Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

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nada
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:06 pm
Location: Kingston upon Thames

Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by nada »

My 12 year old DD is in Y7 and she loves it even though there is a lot of homework and projects to be done. She also plays hockey and has Saturday matches sometimes. However, she loves dancing and singing and has attended recently one of dancing workshops where she auditioned to do training on Saturdays. She has been now accepted and wants to attend this dancing / singing school on Saturdays but we are not sure what to do. We are worried it would be too much for her and obviously want DD to continue doing well at school but at the same feel that she should follow her interests. The problem is that she has too many interests... how do you juggle all this? What would you do? Many thanks for all your suggestions.
mystery
Posts: 8927
Joined: Tue Jul 21, 2009 10:56 pm

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by mystery »

I'd carry on with them all if you can afford it and see what gives ultimately ........... maybe it is all possible, or maybe your daughter will be fine but you will get sick of all the taxiing. Some children do a huge amount well and nothing suffers.
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by scary mum »

You may find it is a bit too much for her in year 7, but as they get older they can cope with a lot more - I hadn't realised how much more of an evening there is once they start to go to bed later - my DD is in year 11 and has time to do clubs and homework (GCSE year this year). Some people give them up in year 11, but in my opinion it is good for them to do something other than work, particularly exercise. After all, one hour off - even every night - won't make much difference. If mine tell me they have too much work I ask them to make a list of how long they spend doing each of the following: watching TV, texting, facebook, homework, sports/outside school clubs.
scary mum
Tailsmo
Posts: 96
Joined: Tue Aug 02, 2011 1:52 pm

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by Tailsmo »

I think the more activities they do the better, as long as your pocket can afford it and it doesn't interfere with homework.

My DD is in Y6, so is not yet experiencing homework nightly, but she has been doing 11+ preparation since May and we've stepped it up to 1 hour daily since the start of September as the exam is in December. She's also been tutored for maths weekly since May.

The extra study hasn't interfered with her extensive extra-curricular timetable (dancing, lacrosse, cross country, swimming, Brownies, violin, choir (school and church)), and nor has it interfered with our days out, her play time with friends , or visiting grandparents. What has suffered is her television time - not a problem for me :D

Only time will tell if she was doing too much to pass the entrance test!
tense
Posts: 679
Joined: Wed Nov 14, 2007 3:02 pm
Location: Herts

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by tense »

I think at your DD's age it is good to do as many activities as possible. How else will she find what suits her?!

You say she is doing well at school, so it sounds like there is no need to worry about that. If she is regularly overtired you may need to re-consider, but in the meantime, I'd go with the flow.

My DD did so much in Yr 7 it made my head spin. Now in Yr 10 she concentrates on about three main things. She probably spends about 20hrs a week on these. Like Tailsmo's DC, she doesn't have much time to watch TV but she'd rather be doing other things in her leisure time anyway.
Just1-2go
Posts: 523
Joined: Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:43 pm
Location: Twells

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by Just1-2go »

My Daughter like yours has a fairly heavy schedule, county level sport monday night, club sport tuesday night, Saturday and Sunday, piano on a wednesday, tennis on wednesday with matches on Sunday other sports permitting. As long as she feels she is managing and her teachers feel her targets are being met we go with it. She has had to give up her other musical instrument as it clashed with something else but those are decisions that have to made as they arise.
Learning to manage her time effectively has given her great personal discipline as well, which can't be a bad thing.

As long as a child is enjoying it and not getting bogged down with it all let them do it.
Thingsbehindthesun
Posts: 463
Joined: Wed Apr 13, 2011 11:25 pm

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by Thingsbehindthesun »

Is your daughter is still having fun and able to manage with the school load? If she's doing well then let her continue but if her results were suffering then it might be time to cut back.
;D
scary mum
Posts: 8840
Joined: Mon Mar 15, 2010 3:45 pm

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by scary mum »

I was talking to someone at the weekend. Her DD is in year 8 and gave up dance when she went to GS because they thought she would have piles of homework. A year down the line she doesn't have nearly as much homework as they expected and regrets giving up dance.
scary mum
pixiequeen
Posts: 378
Joined: Thu Nov 27, 2008 12:06 am

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by pixiequeen »

nada, my Y7 DD also does quite a lot - stage school for the whole of Sunday morning, piano lessons, jazz dance lessons, guides and street dance (an after school club but it means she doesn't get home till gone 5). We are strict about getting homework/music practice done at the earliest available opportunity so it doesn't build up too much. Half term was difficult as there was quite a lot of homework set and DD was performing in a muscial 5 days of that week so some homework got done in the car on the way back etc. to allow for some early nights.

This is my DD's choice and she wouldn't give up her performing for anything. Last half term she was tired so this half term we are bringing bed time forward half an hour (to 8.30pm) so she can read before she turns the light out. Her marks at school have been fine and she's loving both school and all her activities.

I think organisation is the key, and being strict about early nights when there is the opportunity.
nada
Posts: 46
Joined: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:06 pm
Location: Kingston upon Thames

Re: Juggling homework, sport and dancing club

Post by nada »

Thank you for all your useful comments and suggestions. It’s reassuring to know that other kids do many activities too and school work doesn’t suffer. It seems that it is possible to do many thinks with good organisation, so we’ll have to work on that.
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