How many extra curriculars do your DC do and how much does it cost?

[Dontbestupidagain]

I know it's all relative but I have four DC and they all do lots of extra curriculars. It means our evenings are spent ferrying kids around. It also costs a fortune, probably the best part of £700 per month. This is obviously a sizeable sum but it also means that we can't afford to go out for meals/big days out etc. Each child only does a couple of things but those all add up and when I think about trying to cut back I feel guilty that I've given one child the opportunity and not the others. I just wondered what others did and what do you do when you are not running them around? Hopefully this will give me a bit of perspective.
My DC do the following:
Dc1 (13): Lots of dance (this is the most expensive as is high level and wants to be pro)/hockey
Dc2(10) : piano/athletics/netball/theatre
Dc3 (8): tutor (top 2 started at this age for a few years and really helped them)/hockey/rugby/guitar/cubs
Dc4 (5): gymnastics/dance/swimming/rugby

DD - 9yrs - Ballet, Acro, Swimming & Piano
DS - 8yrs - Football, Swimming & Guitar
DS - 6yrs - Swimming

£45 per week

We're out 4 nights a week.

DS does music therapy, £70 a month and attends a disability swim club which is £10 a month.

DD does brownies at £2 a week, although camps bump the cost up, a community choir at £2 a week and art classes at £5 a week for materials. She also does choir at school but it's free.

I would cry if I had to pay £700 a month, in fact I just couldn't do it, that is more than half my wages, but I guess it's all relative.

Dd1(14) LAMDA, singing, drama group, ballet, pointe, freework, jitsu, swimming coaching, French, DofE. Private dance lessons for competitions (£180 month). Dd2 (7) tennis, piano, violin, French, swimming, gym (£172), DS1(12) tennis, 2 football teams (jpl plus grassroots) so 2x matches plus 2x training sessions, school football team same again, Fortnite, Fortnite, Fortnite...not as well rounded as his sisters - but then they aren't interested in - what's it called again? Ah, FORTNITE. £100

Hockey at 61 per month (not including petrol and game days)
Swimming at 30pm
Cheer at 30pm (not including uniforms)
Figure skating at 35pm (not including uniforms, costumes and comp fees)
Dance at 40pm (as above)

I work part time as a teacher.

OP can I ask about the tutor please? My DS is 10 and I have been toying with getting a tutor for him for a while (issues with spelling etc) and I think it might focus him. What did you get the tutor for, how often and do you think it makes a huge difference?
Thanks.

Not the OP, but my DS (also 10) goes to a tutor. It costs £33 weekly, for 1.5 hours, term time only. He started in the summer term and has made immense, and I do mean immense, progress. His reading age has gone up 2 years, his handwriting has gone from completely illegible to neat and near enough cursive and they’re now working on spellings.

One of the best things we’ve ever done for him and worth every penny. I found them online and we go to a centre in the nearest city rather than them coming to us. Mainly because I have younger DC and wouldn’t want their presence to distract DS1.

DD does quite a few but they don’t cost a lot. She does yoga and gymnastics but they are after school and don’t cost anything. She also does swimming lessons which are £20 a month, ballet class which is £30 a term, rainbows which is £25 a term and violin which is £5 a week (we belong to a community music group where we pay a £5 weekly membership fee and the lessons are free)

DD does karate £5 a session plus £25 for grading, guides £30 per term, trampoline £23 a month and ukulele free at school.
DS1 does Cubs at £35 a term, karate, trampoline and running club at school.
Ds2 does cubs, karate, trampoline and swimming at £52 for 10 lessons plus choir at school.
It’s quite a lot per month, but they enjoy it.

DD7 does ballet, swimming, netball and soccer.

£188 per term. Plus ballet has exam costs and then there’s the gear for all 4, plus ballet exam.

She wants to do drama, which is a lunchtime activity at school. She wants to learn piano too. Maybe next year for that one.

Too much, ok they are almost grown now but at one point it was violin/piano/singing/2 choirs/orchestra for one and oboe/piano/football/2 choirs for the other. The choirs were together, piano was one after the other so an hour for me in a coffee shop with one then the other. Football was the worst as late night practice 8-9, and all over the county Sunday's, sometimes neighbouring counties. We could have privately educated one of them for the money it cost! Luckily no more, grade 8's achieved and youngest away at boarding school

3 kids.
They do music at school (1 to 1 violin and guitar).
No after school activities.

Ds1 and ds2 are members of a football club, one evening midweek training session and one weekend training/ match session each week, £20 a month each. (Plus the registration fee, kit fee, cost of the various boots they each have to have- trainers, astro, firm ground and soft ground, it adds up fast especially as they keep bloody growing). Both attend an afterschool activity once a week also.

No more extra curriculars, the football takes over the weekend as it is.

DD(7) does swimming and gymnastics- £20 a month for both, and Rainbows at £2 a week.
Ds is 2 and does gymnastics, music and toddlers - £9.50 a week.

Three activities but one of those (athletics) doesn't cost much but it does take up more time. When the adult children were in their early teens it was pretty busy and expensive.

DD (13) Tennis x 2 - 20pw
dd (10) riding lesson (20pw) and tennis 20pw

They enjoy being at home the most and making things, and that is for free!

I have never encouraged overscheduled routines and exhausting schedules, and it has been very successful for us.

They are children and need time to rest, play and use their imagination.

Mine only ever did one or two each. They have grown to have various interests, lots of skills and good jobs. I think piles of extra curricular activities are unnecessary.

School offer some.

Drama is good for building confidence.

At secondary school, taking part in sports teams is free and a good way of gelling friendships.

Things like coding clubs can be free and worthwhile.

I think rest play and imagination use is over rated. I was bored out of my brain as a child because my parents didn’t do much (dance, swimming)

Mine is much younger (3) but does music, ballet and swimming. When she starts school we’ll add in a tutor and language- handily this will solve the child care issue as DH WFH so can work and ferry her about at the same time she’s not tired but has been in full time nursery and activities from an early age. I think the children exhausted by school just aren’t used to it.

2 Dcs.

Swimming £40/month
Athletics £50/month
Cubs & Beavers £6/week

So about £100/month on average.

Ds1 does running, cross country and circuit training that are free. Plus football twice a week (training in a youth academy) which costs around £60 a term. And he plays for a local football team (once a week training, one match a week), fees £120 a year. So his clubs do not cost a lot.

Dd does piano (£40-50 a term paid for by a grandparent), ballet £75 a term, swimming £130 a quarter, football £100 per year and running, XC and circuit training that are free.

Ds2 does swimming £130 a quarter, football £90 a year and semi joins in with the running, XC and circuit as he's only just started school.

I think rest play and imagination use is over rated. I was bored out of my brain as a child because my parents didn’t do much

I think it really depends on the child. My dd gets really grumpy if she doesn't spend much time at home playing. ...she actually complains to me about it! She has a big imagination and can spend hours playing with her dolls house, Lego etc. I was really surprised how exhausted she was when she started school...I think downtime, relaxation and pottering around at home is just as important as extra curricular activities.

Dd1 trampolining £5-7 a week, ice skating £70 per month plus extra for shows, competitions,skates and clothes. Usually science club one term a year at £5 a week.
Dd2 is only 3.5 but will probably start ice skating in January luckily can use Dd1s old skates and clothes so just lessons and club membership so probably £50 per month

DC1:
football - £24 per term
swimming - £22.50 per month
gymnastics - loads, I dread to think.

DC2:
music - £52.50 per term
swimming - £22.50 per month

It is a good chunk of income, but I think it's good for them to do stuff. They have tried various other things and not got on with them.

Never added it up
2 dc's - so total is for both
Scouts £24 mth
Music lessons/bands £80 mth
Dance classes £60 mth

So around £164 a month then uniforms, dance costumes, exam fees as and when.

When not ferrying them about in the evenings and weekends I drink wine and watch TV, its a glamorous life 😂

2 DS who both play football, they have both dropped swimming after level 7

Fees are probably around £650 for both per season which includes their kits but have to buy shoes, shin pads etc

They are 11 and 9

Mine is 11. Does fencing twice a week, about £20 a month for club membership but kit is expensive and involves occasional ferrying round the country for competitions. Also does keyboard lessons at school, which are about £130 a term, and drama, which is a free club at school.

Two each - one does drama and piano and the other does dance and flute. Aged 9 and 12. Costs around £200 per month which is a lot but they get so much out of it as well as learning new skills I don't begrudge it at all.

Schools are so focused on academic acheivement these days I think the arts really suffer. This is my way of balancing it out. Neither of mine are very sporty but if they were I'd encourage them to do that.