Activities for 7 year old

[carj]

My 7 year old son has been asking to take Karate. That is perfectly fine with me.

I called a place that is close to our house and classes for his age group meet twice a week. The cost is the same if you only come to one class per week but they strongly suggest that he come to two.

I guess I am just wishing that every activity didn't require a multi-day commitment. I do realize that 2 days a week is not a huge commitment but I was thinking once a week!

He wanted to play football but we told him that he would have to wait a couple of years. (They practice 2 hours a night 4 days a week!! ) I think that is overkill for 7 year olds! Not to mention that they practice past his bedtime.

I realize that you need to have practice time in order to get good but aren't there any activities that kids can do where they can participate and not be competing at a semi-professional pace? Is there any activity where the kids can just play and not prepare for the Little League National Championships or something?? When he was 5 and playing soccer, they practiced 3 days a week and a game on Saturdays.

He really wants to play sports and do activities but I just think that the current level of practice, games, fundraising, etc... it's just too much. I know that some parents and kids love it but it just isn't for us, not at this age. He wants to do the activities and play with his friends, read, watch tv and I need him to do his homework. Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Mouse House Mama]

I understand what you are saying but they have to practice so they learn how to play the game. 2x a week is not a lot. Does your child want to do this? If so then I personally would let him. What does football practice that it is past his bedtime?

 

[irene_dsc]

Well, my ds is also 7. Last year he did flag football, and the practices ranged from 2-3 in the beginning of the season, and later down to 1, plus a game, of course. The year before he did soccer - 1 practice, 1 game.

This year, he is doing swimming lessons. This is more because he didn't do well in a team atmosphere (and flag football and soccer were hard for him because he isn't the fastest runner.) It is nice because it *is* only once a week. I had considered looking into martial arts, but haven't pursued it. Oh, and he also does Cub Scouts. Last year, it was pretty low-key, but I think this year there may be more den meetings.

Oh, and we did have the problem that later in the fall, we had to move practice earlier because it was getting dark before they were done, and the school field had no lights!

 

[carj]

Football is from 6:30-8:30, he goes to bed at 8 once school starts. This would mean that it would be 9:15 by the time he got to bed. He has to be up at 6:30. I would be willing to push back bedtime once a week but 4 days a week is not going to work. He is in school until 3:20, we get home about 4. That would only leave him 2 hours to do his homework which is about 30 minutes each day and to just be a kid. I think that is excessive so that is why we chose to not participate. Like I said, other kids and parents love it but it isn't for us at this time.

Karate is only 2 times a week and I guess that isn't too much but I was expecting once a week.

I was a very over-scheduled, very involved child and I just think that giving kids time to just play is more important at this age. I am trying to balance what I think is best with his needs and desires.

He wants to play but trust me, if we were commited to an activity 4 days a week, there would be much whining. I also believe that once you make a commitment, especially to a team, that you need to fulfill that commitment by coming to practice and games.

 

[perkinsrose]

My 7 year old son has been asking to take Karate. That is perfectly fine with me.

I called a place that is close to our house and classes for his age group meet twice a week. The cost is the same if you only come to one class per week but they strongly suggest that he come to two.

I guess I am just wishing that every activity didn't require a multi-day commitment. I do realize that 2 days a week is not a huge commitment but I was thinking once a week!

He wanted to play football but we told him that he would have to wait a couple of years. (They practice 2 hours a night 4 days a week!! ) I think that is overkill for 7 year olds! Not to mention that they practice past his bedtime.

I realize that you need to have practice time in order to get good but aren't there any activities that kids can do where they can participate and not be competing at a semi-professional pace? Is there any activity where the kids can just play and not prepare for the Little League National Championships or something?? When he was 5 and playing soccer, they practiced 3 days a week and a game on Saturdays.

He really wants to play sports and do activities but I just think that the current level of practice, games, fundraising, etc... it's just too much. I know that some parents and kids love it but it just isn't for us, not at this age. He wants to do the activities and play with his friends, read, watch tv and I need him to do his homework. Does anyone have any suggestions?

DKids are under 10. They are busy and involved but ONLY do activities that are one day/week. I make sure they have plenty of down time and time for homework, reading, etc.

We've never done ANY fundraising other than at their Public School and obviously voluntary.

DS does a flagfootball that is 8 weeks long--only on Saturday. Year round we do Karate. Karate School has membership ($100 plus per month) where kids are expected to come often 2-3 or more times per week. They also offer once/week classes that are usually $100 for 12 week sessions (once week). We pay the Karate once/week class through a Parks & Rec. dept. DS has learned so much (confidence, strength, flexibility, focus, ...) and only once per week though for several years.

We do dance classes-once per week but do pay a monthly fee--no contract, free to stop at anytime though we stay through school year for the recital at end.

Sometimes we do other 6/8 week things if it fits our schedule. They enjoy all the different activities but wouldn't be able to do so many if they had larger time committments. I like letting them try different things while they're young. Maybe as they get older, they'll choose what they like best and committ more time to it. But I am all about kids being kids--if mine were unhappy or stressed--we'd quit or cutdown.

Keep looking. At least in our area, there are the lowerkey once/week activities available.

 

[Mouse House Mama]

Yeah that seems pretty late for the football practice. I too try not to overschedule the kids. Swimming might work.

 

[minnie2]

I totally agree with over scheduled kids. I agree kids need time to be kids. that being said,,,
Both my kids ds6 and dd8 take karate and it is 2 days a week. Their teachers are great and make it fun but yet they are learning and socializing. So to me they get to be kids while building confidence.

To add to it dd8 is in cheer that I coach. That is 3x a week 6pm -7:30 and ds6 is itching to play football but he is still too young. that practice is 6-8pm 5x a week.

I am all for it IF it is what the kids want and not the parents. Though if they try it and don't like it they have to at least finish the season then they don't have to do it the next yr. Also their grades have to be good or all sports stop!!!!!!

As long as it is fun and you have god teachers and coaches then personally it is still being a kid. Granted it is more of a pain for us parents! I think that is part of the reason I decided to coach my dd cheer team. If I had to be there I might as well help. DS of course is not to fond of waiting and watching his sister practice. Though he did pick up the cheers

 

[lpberg]

we're going through a similar situation right now. DD8 was bumped up two levels in her ballet class - which means going from 1 night a week for an hour and 15 minutes to 3 days a week for an hour and half each time. A) we can't afford the Tuition at that level, and b) with gas prices the way they are..... So we talked to the ballet instructor and they agreed to have her only move up the one level (as is typical!). So now it's one afternoon a week.

My conversation w/DH, though, was about WHY do the kids have to "commit" to whatever it they are doing at 3rd/4th grade (at least in our experience), as though it's THE THING they'll be doing PROFESSIONALLY for the rest of their lives!!! I mean, I personally don't think DD is going to be a prima ballerina... And at the same time, there are other activities she'd like to try - like Brownies, or horseback riding, or climbing wall class, or swim lessons, etc. If she took the higher level of ballet classes, there would be no time for anything else - let alone figuring out when she'd get her homework done. How do people do it???

Not trying to "start" anything - just a matter of curiousity on my part....

 

[Miss LD]

DS is 4 and he's in karate. It's a 2 day per week commitment here too. It frustrates me a bit because it is a lot, but when we opted to do a once per week class he didn't seem to be in as much of a routine and found it harder.

The thing with DS is that he's very active and has a hard time concentrating (ADHD has been suggested, but not diagnosed) and he finds karate difficult. He's been asking to do gymnastics which is once a week and we're thinking of switching him.

Hard call.

 

[carj]

we're going through a similar situation right now. DD8 was bumped up two levels in her ballet class - which means going from 1 night a week for an hour and 15 minutes to 3 days a week for an hour and half each time. A) we can't afford the Tuition at that level, and b) with gas prices the way they are..... So we talked to the ballet instructor and they agreed to have her only move up the one level (as is typical!). So now it's one afternoon a week.

My conversation w/DH, though, was about WHY do the kids have to "commit" to whatever it they are doing at 3rd/4th grade (at least in our experience), as though it's THE THING they'll be doing PROFESSIONALLY for the rest of their lives!!! I mean, I personally don't think DD is going to be a prima ballerina... And at the same time, there are other activities she'd like to try - like Brownies, or horseback riding, or climbing wall class, or swim lessons, etc. If she took the higher level of ballet classes, there would be no time for anything else - let alone figuring out when she'd get her homework done. How do people do it???

Not trying to "start" anything - just a matter of curiousity on my part....

I'm glad I am not the only one. My son wants to try it all! I am fine with commiting to an activity through a season or schoolyear but the level of commitment expected for children seems out of proportion. These are activities that are supposed to enrich his life, not make it chaotic.

I truly don't know how other people do it. If we are super busy every day of the week, we all get stressed.

We have a 5 year old daughter who wants to take dance classes this year too. Thankfully, that is only once a week!

 

[GJM]

I think that football practice schedule is nuts for a 7 year old.

My DS 8 does Karate, we paid up front and it takes him until he gets his green belt which they say is 12 - 18 montsh. The Karate place has many different classes to pick from and each class is 45 minutes long. We go twice a week, but DS could go to as many as he wants.

We actually stopped for the summer, and he know tells me he doesn't want to do it anymore. I told him lets go back and try and see how you feel.

 

[liamandcaili]

carj -- Is there a community center or recreation center or YMCA in your town or nearby? They often offer a variety of activities with much less commitment time. It is usually less expensive too! That way, your child can be introduced to an activity, but you don't have to get too involved immediately.

WHY do the kids have to "commit" to whatever it they are doing at 3rd/4th grade (at least in our experience), as though it's THE THING they'll be doing PROFESSIONALLY for the rest of their lives!!!

I don't think the sports or schools think the kids will be doing this professionally, but at that age, they do seem to think that more time needs to be put into an activity to improve. DS is 9 and baseball this spring involved 2-3 games a week, plus a practice. Of course, being in MA, the season is short, so they have to pack a lot into a few weeks.

 

[laughinplace199]

Do they offer any weekend classes? DS is 7 and has been taking karate for about 18 mos. We started out with once a week and just recently changed to twice a week. His classes are on Saturdays and Mondays, so it won't interfere with homework too much since only one class is during the week.

 

[Stephres]

I have that problem with my daughter. My son was easy, he wants to play soccer and only soccer all the time. My daughter wants to be in cheerleading, gymnastics, horseback riding, soccer and brownies. I was going to try to put her in cheerleading but it was 4 times a week! For a six year old!

I really don't like how they try to make kids specialize at such an early age. I can kind of understand the karate people wanting you to go twice a week because it will be easier for your son to remember what he learned the time before.

When you are looking at sports, see if they have a recreational level and a competitive level. You will have less practices, fundraisers, fees, etc. at a recreational level. Good luck!

 

[cigarboo]

Is there a community center or recreation center or YMCA in your town or nearby? They often offer a variety of activities with much less commitment time. It is usually less expensive too! That way, your child can be introduced to an activity, but you don't have to get too involved immediately.

I agree with previous poster; The YMCA usually have classes that are recreational. No pressure, just playing for the fun of it. My DS7 plays basketball there once per week. He's on a team and they do team pictures and all that, but it's all for fun. They offer a variety of sports including soccer, golf, t-ball, fitness and swim. They also often have dance. Ours also have karate, which they call, "just for kicks" which is once per week. The nice thing about the YMCA is that it's usually cheaper and often, payment is by session so you can opt not to continue and not have wasted much money. If you have a community rec center, they may also have karate at reasonable rates with very little committment.

The thing about Karate is that it requires even more time committment as you move up in belt. Be wary of the places which try to hook you into a "black belt club" sort of thing where you commit for an extra 3yrs or so after the initial 1 year. At those places, many kids LOVE karate during the first year but as time goes on, many kids get sick of it because it's a year round thing,2-3x/wk. It is very difficult to do other sports concurrently. If you want to get good at any sport, most teams require more and more committment.

 

[kahluacream]

I'm not sure if this is available in your area, but have you looked into the Upward Sports program at all? My kids (4,7) loved playing Upward soccer and Upward basketball. It's a national program sponsored mostly by churches. They only practice once a week with games on Saturdays.... It works well for us, and the kids love it. Here's a link:

http://www.upward.org/

 

[mjkacmom]

Well, I'm probably no help, since dd7 spent 5 hours straight at irish dancing last night! She'll have 4 classes a week in the fall, plus soccer, and I want to get her into a ballet class. I've found that 2nd grade homework isn't a lot.

Ds5 takes Tae Kwon Do, and loves it - 2 - 3 times a week. We stopped for the summer, but he's begging to go back, so we'll sign him up after our vacation next week. He's also begging for gymnastics again.

It really depends on their personalities. Ds10 will be playing travel soccer, rec soccer, and flag football in the fall, and he absolutely loves practices and games.

Dd12 has voice, will start ballet (at the urging of her voice coach), and participates in plays, but hates to be even close to overscheduled. With the plays, she's there 24/7, but when not doing them, she has tons of free time, and is fine with that.

Dd5 just seems to tag along with her brother and sister - gymnastics, dance, swim - she participates, too.

 

[carj]

Thank you for all your replies. We have done Upward basketball and my son loved it! I didn't realize that they did football until the signup deadline had passed. I may try that next fall if he is interested.

We have not had good experiences with the YMCA. The staff was not friendly and not organized at all. We arrived for swim lessons with both kids only to find out that my younger child's class was cancelled because there were not enough students. I understand that they need to have enough kids to make the class. I felt that they should have called me BEFORE I showed up with 2 kids ready to swim. Then I had to make an on-the-spot decision to either allow one to take lessons or cancel both. It took them 2 months to refund my money, very annoying experience. I did let the older kid take the lessons and then the whole time, I felt like we were getting the hard sell for private lessons and other classes. So...that experience combined with the location of the YMCA makes that a no for us.

I think that we will go to the trial Karate class. I will see how he likes it and how I feel about the facility. It is $100 a month, which isn't terrible.

I appreciate all your repsonses.

 

[MNdisneymom]

I don't know where you live...but do you have any My Gyms in your area? http://www.my-gym.comIt's a lot like Gymboree (classes for little ones) but some of them also offer karate. I think it's good for younger kids for a bunch of reasons: only one class a week (no huge commitment), they can play on all of the equipment during break time, and it's not the regular karate dojo where there are lots of bigger kids and scary stuff going on--it just seems less intense, somehow.

My personal story: My DS 5 has been doing it since last August. He has his gold belt (the first one after white, at least at this school) and is ready to test for purple. He adores his teachers (1 woman and 1 guy who is scary looking bald and lots of tattoos but really great with the kids) and has grown and developed so much. He is much more self-confident, and his attitude is great--karate has taught him physical skills, but also respect and discipline.