After years of wondering what after school activity to start for we have settled on Gymnastics. When I was growing up there was one choice...netball. I lived in a small town with not much to do. My parents didn't need to take me anywhere, I could rock up to the local courts and practice with my team mates. I started from the age of 7 and continued till 14. After then I was involved in other things.
Fast forward a couple of decades and the list of after school options is endless. Dance (ballet, modern, tap...), cheerleading, sports, athletics, girl guides....
In the end I went with gymnastics because:
a) both kids could get into the same class/session
b) it was something athletic to help build coordination and motor skills.
c) They show a good amount of agility after years jumping on our trampoline
d) It was fairly cheap as far as fees go
After the first lesson they absolutely loved it. They keep bouncing up and down on the mat just because its bouncy. Meanwhile I try and keep Zak-Zak occupied for an hour.
After reading a lot of literature and blogs about not over scheduling your family, I have decided that we will just have one activity/sport for the week...for now. With three kids, work and other commitments I hope I can try and make a good balance for us all. Do your kids do any after school activities?
8 comments:
good smarting thinking Jackie.
We have always limited after school activities as with three children it gets very busy very fast. I also dont believe they need to do every sport/dance/after school gig on the planet. We let things get too busy one term and it only made for a grumpy mummy and tired stressed kids.
Also it gets expensive - in OZ was $260 for netball and $180 for rugby - eeek!!
Last year Miss K showed a lot of promise playing netball so we are sticking with that for her for now and Mstr B wants to give soccer a go. We generally try to give the kids a very quiet first year at school so not sure what Miss E will do.
ohhhh please can I have details!! I have been thinking about Gymnastics for my kiddos, been trying to get Riley into Keas but that is failing with people not getting back to me etc Might try calling again! But he did gymnastics at school last year and really enjoyed it, so would be keen to find out more!
oh and your gym classes look great!!!Look at your sweet little gymnasts.
Miss K did it for a year as she needed the coordination skills and it was fab!!!
fun! I did gym when i was young and LOVED it :-) Jared does hockey in the winter. That's enough for me! I guess Kohen will probably do it when he's old enough if he wants :-) One thing is totally enough! He's doing swimming lessons this term aswell, though it's in school time with the homeschool class so I guess it's not technically an after school activity! Also I was going to get him into keyboard but although I bought a keyboard, we haven't quite got there yet!
Now all we need is a bigger lounge, as the kids like to show us their latest skills in this smallish area. Hey look kids you're on TV...no literally get off the TV! :)
I usually stick with one sport for my school age children- swimming in summer and soccer in winter. Although we have also done tennis this term as we have access to a tennis court and neighbour children to play with. It has become too busy though. My school kids also do piano, but the teacher comes to our house which makes it easy. My preschoolers also do swimming in summer as there is a reduction in fees for each extra child and the 4th is FREE (or she would never get to do it!)!
What a coincidence that you posted this today as I have just today been investigating gymnastics for Mr 4.5 as he's been enjoying handstands, cartwheels etc lately. So maybe next term? If not gym, then definitely swimming lessons. Up until now we've only done a couple of seasons of Little Dribblers (kids football) so might be time to try something new :-)
I agree that finding a balance is important though. Our lives are busy enough as parents without putting more stress and activities onto our kids hey!
Jackie ~ I did an interview with the organisers of Whangarei Gymnastics and they were absolutely fantastic! Very committed to the kids and visionary with where they see the organisation heading...I'm talking Olympics. Seriously. The trainers were great to talk to and eager to show off some student's moves for Club Corner in The Whangarei Report. Top marks for a top mum making top choices for her kids.
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