Extra / Co-curricular Activities

This month we are going to be exploring the benefits of a broad and balanced curriculum to a child, your child’s gifts and the relevance of this helping your child stand out.

Why get a child into other extra activities when there’s not enough time for the academics I hear you ask?

This used to be me about 18 years ago when my now adult child was going on 2. At that time, I was naive and didn’t know any better. All I wanted was for my child to do better than I and was determined to give her every opportunity that was available. Thank God, my husband was of the same intention.

One day, we went visiting a family friend and whilst there, I engaged in conversation with my friend, who had an older child and was telling me about her son’s after school weekly routine. My reaction straight away was why? She told me how she usually takes him from music to swimming lessons, karate and gymnastics and then scout meetings and I wondered what time he had left for homework and extra school work.

Now I know how privileged I was to have been there that day. I was lucky enough to have heard her reasons and I have had the opportunity to watch the young man grow up to become a confident, well rounded gentle man today.

I am happy I listened to her that day – I took on board all she had to say and was determined to put it into practice with my own children.

I then encouraged my own children to explore different extra-curricular activities for many reasons of which I shared the benefits in my first book – Parents Understand Your child: The Key to Your Child’s Success.

Exposing your child to extra-curricular activities and helping them identify their gifts and to develop these will help boost your child’s confidence and improve social skills as they get to mingle, network and interact with other children outside and not just within their school environment. It opens up a wider scope and level of interaction for your child.

Another important benefit to you as well as your child is that this exposure can help you find out what your child’s hidden or dormant gift is.

I noticed that my older child was becoming shy and timid and decided to enrol her into dance and performance classes where she had to perform to a large audience to help with her confidence. I look at her today, and thank God for her confidence and voice, which has opened doors not just for herself, but the many others she represents. She is now becoming a voice to be reckoned with.

The exposure to extra-curricular helps a child unlock the power of their imagination. You can help your child think beyond their present reach and help them believe more in their abilities once they find what they are good at and comes to them naturally.

If they don’t explore, they won’t know. Studies has shown that a well-rounded child will excel both in their academics and life as a whole due to the skills they develop whilst involved in the extras.

Extra-curricular may lead to scholarships in top independent schools and can also help boost your child’s UCAS form when they’re applying for a university place.

Check out ways to identify your child’s gifts, using a check list within the Members Hub – link here.

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