ACTIVE CHILDREN - HOW TO RAISE A WELL-ROUNDED CHILD

ACTIVE CHILDREN – HOW TO RAISE A WELL-ROUNDED CHILD

I am a very active parent. I’m one of those parents who know the names and contact numbers of each of my children’s teachers within a month after the school year begins. I also lead a very active lifestyle. In addition to holding down a full-time job as a paralegal by day, I also do freelance writing part-time. In addition to that, I also sell insurance part-time. As if that’s not enough, I’m the guardian of record for all healthcare and financial decisions that need to be made for my father, who suffers from dementia and will be moving into a nursing home in a few days. I’m a busy lady.

Obviously, my husband and I also believe in active children. My husband is nowhere near as active as I am. He can’t handle the pace. As a child, I was not fortunate enough to have parents who could afford to have my siblings and me in all different types of activities. I would have loved to be in dance class, writing class, drama class. In addition to being strapped financially, for the most part my parents just didn’t see the value in extra-curricular activities.

Evidently, given the type of parent that I am, I feel differently. Lucky for my children (or unlucky for them, depends on who you ask), I usually to have them enrolled in all types of activities. My son has a passion for basketball so obviously I do all that I can to keep him active in that sport. Currently, he’s enrolled in two leagues. He also plays several musical instruments – the bass drum, piano and cello, so far. In addition to that, I make sure that he gets extra help in reading comprehension, since that’s his weak spot.

My daughter, who claims to be shy, is really a performer at heart. She is a bundle of energy, has a beautiful singing voice and is quite a dancer. Needless to say, she’s had several dance classes in addition to gymnastics. Our focus this summer will be performing arts training and writing. Since she’s only seven, we’re trying any- and everything!

Studies show that children who are involved in enrichment activities (especially music) have higher IQs. These activities and more introduce children to feelings of competence and performance, and also give them a more positive and healthy self-esteem. Children who do not see themselves as competent in social, academic or other areas often have feelings of depression and low self-esteem and often don’t do as well in school. They will often develop a defeatist attitude about learning new things and often dread starting a new school year. It’s really important to instill positive feelings in children about learning and starting new things. You want them to approach a new activity with excitement and eagerness.

While I often wonder if my children are as exhausted as their Dad and I are with our hectic lives, I am conscious of their feelings about the activities. If there is any apprehension about a certain activity, or if they just don’t enjoy the activity (whether it’s because dance class is not fun, or football practice is too strenuous), I will allow them to make the decision to drop out. I want them to enjoy the activity as much as I enjoy watching them.

We always make sure to schedule plenty of down-time as well. In our family, every Friday night is family night. Every week we may plan to go to a movie together and out to dinner. Or sometimes we just lay around the house in our pajamas, watch Ghost Whisperer and order pizza and hot wings. Whatever it is, Friday night is always family night and we spend it together doing whatever we feel like doing. Everybody deserves a break sometime!