Of my three kids, my daughter Catie is the one with potential for over-scheduling.
It’s not us pushing her to try new things or fill her plate; it’s that she never met an activity she didn’t like. Languages, choir, soccer, guitar, swimming, acting — she does them all.
Recently the enrichment committee at our kids’ school (does your child’s school have one?) sent out a survey, asking about interest in prospective new programs. It listed rock climbing, creative writing, knitting, public speaking and many more. Catie urged us to give a “5” (“very interested”) to all of them.
I asked her over the weekend what she thinks she’ll be taking on this fall. The first two she listed were French and Spanish.
Mission accomplished.
Catie understands that taking a language is just part of her experience growing up, every bit as much as math or reading — or recess, for that matter. She’s not going to dabble in it, and then try something else; she’s going to continue learning, and thus will get much more out of it than if she were to try it for awhile and then move on.
Even as other activities fade from interest, I’m confident she’ll continue learning new languages.
As a parent and someone running a business offering a children’s activity, I find myself sometimes concerned that we’re contributing to the “overscheduled kids” phenomenon. But when I think about the myriad benefits of language-learning, which extend far beyond simply learning to communicate, and about the fact that other cultures have managed to inject languages as a core element of their children’s academic and social experience, I realize that languages can fall outside the realm of the many activities that can capture their time.
I hope you’re fortunate enough to have a child for whom language learning is a fundamental element of growing up. Of course, I’m still working to make sure that my other two kids appropriate this same attitude!
Lango Lingo 