Extra-Curricular Activities

[roger_ramjet]

Alright, people, it's time for you to explain to a foreigner just what the emphasis is on students and extra-curricular activities. Anyone wish to enlighten a confused soul? I've noticed that a lot of posters on here who are parents place some, or even a lot, of emphasis on their kids being involved in extra-curricular activities. For me, it was never an issue. I got involved in something if I wanted to, but my parents never discussed them. I think this is especially so because my school had bugger-all in the way of after-school inducements. That seemed to be a general pattern everywhere.

So, what's the go? What sort of things are we even talking about when it comes to extra-curriculars?

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Extra-curriculars are important for college....an A student who did nothing compared to an A-student who did something (or everything) won't "look as good" in the admissions process (unless they were exceptionally brainy).

For sports and arts related things---the younger you start...the better for building a foundation....so if your child shows a knack for dance--waiting until they are in high school...doesn't give them the same advantages. If you got a kid who throws a mean ball...but the first time they see the sports field is freshman year of high school---they migiht not make the team. In early years--extra-curricular is for skill development and in older years, should they wish to continue--they get better and they can compete.

Some wait until the kid asks--some foster what they see as talent--and some are pushy--some think the kid can get a scholarship. You get all kinds.

I fall between the kids asking and fostering talent types.

 

[wdw4us2]

Lisa the Pooh explained it pretty well.

Of course, as with everything else, there are people who take extra-curriculars to the extreme. I know some people who have their kids involved in so many different things, they don't have a moment of unscheduled time.

Happily for my children, we are not that type. We initially encouraged them to become involved in a sport when they were younger, and now they each do two sports a year and some clubs at school.

Aside from extra curriculars, emphasis on volunteering for community service has become more important in the past 10 years or so. Many clubs and scholarships require a certain number of volunteer hours to qualify.

 

[roger_ramjet]

That's interesting. The university system at home (I'm from Australia btw) only took into account academic grades. Other stuff never came into it. I suppose the reason for some of that is because college-level sports is not at all a big deal like it is here. In fact I don't think the universities even had their own sporting teams, or if they did, they were only loosely affiliated.

Not sure how the scholarship system worked, though. I think because there were dance/arts schools around as well as the normal universities, students who were into that would go to the specialised schools rather than take their dance experience into a large university.

 

[CEDmom]

Many school districts have had to cut way back on extra programs like art, music, even sports. Nowadays, for a kid to participate in something it usually take parental involvement, if only just to sign the kid up and get them there. You do have parents who push their kids into lots of things hoping for that Ivy League scholarship and others who just let their kids go with the flow and not really think about the future. This has always been the case.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

I guess here--there is so much competition to get into college with limited spacing. Some states have moved to guaranteed admissions---but it is usually for residents who must meet certain criteria.

Scholarships can be had in most any sport and for most any art form to schools that specialize in these things or just to a school who has it available.

We homeschool--so the other component to extra-curricular is that "socialization" stuff and just for time to learn something and have fun with another adult who isn't mom or dad.

 

[clarabelle]

Another thing that comes into play now. When I was a girl (in the 70s) we just kind of ran about on our own. We lived in the country and we would ride bikes and walk in the woods etc... for hours. No one thought a thing about it. Now days we worry much more about predators sexual or otherwise.
People don't let their children roam free as much -hence the many scheduled activities.
It has become the "norm"
I think it definately has its disadvantages. Children get burned out on a sport early- or don't learn how to entertain themselves. Also it is hard nowdays to decide to take up a sport late -say when they are 12 or so. They would maybe be the worst one on the team or class.
My kids currently do horseback riding and the other does Irish dance.

 

[kasar]

For us, we encourage our girls to do something active. With all the sedentary things that kids could be doing - TV, computer, video games, etc. - we want them to stay involved with sports or some other activities. They don't get as much gym time or recess time anymore in school so it's up to us to keep them involved. They like spending time with their friends as well (our street doesn't have many kids their age to play with) so they get the benefit of socialization along with exercise. My oldest DD has tons of energy and I really think that if we hadn't harnessed all that energy into sports she would have become a discipline problem or been medicated for ADHD-like behavior.

They also play piano but that's just for their own enjoyment and hopefully fosters an appreciation for music.

So for us, it's a social activity, it's good exercise and keeps the kids busy which is increasingly important as they reach their teen years. Kids with a lot of unsupervised downtime tend to get into other things that aren't always the best choices (at least for our family). I don't care if it ever turns out to be a good thing when applying to colleges, I just want them to have fun and be part of a group while they're young.

 

[golfgal]

Most colleges want a well rounded applicant, thus the extra curricular activities. For those parents that really push their kids, the real motivation is that they think their child is going to be the next Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods. With the exception of dance and gymnastics where you need soft, flexable muscles to be able to perform at a certain level, starting a child out at 5 verses starting a child at 12 isn't going to make any difference in their playing level by the time they are at the high school level. Most of the coordination and stregnth sports like football, basketball and baseball require a certain level of physical maturity and starting at 5 or starting at 12 isn't going to change that.

 

[swilphil]

I agree with golfgal that colleges want a well-rounded student, someone who is not just book smart. Extra curriculars give kids a chance to work with a group of other students and develop the concept of teamwork. Obviously sports is geared to this, though I don't think that's the reason why Americans are obsessed with having their kids involved in sports.

It does seem like there are more and more activities for younger kids when really all they need is a place to play with the neighbors or their friends. I taught high school and found that some kids got burnt out on sports because they started at such a young age. Then in high school these kids had too much time on their hands and got into all sorts of trouble.

So I wouldn't worry about extra curriculars unless your kids are already at the junior high or high school stage. If they are in high school, there should be a wide variety of school sponsored activities. Besides the popular sports, there are also things like Cross Country running, golf and tennis. Depending on your school, there may not be much competition to get into those activities. Other extra curriculars can be student council government, community service organizations, drama, pep club, journalism, debate, speech, and music.

I agree with your philosophy that kids should do what they are interested in. They should have a couple of extra-curriculars in high school, but if the school doesn't offer something they like they can find activities through church or the community.

 

[roger_ramjet]

This may sound like a little bit of a dumb question about kids and sports, but I was wondering how much of the sports kids play are school-sponsored and how much are just local sporting clubs? It seems as though there just aren't that many sporting facilities around to support the weekend local sports unless kids play at a school. At home almost the only time a kid would play sport would be for one of the many local sports (obviously, they're different sports, but same sort of idea) teams, and they were not associated with any schools. This meant that there was a sporting facility of some kind every half a mile in the suburbs, it seemed (mostly football grounds, which doubled as cricket fields in the summer). I haven't noticed the same sort of evidence of this, although it could well be that I'm just not looking hard enough!

Anyway, thanks for the responses. It's interesting to read about the small differences that I hear of and encounter here.

 

[mudnuri]

This may sound like a little bit of a dumb question about kids and sports, but I was wondering how much of the sports kids play are school-sponsored and how much are just local sporting clubs? It seems as though there just aren't that many sporting facilities around to support the weekend local sports unless kids play at a school. At home almost the only time a kid would play sport would be for one of the many local sports (obviously, they're different sports, but same sort of idea) teams, and they were not associated with any schools. This meant that there was a sporting facility of some kind every half a mile in the suburbs, it seemed (mostly football grounds, which doubled as cricket fields in the summer). I haven't noticed the same sort of evidence of this, although it could well be that I'm just not looking hard enough!

Anyway, thanks for the responses. It's interesting to read about the small differences that I hear of and encounter here.

Well since all youth sports are run by my department I can answer this...edited to add, we're a town recreation department that relies on the use of the schools facilites for our sports...we are not charged a fee for use.

We handle all youth sports from age pre-K thru 6th grade, EXCEPT little league baseball, and Pee-Wee football, those are run by seperate 501c3's

We have t-ball, soccer, basketball, volleyball, softball

breakdown of facilities

soccer- home fields are actually the highschools. we use the "athletic field" which is a huge complex with all sport fields. older kids play on these fields- younger kids play in the outfield of the softball field because its a short/skinny field.

t-ball- we use a park that is owned by the school district. little kids, little field

basketball- we use the elementary school for practice and junior high for all home games- they run saturday 8am-4pm every week during the winter

volleyball- junior high nights- tues/thurs

softball- highschool athletic field- junior varsity field- only 5/6 grade girls softball offered.

The Little League field is actually owned by us, its on our property, but we rent it to them for $1 per year, and they do all maintenance and upkeep

After 6th grade, everyone moves on to the junior high teams, which start in 7th grade.

Pee-Wee football uses the highschool football field- games are played on Sunday's.

Personally, my girls are involved in whatever sports they want to be. AS long as they are able to go to bed at night, homework stays done, and they get up without being exhausted, they can play whatever they want. Generally its only 1 sport a season, but in the winter, they play bball and ski every weekend, so thats 2.

Brandy

 

[roger_ramjet]

So, generally young kids will play sport out of school until they enter junior high? Are there any competitions for teenagers that aren't school-run? That seems like an interesting little quirk.

 

[mudnuri]

So, generally young kids will play sport out of school until they enter junior high? Are there any competitions for teenagers that aren't school-run? That seems like an interesting little quirk.

There are...

AAU basketball - this is not school sponsored and is a higher level playing field for junior and high school kids...bascially you have to make the team

u-14, u-16 soccer- (they start at U-6) these are traveling teams...

Ice Hockey- this isnt school sponsored and some area rec depts have teams...middle/high school

most mountains here have ski teams- that are high competition and not school run or sponsored

Oh- swim teams- these are not school sponsored here, and some area teams are year round...usually rec or YMCA run

I prefer my girls at the age they are now to be on rec teams. my DD9 is a very good soccer player, and could make a traveling team, but I want her to enjoy the sport, not be drilled that she has to win etc..

Hope that helps

Brandy

 

[roger_ramjet]

There are...

AAU basketball - this is not school sponsored and is a higher level playing field for junior and high school kids...bascially you have to make the team

u-14, u-16 soccer- (they start at U-6) these are traveling teams...

Ice Hockey- this isnt school sponsored and some area rec depts have teams...middle/high school

most mountains here have ski teams- that are high competition and not school run or sponsored

Oh- swim teams- these are not school sponsored here, and some area teams are year round...usually rec or YMCA run

I prefer my girls at the age they are now to be on rec teams. my DD9 is a very good soccer player, and could make a traveling team, but I want her to enjoy the sport, not be drilled that she has to win etc..

Hope that helps

Brandy

Righto, thanks for that. I guess it's a little more extensive than I realised. Must be because all the sporting fields are hidden out of sight in some cul-de-sac or something.

What sort of comps are there around for adults? I've seen a bit of the hit-and-giggle softball that men of a large build tend to play, but I haven't seen much evidence of anything else outside of your usual professional leagues. I'm probably sounding a little daft here!

 

[CherCrazy]

Hi Roger,

I live in a really big township that has a parks & rec program that serves thousands of people from ages 5 through adulthood. The residents pay a small fee for each sport/activity that they would like to join. The fee covers the cost of the referees and a team t-shirt. Our town (and many others around us) have year round programs going for just about anything you could think of! It's a great program...I wish they had this kind of stuff when I was a child.

Just for an example, you could play basketball here, from the time you are about 5 or 6 years old until you are 90! (if you could still play). Basketball is played thru the winter season then again all summer long. Everyone is grouped strictly according to age, no exceptions! Baseball is played 3 seasons here, and again, you can find a league for any age group.

I see the greatest benefit is that we are out there, meeting people & making friends from all over this huge (45,000) town. I think it's also very healthy for kids to become involved in sports at a young age and to develop lifelong habits of exerciseing thru sports.

All activities are held either in the schools, on school fields, or on/at facilities that the township has built. We have fields EVERYWHERE!! There is always something going on here!

 

[the kabuki]

While the 5-8 year olds may not have the coordination for most sports, most of the children in our area are involved in some sort of sport. It's unfortunate , but like another poster mentioned, if you wait until junior/high school to start them out, they will be going up against kids' who have been playing for 8 years or more so it puts them at a disadvantage.

I liken it to nursery/preschool. In my day, you didn't start school until kindergarten. Now it's almost a requirement for these kids' to have been in either nursery or preschool. Go into any kindergarten class and almost everyone of them has been in some program before then. It's a huge disadvantage to the one or two children who are starting school for the first time at 5 or 6 years old.

 

[mudnuri]

Righto, thanks for that. I guess it's a little more extensive than I realised. Must be because all the sporting fields are hidden out of sight in some cul-de-sac or something.

What sort of comps are there around for adults? I've seen a bit of the hit-and-giggle softball that men of a large build tend to play, but I haven't seen much evidence of anything else outside of your usual professional leagues. I'm probably sounding a little daft here!

LOL pretty much, the field we use for t-ball is in a neighborhood that you wouldnt know its there till you get to it..

We have adult basketball, adult volleyball, special times at the pool for adults only that sort of thing. Hardest part about VT is that the majority of our year is spend indoors because of the weather. From Oct-April, you probably dont want to be playing bball outside LOL... And then we have to compete with the kids programs for gym time etc. For an example, my youth basketball 2nd thru 6th grade, has the elementary school gym from 3pm after school to 8pm every night, monday thru friday...

we only have 1 elementary, 1 junior and 1 high school, and the high school teams fill up the slots at their gym, so that leaves us the elementary and part time at junior high

Brandy

 

[Martha7]

There's a tremendous emphasis on giving back to the community, which seems a bit unfair to me, since we parents, as kids, never had to do any of this stuff in our day. In order to get into college, these kids have to have been involved in tons of clubs, sports, and volunteer work. As someone on National Public Radio once said, "I don't know where these kids are finding lepers, but God bless 'em, they're curing 'em!" I've had my older son do about 80 hours of volunteer work so far, and he's going to be a senior this Fall. When we lived in Florida, the high school required the students to complete 40 hours in order to graduate. Here in Michigan, there's no such requirement, but he did it anyway. I think it was good for him to work at the local food kitchen, since he doesn't have a full-time job this summer. (He's doing the filming on a local movie project.)
So summing up, it's kind of tough to be a student in the states right now. If you're going to compete with the top kids in school, you're going to have to get perfect grades, great test scores, and do tons of extra-curricular work to get into the best schools. (We're not on that track, by the way, so I'm not bragging!) There was a young woman in California, who had done all of this, and still wasn't admitted to the University of California school that she applied to, since there are so many applicants. She sued the school, and got admitted. Her point was that she had done all of the things required for admission and was denied.

 

[golfgal]

While the 5-8 year olds may not have the coordination for most sports, most of the children in our area are involved in some sort of sport. It's unfortunate , but like another poster mentioned, if you wait until junior/high school to start them out, they will be going up against kids' who have been playing for 8 years or more so it puts them at a disadvantage.

I liken it to nursery/preschool. In my day, you didn't start school until kindergarten. Now it's almost a requirement for these kids' to have been in either nursery or preschool. Go into any kindergarten class and almost everyone of them has been in some program before then. It's a huge disadvantage to the one or two children who are starting school for the first time at 5 or 6 years old.

That is what people assume but it just isn't correct. Going to pre-school does not give you a head start on kindergarten, people just think it does. About the only real advantage it gives kids is that they probably learn how to line up single file earlier, seriously. Preschool is great, my kids went, but academically, it doesn't make a difference. Kids learn when they are ready developmentally.

Same with starting kids in sports, see my earlier post. I have coached high school sports for many, many years and you can take an equally talented student, one starting say basketball at age 5 and one starting in 7th grade. Yes, the one starting in 7th grade will be somewhat less proficient, but by the time they are in 9th grade, you won't know a difference. What you DO see happening with these kids that start at age 5 is by the time they are in high school they are so tired of playing, they quit OR they have always been the hot shot on the team through say 8th grade that they don't work hard and everyone surpasses them. Rarely do you see the all-star 6th grader become the all-star high school senior.

For the poster that asked, in our town, there are many club sports, soccer, basketball, hockey, volleyball, track and baseball. These operate independently from the school system, but these sports are also found in the schools. Hockey in our school district is only at the high school level, varsity and jr varsity, the rest is done through the local hockey association. The rest of the sports start school sponsorship in 7th grade. They also have club teams that are outside of the school season that kids can join. Many of these leagues run through the summer. We do not have a school soccer team, although that may change in another year or two. Basically in our town, you could play one sport year round if you wanted through a combination of school teams and club teams (maybe with the exception of baseball because of the -50 degree temps in the winter ).