Check out this recent article by Michael Grose (http://www.parentingideas.com.au/).  He's a parenting expert in Australia, but the same principles apply for American children (and I'm not sure of the stats, but they may even be worse!):

Is your child’s life too busy?             By ©Michael Grose 2007

How highly-scheduled is your child’s life?

A study of 2000 Australian children released last week found that four and five year olds spend more time in organised, structured activities than in unstructured play.

They spend 4.2 hours in unstructured play and television view per day compared to 5.2 visiting others, doing lessons or classes or in child care.

So much for the image of childhood being a time of carefree, child-initiated fun!

As they get older their lives become more organised. The proliferation of organised sport, performance-based and educational type activities available in the burgeoning ‘child development and education’ industry ensures that kids are heavily scheduled.

Kids’ schedules also mean busy times for parents too. Many mums and dads know only too well that parenthood means spending many hours behind the wheel of a car driving kids to various classes or activities in a variety of locations.

Pitfalls and advantages

Scheduled activities whether, organised classes, child care activities or learning programs, have benefits for kids in terms of vocabulary stimulation, readiness for literacy and the increased confidence that may come from mixing with others in a variety of settings.

Conversely, there is some evidence that suggests that excessive time spent in organised activities can lead to increased anxiety, poor behaviour and inability for kids to occupy themselves.

Seek a balance

We need to take a balanced approach and make sure that kids have sufficient time in their days and weeks to just be kids. Not everything in their lives needs to be tied to learning or has to show progress. One or two organised activities a day maybe okay, but any more, and you may find you are creating a ‘stimulus junkie’.

Kids of all ages tell us they want more down-time at home. Down-time gives kids a chance to form relationships with siblings and parents. Down-time also gives kids to initiate their own play and retreat to their very fertile imaginations. It is easy to forget that free, unstructured play has huge value in terms of relieving stress and learning.

Don’t underestimate your own impact
Many parents I meet devalue the impact that they have on their children. It is easy to forget that the tiny interactions we have with kids on a daily basis are invaluable in terms of learning and development. Even the simplest of tasks such as teaching kids to wipe up a spill have enormous value.

Teachers tell me that many kids start school today better equipped academically than children of past generations but with poorer social and coping skills. This is in no small part due to the fact that we treat kids like mini-adults rather than like children.

Sure-fire signs of excessive child busyness:

• Children are continually tired and irritable.
• Continual refusal to go to activities.
• Poor behaviour at transition times.
• There is no time for family mealtime.
• Anxiety (from parents or children) about their performance or progress in an ‘activity’ or class.

Guilt and high expectations can drive parents to over-schedule kids’ lives. Parents naturally want to bring out the best in their children. That is the nature of parenting. We just need to be sure, that in the meantime, kids don’t miss out on some of the joy, freedom and fun that comes with what many of us think of as CHILDHOOD.

Further Tips

1. Limit organised activities to two a day for pre-school children.
2. If children take on a new program or activity then consider dropping one they already do.
3. Make sure you have time to teach children the skills of independence such as dressing, cleaning up, cooking.
4. Make sure kids have at least one hour a day where nothing is scheduled.

 

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