How to Balance Physical Activities and Academic Commitments for Kids

Introduction

Schooling years is the most prominent time for a child's development. The child goes through massive stages of development, experiences dynamic challenges, goes through learning, and participates in so many activities while making new friends. During this time, a child has to balance academics and extracurriculars. Each of these two is very significant for the holistic development of a child.

Hence, a proper balance between physical activities such as sports and academic commitments that is one’s studies, has to be maintained. A child might not be able to handle all of these obligations on their own. So, it becomes necessary for parents to intervene and help the child manage everything by giving equal attention.

How To Balance Physical Activities and Academic Commitments

To have a satisfactory school life for your child, here are some tips to ensure that your child balances their sports and academic activities perfectly.

• Have a Proper Schedule

Having a proper timetable and managing one's daily routine is extremely crucial to making sure that neither the academics nor the physical activity part suffers. The kid can already plan their short-term goals by writing them down on a piece of paper and then making a timetable keeping everything in mind. Having a clear vision in front helps a child stay focused and not get confused easily.

• Choose Activities That Matter

During schooling years, proper use of a child's time is important. Hence, parents must make sure that children only choose to spend their time doing physical activities that matter. Joining random clubs and sports activities does no good and a child may end up wasting a lot of time. Parents must assist their kids in making these necessary decisions and help the child decide what they're passionate about.

• Take the Help of Teachers

Teachers can be really good guides for kids during their schooling years. Since teachers are actively involved in not just academics, but also other extracurricular activities happening in the school, their advice might come in handy for a child. Encourage your kids to have regular conversations with their teachers to discuss academic requirements as well as how to manage sports activities.

• Set Realistic Goals

While planning things for the coming week or month ahead, a kid should try to set only practically executable goals. For example, if a unit test is coming ahead, then priority should be given to the unit test instead of spending equal hours playing and studying. Similarly, if there is no upcoming exam and an important football match is aligned, then the kid may devote some extra hours to football practice.

• Take Frequent Breaks

Managing multiple tasks at once might overwhelm a child. It is natural to feel drained during this time and the best way to tackle such a situation is by taking a sabbatical. Parents must encourage their kids to take frequent breaks from their academic and extracurricular commitments. This helps the child relax the mind for some time and also contemplate their upcoming goals and desires. Taking no breaks in between doesn't let the child reflect on things happening in their life.

• Learn To Say No

There will be times when your child will get many promising opportunities, but this will come at the cost of sacrificing something else. In this situation, you must teach your child the importance of saying no. Sometimes doing too many things at a time doesn't do any good. Parents may use the philosophy of choosing quality over quantity in their kids. This ensures the kid doesn't get confused and oversaturated by doing too many things at a time.

• Parents’ Help

Parents’ guidance and help can make so many complex tasks easier for the kid. Sometimes your kid might have too much on their plate to handle all alone. In such a situation, parents should interfere and try to provide as much support and help to the kid as possible. If there is an important exam coming up, then parents must assist their kids with their studies. For sports and other physical activities, parents must provide motivation and accompany their kids to the practice.

• Avoid Procrastination

Procrastination can be the biggest enemy for a kid who wants to manage extracurricular activities and academics together. The key to having a satisfactory school life filled with dynamic activities is to always be spontaneous and complete tasks on time. For example, if your kid has an assignment that is due in a month, they may try to do it as early as possible. This will help in reducing unnecessary burdens and also give them the extra time to do other activities.

Conclusion

Multitasking is an important skill that benefits a child not just during their schooling years, but also as an adult. Learning to balance academics and sports from an early age gives the child the confidence to work on different tasks simultaneously and ace all of them.

References

https://www.minisport.hk/blog/balance-academics-sports-commitments#:~:text=Impacts%20on%20Sports%20and%20Academic,memory%20retention%2C%20and%20cognitive%20skills.

https://apws.edu.in/blogs/how-to-balance-study-and-sports-in-school/

https://www.minisport.hk/blog/balance-academics-sports-commitments

https://digitalcommons.uncfsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1245&&context=jri&&sei-redir=1&referer=https%253A%252F%252Fwww.google.com%252Furl%253Fq%253Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fdigitalcommons.uncfsu.edu%252Fcgi%252Fviewcontent.cgi%25253Farticle%25253D1245%252526context%25253Djri%2526sa%253DU%2526sqi%253D2%2526ved%253D2ahUKEwjNqpGu5-OLAxXe1jgGHeAbLZkQFnoECDwQAQ%2526usg%253DAOvVaw2jiAB1vkTvornZ1yB6eFef#search=%22https%3A%2F%2Fdigitalcommons.uncfsu.edu%2Fcgi%2Fviewcontent.cgi%3Farticle%3D1245%26context%3Djri%22

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6378489/

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17430437.2015.1124563