Pressure - how does your 9yo cope?

[drivinmecrazy]

DD1 (9) - yr4- is doing really well. But am concerned she has always found things so easy and things are starting to change.
At school she is doing an advanced maths class, recently being selected (through no choice of hers) for various school sports teams and also doing extra ballet lessons for her grade 3 exam in March.
We have not pushed her into any of this but am starting to get a little concerned that things might start to get to her.
Is currently training for cross country running team which is done during the lunch break, she won't get into lunch until every one else has finished, will have ten minutes to eat lunch before back to class for PE.
She dances for2 hours on Saturday, has school dance on Monday (after school), street dance on Thursday now an extra 1 1/2 hours ballet on Wednesday. I know she loves dancing but she is getting worried she will get less than honours in this exam (has always had honours). she is putting all this pressure on herself. She has missed out Grade 2 so we have tried to tell her if she passes this exam it will be a major achievement.
Am getting more and more anxious for her, don't want her to feel under pressure in any way but the expectations of others are starting to weigh on her.
Are there any signs I should be aware of that it might be getting too much? (apart from usual 9yo attitude)

bump

drivinmecrazy, it sounds as though your DD is doing a hell of a lot of stuff; I have a 9 yr old DD and who swims weekly and goes to brownies, and thats it. Be careful that she doesnt burn herself out, there is enough stress later in life x

Too much. when does she chill out and just be?

my dd1 is almost 10 and sounds like a similar child.

she currently does 3 dance classes (last year was 4, but we moved house and i cut one back) and although this year isn't an exam year (she took g3 exams last year) they have a big show coming up. she plays ice hockey three times a week and is a 'lone' guide. she also is in the school choir (can't imagine why, as tone deaf lol) so has lunch sessions with that. our school only have 20 minutes for lunch anyway though, so none of the 3 ever manange to really eat lunch.

she has also been put forward for the regional 'gifted' programme at school and has just won the school spelling bee, so is off to the regional comp for the school next month. this term we are taking a break from swimming lessons, largely as we can't actually fit it in lol (have two other dcs). we are also trying to make the most of skiing whilst the snow is here!

she's well balanced, happy, and not in the slightest bit stressed.

tbh i am more worried about your comments re g3 exam than the amount of stuff your dd is doing - 'we have told her it will be a major achievement'? it sounds as though you might be in danger of putting the pressure on her yourself? i do understand it was a response to the skipping g2 thing, and designed to make her happier with not getting honours, but may have the opposite effect?
fwiw, i'm quite relaxed about dance exams. dd1 loves to get honours (as does ds1 lol) but tbh she isn't going to be a professional dancer, and it really doesn't matter that much in the grand scheme of things.

so, i think it depends on your child etc etc. my dd1 is quite happy, and has plenty of 'down time'. take your lead from her - any signs of feeling the pressure, maybe ease off a bit.

i'd quite like more down time myself, but can't see it happening any time soon

actually, just noticed your schedule, lol. dd1's dance classes are now back-to-back on one night a week. last year we had a similar schedule to yours - ridiculous toing and froing for very little point tbh, three night a week and a saturday. look for a dance school with a more sensible schedule. the inters here have all their disciplines on one night so that they can do them back-to-back and not have to trawl back and forth every night. obviously with shows/ exams there will be extras, but never again will i sign any of them up for regular classes on different nights of the week. even with three taking classes i only have to drive into town on two nights.