Did you overschedule your kids today?
With the best of intentions parents may be creating a generation of stressed-out, over-stimulated and exhausted kids. With school, homework, sports and other extra-curricular activities there’s no room for any free unstructured downtime in a typical child’s life.
The idea of course is that parents want to maximize their children’s experiences, give them every advantage possible in the belief that this will give them an edge when they become adults.
What is often forgotten is that during the unscheduled, just hanging around times, children are still developing, learning and discovering on their own. More importantly, it gives them an opportunity to recharge so they are better equipped to handle, appreciate and benefit from their next activity.
If you fear you may be falling into the overscheduling trap, take a look at this article entitled 12 warning signs that your child is overscheduled.
You can also look at The Joy of Doing Nothing for some helpful tips and A guide to choosing extra-curricular activities a grade by grade guideline for selecting appropriate activities.
