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Parenting
would you "force" DC to do sports?
I have had DS in an all star sport class, (includes soccer, t-ball and basketball) He hated it, he doesn't like to play sports at home. He took a cooking class once and kind of liked it. I want him to at least try something, I think karate would be good for him, I just don't know if I want to "make"him try? WWYD?
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Re: would you "force" DC to do sports?
No. I want my child to be involved in something, but it doesn't matter what. I didn't like team sports at all as a kid. I danced (ballet) through high school and considered that more of an "individual sport."
Maybe karate WILL be his niche since it's not a team sport.
ditto... I would encourage and extracurricular activity... music, cooking, sports,theater, whatever their interest would be. encourage them to try new things. but follow their lead... yet if they pick something, they have to follow through with it.
DS is the same way. He's not all that athletic and doesn't really like many sports. However, over the years we have done t-ball, soccer, karate, an overview sports class like what you describe, swim lessons and swim team. He's also done various science and nature classes which is something that he's very interested in.
Basically, I offer him some choices and he picks something to try. I like him to be involved in SOMETHING. If he doesn't like it, we don't do it again.
I wouldn't force team sports. That can be torture for some kids. It would have been for me.
However, I would push some kind of physical activity. Tennis, karate, tap dancing, whatever. I'd also encourage some kind of creative or artistic hobby like cooking, playing a musical instrument, or art class, etc.
I also meant to say, that he has always enjoyed swimming so we've stuck with it. He did lessons for years and now is on the swim team.
The other things--some he's liked and done for awhile others he's disliked immediately. I do try to pick things that are short term commitments, like 6-8 weeks when he is first trying it, that way it's not torture for either of us if he doesn't like it.
When I was growing up, the rule was one activity per season. Meaning, I played soccer in the fall, tennis in the winter & track in the spring. It was my choice which activity I wanted to do. I hated, despised, detested track but not as much as baseball, which was my other alternative. :-)
My father was a football & basketball coach, so not participating wasn't an option. My sister opted to cheer each season & while I think my parents secretly wished she had chosen sports, they were fully supportive.
I will likely take a similar approach. . one activity per season, their choice. I grew up in a tiny town & had like 2-3 options. My kids are growing up in an area with literally 20+ options/season, so I feel like they will be able to find something they enjoy.
Yes I would. I wouldn't force a kid to stick with it for a full school year, but I would force her/him to try something.
I think karate is generally an easy one to try out, I know when my SS was interested we got to go to one free class first and I think we could pay for up to 3 classes individually before committing to the year (he ended up doing tae kwon do for 3 or 4 years and earned a black belt).