Overscheduling Kids—When It’s A Problem

By Caitlin Bootsma
Consultant to the VIRTUS® Programs

Childhood is a great time to explore all sorts of activities: from scouting to the arts; from sports to drama. However, if a kid in your care is doing too much, you'll begin to see signs that they are overtaxed. Perhaps they'll begin to fall behind in school, lose interest in activities or complain consistently about being tired. All of these could be signs that you may want to scale back their extracurriculars.

After all, while these activities can be enriching, they can result in children and parents being stressed from constant busyness. In addition, experts suggest that free time is essential to a child's development, so that they can learn to think, play and create on their own.

As you are looking forward to fall and planning activities for children in your care, here are just a few things to ask yourself:

  • Will we still have regular, quality family time each week?
  • Are these activities my child will thrive in, without sacrificing school work or sleep?
  • Am I, as a caregiver, going to be overwhelmed by the number of activities multiple children will be participating in?
  • Is there any activity a child participated in last year that they did not seem to enjoy? 
  • Do each of the extracurricular activities have precautions that make me feel confident for my child's safety?

This article is not part of your continuing training. To access your required bulletins you must log in using the form in the upper left-hand corner of the screen. Then go to the TRAINING tab.

What is Your Opinion?

Do you use a filter or monitoring software at home?