Tough time at organized activities?

LuckySunshineBaby · August 2010

DD is a stubborn cookie. She is fairly independent and not really a hand holder (like many 2 year olds). We started a gymnastics class and it was awful. She was wild and by far (with a huge margin) the worst listener/behavior in the class. I (having taught classes similar) found that children that go to larger, center based car did better at grasping circle time/organized activities from being a part of it at a younger age.

If you SAH and waited until your LO was 2 to start organized activities, did you find it difficult? Where they behind on the "structure" part of the class? When/what age did it get better?

JOEBunny · August 2010

My DD hated gymnastics at 2, screamed, cried, or generally refused to participate unless they carried her around. She is in pre-k now and has not had a single problem with the transition. She started Ballet at 3 and loves it and continues to go to it. I am sure that children who spend all day in a group are better at group things, but kids who SAH have other skills that they develop by being home that are just as important.

susanmosley · August 2010

I personally don't see any reason for a young 2 year old to be in a gymnastics class without a parent. Was it a mom and tot class or a 2 year old gymnastic class where you were not part of the group? Were all of the other kids young 2s too?

spiritenergy · August 2010

She will get there. Maybe she didn't like gymnastics because it is too much sitting a watching instruction and waiting for other kids to complete the activity. My son is 3.5 and we did a sample gymnastics class, and he hated it. He did not like sitting and watching all the kids do things. We started Russian classes, and he loves that even though there is a lot of sitting involved. Perhaps she is not ready for organized activities or she did not care for gymnastics. I would not worry about her developmentally if she did not like it. Not all adults like the same things so why should kids?

axr8111 · August 2010

Maybe she's just not interested. I do a mom and me class for music and DS goes in and out of being a good listener. Generally it revolves around whether we're doing something he likes like playing with actual instruments. Then he pays attention more. Then I put him in soccer where I don't participate and he is just barely old enough to understand it all. It's a 3 year old class and he won't be 3 until December, but he loves soccer so much that it seems to work and he is very engaged with what is going on. I wouldn't stress. 2 is a very young age to be required to listen and some kids are just more independent which can seem like they aren't well behaved but really they just aren't nervous to be away from mommy. Good luck!

lms_bride · August 2010

Our son is not a huge fan of organized activities to this point and he's 2 yrs 3 months. He's only done one swimming class and a baby boogie class when he was almost 2. For both of those and just in general when we're in bigger groups of people, he is a major slow starter. Sometimes he'll cry and freak out but often he is just super clingy with me for 10 minutes or so and then he warms up and joins in, but its on his terms. I just tell people he has a 10 minute warm up period and go with it. He hasn't done preschool or daycare yet so I don't know how it'll be for him but we'll work through it. I attribute it more to his personality than being home with me versus in a daycare.

passar3588 · August 2010

My 2 y.o. took a gymnastics class this past spring and yes, I found it difficult. She was wild - just ran from station to station, didn't want to listen, couldn't sit still. It was pretty bad. The only reason I signed her up is because her older sister was in the class after hers so we were going to be there anyways.

It will get better. I'd wait until she's at least 2.5 or 3 to do gymnastics again. My 4 y.o. daughter started gymnastics when she was 3 and it was a MUCH better experience than my 2 y.o. had. I found with my kids that gymnastics and storytime before age 3 was a waste. I stuck with swimming lessons when they were young toddlers - they couldn't go very far!

LuckySunshineBaby · August 2010

susanmosley:
I personally don't see any reason for a young 2 year old to be in a gymnastics class without a parent. Was it a mom and tot class or a 2 year old gymnastic class where you were not part of the group? Were all of the other kids young 2s too?

It was a Mommy and me type thing.

The class is really well organized and the teacher was so nice (coming up after the class to tell me to stick with it, etc.) but hands down DD was the most wild of all the kids. The class is for 18 months-3 year olds and most of the kids seemed a little older (or perhaps more mature) than DD. One other little guy seemed similar to DD's age, but was much quieter. I'm going to stick it out for at least a month, but I wanted to hear other SAHM's experiences. Thanks again!

Princess_Lily · September 2010

DS LOATHES sitting and listening in an organized class - unless its storytime at bedtime. Attention span is between 2-5min. if that.

He wants to explore the world!

I put him in a mommy & me gym class where he is never really sitting for long periods of time.

funchicken · September 2010

LuckySunshineBaby:
susanmosley:
I personally don't see any reason for a young 2 year old to be in a gymnastics class without a parent. Was it a mom and tot class or a 2 year old gymnastic class where you were not part of the group? Were all of the other kids young 2s too?
It was a Mommy and me type thing.
The class is really well organized and the teacher was so nice (coming up after the class to tell me to stick with it, etc.) but hands down DD was the most wild of all the kids. The class is for 18 months-3 year olds and most of the kids seemed a little older (or perhaps more mature) than DD. One other little guy seemed similar to DD's age, but was much quieter. I'm going to stick it out for at least a month, but I wanted to hear other SAHM's experiences. Thanks again!

We did a gymnastics class with the same age group when S was 18 months, and she ran around a lot. There were other kids as young as she was who were doing the same thing, though, so it didn't really bother me. After a few weeks, she was much better about trying to participate, but she still ran around and did her own thing a lot. I think that's really normal for that age group.

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