How many activities is your pre-schooler involved in?

[JVL1018]

My daughter will be 5 in October(misses the cut off for K by 24 days) and will be in PreK M,W,F 12:30-3.
I have also signed her up for soccer this year, starting in the fall. She wants to be a cheerleader as well, but you have to be in K for that.

 

[Strings]

My 4yo DD is in PreK MWF mornings. She'll take dance Tues. Mornings. Thursday evenings are swim lessons. She is begging me to take Karate as welll. She wants to be Kim Possible. We'll see, DH may have to do that Sat. mornings. DD is a very outgoing only child.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

Originally posted by Jenn Lynn
Yes, I am also a SAHM.

I would probably schedule 2 of her activities on mornings when she doesn't have school. And one on the weekend. She still takes naps in the afternoon and then likes to spend time with DH in the evenings.

Sounds perfect! We have older kids who have weekend activities, so we avoid Saturdays for as long as possible, but when Jake starts soccer/t-ball we'll have one more child to add to the weekend mix. Thankfully, my daughter is about ready to get her license, so at least she'll be able to help get people places.

T&B

 

[HollyJoy]

Originally posted by Strings
She wants to be Kim Possible. .

Our kids need to meet! My youngest daughter thinks that she IS Kim Possible! LOL

 

[Pembo]

My boys only ever took swimming one day a week plus preschool. We couldn't afford more than that.

 

[BrerMom]

Pembo, that's kind of where we are. Sunday School and AWANA are free through church. He's been taking swimming lessons this summer and I'd like to have him stay in the class, but I suppose he doesn't need them.

 

[CEDmom]

DD is almost done with preschool/pre-k. She'll be starting kindergarten is a few weeks. The school she attends and will stay at for kindergarten is great in that they offer lots of different programs during the day. They cost extra and are of course optional. They have swimming, dance, FunBus (like Gymboree) and computers.

DD is not big on instructional activities beyond school. She will occasionally do the FunBus but doesn't want to commit to anything else. In some ways she's quite young for her age and just wants to be with mommy and daddy. Since she'll be grown before we know it we're not pushing her.

I think you just have to listen to your child and watch for signs that he/she is over involved.

 

[aprilgail2]

Originally posted by Strings
She is begging me to take Karate as welll. She wants to be Kim Possible. We'll see, DH may have to do that Sat. mornings. DD is a very outgoing only child.

Karate is usually more than a one day a week thing....my daughters class right now is the minimum 3 times a week...once Sept comes she goes up to 4 days a week since she will be a higher belt.

 

[sn00zn]

Jenn,
I think you should go ahead and try it...just be prepared to lose money if it's too much for her or for you!

My DS-4 is starting his last year of preschool--it's 4 mornings a week. He has been taking 2 dance classes a week, and in the fall will be doing 2 dance classes and a music class (he loved music camp this summer!) Sometimes he gets grumpy and won't participate, but usually it works out great.

Just be careful what the future brings--my 11 DD takes 3 dance classes, 2 martial arts, gymnastics, and girl scouts. And yes, she also thinks she IS Kim Possible! (And DD-6 is starting to want to do everything big sis does--yikes).

snoozn

 

[Blondie]

Wow, I'm impressed with you all, when my boys were in preschool, that was their only activity! I figured they had plenty of time in the future to have me running them from one lesson or game to another!

 

[dizagain]

My girls are no longer in Pre-School...sigh...took them to 3rd and 5th Grade today. I think your plan sounds fine! You're the one who has to drive her, and you sound like you're totally fine with it. As far as over-loading her, I don't see it. You're talking like three hours a week!

Do be careful, though...on the path you're taking, you'll wind up like me!!! Beware of the Children's Theatre - we're hooked! Have fun watching your DD...I remember well the feeling!

 

[Tink&SquirtsMom]

My dd always had alot of activities before she started preschool (gymboree, art class, and 2 weekly moms groups get togethers, and a regular playdate). So when she started 2 day a week preschool (also 2 1/2 hours long) we also let her do gymnastics and swimming and kept up our playdates and some moms group activities. It just didn't work out for her. She started goofing off in gymnastics (which she had loved before), and not paying attention in swimming (which was her very favorite activity) or actively participating in preschool. I cut out gymnastics, pulled back on our moms group outings, and made our playdates more casual (playing at home or at the park vs. zoo outings, etc). Major difference. She started thriving at preschool, and loving swimming again. This year she is 4 and will start 3 day preschool, and she will also be doing ballet. I'm a bit nervous about even this schedule to see how she'll react, but she loves ballet so I'm gonna let her continue. We have 4 other 4 year old girls and one 4 year old boy living on our street so she gets plenty of socialization. She just seems to do much better with lots of downtime, and time to just play, ride bikes, run around and be silly. Even when the classes are only 45 mins. its amazing how more free time you have when you cut some of those things out. Drive time, prep time (changing between swim suits and leotards, etc), etc take a big chunk out of the day. Not to mention the kids tend to be tired afterwards. I have the opposite problem with my younger son though. He is very ready for more activites and I just can't find any that fit in our schedule (cause he's young enough that I have to participate too, which is hard when dd isn't allowed to).

I do have plenty of friends that have their kids days all scheduled up with classes and activities and the kids love it. It's just whatever works for your kid. I say give it a try, but don't be disappointed if you have try out a few things (changing times or activities, subtracting activities, etc) to find the right balance for your daughter.

 

[DIZNYFAN]

Skating/hockey gymnastics, swimming, those are all for now.

 

[Strings]

Aprilgail2,

The program I was looking at is a Pre-karate kind of thing. It is only 1 day a week for 3 and 4 year olds. When they reach 5 it goes up to 3x a week. At that point, we'll have to start cutting out activities.

 

[pandamom]

dd4 will be in preschool 3 mornings a week , ballet/tap and soccer. Will also sign her up for seasonal classes if she requests them (she wants to do ice ice skating this fall). This past year she has done: preschool, ballet, pixie cheerleading, pixie poms, swim lessons, splash class, tumbling class, and 1 or 2 art classes. Preschool and ballet run during normal school months. Other programs last 6 to 8 weeks.

 

[cati]

xx