Monday, August 15, 2011

The Schedule and The Child

Coming up on a new school year, wondering, again, if I'm not doing the right thing by my kids with their after school activities (neither plays a sport and our music lessons have not involved any practice), I was greatly relieved by reading this article. It seems that kids will find their way and learn to love things they do when they grow up, even if they didn't do those things as children! Phew!

3 comments:

Carolyn said...

i had the same reaction. luckily activity scheduling is not so much part of the culture here. but we do have a bit of the opposite problem. the schools try to make everyone the same, and by that i mean they don't reward interest, ambition or excellence; they deter it. no child should stand out; they should all aspire to same-ness. this continues all way through higher education where there are no interviews, essays, personal recommendations. if you score in the right bracket you are granted admission (ie there's nothing you could say or write that would preclude that)

Robin Aronson said...

Wow. That sounds, well, downright dystopian! Or at least un-American, which makes sense, since you're not in America.....Do your kids do after school activities?

Carolyn said...

in fact they do!! being Americans and all... ;) soccer (their only english speaking activity outside of home = more or less the reason we signed up) and music class (a group class where they try out all the instruments for 2 years so that they can easily choose when they start officially in school with first grade - which i think this is a really cool idea!)

they used to take swim class but once they learned how not to drown we stopped.

i agree wholeheartedly that it's a relief to hear they can still develop interest in things into adulthood. sounds like the secret to a happy life.