When your child goes to school, you also enroll them in extracurricular activities for their sake. Be careful not to overdo it. Putting too many responsibilities on a few-year-old may even inhibit his development. What extra activities you choose for your child should depend on their age, predispositions, and how their time has been organized so far.
If, for example, your child was learning English in kindergarten, it is a good idea to continue lessons when he or she goes toschool . In the case of 7-year-olds, it is important to be very careful aboutextracurricular activities . Just going to school is a huge change in your child's life. Almost everyone needs an adaptation period, so it's better not to add responsibilities to him at the beginning of the year.
Extra activities for kids - education through play
A small child learns through play. Thus, he develops his intellect. Never after is a person as creative as they are between the ages of five and eight. You have to be careful not to limit this creativity. The rule is that the smaller the child, theextracurricular activitiesshould be more general development and non-specific. In no case can they resemble school lessons.
Extra-curricular activities without rush and competition
We often teach children the rules of competition in good faith. We believe that in this way we harden their psyche so that later they can cope better in adult life. Will they really do better?
If you set the bar too high, your baby won't be able to cope. Then they will feel that they are not meeting your expectations. It does not harden, it only weakens the psyche! It harden the experience of small successes. It is better for a toddler to take a plasticine ball in his hands with pleasure and make something out of it, than to drill words for hours. The child has to be active, he has to struggle, but what he does must bring him joy. Only such additional education makes sense.
ImportantAbout 70 percent 7-year-olds require at least minimal speech therapy intervention. These children need to be helped to acquire a solid foundation of education, namely reading and writing skills. So it's better not to add too many extracurricular activities to them.
The child should influence the choice of extracurricular activities
Additional extracurricular activities enrich the child's education and give him a chance for comprehensive development. However, filling your child with the entire week, taking him from one lesson to another in an atmosphere of rush and nervousness, can do more harm than good. The child must also have time to play and relax. The excess of responsibilities will cause him resistance.
If you notice symptoms such as hyperactivity, apathy, aversion, distraction and anger in a child - it may be a signal that his duties are beyond his ability.
Not all extracurricular activities may suit him, and not all of them are properly conducted. Better to be your child's advocate and not assume he or she is wrong when he rebels against some form of out-of-school activity. Sometimes you just have to let go. Give your child the opportunity to try different things (language learning, art, music, sports), but don't insist on something that doesn't suit him or her. The "I paid, you have to walk" rule does not work here.
Even the most interesting extracurricular activities will not replace good contact with parents
We function in the world of images. Our children too. We talk to them less and less, and read books to them less often. Meanwhile, practicing stories with your child and analyzing the text you hear together is more important than even the most interesting educational computer games. By staying with your baby, talking to him / her, you will create a solid basis for his further development.
If a child is mentally weak and lacks self-confidence, things will become more difficult for him. The most important thing is the emotional base. Cognitive functions come second. One can be eminently gifted, but if a person is not mature, he has no support in himself, he becomes more prone to stress. In adulthood, he may have problems with communication and relations with people. Coping then requires more mental energy. So remember that even the most interesting extracurricular activities will not replace good contact with parents.
Which extracurricular activities should I choose?
- Courses for 6-8-year-olds (including foreign language lessons) should be fun. All physical activities that ensure the child's harmonious psychophysical development are important.
- Older children need more freedom in choosing activities to develop their interests. The most important thing is to give your child a chance to try different things and let them give up some form of action when they find that they are not enjoying themselves.