoming more coordinated. In addition, your child will probably be fidgety after spending the entire day sitting at a desk.
Extracurricular activities are a great outlet for pent up energy. Try to avoid letting your child join a sports team that is very strict however.
Strict rules will cause your child to worry about making mistakes and winning or losing. This will undermine their developing self-esteem and confidence level.
In grade two, your child will most likely be more familiar with the extracurricular activity options and will be able to take a bigger responsibility when choosing an activity. At this age your child will be vocal enough that he or she will probably tell you what he or she wants to do without telling you.
However, he or she may not recognize what he or she likes. Try to guide your child's decision to things that he or she will enjoy.
It is best if the activity chosen is something that your child does not get to do in school. This way your child will be able to develop a greater variety of skills.
While sports are very beneficial in a variety of ways, there are other activities as well. This is a good age for children to learn a musical instrument if they are interested.
Make sure you do not fill your child's schedule too full. Your child should still have at least one or two days a week for them to play or do individual activities of their choice.
This will help your child unwind from the stress of the rest of the week. Monitor your child's schoolwork and stress level to make sure they are not doing too much.
Grade 3 is a good time for your child to start participating on team sports. At this age children need to be active and have an opportunity to socialize after school.
By this age, your child will be able to remember the rules and try to follow them. Your child's self-esteem and confidence should be developed enough to be able to handle losing without losing confidence.
It is also a good time for your child to begin developing fine motor skills. Activities that focus on these skills include painting, sewing, and learning to play an instrument.
Encourage your child to develop many skills by participating in a variety of activities. Do not limit them to one focus yet.
In fourth grade, your child should definitely be involved in one or two activities that he or she enjoys. At this point, these activities will encourage higher self-confidence and can provide invaluable lessons in handling stress.
It is important to learn these lessons at this age because cliques and social pressure are going to build from this point on. They need to be able to stand up to this pressure.
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