Henry just turned five, and up until this point, he hasn’t really been enrolled in any extracurricular activities (aside from a safety swimming class when he was a toddler). I definitely subscribe to the ideas explained within Simplicity Parenting around giving children wide-open time to play outside, create, explore, get bored, and decompress. I haven’t felt like the benefits of extracurricular activities outweigh the drawbacks at this point. We are already a stressed out family with two full-time jobs and full-time school for the boys. 

However, at our recent conference with Henry’s teacher, she mentioned that she thinks he would benefit from a formalized activity that helps him channel his