We all want to help our kids reach their fullest potential, but how many times have you been asked for help with homework only to be left scratching your head?

Don’t worry; you’re not alone. Thankfully, you can help your kids when it comes to other school activities, specifically their after-school clubs.

The following are some steps you can take to be an active participant in the activities your kids enjoy and help them reach their extracurricular goals.

Play games at home

Whether your child is on the chess team, mathletes or basketball team, there’s probably some element of your child’s club of interest that you can practice with her at home.

Try scheduling some time every week on a specific day where you can work together to help her fit in some extra practice time, as well as spend some quality time together.

Let her have an area where she can work on her own One of the biggest factors for your child’s club success is helping her make the activity more accessible outside of the days her club meets.

So, to help her fit in extra practice time, let her have an area in the home for her to leave out her Legos or chess board, or keep a basketball net in the yard that she can easily go to whenever she has some spare time. Making her club materials visible is a great way to encourage and remind her to practice and improve her skills.

Add support where it’s needed

If you’re finding it tough to participate with your child’s specific interest because you’re not a chess whiz or the best athlete, simply being there to help with the other aspects of the club is a huge part of your child’s club success. After all, if there’s no club for him, he won’t have the opportunity to pursue that passion.

This support could mean hosting a quarterly fundraiser, coordinating transportation for a regional competition, or some other helpful task. Oftentimes after-school clubs are at the mercy of fundraising efforts because school budgets can’t support every club or the materials they need. Whatever it may be, there are plenty of things that go into a successful club that you can have a hand in.

Help them maintain balance

At the end of the day, your child’s club activities are for her to develop new skills, socialize with peers and learn how to set and achieve goals. However, it’s easy for clubs to take over and overwhelm your child if she’s involved in too many clubs or not interested in a particular club anymore.

Help her navigate the balance between school and extracurricular activities, and show her how to choose what she wants to try and what she wants to drop off her schedule.

Clubs should be fun, so whenever you see that your children are becoming overwhelmed or disinterested, it’s time to help them learn how to create balance in their lives by either deciding to leave the club or take a break from other activities.

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