After school activities

[AintNoCista]

Ds1 has just started y7 and I'd like to get him into after school clubs to compliment his education. I was thinking of swimming, as it's not offered at his school and guitar lessons.

Swimming for 1/2 an hour weekly is £25 a month

Guitar for 2 hour weekly lessons is £65 a month

I am on benefits after significant life changes and will struggle to afford this but I have cancelled my gym membership to ease the cost and it's doable.

Best friend thinks School is enough and I shouldn't burden myself financially when children his age would rather be left alone. I think £90 is fine as he doesn't get pocket money and enjoys both of these activities. If it was a maths. Lib shed have a point!

Aibu to ask how much your dc do around school and how much you pay?

Surely the key thing (if you can afford it) is what he wants to do?

Mine is only five and does:

Swimming £22
Taekwondo £13
Tennis £30
Dancing / theatre £19

He love them and apart from swimming the sporty ones are to keep him active and the theatre one is confidence building.

I'll review as it goes on as I don't want him to overdo it but with his five year old energy this is good right now.

If you can afford it your son wants to do it thenit really is nobody elses business what happens after school, most children do something as an interest ime

Yes, you don't want to stretch yourself then find yourself nagging him to go. Music especially. Guitar is a lovely sociable instrument, but will he practice? Will you care if he doesn't??

In terms of cost, that sounds standard for group swimming lessons but quite a bargain for the guitar. I pay £23 for each half hour lesson...

Unsurprisingly, generally the more niche the interest, the more expensive it is. Football's a cheap one, but if he's not interested by Yr7, he probably won't want to start now.

As PP said what does he actually want to do? Two hours is too long for a guitar lesson is that a typo? At his age I loved reading, hanging out with friends and developing interests independently outside of scheduled activities.

Lots and lots - but, other than learning to swim well which we insisted on, it's because they want to and we can afford it.

So does your ds want to swim or play guitar? If it's more about getting him away from the xbox (which i can totally relate to btw) then scouts is way cheaper than either of the options you describe (once youve bought the uniform). Does the school run any after school clubs he might be interested in?

If he’s keen to do it and you’re happy to pay then it’s none of anyone else’s business?
If he’s able to swim I’d maybe just give him some money to go swimming rather than pay for lessons? Some areas under 16s can swim cheaply or for free in council pools.

Half an hour is plenty for a guitar lesson. Advanced students work up to an hour.

DS' swimming lessons are €44 for 50 minutes once a week - for a whole term! Bloody hell the UK us expensive!

This year we have signed him up for rugby, very enthusiastic, which is €100 up front, then €20/month. 1hr30 on Thursdays, 2 hours on a Saturday.

We are still waiting on the list for scouts, we'll know on the 15th if he got a place, that is €180 for the entire year including 2 camping trips. It is 2.5hrs/week and mixed sex.

Swimming we'll skip until after Easter, to prepare him for summer.

He has no interest in any other sports or music. He likes robots and there is a school-run group to build them, but is is about €120/term - n'huh, i don't think so!

He loves the beach, his bike, his scooter, and general running around outside like a loon, with his friends.

Mine do a lot to be honest. I do think it's worth it, and for me it was preferable to choose state+activities, rather than private.
But, we can afford it, so don't go by what other people do. It's all about what you can afford. Swimming is a great life skill. But there are lots of cheaper clubs though - dd does football, trains at least 1x per week, plus at least 1x match per week, but all for £170 per year. Works out at less than £2 per time.

If you're on benefits you may find he'll get certain classes free or reduced rates.

The plan is to put aside his child benefit money and from the numbers I've got it's doable. He loves swimming and was sad to hear it won't continue with the school so that ones a definite.

He's excited by the guitar lessons however this one probably is more me wanting him to do it. It's a school of rock company which teaches with the aim of putting on a show which is why it is 2 hours. I think it will help his confidence to do something like this as it's very individual (he's quite an independent person) yet the end aim is teamwork. He can't stand football or other team sports which is why I picked this particular place.

And the Xbox is a concern however we've limited it to Saturdays, Fridays too if he has a well behaved week and so far this is working lovely.

Boredroom my £90 a month seems far more reasonable

I do think they'll help him, I can't swim so I place great importance on that as a key life skill, it's just lucky he also enjoys it!

He doesn't have any other costly interests and doesn't ask for much so I think it's fair to let him do these.

Does your son not do swimming and music at school?

Ask him what extra curricular activities he would like to try and go from there.

Mine does swimming and Beaver Scouts. The Beavers is quite cheap - £9 a month and then I pay out for camps and special events. She loves it. Swimming she is less interested in and I am tempted to cancel for a term as it is a row each week to make her go.

YANBU. My 12 yo (Y8) does kickboxing twice a week, badminton, football x 2, cricket x 2/3 plus school band all after school or at the weekends. He also does piano and guitar lessons. From about age 8 he has done this amount of activities (although some of them have varied/changed over the years). DS2 (10) does similar except band and badminton. He wanted to have 2 after school nights off which is fine.

I have offered for them to do less but that's what they love doing.

If you can afford it I truly believe DCs should have access to after school activities, it develops many life skills as well as making them an interesting, rounded person.

Don't worry boredroom I didn't take it as bragging, it's nice to hear that others find it's worth the financial sacrifice.

He's really not into anything too social or team based and has mentioned being sad swimming won't be a thing at his secondary school. He does music but their learning isn't instrument focused so he won't have the chance to dedicate himself to anything in particular.

I do think swimming and learning an instrument should be a basic educational need for a child they just aren't covered in his new school

I couldn't disagree more Boredom. I would much rather spend my money on music lessons for ds rather than a maths or English tutor.

I think schools are supposed to provide the child with the core curriculum and meet basic educational needs.

I think it is vital for them to do at least one physical activity and swimming is a great sport, especially the older they get the less active children are.

DD had to stop swimming, her swim teacher lost the pool and none of the swim school around us teach the level she is on. So we are currently looking at alternatives to ensure she still is active.

She plays the violin since Y1. Apart from the fees we have to buy music sheets and either hire or buy the instrument. Hire costs are basically the same as a second hand one. Have you taken this into account? What is with show fees/costumes etc? We also pay for exams fees once a year. Maybe ask for additional costs, not just the actual lessons?

Good luck whatever you choose.

2 hours a week seems a long guitar lesson (even with your extra information), however £65 a month for something like 9 hours of music tuition is incredibly cheap.

Swimming, I'm not sure what it is he is doing..... lessons to improve technique or something (you say he already likes swimming so presumably not to learn?) or something like club swimming training, or water polo, or lifesaving, or triathlon ?? Or is he "just" going for a swim on his own ? As many councils have really good schemes for youngsters to be able to swim regularly for less.

However, it isn't really important what others spend on their dc's activities - you spend what you can afford.

Eldest DC does swimming weekends, piano and performing arts after school. Youngest just swimming weekends but they are only reception age so anything further I think would be too much at the moment.