Planning for a Middle school Extracurricular

Joe Bruzzese: Welcome back! Here we are on a Tuesday. I have another member of the family with me, here today. The summer time is so wonderful, because it's good to have everybody together. Would you like to introduce yourself? Jordan: Hello! I am Jordan. Joe Bruzzese: Number one here in the family. We are here to talk to you about something that is just as important as the supplies were yesterday. It’s important to have great supplies, to have the right supplies, if you are prepared. But there is another type of preparation that we want to talk about today. So, Jordan and I had a conversation earlier, where we were talking about, what's going to happen after school? So, when the school bell rings at the end of the day, what kind of things are you going to be doing then? Because those hours are really important, because there is homework; and what are you going to be doing this year after school? Jordan: I am going to be doing the swim team. Joe Bruzzese: Swim Team. And that's what, and you got started on pretty recently? Jordan: Yes. Joe Bruzzese: Yeah? How do you like it? Jordan: I like it a lot. Joe Bruzzese: Is it challenging? Jordan: Yeah. But over the weekend I started practicing and I practiced on my diving. Joe Bruzzese: So, two things here to point out. Number one, we have the conversation. I talk to a lot of folks, a lot of parents, the school year gets started and we are not really sure what's going to be in place after school. Before a long, homework starts to pile up and then a couple of clubs are just going to pop-up in the after school hours. Things that are happening on the school grounds, but are considered to be after school clubs. And before you know it, all of time after school is just packed with activities and the kid becomes overwhelmed. So, we did two things here. We had a conversation. Jordan kind of talked about, what she wanted to be doing and she said, swim team, alright? And then we also decided that homework was going to, at least you know an hour or probably or more a night, which is pretty typical, right? That's kind of what you had last year, right? Jordan: Yeah. Joe Bruzzese: Yeah. But we didn't overload the schedule, right away. And the swim team is going to be probably three days a week. Do you think? Jordan: Maybe. Joe Bruzzese: Maybe three days. Jordan: Yeah. Joe Bruzzese: Maybe you are going to have homework. So, we've left time in there though, just to relax, spend some time with friends and family. We didn't get overwhelmed with it. The other thing that I really love about swim team; I haven't told you this, but I will share it now on the show, is it's something that you really wanted to do, right? And I realized that this weekend, when you asked me to take you over to the pool. Jordan: Yeah. Joe Bruzzese: It wasn't something that I pushed her into, I swim, but yet it's not something that I had huge background in, but it's something that Jordan enjoys. And again, I knew that because she came to me and said, will you take me the pool, so that I can practice? You know you have got a great connection there. With an activity in the child, when they are the ones that are saying hey! I want to practice. If you feel like you are having to push your child into something, you may want to take a step back, even if it's something they have been doing, like soccer for example, followed over the course of years and years, you may want to take a step back and say, maybe not this year, at least have that conversation, is this something you want to continue? So, what else besides the swim team, any other ideas about things you might want to do? Jordan: I am thinking, if I don't have to do swimming on Wednesday, I am thinking of doing gymnastics. Joe Bruzzese: Okay, the last time -- you have done it before, right? Jordan: Yeah. Joe Bruzzese: You did that last year. Jordan: But then I had clarinet and I couldn't do it on Wednesdays. Joe Bruzzese: You notice the expression in face change, when she talks about clarinet, you are a good clarinet player. Jordan: I didn't like it. Joe Bruzzese: So, we will see how long that lasts. I don't know, definitely something going to consider. You know how I feel about band, in that connection and it's a good thing. And I brought Jordan on the show today for a number of reasons, but I think, one of the most important of which is, as you are moving to the Middle School years, those activities, those opportunities grow exponentially. Jordan hasn't even begun to explore the realm of opportunity that Middle School presents. There is a lot more out there, but already we started the discussion about how do you want to spend those after school hours, and I think that's the point what I really wanted to show us today. And of course, the most important reason that I brought her on this show was because, she is my daughter and I love having her here with me. Thanks for coming on the show today. Jordan: You are welcome! Joe Bruzzese: Alright! Give me some high five. Take care and we will talk to you tomorrow. Bye, bye.