Now that there is less left for the summer to end and the children start school, it is possible that although there is still a month left for it, your head already begins to organize the days when routines will be your daily allies again. But maybe you also start to think if after the school day, if it would be a good idea to enroll your children in extracurricular activities or if it is better than not.
In order to know if it is really a good idea -or not- you should have some things very clear, because although you are responsible if your child really should or should not do extracurricular activities or if you can or cannot afford it -according to the family budget-, The one who will have the last word on whether to do it or not will have to be your son.
Family budget
The first thing to consider even before talking to your child about the possibility of doing extracurricular activities outside of school hours is the family budget. Extracurricular activities are not free and not all have the same price, since it will depend on the type of activity, the duration and where they take place.
Think about the activities that your child wants to do or those that you think could be good ideas for him or for his development, and then think about the family budget depending on the cost that each one has. If you can allow your child / children to do extracurricular activities on a monthly basis and they agree, then it will be a great idea for sure. Also appreciate that a budget for a child's activities is not the same, that if you have two or three children and they all want to do extracurricular activities, the budget can be much higher.
Children's interests
For your children to do extracurricular activities, one of the things that matters most is that they want to do it. Never force your children to do extracurricular activities because you think it is good for them and you do not take their opinion into account. in this way you will only be making them not feel like doing them and neither enjoying them nor feeling that it is something important to them.
Extracurricular activities should be activities that help them enhance their skills on a day-to-day basis, but above all, they should be activities that they like to do. If your child is undecided or too young to know what activities he likes to do the most, you should play to be his private detective. That is, you should look at what their interests are, observing them daily. You may find that he has a creative spirit, Something great to sign up for after-school art activities, or you might like sports, but what else?
It is also possible that your child needs other types of academic activities to reinforce school skills, something that in this sense, it would be necessary to take into account to combine with other activities of their interest and that they never feel these activities as imposed or forced. For a child to be able to take advantage of extracurricular activities -even if they are also academic-, he must first and foremost, want to do them.
Not too many
Extracurricular activities are good as long as they are in the right measure. When a child has too many extracurricular activities, they can become too tired during the day or even feel stressed or anxious. Children need time to be children and overloading them with extracurricular activities will never be a good option.
Extracurricular activities should be few during the week, as if it is only one. What matters is that those extracurricular activities that you are doing really like them and motivate you to take advantage of them correctly. It is necessary to prioritize which activities your children might like the most and not put too much on them even though they might like all of them. They should choose those that they can really like the most and thus enjoy the activities well. They will learn to prioritize and value the activity they are doing.
Free time
But in addition to prioritizing extracurricular activities for your children and being able to choose the ones that they like and interest the most, you should also be aware that children need time to play, to be children, to rest and above all, to be by your side.
For this reason, it is very important that children who attend extracurricular activities, They also have time to do academic tasks and study at home, time to play and have free time, but above all also, time to be themselves and be by your side.
Free and unstructured time is essential for children to develop their creativity and imagination, something that is not only more important but is also necessary to be able to enjoy other activities such as extracurricular activities.
And remember…
If you are thinking of enrolling your children in extracurricular activities when September arrives, remember that the first thing you should keep in mind is their opinion, know if they really want to or do not want to do it, do not force them in case they object, know the budget you have at home so that they can do it, and above all that they follow their interests and that they feel motivated to carry out these types of activities. If you see that they are undecided, it is best that you help them choose the activities that you think may interest them, keeping in mind their tastes and interests.
It is very important that you do not overload children with hours with extracurricular activities, since they could feel irritable, tired, with little desire to do anything, it could deteriorate their academic performance ... it is better if there are few activities but they really like it.
If you succeed in extracurricular activities, without a doubt they will only have benefits for them since their skills will be enhanced and they will be able to discover which activities they like the most or those that do not feel so much interest. Do you already know what kind of extracurricular activities you will target your children during the school year?