A little of this and a little of that, or first things first.

I have noticed that in my family and in the families of homeschooling friends, that sometimes these kids put too much on their plate.

They do Youth Group activities and take on church responsibilities.
They may have jobs.
They need to do household chores.
They have their academic studies
They have their arts (visual and performance art)activities and classes
They do sports. 
They may have scouts or other social group outlets

...and in the end, they drop the ball somewhere, or in a lot of places.

I don't know about your kids, but I know that my kids cannot balance all of the above and do any area any justice.  While it is good to expose them to all of these areas so they can find their niche, at some point, they are going to have to choose which activities they are most passionate about and limit the other activities.

In my house Academics and Arts are equally a first priority.  Next comes chores and church activities. This goes on the schedule first and all other things must fit around this schedule.  I realize it sounds limiting and maybe even unbiblical to some, but time and trial and error have taught me that there are always chores to be done and there are always church activities and opportunities to participate in, so if we put those things first, then academics and arts would never happen.  As for sports, scouts, and the like, these are not my kids' passions.  Education is a first priority in my home, and both kids have a passion is some aspect of the arts.

If we tried to create a more balanced schedule and worried about making sure the kids had a little of this and a little of that, then that is all they would get... a little.  I would much rather put first things first, and let the other things fall into line.



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