6 Reasons To Get Your Child Involved In Extracurricular Activities

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Extracurricular activities should be carefully selected according to your child’s ability and preferences, and introduced into your child’s routine. Apart from boosting your child’s school grades in the long run, your child will benefit a lot including the following:

1. Added Motivation In Your Child’s Day

As parents, we already know that learning new material can be hard work. Think about how you feel when your employer rolls out a new computer program at your job, or there is a big change in your daily procedure. Your children feel this throughout the school year as they learn new material. While teachers strive to motivate students to learn with the best teaching methods they have available, an activity that is meant to be fun can give your child something to look forward to, keeping your child in good spirits. If you have a child who is struggling with academics, an extracurricular activity could provide that opportunity to feel successful right now, while waiting for the benefits of extra help or tutoring to kick in.

2. Provides What Your Child Is Missing Elsewhere

Every child is a unique person. If your child needs a lot of physical activity, signing them up for sports will give them that extra time to burn off energy that may not be provided in their school day. If you have a child who needs a quieter activity time, a place to work on crafts or the school garden club may provide time to quietly work with their hands or connect with nature.

3. Provides Social Opportunity For Joint Interests

In the same way many adults join clubs or teams in order to meet people with common interests, your child will benefit from meeting other children who share their same interests. Sports teams teach kids how to work towards a common goal, and provide new opportunities to meet friends. Social and civic based also give children a chance to work within a group. Scouting organizations help children learn how to set realistic goals and meet them.

4. Leadership Skills

Many extracurricular activities provide children the opportunity to step up and become leaders. Sports teams have team captains. As children grow older, many clubs and organizations pass more and more responsibility to the child.

5. Helps Your Child Learn About Themselves

Extracurricular activities give your child a chance to really explore how much they like different activities. It also gives them the chance to see how they work within groups or on teams. Working towards a goal can help your child explore why they feel a goal is worthwhile, and help them to understand what they believe is important.

6. Looks Good On Applications

Colleges, scholarships, and other competitive opportunities that are available for young people often looking for extracurricular activity in applicants. These organizations believe that someone who has been committed to an activity by choice will have developed additional skills that lead to success that cannot be taught in the classroom.

All the above listed reasons come together to help develop someone who has even more skills for success than someone who earned excellent grades but did not do extra activities. Colleges and employers have also noted that young people with extracurricular success do better and are more likely to perform well.

Source: parentinginschools.about.com