Parents How much is too much?

[Jaks]

My dd is 6 years old - a tiny little thing for her age (she fits into age 3-4 clothes and weighs around 28lbs and is 104 cm tall).

She does the following activities :

30 mins of Modern Dance lessons ( ISTD Primary exam classes)
30 mins of Ballet (ISTD Primary exam classes)
1 hour of Rec trampolining at the gymnastics centre
1 hour of Rec Gymnastics same place as above
1 hour of Rec Cheerleading same as above
45 mins of musical theatre
30 mins of street dance.


Is my daughter doing to much for her age, all her classes are spread out throughout the week except when she does Cheerleading and Gymnastics - these are on the same day 2 hours apart. She also has musical theatre and street on the same day as cheerleading and gymnastics. The gym side is in the morning and the dancing side is in the afternoon.

my dd used to do gymnastics on a different day to cheerleading until she was moved up to a higher class in ballet and modern, we had to switch her gym session and all they had at a time she was not busy was the weekend class.

My dd was given the choice between continuing tap (she did pre primary tap) or gymnastics as the two classes clashed - she chose gymnastics.

i am hoping to switch her gymnastics session back after she has done on of her exams early next year.

My dd has 2 days during the week and 1 day at the weekend where she has no clubs. I have asked her if she wants to quit any clubs and she said no.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Your dd will let you know when it's too much, she will stop being enthusiastic to go, she ,ay ask not to go, she will start being tired and grumpy. If she is still bouncing off the walls to go and cartwheeling all over the place at home then its not too much.

We can't judge just by the number of hours, because what is too much for some kids is not even enough for others.

 

[Jaks]

My dd is always bouncing off the walls, she would run around and jump around at home and when you should be sitting on the sofa she would often be in a headstand on the sofa with her feet against the wall, she always likes to play wheelbarrows and can do that up and down steps. She is always dancing and jumping around and has been like that since she was 2. She tends to go to sleep around 8pm - 9pm

.

 

[sglemon]

It depends on the kid, what works for some doesn't work for others. When my DD was 6. she was doing 6 hours of activities a week between dance and gymnastics. She handle it great. Now at age 9 she does 15 hours a week, between gymnastics and dance. She still handles it well, her mood remains calm, nothing gets to her. She is getting enough sleep. Maintains straight As and managed to pick up an instrument this year with no problem. Her older sister on the otherhand would implode emotionally with her sisters schedule.

 

[Jaks]

My dd got invited to go on the gifted and talented register at school for being advanced in literacy, my dd got frustrated this morning as she was struggling to pronounce a couple of words in her reading book ( she is ahead in reading for her age).

She has never come out of gym or dancing in tears even hen she had a bad landing of the beam and hurt her foot - she just carried on.

The reason I brought this up was that I was chatting to another mum about what happened with my daughters reading and she said that maybe she was doing to much and the frustration comes out somewhere else.

 

[guest301]

as pp said your girl will let you know -as long as she is doing good in school and enjoys her activities she is ok. my question is is it too much for YOU? between 2 of my kids i have to drive them 4 times to gymnastics and sometimes i feel burned out doing that. are you enjoying it as well?if so your family is good to go .

 

[krisnkids]

I got tired just reading the thread. Not as much because its too much time wise, but because it seems like a lot of different things. I have 4 kids and I'm a single mom with dad and no family in the area so getting all the kids to their activities falls up on me. If your dd loves all of it and you don't feel like its too much then I see no harm, but if you are asking if its too much makes me think that you already are thinking its too much.

 

[Azgymmiemom]

If it is fine for her and your family, then don't worry about it. Especially since it seems like it isn't causing any problems with her schooling or ability to sleep well. My dd started gym at 6yrs with 4 hours a week and 2 of dance and increased that when she went to pre team (still 6yrs) and was doing 6 hours of gym and 2 hours of dance...still wanting more!!!

You are among very sympathetic people here who have btdt, and it has turned out fine. One thing I learned to do, though, was not to really speak about it to general people. They just don't understand and will have lots of "helpful" comments and advice about your parenting skills.

Just take a "wait and see" approach. You can always cut back an hour or two if you feel she needs the break.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

looks like a well rounded schedule to me. i'm sure you'll know if/when she's over tired.

 

[mommyof1]

My dd got invited to go on the gifted and talented register at school for being advanced in literacy, my dd got frustrated this morning as she was struggling to pronounce a couple of words in her reading book ( she is ahead in reading for her age).

She has never come out of gym or dancing in tears even hen she had a bad landing of the beam and hurt her foot - she just carried on.

The reason I brought this up was that I was chatting to another mum about what happened with my daughters reading and she said that maybe she was doing to much and the frustration comes out somewhere else.

If she just moved into the gifted and talented program, maybe this is the first time she's found school challenging and she isn't used to it yet.

 

[monkeysmom]

My daughter is in the G&T program in school as well. A very common trait of these kids is that they are highly self-critical. That is what you could be seeing with regard to school. Plus it may be the first time she has struggled with reading in school, that's why they are challenging her... But the best instincts in terms of what she can handle in her schedule are probably yours....

 

[gymmomtotwo]

My 6 year old does 11 hours of gymnastics a week and a 45 minute ballet/jazz class, so no I don't think it is too much. But then again, most parents of 6 year olds would probably look at me as if I were insane to the extent that she does gymnastics. She is highly energetic, and does not tire easily, so I think you have to figure out what is right for each kid. Oh, and she does ice skating lessons for fun on Saturdays.

 

[onebusymama]

My dd is 6 years old - a tiny little thing for her age (she fits into age 3-4 clothes and weighs around 28lbs and is 104 cm tall).

She does the following activities :

30 mins of Modern Dance lessons ( ISTD Primary exam classes)
30 mins of Ballet (ISTD Primary exam classes)
1 hour of Rec trampolining at the gymnastics centre
1 hour of Rec Gymnastics same place as above
1 hour of Rec Cheerleading same as above
45 mins of musical theatre
30 mins of street dance.


Is my daughter doing to much for her age, all her classes are spread out throughout the week except when she does Cheerleading and Gymnastics - these are on the same day 2 hours apart. She also has musical theatre and street on the same day as cheerleading and gymnastics. The gym side is in the morning and the dancing side is in the afternoon.

my dd used to do gymnastics on a different day to cheerleading until she was moved up to a higher class in ballet and modern, we had to switch her gym session and all they had at a time she was not busy was the weekend class.

My dd was given the choice between continuing tap (she did pre primary tap) or gymnastics as the two classes clashed - she chose gymnastics.

i am hoping to switch her gymnastics session back after she has done on of her exams early next year.

My dd has 2 days during the week and 1 day at the weekend where she has no clubs. I have asked her if she wants to quit any clubs and she said no.

Just make sure YOU have time for yourself. Are you watching all of those practices?