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Introduction
Once the child reaches a certain age, we parents love to give more exposure to kids on various other extracurricular activities. The world is full of learning, and kids get loads of opportunities to develop their skills. Apart from the school curriculum, we can try out arts, gymnastics, martial arts, etc. kind of activities for the child. While exploring classes, please keep a few things in mind. There are a few pointers that I keep in mind while exploring options. Do u want to check those pointers, just scroll through
1. Interest
The first and foremost factor to consider while selecting an extracurricular class for the children. We parents love to provide a broader opportunity for the child to explore everything in this world. With this good intention and temptation, we sometimes pick up the classes as per our own interest rather than the child’s wish. If the child attends any courses out of own curiosity, it is tough for them to fit in. Please avoid doing it.
2.Distance
The most essential decision-making point is the distance between the house and the class. Please try to find a class which is less distance. This is more important as the child may get tired or irritated if they need to travel a long distance to attend a class. This may lead to losing interest as well in the class. The child tends to fall asleep, tired or hungry with the commute. Please consider the distance while keeping other factors in mind. I am sharing this from my personal experience. My daughter started to lose interest in martial arts class as she got bored during the travel time, which was also reflected in class.
3.Timings
Please explore various centers, work on different class timing and decide. The timing has to suit the kids and the family, too, as we need to drop off/pick them up. We can avoid certain times when we feel the child won’t be comfortable. Working on class timing is more critical when considering extracurricular classes for kids
4.Fees
Fees are essential factors to consider when enrolling in extracurricular activities. Please check your financial status and stability before joining the class. It must be manageable for the family. Please don’t go overboard if it burdens you.
5.Make-up classes
We can’t expect every day will go as per the plan. Due to unavoidable situations, we may need to take an absence from the class. But the child may miss the flow due to their absence. So, please check whether the center can provide a make-up class. This may help the child to cope-up with their missed class to some extent.
6.Check two or three branches and decide.
Don’t always just go for the center which is named the famous or which comes after recommendations. It is perfectly fine to put some effort from our side and consider for few more centers for analysis. It will give us a better picture if we analyze more.
7.Check the teacher
Have an intro conversation with the instructor, so we can get to know them a bit. As we know our child’s behavior, we can understand whether the teacher will suit our child.
8.Limit to less than 5 classes
Yes!! I can understand your intention. We may get tempted to explore more classes, and we love to enroll them in many classes. But, please always be on the minimal side. This helps the child concentrate well on a few things they love more.
9.Practice it as fun at home
Though the child learns in the extra classes, practicing the same at home is always fun. The child will be hesitant to share their learning with us. So, instead of asking them to perform, Ask the child to teach you, and do it along with the children. They love to practice with their parents. So, the child won’t forget and be in touch always.
10.Check the class size
Please checkout the number of students who is going to attend the class. Please avoid going for large class size, our little kids feel little lonely and its hard for the teacher to give attention as well. Please explore various class size option and enroll the child for extra curricular activities
11.Don't stress out
Don’t stress out if they lose interest after one or two sessions.
Yes!!!! It happens. After considering the child’s interest and other factors, we would have enrolled the child. But!!!!! Sometimes it may not go as per the flow. The child may lose interest in the class due to various factors – Not a child-friendly teacher, strict rules/schedules, etc. This sudden loss of interest may cause extreme stress in parents considering all the complex work we did was in vain. We can converse with the child in a positive way to get to know the reason. It may work out sometimes to get back the interest, but sometimes it may not. So, please take a deep breath and try to accept reality. It’s ok !!! The child develops the interest after some time or in some other field.
Summary
Enrolling children in seasonal camps and extracurricular classes is the biggest task. We really need to check a lot of points before doing it. Please take some time to research and travel along with your child on this new journey. More than anything, our children must have fun and be satisfied with what they are doing. It is perfectly fine if you can’t enroll them in any classes. It happens, and that’s ok too. Please don’t go overboard at any point, and try to stick within your limits.