2005-02-07T16:03:50Ztag:blog.limedaley.com,2018:/isso/thread/post/over-programmingtag:blog.limedaley.com,2018:/isso/85/3532005-02-07T16:03:50ZSursumCorda<p>The over-scheduling situation is another problem, and it is not limited to sports. When our children were at that stage, we found the primary difficulty to be that each activity wanted to take over ALL of their lives (and ours). Intense practices, competitions, fund-raisers, parental committees -- all make it difficult for a child (let alone a family of many children) to experience sports, music, dance, art, drama, church groups, public service, and any number of other wonderful opportunities that every child should have. At some level, of course, the dedication to an activity needs to be more intense. But our children are pushed to that point 'way too early, and they miss out on the delight of other wonderful opportunities, as well as just plain time to themselves, which is as essential to healthy living as anything. It was at this stage, knowing that something had to go, that we dropped school. That turned out to be the best thing for our children academically as well as socially, but that's another story.</p>tag:blog.limedaley.com,2018:/isso/85/3522005-02-07T15:45:57ZSursumCorda<p>Now that is bizarre. (The article, that is.) No kids I've ever known have had their lives scheduled like that. More often, the error is in the other direction: children whose lives have very little of the comforting consistency of routine. The regimentation described in the article is something I've decried in schools and other institutions; certainly it would be even worse in the home.</p>