Ballet? Science club?

[Bluegoat]

I'm trying to make a decision and keep flip-flopping - I'm hoping someone can give me some input.

I'm trying to decide between Science club and ballet for my daughter, who is 6.  We'll be starting year one of the Charlotte Mason style program Ambleside Online..

She did ballet last year and really enjoyed it, and I think ballet has a lot going for it as far as body awareness, movement, and so on.  Also, her sister who is three could attend another class at the same time.

Science club has one meeting a month at the same time as ballet, and one field trip a month, usually at a different time.  It's very CM compatible, they have an expert at the meeting and learn about the topic, then the go on the field trip and do hands on observations.  They keep a nature notebook and can even earn badges if they are keen.  It's also free, and less of a commitment than ballet. (Though my mom has offered to pay for ballet.)

We also do horseback riding until it gets too cold.

Really my biggest stumbling block is how much she loves the ballet class.  But I know she's like science club too.

My mom's suggestion was to skip ballet on the weeks there is science club.

[HollyBearsMom]

What does your daughter want to do?  At six I think she is old enough to weigh in herself.

[tankgirl73]

Your mom's suggestion is a real possibility, but if it were me, I'd stick with the ballet.  It's proven, whereas she actually might not like the science club (I mean, she probably would, but sometimes they surprise you heh).  If you do the science club, there will be three weeks each month where you'll be thinking "we could have been dancing this week."  If she was ambivalent, I'd have a harder decision, but if she loves the ballet and would hate to quit, then don't quit.  I'm sure the science club will still be there next year, and maybe the schedules won't conflict then, right?  Science learning is something that doesn't have to be done at any particular age, and much of what they do there you could easily do at home anyway (though certainly the idea of doing it in a 'club' is very appealing!!)... so there's no loss at ALL in the grand scheme of things if it's a year or two before she does the science club.

But if dance is in her bones, then you want to encourage that.  :)  

I'm speaking as the mother of a dancer, of course... Dance classes here start at age 3 (classes are for 3/4yo), but they often let kids in who are extra keen who are a little younger.  My daughter started in September the year that she was to turn 3 in December... she's in her 2nd year now, does both ballet and tap (which is all that's offered for the 3/4s), and next year (when she can move up to the 5/6 year old classes which has more options) she wants to also do hip hop!  I *know* how much she loves to dance, there's no way I would ever take it away from her even if there was something else she'd love... as long as she loves the dance MORE.  :)

I also am speaking as the mother of a son who has been in a ton of activities, and we had to pick and choose and pare down when he was doing too many.  When he was 6 or 7, he was doing violin and karate and swimming and art classes and gymnastics and... and something else, I'm sure heh.  When he moved from recreational into competitive gymnastics training, something had to go.  We chose the violin... as much as it pained me to do so, because he had some talent AND because I'm a professional musician!!  So of course I want my kids to follow in my footsteps.  ;)  But even though he had some talent and enjoyed it, it was definitely his least favourite activity.  Not because he didn't like it, but just because he liked the others more... it was his lowest priority.  

For years, the competitive gymnastics was his #1 activity, while bit by bit the other activities fell by the wayside as the gymnastics took more and more time.  And that was fine.  We can't do everything.

And now this year, at age 13, he's decided that he's finished with gymnastics.  He still loves it, of course, but he's spent the last year (can't believe it's only been about a year, holy moly) rediscovering his musical side, and it's just exploded and taken over everything.  He's now a percussionist, saxophone player, guitarist, and even lets me give him some piano lessons, played piano and classical guitar in the music festival this spring, plays in a school concert band and their jazz band too, the city band, the local youth orchestra, his church handbell choir... And he said "gymnastics is taking too much time away from my music."  Heh.

So... my point is, when he was your daughter's age we reluctantly abandoned the music because his heart was in gymnastics.  He spent many great years in gymnastics and it was wonderful for him.  Now he's found his calling in music (and I honestly think it is his calling) -- when he's READY for it now.  :)  There was no loss by not pursuing it in the intervening years... if anything, by not forcing him to continue when he wasn't completely enthusiastic, we never squashed his love for it.  

In other words, my point really is, there's no loss if you can't do everything all at once, especially when she's so young.  Do what she will love the most right now, there's lots of time to 'catch up' on other things later.  

[LaLaLaLa]

If I could convince my DD to drop ballet, I'd do so in a second.  She is also six, and cried about dancing for a year before I finally let her sign up for a class, hoping she would get it out of her system and be done with it.  Instead, her passion increased and now we're stuck with it.  I have two relatives who were ballet dancers and both were encouraged during their adolescence to lose weight.  I've watched the 12-year-olds coming in for class every week after DD's class, and their bodies terrify me.  I don't think DD has the genetics to be naturally skinny, and I hate the thought that she might feel pressure to work toward a body type that is hard for her to achieve.

I think I'm extra-sensitive about eating disorders, though, and never wanted my daughter to go into a sport that involved her body looking a certain way or being a certain weight.

[midnightwriter]

For this age, I'd definitely drop the science club, if she enjoys ballet. Ballet is something that you can't really do on your own, but you can have your own 'science club' with DD at home. Having "experts" at this age is usually hit or miss as well.

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by HollyBearsMom 

What does your daughter want to do?  At six I think she is old enough to weigh in herself.

  Although I'm not keen on letting my kids (at that age) think they have the final word--so I would word that question carefully.

Originally Posted by Bluegoat 

My mom's suggestion was to skip ballet on the weeks there is science club.

First, is it really too hard to do both in one week once/month?  Or do they fall on the same day and are therefore mutually exclusive?  But I think at this age, I might take your mom's advice.  You know she loves ballet, but you have no clue if she loves science.  She may or she may not.  I'd love the chance to find out when that opportunity is free of charge and compatible with our style while it still exists.  Programs get cut, people get relocated (seriously: my dh works at home full-time and I am, two years later, still stunned that WE got relocated)... things happen.  Grab the opportunities while you can as long as they won't make your life a living hell... kwim?

JMO

[pigpokey]

Something like science club would not be compelling for me (mine are 6 and 7).  That's because dance is forever but will they remember science ... no idea.  If you want, call it dance math because dance is VERY math / spatial.

I also think there is great benefit at 6 to doing dance 2x a week.  I think you get 3x the benefit for 2x the training at this age.  But the fact that you're saying there's this conflict leads me to believe you don't have other dance classes available?

[heatherdeg]

Originally Posted by pigpokey 

 That's because dance is forever but will they remember science ... no idea.  

Well that's kind of the point: if the child is never exposed to it, you have no idea if she's wired to love it enough to remember it.  

Frankly, I took years of dance and loved it, but it's by no means "forever" in my life.  At nearly 40, I no longer enjoy doing it very much and I certainly don't watch it, so I'm not exactly sure what you mean by that.  Maybe I'm misunderstanding your point.

[pigpokey]

I mean it's good for brain and body development. 

Is it possible to not be exposed to science in a literate home that places importance on the development of its children? 

A friend of mine sends her kids to a $225 per week, half-day cooking camp during the summer weeks.  I feel similarly about science club.  We have books for science and we have a kitchen and a need to eat regularly for the other.

[moominmamma]

I'd do ballet. Science can easily be done without a group and without "expert" instruction. Ballet can't. Science is an untried activity which she may or may not like -- ballet is a proven winner. Ballet is a long-term, individually-paced discipline of high standards where many lessons concerning persistence, problem-solving, practice, commitment and perfectionism can be internalized. Science isn't that kind of discipline -- not at this age and stage, anyway! 

We find science quite easy to learn at home. My kids were part of a science club for a year or so and mostly they found it fairly tedious since the pace of presentation and the depth of teaching did not match their interests and aptitudes. They enjoyed some of the hands-on stuff and some of the field trips but generally decided that they would have got much more out of doing similar stuff as a family. By contrast the most ballet-like thing they've done (aikido) had issues of skills and social mismatch from time to time, but they were able to progress at their own pace to get to the correct level, challenge themselves in a physical environment that could not be replicated at home, and benefit from the expertise of highly trained teachers and coaches.

Miranda

[Greenmama2]

ITA with Miranda although DD5 actually does both (ballet and science club). Science club for her is only once a month though and almost miniscule cost. She doesn't really learn much more than she does naturally at home but she has an absolute blast and gets her "hands on activities" cup somewhat filled with less "OMG toddler mess!" stress to me. If I had to choose I'd drop science.

[Bluegoat]

Thanks for the thoughts everyone!  The way it is set up the meeting, once a month, is at the same time as the ballet class.  The field trip is at a different time and there is no conflict.  So it would be one day a month we would miss ballet, and three when we would be there.  My daughter seems to just say she wants to do both.

I like the ballet for a lot of the reasons mentioned.  I don't worry about the weight thing - they do not encourage girls who are built differently to lose weight, and some of the instructors have bigger builds.  My sister danced at the school from pre-school until she left for university, and there is certainly some feeling in the teen years when it becomes clear that some are more talented than others, even if all are hard working, but I think that happens in most sports, I know I encountered it with riding.  They only recommend one class a week for the primary age group.  The other class time that is available is just impossible for us.

The science club really appeals because they have some really nice resources through the museum - lots of mounted specimens, and such, equipment we couldn't buy on our own, and it is also more of a social opportunity than ballet.  We'd like to try and meet a few more local kids.  The experts are, I'm told, generally pretty good - we are lucky to have five universities in town so there are lots of people willing to give their time.

I think we are going to try to do both, and if it doesn't work, we'll not do another term of ballet or drop the club.  We could also go on the field trips without the meetings.

[GoBecGo]

Why can't she do both?  Skipping one class a month when you're 6 isn't going to devastate progress surely?  And she seems keen to try science club.

IDK...i guess i think 6 is for trying stuff and leisure activities are for trying stuff and the combination here is, well, she should try stuff!  LOL.

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by Bluegoat 

My mom's suggestion was to skip ballet on the weeks there is science club.

That's probably what I'd do. It's one week a month, and presumably not a competitive team or anything like that where a firm commitment is really needed.

[leighi123]

If its a good one, I'd do science.   It seems like girls are discouraged from doing science/math stuff, so I would encourage that over dance. 

Also, you might be more likely to find a different dance class she could take instead, where science is harder to find.     

My ds LOVES his science class, but I'll put him in a dance class too at some point if it works with our schedual 

[Stephenie]

Is there another ballet studio with a class for her age that does not conflict with science club? That might be an option. Though I don't see missing once a month for a 6 year old to be that big of a deal.