Wednesday 18 January 2017

Extra-curricular activities - How helpful are they for your kids?



Introduction


Today, high schools have started taking extra-curricular activities seriously and started providing a plethora of options. Earlier, extra-curricular activities were out of the school curriculum since a major portion of the teachers and parents felt dubious about them. In reality, these activities can bring many benefits and can help in career defining goals. Your children getting involved with extra-curricular activities is a great idea, since it is a very important step to help them develop many professional skills such as, people management, risk management and group tasks. 

There are many kinds of extra-curricular activities, some of them takes place before school hours, some after school and a few others during school hours and weekends as well. Around 70% of employers believe that extra-curricular activities can make a job seeker stand out from the rest. Extra curricular activities allow participants to contribute their own skills, thinking process and opinions and it can actually help them develop skills such as leadership, team-building, communication and budget management. Many schools with international syllabus in their curriculum such as ICSE residential schools in Bangalore, have started implementing these activities recently. While benefits are many, there is a limit where you should think of drawing a line between studies and these activities. A balanced combination of both can be beneficial for students. Let’s explore the possibilities below.

Image Credit: theteachersdigest.com

The Benefits of Extracurricular Activities

A stronger mind - A participant needs a strong mental coordination, physical endurance and determination to take part in a high endurance game. In the long run, this sports will train participants to maintain patience and resilience in the most difficult situations of life.
   
Enhancement of professional skills - A classroom cannot teach professional skills always. And it’s not possible to foster skills of each and every student in a classroom. Extra-curricular activities like a debate competition or a quiz competition can help students to learn essential leadership skills and can boost their public speaking confidence. Any kind of sports have the capabilities to foster strong building and goal defining capabilities. 

Strong social engagement skills - Any kind of extra-curricular activities give enough opportunities to the students to interact and engage with each other. Students can spend their time with others of similar incidents and it can help them build strong social engagement skills. They can also meet students from different social groups with different views, and thus it helps them sharing their views over social causes. Majority of the ICSE residential schools in Bangalore allows students to interact with each other through group activities regularly.

Strong time management skills - The time management skills of a student can come down with the monotonous nature of the academics. But if a student get indulged with one or two extra-curricular activities, he is more likely to plan out dedicated time for each of the activities as it breaks the monotony. An extra-curricular activity can recharge the brain after a day of rigorous academic session. This is the reason why many of best ICSE schools in Bangalore keep sports as a mandatory session after school.
  
Exploration of career opportunities - It’s not mandatory that every student will choose careers based out on their academics. Many of them would choose interest outside of a standardized academic career. For example, music and sports. These activities let them explore their horizon of knowledge and ultimately it can help them choose preferable career options.

Demerits

While the benefits are many, you always need to consider how much is too much! Getting involved with too many activities can have negative effects, as the student may end up having academic problems or he may get confused with too many pending tasks. It’s important to talk to your children and advice them to set some limits to any of the activities they are getting involved with. Ask them to pick of their favorites and make sure they can handle them efficiently. Some kid may feel that getting involved with too many extra-curricular activities can make them prosper better, but in reality, it can hamper their improvement. Advice them to get committed to a few and keep the passion alive with them.

Conclusion 

Check with any of the best ICSE schools in Bangalore if you want your kids to get involved in extra-curricular activities. They provide plenty of options. Primarily, they provide excellent benefits for your kids to enjoy. Just make sure to share your views and put your foot down if it hampers their academic development. 


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