Janelle Esker 10 Simple Questions to Ask Yourself About Extracurricular Activities, it’s that time of year again!
Decisions…Decisions…Decisions
With the advent of the school year comes many choices on how your children and family will spend their time. How and what you choose to be involved in will dictate how successfully or poorly your year will run.
I found this quote apropos; “We must have some room to breathe. We need freedom to think and permission to heal. Our relationships are being starved to death by velocity. No one has the time to listen, let alone love. Our children lay wounded on the ground, run over by our high-speed good intentions. Is God now pro-exhaustion? Doesn’t He lead people beside the still waters anymore? Who plundered those wide-open spaces of the past, and how can we get them back? There are no fallow lands for our emotions to lie down and rest in.”
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10 Simple Questions to Ask Yourself About Extracurricular Activities
1. Will this activity encourage spiritual or character development in my child?
2. If my child participates in this activity how will it affect our time as a family?
3. Will this activity prevent us from having dinner together?
4. Will this activity prevent us from having family devotions?
5. Does my child enjoy the activity?
6. Can we participate in the activity together as a family?
7. If we participate in this activity, what will we have to give up?
8. Will this activity encourage academic success or diminish it?
9. Am I living vicariously through my child’s participation in this activity?
10. Will my child be exhausted if he/she participates in this activity?
For the record, I am PRO-extracurricular activity. They can offer children exceptionally rich experiences. I am also very concerned about how extracurricular activities affect family life. They have the potential to wreak havoc on the family as a healthy spiritual unit. Here is how we have handled extracurricular activities. It is not the RIGHT way but rather an example of how one family has handled the issue. We allow one extracurricular activity per child and they have to be passionate about it and be able to grow spiritually through participation in the activity.
We Guard Dinnertime
Here are some dinner statistics to think on from The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine:
- Children not eating dinner with their families are 61 percent more likely to use alcohol, tobacco, or illegal drugs
- Children who eat dinner with their families nightly are 20 percent less likely to drink, smoke, or use illegal drugs
- Teens who share frequent family dinners are less likely to have sex at young ages, get into fights, or be suspended from school
- Teens who eat dinner with their families are at lower risk for thoughts of suicide
- Children who eat with their families are more likely to eat healthier foods and more balanced meals
- Family dining improves communication and family connections
CHECK OUT MORE HELPFUL PARENTING POSTS!
As you are making decisions about how your family will spend its time this year, I pray these thoughts will be helpful to you!
YOUR TURN…
How do you make extracurricular activities work for your family?
Blessings,
It’s hard when so many activities are based on public school schedules. We’ve been lucky to find piano teachers with daytime hours that fit our lifestyle. But dance, sports, etc, don’t always fit the mold. My oldest does dance on Saturdays, but some of the classes she’s wanted to take are weekdays that interfere with dinner. My husband works long hours and isn’t home when the kids wake up. So meal time is really the only time they get to spend with him. I really have to guard that time. That affects me as well when church bible studies are in the evening or getting together with a friend without the kids. I have had to be very discerning about bible studies and which ones I do.
Hi Courtney,
You get a wholehearted AMEN from me. It sounds like you have your priorities straight and what an encouragement to me that is! Keep up the good work!!
bookmarked!!, I love your site!
Thank you!