Author Topic: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year  (Read 11835 times)

Domigab

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 7
  • Location: SE PA
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #50 on: January 21, 2018, 09:28:52 AM »
     I have 7 yo girl, 5 yo boy, and a 3 yo boy. DD is in wrestling. We initially wanted her and her middle brother to do it but he was shy when we took him to practice. She is enjoying it but now wants to try gymnastics. DH told me that wrestling would be $40 but it was really $200. She does not compete in matches because DH works weekends.
     DD asked for a violin for her birthday. I told her when she is older and her school offers lessons we will sign her up and rent a violin. I played violin for 8 years and didn't own one. I want to wait until she needs a full size violin. That way if she doesn't keep up with it I can play it.
     DH wants to sign the kids up for activities but also complains about a lack of money. I am the frugal one who budgets. I grew up in a family that viewed extracurricular activities as a luxury we couldn't afford. I agree with previous posts about one activity at a time. I am hesitant because we have DH's large student loan bill adding to our monthly strain in February. I also feel like our kids are young and we have time to enroll them in activities when DH stops working weekends.

Carrie

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 602
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #51 on: January 21, 2018, 09:43:49 AM »
Our 11 yr old takes piano lessons @$65/mo. No other organized extra curricular activities for us. We have a neighborhood pool that we use in the summer, and access to tennis courts that we're planning to use more often (starting today). I plan to start the 6 yr old with piano this summer when he's 6.5.  The youngest is in preschool and that's all the activity needed. If any of the kids want to learn another instrument, those will be added.

We have a yard and a neighborhood with other children. Our kids need downtime, especially since they're in school all day, so we make it a point not to stress any of us out with a busy schedule. I was never sports inclined, and hate the thought of spending all of childhood at the sports arenas.

Last summer the oldest did a one week chess camp, for $200, and I felt that was overpriced. 

It is, however, annoying that so few families are able to socialize because of their insanely over scheduled lives. 

Hula Hoop

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1762
  • Location: Italy
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #52 on: January 21, 2018, 03:02:51 PM »
I agree that kids need down time.  I see some of the activities my kids do as downtime though.  For example, both kids do Scouts.  That involves basically running around a large park/forest area and doing fun activities with her best friend for my 9 year old.  For the 6 year old scouts are slightly more structured as the kids are younger but nothing crazy. 

This semester kids are doing
9 year old:
scouts -around 100 start up costs for the year including uniform plus 10 euros per month
piano lessons 50 euros per month
roller skating - 30 euros per month

6 year old
scouts - around 100 euros for the whole year plus a bit extra for camping trip
roller skating - 30 euros a month

Next year I think we'll continue with scouts and piano and maybe do swimming instead.  My younger daughter has ear tubes so I'm waiting for those to come out.


asauer

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 848
  • Location: North Carolina
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #53 on: February 05, 2018, 10:33:11 AM »
Family classes:
winter:Cooking course via Great courses: $40 total (18 weeks)
Spring: Spanish class via Great courses: $40 total (20 weeks)

11 yo daughter:
summer: swim team ($150 + swimsuit)
year round- piano taught by Dad so free
11 yo son:
spring: drawing via Great courses (Dad wants to do this one too): $40 total
Summer: 2 sprint length triathlons ($100 total)- grandpa coaches him for free

nothing else since we plan for a trip to Guatemala in Dec 2018 for Spanish immersion classes and to show them their birth country.



MaybeBabyMustache

  • Walrus Stache
  • *******
  • Posts: 5351
    • My Wild Ride to FI
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #54 on: February 05, 2018, 11:42:04 AM »
Re: the down time comment. . . my kids love sports & enjoy being active. We limit them to one sport per season. But, with two kids, the logistics of that are complicated no matter what. I wish kids still played sports with their schools. In our area, my son will try out for soccer, but it's a combined 6th/7th grade team, with hundreds of kids turning out for 20 spots. He's good, but not amazing, & therefore stands little chance of making the team. That just leaves club soccer, which is really expensive & more time heavy than school sports.

Clookie

  • Stubble
  • **
  • Posts: 130
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #55 on: March 02, 2018, 02:14:23 PM »
In autumn and winter  of 2017 we tried gymnastics and dance for our DD5. She did not really enjoy them. In December she came to me to ask me for karate lessons, but I feared injuries during competitions. So instead of karate we opted for aikido and she is very happy because she gets to practice martial arts. She has three lessons per week and no other extra activities

sandyvanburen

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 22
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #56 on: March 17, 2018, 12:25:14 PM »
This is such a great thread. Our daughter (4) was interested in activities (as she seems to be a bit bored at school) so we had her try 4 things she expressed an interest in: 2 cognitive activities, playing harp and Spanish class and 2 physical activities, drama and ballet. We told her she could pick two, one cognitive and one physical.

She picked ballet and Spanish but begged us for drama too. As drama was actually the cheapest of them all, we agreed. She's been at it for a few months now and seems to love ballet. She'll probably continue with it next season. But Spanish class and drama seem to be only so/so. I'm pretty happy because ballet was kinda expensive as the children are required to wear the same outfit which had to be purchased. Spanish class we pay per lesson and the teacher is pretty relaxed about it (we're almost at the point where we can start bartering her Spanish classes for my kid in exchange for my Dutch classes for herself!). Drama is paid through the end of April and our kid will probably just want the extra down time by then (three activities aside from school is quite a lot).

In later years we will require her to take up swimming (as we live in the Netherlands and being able to swim really well is definitely a MUST) and also we'll require her to take some form of agressive self defense (like krav maga or jui jitsu or something - for pretty much the same reason as she needs to take swimming). For the rest: all is fine as far as we're concerned. We really don't like to skimp on acitivities as we only have the one child and we're semi retired. We can afford it and we like to give her room to experiment. We want her to learn to see things through though, that's why we want her to stick with the drama lessons until the end of April.
« Last Edit: March 24, 2018, 11:36:05 AM by sandyvanburen »

CidreCreek

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 15
Re: Kid activities you're signing them up for this year
« Reply #57 on: March 26, 2018, 06:02:39 PM »
My daughter is only 2.5. She has ballet once a week: $160 for 3 months of classes. We will start swimming this month as well: $75/month. Dance ends in May and we will continue with swimming through the summer. Then, we will have to consider whether we continue dance and swimming or just one activity.

 

Wow, a phone plan for fifteen bucks!