How to Balance School and After-School Activities for Grade School Children

Young children have many interests. A parent's job is to foster those interests and find activities in which their children can be active, be creative and learn to work with others. When the school year starts, opportunities abound for children to get involved in new activities. Parents must be careful not to involve their children in so many activities that their schoolwork suffers.

Instructions

1. At the beginning of the school year, ask your child's teacher how much time might be expected for homework each evening.

2. Decide how many after-school activities in which your child will participate. If she is just beginning school, start with one after-school activity. An older child could have activities three or more nights a week. Decide which activities are most important to you for your child. Some families decide religious activities are a priority; others might choose Scouting or sports.

3. Keep a family calendar. Include school activities, project due dates and after-school schedules on the calendar. This will be easier to keep up with than the many paper calendars sent home from each activity. Put the calendar in a central location so children know what to expect after school each day.

4. Make schoolwork a priority. It is important to develop strong homework habits even in the earliest grades. If an after-school activity takes place directly after school, do homework immediately following the activity. Otherwise, encourage your child to complete his homework before going to an activity.

5. Talk to your child's coach or after-school activity leader about your expectations. Make them aware that you do not want the activity to take precedence over schoolwork. Many coaches are also parents and will help you emphasize the importance of schoolwork to your child.

6. Re-evaluate your child's activities at the end of each grading period. If your child does not seem to enjoy an activity, it might be best to drop the activity for now. He may choose to start it again when he is older.

Tips & Warnings

• Some sports programs offer summer seasons. This is a great choice when you feel that your child is participating in enough programs during the school year. You can also find a wealth of summer camp options to keep an active child busy.

• Use a separate highlighter or pen color for the calendar for each family member. Each person can see her own activities quickly this way.

• If your child begins to fall behind in schoolwork, has bad behavior at home or in school, or is staying up too late to finish homework, begin to scale back his activities. He can always begin an activity again when he is older.

• Do not overwhelm your child with activities. Children need downtime too. Allow your child some afternoons and evenings to be at home with "nothing to do." Unstructured time fosters creativity as much as scheduled activities.