Thoughts on xtra curricular activites?How do u afford them?

[threecurrantbuns]

Just interested as ive noticed alot of people seem to take there children to what seems alot(to me) of xtra clubs.

Some ive spoken to do nearly something every night From, ballet, to swimming, to music lessons.

The only thing our children do atm the moment is swimming and that is paid termly so cant be a stretch when the bill comes, but figure its a life skill so if finances limits us to one activity its a good pick (and it does have lots of extras like uniforms and clothes etc)

I would love to be able to afford ballet, piano and a load of other things and often fell guilty about it.

Although when i was growing up i only had piano lessons which eventually stopped as my mum couldnt afford it.

Cant say its affected me now but do remember desperately wanting dance lessons i danced all the time at home and with my friends Even my mum has said she wished she could have taken me.

So what are your views??

I cant believe what people can afford...esp as most bills are termly!

Our swimming is 40per child per term which is reasonable imo but will equate to 120quid per term when dc3 starts. In the same week the pre school bill will be due as we pay for dc2 to do 2ams. Not complaining just cant imagine paying out anymore.

Also cant imagine having the energy to go from schoolrun to activity most nights and actually achieve decent meals etc i struggle now

[threecurrantbuns]

can be a stretch!

doesnt have alot of extras!

plus all the other typos

[ragged]

I guess it comes down to budgeting, like anything else. And being choosy about what they do -- Karate & gymnastics cost way more than football or swimming, ime, for instance.

Most the large families I know, the DC do not do much in the way of ExC-activities. I know a 5-child family, where the children do a lot of different dance, but not much else (so the costs go down with outfits and shoes being passed down, etc.)

I have 4 DC but only one does much extracurric, plus we live somewhere where the charges aren't high for most things, anyway. My busy child does exhaust me, btw, I'm glad that she is the only one like it. I couldn't handle a family-full, either.

[magnolia74]

Scouts for dd2 £2.50 a week plus a jumper for £25

Girls brigade for dd3 and 4 £25 each per term

Church group once a fortnight (messy crafts and games etc) £1 per child

Ds1 (4) starting football next month £4 a week.

They all do after school clubs too like dance and football for £1 a week.

Can't afford expensive clubs like ballet etc...

[threecurrantbuns]

we live in a village location so always a bit of an extra drive as apose to living in town. So if we go to swimming at 4pm monday we leave at 330pm and arent back before at least 5pm..we do that on wednesdays too but and hour later so starts at 5pm and thats enough for me for one week dreading no3starting lol.

Shame re gymnastics as it would suit dd1 down to the ground...thats when i feel guilty

[ilovecrisps]

lots of ours are free/cheap eg cubs football is cheap.

Our expensive ones are French and swimming

[threecurrantbuns]

When do you fit in homework...another area i find hard to fit in...but think thats down to having two smaller children around hoping its easier with time.

There is a church group onCe a mth here i keep meaning to try on a sunday sounds similar plus a hot meal alL for a pound!

[magnolia74]

Church groups are fab, ours takes the kids from age 9+ camping for 4 days for £50

At the moment ds1 is 4 so no homework

Dd4 is 7 so reading for 10 mins and then 20 mins of homework twice a week which is ok to fit in

Dd2 and 3 (11 yr old twins) Are in yr 6 so still only 2 x 45 mins homework a week. They fit it in themselves and don't need much imput from me.
Will be harder next year when in high school

Dd1 is 15 doing gcse's but doesn't do clubs so has plenty of time for homework and again she doesn't need input from me.

[ragged]

One reason we chose to live in a town was to be close to facilities & services.
If you wanna compare routines, I have:

Monday: DC3 has football skills class, after school, pick up at 4pm.

Tues: DC2 has violin (in school hours) and Judo in the evening (2x20min runs for us)

Weds: DC2 has Brownies (2x20min runs for us)

Friday: DC1 needs swim kit for swimming with school; DC2 has music club, pickup at 4pm, then swim lessons (DC2 & DC3) take up my time until about 6:30pm. Fridays are knackering.

Sat: DC2 has gymnastics, we walk there and it's about 2.5 hours before we get back home.

Sun & Thurs: nothing regular, but occasional competitions.

[ilovecrisps]

mine are little so I'm not too fussed about homework, 10-15 mins reading every day writing cards reading recipe shopping lists counting steps all that stuff.
times tables on the way home if I'm being really keen

[ragged]

Oh Friggin' homework. I have turned into ultra-slacker mother, I guess. I expect the older DC to do it off their own backs, I will help-encourage-remind, but I will not nag or hand-hold. That leaves DC3 who is ..."difficult", and very hard to predict to when he'll be in the mood or willing, so he only does it sporadically.

[slipperandpjsmum]

I have noticed most people pay for swimming lessons. Would it be possible to cut the costs a little by teaching yourself? Lots of my friends taught their children themselves. What we have done in the past is a Mums rota. One Mum takes a couple to the pool whilst the other Mum stays at home with the little one. Or my neighbour takes hers at weekends when her husband is home with the little ones. We did it this way as we couldn't find the money for lessons. Its an amazing feeling to be the one who teaches your child to swim. Up there with walking and riding a bike I would say! When my ds did his first few strokes he turned around shouting I did it I did it Mum - amazing feeling!!!

But its difficult to juggle the childcare with very little ones isn't it.

At school they learn in yr 5 and around 60% of children can't swim when the lessons start. Interesting I thought!!

[katylou25]

Mine do---

Ds1 - An afterschool club changes on a termly basis - cureenlty footbal- £1 a week
Football - statuday League £1 a week
Beavers - £2.25 a week
Swimming lessons - £16 a monthish

Ds2 - Gymnastics - £4 A WEEK
Swimming lessons - as above

he's currently in reception so wil start the afterschool clubs/beavers if he wants to next year.

It is hard to balance it as they both really want to do trampolining but it would put my £30 gym bill up to £90 a half term if they do!!!

[threecurrantbuns]

Slipperandpjs AT 60% not being able to swim in yr, although saying that if you cant afford swimming lesson and cant get to a pool on a regular basis suppose it cant be helped.

I agree it is poss to teach them yourself but mine go to a really nice small pool within a special need school and it fab and sooo warm they dd1 started as a baby and ive continued ever since dd2 started a couple of terms ago, im so happy with it and dd1 is like a fish and can swim completely unaided and is only 4

It is hard for me to take them to a local pool on a regular basis as mine are 4,2 and 11mth so would be a nightmare and dh works shifts so often works weekends. So couldnt really do it myself plus i know i wouldnt always be able to motivate to go every wk!!

It is nice to see that not all siblings are doing the same...think that may be a fault of mine that i feel if istart one with something then its only fair to start them all! I started ballet with dd1 when she was three was paid termly too plus shoes clothes etc she was due to move up to ballet and tap and dd2 was desperate to start so when dc3 arrived i decided to knock it on the head

plus it meant three after school trips! But dd1 would love something like athletics and i would love to afford it but was advised that she should start with gymnastics until at least 9 then move to athletics, if we cant afford it (esp if they all want to do it) i may enquire about a swimming club, not sure if they cost much.

Trampolining would be amazing as my 2 dds live on their garden one lol

[threecurrantbuns]

Forgot to say dd1 does swimming with school every other friday which is £3 p/wk but still going to continue with her other lessons for now!

Think next yr they start guitar too, didnt realise that school bills soon tot up.

When all three are there it will be £3 for swiming each plus £3 for guitar each, great they offer it but must be hard for parents that really do struggle financially esp as all they other children are doing it

[verybusyspider]

We only picked swimming too - mine are 4,3 and 20 months, we go to a pool 20mins away that will take children from 3yrs (ones by us won't till they start school) so ds1 & 2 are in the water at the same time and we are only out on Mondays, its every week not just term time - I would love to teach them myself but not allowed to take 3 non swimmers on my own and dh and I want flexibility at weekends so I can see if we said we'd do it we wouldn't!

ds2 does subdisied ballet at nursery and we'd like ds1 to do something like football because he is struggling socially at school but until his hearing is sorted we're not sure how much he'd get out of it.

Having 3 boys means people (and us) always struggle for christmas and birthday presents - we have been lucky to get family to pay for sing and sign (ds1), boogie bugs sessions (all 3) and tumble tots (ds2) my mum and dad are helping us with a terms swimming - the boys got googles and trunks for Christmas and a supprise trip to the pool with grandparents we've also had a annual pass to our local childrens farm - beats more plastic!

[Cathycat]

My 4 all go Beavers/Cubs (depending on age) then one extra if really wanted! So ds1 Cubs and football. Ds2 Beavers. DD Beavers and ballet. DS3 nothing yet!

[Frog253]

My 'rule' is that each child can do one 'pay for in advance' club and then as many of the cheap / free ones such as Brownies and netball at school as they like if it fits with everyone else and won't cost loads with equipment). School clubs are often cancelled so it's not that often that we are that hectic. My dh also works shifts and weekends too but I share some of the to-ing and fro-ing with my neighbour (her DD and mine are the same age).
They used to have lessons at the local leisure centre until they started having lessons through the school (a lot cheaper).

[oooggs]

I was only talking about this, this morning . We live on the coast so swimming is important to us so ds1 does this and dts will start in october.

DS1 therefore does swimming, Beavers & sfter school gardening club.

dts will start swimming in oct and Beavers/Rainbows when they are old enough

ds3 will also start swimming & Beavers when he is older.

Free afterschool clubs are great if they fit in with the rest of the clubs in the week

DD would love to dance but I just can't manage it time or money wise

[Frog253]

swimming lessons at the local leisure center then through the school.

[Colyngbourne]

Some of mine did clubs that were £5 a term (after-school clubs) or free (joining the church choir and learning to do church bell-ringing; church junior fun club - £1 for a couple of hours once a month).

We never did swimming lessons - we taught them ourselves or left it to the school. The curriculum demands that all children should have learned by the time they finish primary school, and with the school lessons (free as there was no bus journey to the pool), that was enough to get them swimming. One of our kids hadn't quite learned by the last term of primary and all those like him got a week's intensive swimming course provided. He is a very able swimmer now. All could swim by aged 10-11, which is good enough.

Other clubs - music lessons or uniformed organisations - we just somehow manage. It gets easier as they get older and refine which clubs and hobbies they want to continue with.