Activity Overload: Balancing Your Child's Lifestyle

Even though provincial test results suggest academic skills are declining and standards are dropping, many parents appear to be too busy to pick up the slack.

When David Elkind wrote the Hurried Child best seller more than 20 years ago, it was a wake-up call to yuppie parents trying to push their children through childhood by rushing them to daycare, sports, dance, gym, other organized activities, and even trips to the mall at an alarming pace.

The book also cited the lack of "quality time" parents spent with their children. Sadly, a recent Stats Canada survey of almost 11,000 Canadian families indicates that both high and low income families spend less than half an hour each day teaching, reading and playing with their children, even though they have reported spending about five hours of leisure time each day! In general, these parents said their lives were too "rushed."

This presents a dilemma: "hurried" children may fall behind academically due to lack of engaged time in after-school learning, while their parents provide minimal support to counteract this problem. Fortunately, some parents have responded by making a concerted effort to help their children academically or contract out to private schools, tutors, and supplemental education programs, such as Kumon Math & Reading Centres, to bridge the gap.

Dr. Michael Luther, an Educational Specialist with Kumon Math and Reading Centres suggests parents ease the pace and give their children a more balanced lifestyle in the following ways:

• Give your child up to two hours a day of "quality time" to engage in learning, reading or even playing together.
• Let your child play, be a 'kid' and develop creativity.
• Don't overbook your child in sports, dance, skating, karate, music, second language training and other organized activities. One leisure and one educational activity a season may be sufficient.
• Be there for your child by attending plays, field trips, school events, teacher meetings and homework sessions.
• Keep up to speed by observing your child. Learn what frustrates, challenges or intrigues your child.
• Try not to make your children fulfill "your" dreams by forcing them to be the 'gifted', 'artistic', 'athletic' or 'beautiful' child.
• Support your child's learning by obtaining the books, supplies, magazines, hardware/software, furniture or tutoring that are needed to be successful.

These tips combined with common sense should help your child lead a more balanced life. We don't want to rush our children through the magic of childhood or prevent them from reaching their academic potential. (NC)