We like to keep busy and get out of the house everyday. We use to be very active in a playgroup, but now that most of my daughter's friends are in preschool, I have taken to enrolling my daughter in more classes. We are planning on homeschooling, and since my daughter will just be 4 in March, we are still very much in "play" mode. In fact, we probably won't start any formal curriculum until she is 5 or 6. Since she isn't in preschool, how many classes would be too many?
She likes to do drama, music, ballet, tumbling and swim. I usually let her do 4, but she picked tumbling over swim when I told her she had to pick between these, and she has been in swim since 6 months. She loves swimming and said "I want to do both." I am actually toying with the idea of letting her do 5 classes. We also do story time at the library as well.
Since she isn't in preschool, I don't mind the costs of all these classes because I'd be spending hundreds a month on preschool otherwise. I also don't think 5 classes would be too much for her. What I do worry about is not having enough time in our schedule to make play dates with our homeschool friends, none of whom seem to enroll their kids in classes due to cost. Adding swim wouldn't interfere with this, however, because it would be a late afternoon class.
My husband and I think that this sort of training of the body at this early age will provide a great foundation for her later in life, and most of her activities (save for music) are her daily exercise, one might say. This will really help keep her from destroying my house in the middle of winter, but I do worry about us being over-scheduled. Can we be over-scheduled if there is no school or anything else to do?
I should also add that two of the days would be doubled up, so it would only be 4 days of classes. On top of this, however, is a co-op/playgroup day, so 5 days a week we'd be busy. The longest class is 45 minutes, so still has tons of time for free play.
I forgot to mention: my daughter only gets 60 minutes of media activity a day, and she free plays most of the day. Also, we have been doing a 5 class schedule, so my question is really: do I add the swim because she is almost swimming and I hate to pull her out of it now! So, in terms of schedules and everything else, it is a lot, but we have been doing it. I also have a son, and he is in music with us and he is starting swim in January.
We also play with other kids at least 2 times a week, so she is getting some of that, not as much as kids in school, but enough.
Beth: of course she will only do a few activities when she is older so she can master something, but right now she is exploring her interests, and I think this is a very important thing to let them do when they are young. Also, she can carry everything she needs for all of her activities right now, since most of them only require her. Second, she will have loads of free time when she starts school because she will be home schooled, so she will only school for 1-2 hours a day.
I am just going to sign her up for swim anyway, so we will have two double class days and two free days a week.
I wish I had time to have my kids in more activities but I am not a SAHM and the cost for two would be ridiculous! As long as you can afford it and she is having fun I say GO FOR IT! My daughter has two classes a week, son 1 and they love spending time with people outside their circle-good luck
The trouble is that you don't know you're over-scheduled until you're over-involved.
You and your daughter might write down a list of Important Things to Do Every Day. There's eating, dressing, and whatever jobs she does at home. There's reading and playing with Mama and Daddy. There's... what else? One thing that needs to be *high* on the list is unstructured play. That's something that quickly goes by the wayside when there are lots of programmed activities.
But you don't want your daughter to come home from tumbling and swimming and story time and just plonk herself tiredly in front of the television. She still needs energy at the end of the day (a little bit, anyhow).
And friendships need to be cultivated, not just stuck in here and there at spare moments. Her education in being a friend is just as important as her exercise.
So be sure those are priorities. Then pick one or two other activities, and let her try them out. Tell her she can take turns with these things, because she's having fun with them, not choosing a career. You might also talk to your homeschool friends' parents about this; because of the different sort of school day, there is often more opportunity for music and other such activities even when they're of school age.
You have a nice problem: you get to pick the best of a lot of good things!
Is she your only child? If so, then go for it. If you have more, it'd be difficult. We go 5 days a week with all 3 of our kids and hubby and I both work full-time. But also, be careful because if you'll start school in the next year, you'll want to not have her expectations of doing all of the fun stuff set too high.
Believe me, this sounds like a lot all written out....but. You're only over-scheduled if someone is losing their mind over it. Like the driver, or the child. If everyone is happy and having fun, it won't hurt. She does need ample "down time" where her brain can rest, grow and sustain itself without outside directions and structured things, so I'm glad you mention she is having plenty of free play.
My oldest daughter is 5 and we now homeschool. She has been in piano lessons for over a year and is about to begin violin lessons. The kids (younger two are 3 and 2) all have a French tutor every Friday. Those are their only regular appointments. My oldest has had some gymnastic classes off an on too, but those are short sessions out here so it's not constant. She's interested in starting martial arts, which I don't think would over book her at this point, so I may enroll her in January. I've started teaching my son(3) piano and reading myself, and he also wants to start Tai Kwon Do.
The homeschool group meetings range from three per week, to one or none some weeks, so it never becomes overwhelming, and you can skip things when necessary. The kindergarten curriculum (we're following The Well Trained Mind which has lots of classic reading and subjects to cover) is doable in a couple hours per day, so we're usually done after lunch, and we skip days where she has lessons or homeschool activities and still get through our material. My kids get all their physical exercise right now at the park and running around freely. I haven't sweated the playdates and stuff, because between the park and our daily errands and some daycare here and there, the kids are all very social and I'm just about at my personal "scheduling limit".
The reason it's good to use caution with over scheduling, is that many things (sports, dance) don't NEED an early start (though it wont' hurt). As the body matures, you can "catch up" with other kids by starting a little closer to pre-teen years and making sure the child is interested and not burned out by then having "Done everything for so long". Conversely things that develop the mathematical side of the brain, like music lessons and foreign language study, do need to be started early to utilize development windows, and then can be dropped later (or not) if child loses interest, they still have the early learning benefits. Also, they're less likely to drop out if they're good at the instrument by then, rather than struggling because they started late.
Anyway, if you can afford it, and she loves all the classes, and you don't mind all the driving, I think she'll have great days with the schedule you have in mind. You're right, at this age, the classes are short and geared for kids. I don't think it would be too much for her at all. And if she burns out on some stuff, you can just scale back.
I have an older child (9) that I homeschool, and we do a lot of activities/classes also.
I look at it like this:
Kids in awayschool are gone 8 hours a day
Kids in awayschool and afterschool care are gone 10+ hours a day
My sons activities at most* have us gone 4 hours a day
Sure it may SOUND like a lot, but when you break down the actual Time Spent... not so much.
* We DO have some activities at are all day affairs. Snowboarding, Swimming in the summer, Camps. Our class ratio adjusts during those periods.
I think that is great as long as the classes aren't more than an hour. That is alot of physical activity though. She'll need alot of free play time for balance.
My kid's 1st preschool, they had a different activity scheduled every 30 mins - all that you mentioned on particular days, plus art, cooking, karate, language, plus a bunch of other things I'm sure I'm forgetting - and he was only 2 at the time! So, I'm sure in some educator's eyes, 4 classes isn't enough.
As a mom, I'm all for keeping kids busy but not burned out.
My DD just turned 5 and we homeschool and do a lot of activities. I have been over-scheduled and for me, the difference is not necessarily the number of activities but the distance and schedule of them.
Right now we have 3 activities that are only a 10 minute drive, which means we can go and come back and still have plenty of time for open play, reading, doing home stuff.
It also helps to have a "stay day" or two during the week. So there is one day, with three activities, for example but the day before we don't go anywhere.
I found that when we were over-scheduled it didn't bother my DD at all, she could go to non-stop activities and switch to open play once we got home. I was totally overwhelmed driving all over creation. She is very social though, a more home-bodied kid would do better with less I imagine.
I think if you are on board she can do as many as she wants. I have one girl in 5 classes a week and she is 8. She goes 4 days per week. Plus we do BMX on the weekend and soccer and softball in season. She stays busy and the only class she hates is Tap/Ballet combo and I told her she gets to choose everything else and I get to choose one and that is the one I choose. I think that the repetition is boring for her but the things her body is learning is too important to miss at this age. I told her after this year she can think about it and I "might" rethink it as long as she is doing a dance class.
I wouldn't worry about that at all. Life changes anyway, people move, things happen and the same 'playdate' friends may not be around later on.
If you are thinking she can handle the five classes she will have plenty of people around her. What I would worry about is what books you can read while you are waiting for her during all of these classes. Just have fun and not worry.
If she's not in preschool, no way does it sound like overscheduling to me. I used to start with 24 hours and back out 10 for sleeping and the X for "to dos" or activities and see how many hours of free play it left. It was usually a lot!! I'm not sure how an activity a day is different than preschool... Seems like less to me.
I havent read your others, but my son who just turned 4 is in pre-school 3 hours a day 4 days a week, PLUS he has swim lessons twice a week and he has 3 other "classes" (therapy sessions, physical, occupational, and speech) and during school breaks we will throw in a fun rec center class or our local museum has "camps" that we will send him to. He seems fine. The days he has nothing to do I can tell he gets sooo bored!
I would think 2 a week is plenty 3 but be prepared for 3 days of getting excited and the let down once it is over.. There is a transition for children with these activities when you have to travel to them. . Remember that it is the getting ready, the being there and the coming home. It ends up being more that just an hour. Also it can make some children anxious to always having to be some where different each day.
To keep her settled stay on a really good schedule. She will do well to have a visual Calendar. Also she will need a down time when she gets home every time.
Also this is not going to replace play dates. When your daughter is at these activities, they are there to learn the entire time, so the children get there and generally leave right after. They are expected to give their total attention since if it is a 6, 8, or 12 week class, they are only there 6, 8 or 12 times.
Figure out how to find a group to play with for extended times. Preschool/Pre K is a lot of learning through play and interaction with other children.
In K it is learning the rules and expectations of school, being part of a group and learning independence. Also the child is not the only person in the world.. It can be a shock to many only children that the world does not revolve around them..
I should know We had an only. We made sure to remind her that we (parents) also have a life and sometimes, she has to understand this.
Be sure to take lots of photos at these classes, she will not have many memories of them when she gets older.
personally more than 2 is too much.
These take lots of time away from time they could be spending being kids. Being a kids is VERY important. I would have her rotate the classes but not all at once. You also need to remember that once she starts school she will need time for school , homework, friends, etc. The things you list require dedication and practice if the child is to succeed . I would rather my child have only one thing and be good at it than have 5 things shes doing and she be mediocre at all of them. A good way to tell how much you are putting your child in is by having them go get EVERYTHING they are doing , EVERYTHING needed for all of these classes and stand there and hold all of it. If they appear overloaded carrying the stuff , they are overloaded in the classes. This is a tip I got from one of those nanny shows.
