EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES
Helping Your
Child Develop
Their Gifts and
Talents
By Catherine Spada
about what the commitment will
entail and also a reminder of
what the priorities are within the
life of the child and the family at
large. Depending on the age of
the child and the frequency of
the commitment this will vary.
The number of children in the
family will also weigh greatly
when making these decisions.
Extracurricular activity participation is a good avenue to use
when teaching children about
accountability and privilege.
When a child is drawn to a certain
activity and the parents decide
that it is an area they would also
agree to explore, there should be
a discussion with the child about
what this choice means. Every
family must make decisions
that are agreeable—and best,
for them. For example, parents
ought to reiterate that school is
to be prioritized over the activity
and encourage the disciplines of
homework, and reading work be
completed before going to their
extracurricular activity. This fosters responsibility. It is also a
good idea to tell the child about
the duration of the commitment and the number of weeks/
months that they have committed
to and that it is important to see
it through. Obviously, illness and
other circumstances may arise
that do not allow attendance, but
parents should be mindful of not
giving into the “I don’t want to
go” feeling that may arise.
In a world of mass consumption and want, children can be
naturally drawn to be part of
everything and never learn to
appreciate the value of anything. This can also be seen
though extracurricular involvement. Some families, perhaps intending to provide for
their child, believe that having
them involved in many activities encourages them to be well
rounded. Though much can be
said to argue in favour of this
point, there is also the natural
consequence of burn out on the
part of the parents, the child, and
also the reality of not exploring
the excellence of one’s potential
in a concentrated area.
Respect for commitment encourages endurance and responsibility both of which translate into
a life of virtue and can also teach
the child many positive things. In
saying this, I am not claiming that
a child should be in an environment that is detrimental to them