Hey Moms...my daughter is starting first grade next week and has been in dance since she was 2 1/2 this year she decided she wanted to try cheerleading. Practice is 4 days a week now and will drop to 2-3 days a week in a couple of weeks, she has games every Sunday and then 2 competitions during the season..im torn if I should also sign her up for dance one night a week or if that would be too much. Looking for mom's who have done this and if it was too much on them or if they seemed to handle it well..another thing she would like to do is girl scouts which I believe they meet 1-2 a month but im not sure. I don't want her to miss out on things she enjoys but also do not want her to be overwhelmed..any advice? Thanks!
Thank you so much everyone for your input! I appreciate all of it. I think for now I am going to stick with cheerleading and then once that is over if she still really wants too sign her up for dance, if they have an open spot for her..and in the meantime think about Girl Scouts depending on how much they practice for cheer during the school year will depend if she can handle that. They don't compete much at this age but do attend 2 per year so we also want to be sure we have family time for the 5 of us on the weekends! Thanks again!
we usually do 2 activities a week. and the is it. so with cheerleading meeting 2 or 3 times a week.. that would be all I would do.
my duaghter is in afternoon kindergarden.. she will do soccer on Tuesday evening and swim lessons on friday evening.. soccer is only 6 weeks so she will be done by mid october.. then I think we will try something else.
One sport per season with an optional activity for our family. My youngest daughter is in Brownies and they do meet twice a month after school. That doesn't interfere with any sports she wants to do.
Wow, that cheerleading program sounds like it would PLENTY enough of a commitment. Hope she loves it. I would probably do girl scouts if she wants to for the social aspect with her peers, but I would definitely drop the dance class.
Our daughter(1st grade) has soccer 2 nights week of practice and this will not change until after the season is over. And on one of those nights she has to be there 45 mnutes earlier for footskills.
I am the Girl Scout Leader of her troop and we meet twice a month for meetings, and at least once a month we have some sort of event (sometimes the schedule has two events).
We are on the go a lot, and cannot add anything else to our schedule. My daughter wants to try gymnastics, I simply said "sure you can but you either have to give up soccer or GS, we cannot do all three"...she chose no gymnastics.
Most days I leave the house around 7:15 AM and don't return until after 7:15 PM or later.
I made a joke last night at soccer practice as my husband dropped her off waited for me to get there and I looked at him and said "Shift Change Complete".
I don't know what we will do when our three year starts all this stuff. He wants to play soccer but we are waiting until the spring and after he turns four.
If she wants to do all these things, let her try it out. Some kids can handle more activities than others. It sounds great!
Added: With more than one kid, especially, there might come a time when the family is overwhelmed by all the various activities. At that point it might be time to scale back. Until then, go for it.
Most educators and child development specialists will tell you that there are problems with over-scheduling young children. They are constantly in the car being carted to one activity after another, they have no down time, and they cannot entertain themselves. They have less creativity because they never have time to think, and they cannot be alone because they are in endless group activities. "Missing out" is less important than making sensible choices and figuring out what's really important for her. 4 days a week is a huge commitment for a first grader, and every Sunday involves games? For most kids, 1-2 days a week is more than enough at this age. I would choose one activity. Kids need to have play dates and open, unscheduled time. You read posts on this site all the time from moms whose kids are sick of doing things and the parents are torn because they have paid for activities and now the kids don't want to go. I think cheerleading is very difficult for young kids because they don't understand the games they are cheering for, and they are memorizing routines too. They are also not usually adept at handling the pressure of competitions at this age. Dance recitals are one thing - but competitions? There is a lot of dejection for kids who don't win. How are you going to grow into activities for her when she is older if she (and you) are completely booked at age 7?
Scouts 1-2 times per month is not a big deal, but usually they have additional activities (selling cookies, doing projects, marching in parades) that are additional.
She's going to get homework soon and she is going to soon have to choose between her schoolwork and her activities. I think you should really think hard about this - it's so hard to go back if you jump in with both feet.
Our son had religious school plus one sport or other activity, and nothing with practices every day. He turned out to make great choices, to realize no one does everything, he's extremely creative, and turned into a real leader because he had a variety of experiences in different groups of kids over time.
Cheerleading is time consuming. I would just drop dance until cheer is over. Girl scouts are ok but she may have to miss cheer practice and that may be frowned on. You probably think so what I am her mother and if she misses then tough.But when joining a team you make a commitment and you have to be there. Sports are a lot for young kids.
We try to stick to one sport per season however sometimes they do overlap. Spring and fall is soccer, fall is football and cheerleading, winter is basketball and cheerleading, summer we do more since there is no school. In the summer we do camps, swim team and softball/baseball. It does sound like a bit much for your daughter, but if she enjoys it and isn't crabby then it probably won't hurt.
It really depends on the child. I guess I believe when you are a kid and 1st grade is young, that just playing at home - using imagination and learning to be independent is critical. So I would say as long as she still has down time, non-scheduled time and time to just "BE" each day. Do it if SHE wants to and enjoys it.
I say do what you want, if you are able then by all means let her do what you'll allow.
I speak from experience. We have our 2nd grader in stuff all the time, nearly every night of the week she has something. We have had the tap/ballet class for several years once a week, she also does gymnastics and tumbling at the same business.
Her schedule there last school year was:
M- off
T-Dance class tap/ballet, it was a recital year, she was in 2 numbers, so there were a lot of extra practices throughout the Spring.
W-Tumbling at 4 and gymnastics at 5.
Th, F, and Sat no formal plans.
She does BMX on the weekends on Sunday for about 2 hours and does pretty well. She has one 1st place trophy, lots of 2nd place ones, and a few 3rd place one. She enjoys it so much. We don't travel all over doing point races and Grands due to the cost and just not having good transportation. Once the 4 yr. old starts riding we may add in the traveling but that is the future and who knows.
This school year she wanted to add Hip Hop class. Plus she made the show team that goes places and represents the gym. She is excited about that so much, she is one of these kids that go down each isle at Walmart turning flips over and over and over. We have to carry hand sanitizer all the time.
This schedule is:
M-show team practice for 1 hour
T-Hip Hop 1 hour
W-tap/ballet for 1 hour
TH-show team practice 1 hour, tumbling 1 hour. We are keeping her inthe extra tumbling for a couple of months so she can work on her skills and keep them improving.
Still nothing on F or Sa.
Then add in BMX on Sundays. So, do we have you beat yet??? LOL.
My hubby does stuff with the 4 yr. old like going to the Y for swimming, T-Ball, Soccer clinic at the Y, etc...he has sensory issues and doesn't do well in activities where he has to wait his turn or stay in line, he does really well with things one on one.
