Overburdened or Nurtured? A look at after school classes for children
Tomi Akinyanmi
April 15, 2009
All across the country, there are so many options for classes that you can sign your children up for. From as young as 6 months of age, you have, parent and me classes which include musical introduction (music together, gym and swimming amongst others. For slightly older children, starting from age three, you can have them enrolled in private musical lessons (piano, violin) sports (ice skating, soccer, swimming), karate and ballet even cooking. Then for the kindergarteners, the choices for after school activities are simply astounding. In addition to the aforementioned classes, you have voice classes, horseback riding, the girls and boys scout, acting, and a host of others. While is no shortage of after school programs to get you kids involved in, there is often the question a lot of people ask are these classes necessary?
I´ve met a lot parents who are of the opinion that children need to rest after school and unwind after the day hence no need for the additional after school programs. Some of these do enroll their children in the occasional Saturday class or Summer Camps. I´ve also met parents whose pre- occupation seems to be carting their children from one class to the other since they have their children enrolled in a class a day and occasionally two seeing it as a way to keep them motivated. I believe that both of these groups of parents have a point. However, with the alarming increase in violence and moral decadence (example: the recent news headline of the pregnancy pact) across the country, I am more inclined to agree with the later group that there is the need to have the kids focused on the right stuff.
One interesting discovery for me in my conversations with different parents, who agree with me on this subject, was that most parents didn´t seem to be as concerned about the cost of these extracurricular activities as they were about the availability of time for the classes. Of course some of the parents did talk about the cost, but I´ve also found some determined parents who are constantly looking out for deals and most of them would give you the best place to get the classes you´re interested in at the best price. This was how I found out that you can find teenagers who are advanced in a particular activity who would give classes to beginners or other students at a lower level than where they are at a cheaper rate. It is also how I discovered that most townships offer some classes to residents and non-resident alike at subsidized rates. There is also the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, with extremely low annual dues, a club that provides a safe place to learn and grow.
I´ve often have people ask me, why do you support enrolling the children in different classes, don´t you think that those children are overburdened? When do they get to rest? My answer has always been the same: I don´t consider this an overburden, I believe it is nurturing. My view of this is pretty much logical and simple: a child enrolled in and exposed to different classes´ gets different parts of his/her intellectual being creatively stimulated. Let´s look at it this way: the school day for the child enrolled in full day elementary school typically ends between the hours of 2 and 3 most afternoons. Let´s say this child typically gets home at 3.30pm, has one hour for assignments and projects, then goes to bed at 8.30pm that leaves four hours free to do anything. My take, if that child takes a one hour siesta or nap after school, which still leaves 3 hours. Even for a child that goes to be at 7.30pm it still leaves 2hours of free time. Using those hours creatively makes the difference a world of difference in the physical and intellectual development of a child especially one if we want them growing up to be well rounded and balanced individuals.
In most homes today, you´ll typically find that children rarely take a nap after school but spend the two to four hours (depending on the time they go to bed) available between the time they return home from school and their bed time either watching the TV or playing computer games. While these options if carefully developed can be educative, a lot of children if left unsupervised would generally opt for the most entertaining option which unfortunately isn´t the most productive in terms of their intellectual and even physical development. (I´m told a lot of children addicted to computer games have developed a strong thumb yet lacking in general gross motor skills). The challenge therefore if finding the right kind of stuff to preoccupy the children at this "free" time of the day.
Most of the after school classes mentioned earlier for the younger age groups runs for 15-30 minutes. As the child grows older, the duration or frequency of the classes may increase but having a child take an introductory class at a younger age is the way to go in learning what your child loves and what he/she doesn´t and when you´ve identified the choice classes, you can eliminate the others to focus on the choice class helping him/her develop in that activity. Your objective in focusing on one activity is not necessarily to get the child into competitions (which you can do if you and your child want and agree to it) but to help such a child develop the ability to make good choices in life and also learn discipline through the choice and focus on a particular thing and growing from novice to master. This process helps their thinking process too for as they experience the evolution from beginners to masters in their choice activity, they learn not to despise the days of little beginnings. They also learn that through constant application, they can be better at something. This developmental process is my definition of nurture.
Not to forget that apart from helping their thought processes, most of the classes also offer some other advantages. Ballet is said to help with posture and poise, karate with focus and discipline, music with brain development and coordination, gym with balance, gross motor skills and exercise as with basketball, soccer etc.
Having giving my definition of nurture, there is another question that I´ve had some mothers ask especially the working mother, how do they do nurture? It is indeed true that nurturing might be easy for the stay at home mom but how does it work for the working mom? I have discovered that a lot of schools across the country offer some of these classes to their students and I also found that some public schools would transport children enrolled in their school to the location of their after school classes if so designated by the parent. There are also a host of weekend classes and a range of timing that you can explore and fit into your schedule. Thus it seems that it is possible if there is the desire to nurture irrespective of your working status. What it might require might be some flexibility with your schedule and if that is impossible, you still can achieve this by employing someone to transport your child on your behalf. I know of a mother who has her child enrolled in the same activities as another child in her neighborhood. She pays the stay at home mother of the other child to take her child to these activities.
In developing a society with well rounded individuals and productive people who seek to promote the general well being of their community, it is essential that we nurture and it seems like there are creative ways to do it if we so desire.
I´ve met a lot parents who are of the opinion that children need to rest after school and unwind after the day hence no need for the additional after school programs. Some of these do enroll their children in the occasional Saturday class or Summer Camps. I´ve also met parents whose pre- occupation seems to be carting their children from one class to the other since they have their children enrolled in a class a day and occasionally two seeing it as a way to keep them motivated. I believe that both of these groups of parents have a point. However, with the alarming increase in violence and moral decadence (example: the recent news headline of the pregnancy pact) across the country, I am more inclined to agree with the later group that there is the need to have the kids focused on the right stuff.
One interesting discovery for me in my conversations with different parents, who agree with me on this subject, was that most parents didn´t seem to be as concerned about the cost of these extracurricular activities as they were about the availability of time for the classes. Of course some of the parents did talk about the cost, but I´ve also found some determined parents who are constantly looking out for deals and most of them would give you the best place to get the classes you´re interested in at the best price. This was how I found out that you can find teenagers who are advanced in a particular activity who would give classes to beginners or other students at a lower level than where they are at a cheaper rate. It is also how I discovered that most townships offer some classes to residents and non-resident alike at subsidized rates. There is also the Boys & Girls Clubs of America, with extremely low annual dues, a club that provides a safe place to learn and grow.
I´ve often have people ask me, why do you support enrolling the children in different classes, don´t you think that those children are overburdened? When do they get to rest? My answer has always been the same: I don´t consider this an overburden, I believe it is nurturing. My view of this is pretty much logical and simple: a child enrolled in and exposed to different classes´ gets different parts of his/her intellectual being creatively stimulated. Let´s look at it this way: the school day for the child enrolled in full day elementary school typically ends between the hours of 2 and 3 most afternoons. Let´s say this child typically gets home at 3.30pm, has one hour for assignments and projects, then goes to bed at 8.30pm that leaves four hours free to do anything. My take, if that child takes a one hour siesta or nap after school, which still leaves 3 hours. Even for a child that goes to be at 7.30pm it still leaves 2hours of free time. Using those hours creatively makes the difference a world of difference in the physical and intellectual development of a child especially one if we want them growing up to be well rounded and balanced individuals.
In most homes today, you´ll typically find that children rarely take a nap after school but spend the two to four hours (depending on the time they go to bed) available between the time they return home from school and their bed time either watching the TV or playing computer games. While these options if carefully developed can be educative, a lot of children if left unsupervised would generally opt for the most entertaining option which unfortunately isn´t the most productive in terms of their intellectual and even physical development. (I´m told a lot of children addicted to computer games have developed a strong thumb yet lacking in general gross motor skills). The challenge therefore if finding the right kind of stuff to preoccupy the children at this "free" time of the day.
Most of the after school classes mentioned earlier for the younger age groups runs for 15-30 minutes. As the child grows older, the duration or frequency of the classes may increase but having a child take an introductory class at a younger age is the way to go in learning what your child loves and what he/she doesn´t and when you´ve identified the choice classes, you can eliminate the others to focus on the choice class helping him/her develop in that activity. Your objective in focusing on one activity is not necessarily to get the child into competitions (which you can do if you and your child want and agree to it) but to help such a child develop the ability to make good choices in life and also learn discipline through the choice and focus on a particular thing and growing from novice to master. This process helps their thinking process too for as they experience the evolution from beginners to masters in their choice activity, they learn not to despise the days of little beginnings. They also learn that through constant application, they can be better at something. This developmental process is my definition of nurture.
Not to forget that apart from helping their thought processes, most of the classes also offer some other advantages. Ballet is said to help with posture and poise, karate with focus and discipline, music with brain development and coordination, gym with balance, gross motor skills and exercise as with basketball, soccer etc.
Having giving my definition of nurture, there is another question that I´ve had some mothers ask especially the working mother, how do they do nurture? It is indeed true that nurturing might be easy for the stay at home mom but how does it work for the working mom? I have discovered that a lot of schools across the country offer some of these classes to their students and I also found that some public schools would transport children enrolled in their school to the location of their after school classes if so designated by the parent. There are also a host of weekend classes and a range of timing that you can explore and fit into your schedule. Thus it seems that it is possible if there is the desire to nurture irrespective of your working status. What it might require might be some flexibility with your schedule and if that is impossible, you still can achieve this by employing someone to transport your child on your behalf. I know of a mother who has her child enrolled in the same activities as another child in her neighborhood. She pays the stay at home mother of the other child to take her child to these activities.
In developing a society with well rounded individuals and productive people who seek to promote the general well being of their community, it is essential that we nurture and it seems like there are creative ways to do it if we so desire.