FREE Extracurricular Activities for your children (or for a nominal fee)!

I want my children to develop a myriad of talents.  However, I do NOT have the resources for them to be in sports, clubs, and many other extracurricular activities.  I have NOT let this financial setback be a stumbling block.  There are many other ways to approach giving your children extracurricular activities without breaking the bank.

My suggestions:

• Check with your local 4-H clubs to see what they offer.  You might be pleasantly surprised what your children can join for little to NO cost to you!!
• Our local 4-H club offers a FREE archery club (providing equipment during practice) and a sewing club for a nominal fee of $25 for 8 weeks.

• Check your local golf clubs.  Many offer classes for kids.  One of our local golf clubs has a financial aid/hardship application.  Two summers ago my children have had one month of golf lessons for free.  (This is something they would never have done on our budget.)
• Check your local archery clubs in town. They may have a FREE shoot for kids.  We have a couple different archery groups in our hometown.  One offers a FREE shoot during the summer for children, ($5 for adults).  During the winter months, they offer a 1-2 times a week shoot for everyone for a nominal fee (Kids $1, Adults $1).  The gear is all provided!
  

• Check with your local swim team.  When I was young, my mother traded her time, (being the club’s treasurer), in exchange for me and my sister’s membership on the private swim team.  I wanted the same swim experience for my children.  I went to our local swim team to ask if I could exchange my time for a discount.  It turns out the team has a “scholarship program” for lower income families.  I filled out the application and volunteer a certain number of hours per child during the year.  Now my 2 children who can swim across the pool get a significant discount.  It has helped out tremendously because if it weren’t for this discount, they would not have the opportunity to swim like they currently do.  (I have also loved that the team has let my children volunteer as well.  They are invested in swimming and find a sense of accomplishment in helping to “pay” for their lessons.)

• Keep your eyes peeled for those flyers!  Whether they come home with your kids from school or at local community centers such as libraries and pools, many times there are “one time FREE events” (or for a nominal fee) to expose kids/families to different kinds of sports or cultural events.  I happen to know of an event this weekend, where I live, that for $2 teens can learn different dances from a traveling group coming through town.  Next month there is another event for kids’ ages12-18 to learn all about aviation for FREE, including the kids participate in a simulated flight where THEY are the pilots!
• Our local library has events all the time that provide learning new skills for children, teens, and adults!  For the younger children, our library has a Lego Club, and a Craft Club….others are for the older teens such as book club, gaming, card games, and computer education.  For adults, there are lectures, computer education/help, and monthly classes—all for FREE!

Being on a strict budget does not need to limit your children’s (or your) opportunities!!  You just need to be a little more aware and diligent in seeking for and taking advantage of the things happening in your community!!

Happy Pinching Pennies!

Preschool for FREE...OR on a budget

Preschool can be expensive.  A friend of mine went “hunting” for a preschool for her son for this next school year.  I was amazed at the monthly rates she encountered.  They ranged from $145-$250. WOW!!

 There are other options. 

1.       Check to see if you are zoned for an Even Start Preschool OR Early Childhood Development Preschool.  They are typically free.  (We have 2 of these in our town.)  My 2 older children attended these programs and I was really impressed with what they did. 

2.       If your district doesn’t have a free Early Childhood Development program in your neighborhood, consider checking out an “Early childhood Development Center” for your entire city.  There are 2 ways to get into this type of program.  Most of their students are where the kids are behind their peers in 2 areas such as emotional, physical or speech.  They are required to have a peer model for every so many students.  A “peer model” is a child who is above average for their peer group, particularly in speech.  Before they will accept a peer model, they will TEST your child to see if they are an eligible candidate.  In our town, the program is superb and those spots are quickly filled.  A friend of mine, whose child is in the program, is a big fan.  They even have picked up her children on the preschool school bus to bring them to preschool.

3.       If these first 2 options do not fit your needs, or interests…consider starting a “Fun School” with your friends.

My 3^rd child is my only child at home now and I felt strongly that he needed MORE academic and social interaction.  I had been working on things with him individually, but I really felt like he needed to have a classroom-like setting to learn with his peers.  Last summer, I started inquiring which of my friends were interested in creating a “Fun School”.  I wanted to have stability or routines in my own life….so I was looking for people who were OK with an “assigned day”.  I feel lucky that I had 2 friends who were totally on board with the weekly assigned day for preschool at their house—with the mother being the teacher for that day.  I truly have enjoyed teaching the boys their alphabet (and sounds of the letters), #’s, colors, and basic science principals.

 I’ll be honest and say that I attempted doing a “Fun School” with my daughter 5 years ago for the year before she started the Early Development Preschool.  It was intimidating and I felt inadequate.  I didn’t have the resources and I had SO much going on in my personal life that researching for a weekly lesson was too much for me.  (My husband was in graduate school, while working full time and my newborn son had some MAJOR medical issues at the time.)  I ended up quitting the “Fun School” half way through the year, feeling terrible for backing out on my friends—even if it was the best situation for me.

Hindsight is always 20/20 and I wish I had had the resources I have now…back then.  Thus, this is the background for this post about these great resources that I use to put together my weekly preschool lesson.  It has made planning fun…and easy.

Here are my favorite PRESCHOOL websites:

www.everythingpreschool.com

www.preschoolpalace.org

www.coloringcastle.com

www.learningplanet.com

www.preschoolexpress.com

www.first-school.ws

www.schoolsparks.com

www.handwritingworksheets.com

www.kidslearningstation.com

Happy Stretching Pennies...AND educating your cute preschoolers!