Lessons About This Page:

[simbarel]

What kind of lessons do your kids take, if any? Piano, soccer, ice skating, gymnastics, chess? Anything? When did they start? Do they like it? Do you see measurable progress? Just wondrin'.

ETA: Also, how did you and your kids decide on which lessons to take, are they worth the money? Is anyone in recreation therapy?

[JoanneS]

My daughter has been taking Tae Kwon Do since she was 8. She has her second degree black belt and is working towards her third degree. It was definitely worth it for her. It costs me $55 a month for 2 hours a week. A great deal.

My don takes piano and saxophone lessons. He told me at age 4 that he wanted to be Barry Manilow when he grew up and he needed a piano. I waited until he turned 6 before we signed on with a teacher. Cost: $90 a month for four lessons a month. But he loves it, never forgets to practice, and is learning musical arrangement and music theory along with piano playing. Totally worth it. He improved his dexterity, he has better self esteem because of it, and he's following his passion.

We've done other lessons as well, but these are the one's that "stuck". I let my kids try whatever they want, but if they don't commit to it, I stop paying for it.

[B.M.]

My dd has been doing gymnastics for the last two years. She started when she was 8 and she just turned 10 last month. She has a lot of natural talent and was almost immediately placed in a higher class.... But, she has now outgrown/surpassed that class... There really isn't a higher level at this current place so I feel like I'm wasting my $ at this point- I need to look into private lessons or something, but I'm not sure I can afford it....
My boys play basketball- and have taken b-ball classes in the past and I didn't see a lot of improvement, but I still feel it boosted their self esteem... They continue to play basketball, but I have not done the b-ball lessons in a few years now....
My ds took guitar lessons when he was 8 and 9; I didn't see a lot of progress.... It seems to be one of those things that once you know how to hold your fingers and you have learned to read the music- the best thing you can do is practice on your own rather than take actual lessons...... My ds is now 13 and can read music easily and play multiple instruments and he has (for the most part) taught his younger brother that is now 11. And together- they are teaching my dd10. So in this case- it has paid off because they are now teaching their younger siblings....

[MichaelF]

Dance - All my kids did this when they were real young. I hated it but they liked it. I think we paid about $30 a kid per month
Guitar - I have a couple kids that did this for a while. It was something they could enjoy their whole life. It cost us $17 for each half hour lesson.
Sewing - I have one child that takes sewing. I thought it would be a waste but she really enjoys it and has made a lot of cool things. $15 per lesson.
Swimming - All my kids took lessons when they were young. This was fairly inexpensive.
Tae Kwon Do - My oldest did this for four years. After she got her black belt she lost interest. I was very proud of her to work on it as long as she did. She was the youngest female black belt the school ever had. It costs about $1000 per year.
Basketball - I have a gifted player who plays on three different teams and works out with another coach once a week. The whole basketball thing is expensive with the travel but the private lessons/workouts are $150 per month

Its easy to see if I didn't have kids I would have a lot more money.

[Huntermom]

When my kids were young

DS1-piano -age 12-18-was between $12-20/lesson
karate-age 7-14 (earned black belt) $30/month
swimming from 5-12 (?) he also did life guard and water safety instructor training -various prices but generally inexpensive

DS2-karate-age 5-12 $15./month as second child in family
swimming age 5-12
after 12 he was active in several activities, but no more lessons

DD-the overscheduled kid
Dance 3-5, 6-12 -by 12 she was taking 3-4 classes a week, around $140./mo
Karate 5-10 -$15./mo. see above
piano 6-18 -$12-25 a lesson (took hour lessons in high school)
riding-11-still does-too expensive-started at $30./lesson, rides at least 4 days a week (sometimes 6) since about 13. Often will ride multiple horses a day.

My kids did lots of inexpensive activities and camp like lessons.
We did week long nature classes and some classes at state parks.

[Cheriemek]

I have 4 girls. All had dance lessons from the age of 3 on .... the longest went to the age of 18. I know you have a boy, but there is nothing cuter than three year olds in a recital! Two of the kids had music lessons. Oldest had violin lessons from 13 - 18. Second had guitar from 11-13. Other extras kids had were girl scouts, religious education, and Indian Guides (a YMCA Father/Daughter group).

[Huntermom]

My kids all did Indian Guides, too, although the group eventually parted with the Y and formed their own non-profit.

The kids were involved in lots of other activities-FIRST, Odyssey of the Mind, school band, etc.

In general I found lessons were more worth while once the kids got to be 5 or 6. DD did a couple of years of gymnastics when she was a pre-schooler. DD didn't start to ride until she was 11 (actually the month she turned 11) but quickly surpassed kids who started earlier.

One of the things is older kids will progress more quickly, which sometimes keeps them going. I don't think I feel any of the kids lessons were a mistake. They always learned something, even if it was they didn't like an activity.

[jbd]

DS is 5. When he was 4, he started Tae Kwon Do. He likes it and I think it's helped him a lot. He didn't go to pre-school, so the structure and the interaction with other adults and kids in a structured setting really helped him when he started kindergarden. It costs us a bunch...every 9 months (I think...or 8?), we have to pay a lump membership fee of about $180. Then each month it's $75. That pays for 2-3 half hour lessons a week. I think it's worth it because he's really matured. Dh and I chose this one because we thought it would help him in terms of his self esteem and to focus.

He started basketball last week. He gets a one hour lesson a week. It's through the city and I think it cost just under $200. I think it goes through the winter. I let my husband take care of this one so I'm not sure. Ds loves basketball so when he was given a choice between doing basketball and hockey, he chose basketball. So far it's been worth it. He came home last week babbling about it and how a kid from his class was there. He's talked about it a lot since.

He really wants to learn how to skate, so once things settle here, I might find a place that does just that--no hockey, just skating. He likes to watch hockey, but I'm not too sure he'd like to play just yet.

[Belle*]

Ryan played T-Ball at age 4 (loved it but program was poorly run, too many kids, not enough chances to actually practice skills), soccer at age 5 (hated it, not his sport) and now takes Tae Kwon Do. He LOVES it! We goes 2 - 3 nights per week for a 50 minute class and just passed his first belt test. It costs $70 per month.

When he was younger we let him try whatever he wanted because, well, how else do you know what you like? Now that he is older, he knows that he can only do one activity at a time (since he is in school daily 9 - 4 I refuse to overschedule him - and us - on activities!) and it has to be his choice. We told him we would pay for whatever it was but he had to choose. So there was a few months there where he did nothing because he couldn't decide between tennis and Tae Kwon Do. He finally settled on Tae Kwon Do and I have been STUNNED by how happy it makes him! I was initially concerned by the time commitment (three classes a week?) and the fact that he gets right off the bus after a long day and whisked off to class, but it actually really seems to settle him down and help him decompress.

He is very interested in drum lessons but his music teacher (a nationally recognized music educator) says that he is too young and too wait a few years.

[Huntermom]

Sara, my kids piano teacher had been a professional drummer (symphony) and she strongly recommended piano first. I can tell you my son, who started at 12 whizzed passed his sister who began at the end of first grade and after one year, she played the same song at a recital as a classmate who had started 3 years earlier. I don't think there is any disadvantage is waiting.

[Colexis Mom]

The kids both started playing rec soccer when they were in Kindergarten (5 YO). Same for baseball/softball. DD started taking tennis lessons when she was 6. Trombone lessons when she was 10.

[elis mom 08]

participated in pop warner football. That is tackle, and in full pads. He loved it, it kept him busy 4-5 nights a week including practice, and he wants to do it again next summer!

[krisk11]

We could tell at a young age that my dd was very athletic (plus it runs in the family) She started in ice hockey at age 4 because it is all she ever wanted to do. 11 yrs later (she is 15) she is still playing (2 teams - girls club team and boys high school varsity team). She was invited to National Development Camp last year with the olympic program and has colleges interested in her. She also still plays both travel and high school softball. In the past she has also played soccer (not her sport but it's good off season training for hockey), volleyball, basketball, karate (not long). My dd has wanted to play ice hockey since she could speak so I put her in it but it is very very very expensive. It's over $3,000.00 for the two teams for just one season not counting equipment, hotels and food while away at tournaments etc.

[Teresa]

We have a rule; each child in the family may pick one activity to do, plus either Girl Scouts, Girls Inc, Girls Club, etc (all girls, remember). I didn't care if the other activity was arranged lessons or a sport team. We do this because there were too many for me to have each in 3 different things! This does not include clubs in school (chess, glee, knitting, reading, journalism, drama, etc). We also don't care if they never do it again, but if they join a team they MUST finish the season - it's unfair to the rest of the team if they quit mid-season. If it's lessons of some sort, they have to go for a year before deciding they want to stop.

DD #1 (Samantha); Girl Scouts from 1st grade to Senior in HS, is now a leader (with no kids of her own), took ballet from 2-5, gymnastics 2-5, cooking lessons 4-6, baseball team summer she was 6.

DD #2 (Kathryn); Girl Scouts Kindergarten to grade 8 (hard time finding troop/leader/girls that were a good fit for her), gymnastics from age 3-age 10, dance from 6 to 8, has tried basketball, softball, soccer, and has now been taking voice lessons for the last 4 or 5 years.

DD #3 (Lauren); Girl Scouts Kindergarten to grade 4 (didn't like it), gymnastics age 1 to 7, guitar lessons for 2 years, karate for the last 3 years (still going), ballet and jazz for 2 years, played softball, soccer, basketball

We pay $22 a half hour for Kathryn's voice, and $99 a month for Lauren's karate (unlimited hours, since we signed a 3 year contract) plus we pay $800 a year for karate team (she competes nationally and next year will be old enough to compete internationally).

The thing DH and I have always believed was that it's better for them to flit from one activity to another than to get stuck on one and then burn out in it. We have friends who started their kids playing soccer at age 3, and have INSISTED the kids stay in it, including indoor and travel. The kids are good. They also HATE soccer - and they're in high school and their parents are still trying to force them to play, thinking that they'll get scholarships. Yes, one of them did, but the scholarship $$ isn't anywhere near what they've spent on his injuries alone!

[MickeyWatch]

My DD10 started taking swimming lessons (parent and tot) as a toddler. She has been swimming competitively since she was 6. Swimming is now her year around sport. She also plays in a softball league (I won't let her play travel--too much time and she already is on "travel" swim team). She has taken piano lessons since first grade and started the flute in the school band program last year. She has also played soccer. She played on her 5th grade volleyball team in the fall. In the summer she has tennis lessons. The problem is that she loves sports and is pretty good at them so she wants to compete in everything! I have to cut back on something because swimming is her main sport and is very time consuming. We are spending much of this weekend at a swim meet. Luckily is is 15 minutes from home.

I almost forgot: last summer she did one week of golf camp with our park district and loved that too. I want her to learn to play golf so I can have someone to play with at the Disney courses. DH doesn't play.