034: Extracurricular Activities

Parent Driven Development

Parent Driven Development

Episode 034: Back to School and Extracurricular Activities for Kids

00:59 Welcome, Barrett Clark

• Barrett Clark is a data programmer, speaker and author of Data Visualization ToolKit. He is a longtime member of the Ruby community and a co-organizer of RailCamp South. Married for 22 years, Barrett and his wife have two teenage boys and a new dog.

• Ruby community

• Family: 2 highschool teenage sons (senior / sophomore) both in band.

• Parent advisors and past president to children’s band team

01:46 Extra curricular activities for kids

• Barrett’s son involved with band
• The parents get involved as well, to have the kids know that you value them and their interest
• carpools with fellow parents

08:25 Extra cirrculars taking up more time than school and work. How to deal?

• Helping kids see the importance of prioritizing (school, dating, work, band, etc)

12:20 Helping kids find their “thing” + Overly committing kids to activities to help them find a passion

• Signing your kids up for more activities
• Kids getting wiped out from over activity
• Teaching kids the importance of community at a young age

15:15 Help kids find their community

• Friends of similar interests and ideals
• Creating deeper bonds
• Certain activities lend towards a larger community than others. gymnastic - girls range from 12-18, while sports often limit to one age group

17:13 Becoming a part of your kids activities

• More time with your children
• Build your own community amongst the other parents involved with your kids
• Flexibility in being involved “part-time”

20:51 Uninvolved parents vs. involved parents

• Single parents
• Younger kids in school
• Parents helping each other get their kids to activities
• Making sure other kids have support if their parents aren’t there or too busy

25:45 Ways to keep busy parents in the loop: build greater community

• Film concerts, games, etc for distant family members or busy parents to help keep them involved
• Building the community feel past just teammates and classmates

27:28 Discussing the organization of extra cirrculars before getting involved

• Sit down and discuss with your child. what’s important to you most? will you have time for all these sports and clubs?
• Ask about the history of the organization and decipher if it’s the right fit for you and your child

30:02 How to deal with “that parent” + learning to manage other parents in your kids activities

• Don’t yell at refs
• Overly involved parent envy

32:14 The financial side

• Fundraisers - parents typically have to get involved as well
• Writing a check vs. spending the time on fundraisers
• Kids take responsibility (older kids)
• Parents budgeting for future extracurriculars for kids
• Non-negotiable extracurriculars for kids - kids choice vs. have-to’s
• Budgeted financial support for activity or sport

42:35 Genius / fail moments

• The volleyball team offers a weekend trial for students to try without commitment. #genius
• New favorite child when they take on your same activity
• Barrett plays catch up with son’s college applications - the struggles motivating your child and parent strategy #geniusfail
• Middle school back to school night, too many teachers and no quality time #failmoment
• Allison’s son on a mission to find Sukana bread… except she doesn’t know what it is #fail
• Kwu’s son’s first haircut goes awry #fail So Kwu stepped up, orders tools and cuts his hair at home now #genius

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Panel

KWu
Chris Sexton
JC Avena
Allison McMillan
Josh Puetz

Special Guest: Barrett Clark.