I have a question. We are a "sheltering family". My husband, dd8, ds4 and I spend most all of our time together. We just LOVE being together as a family. We have homeschooled since the beginning and love it. THat being said, we have had to change alot of things we did outside of our home. For example, we don't spend a whole lot of time with my in laws because of the influences in their home. This is the case with alot of our family members. We also family worship. We don't segregate our children at church. Just a little background... Now, my question is do you allow your children to participate in organized sports in you area? My son is about to turn 5 and has begun tee ball. His dad and him are HUGE sports fans and my husband played baseball through college. So, naturally he wants our son to play. Right now it is just cute and fun but I know eventually he will be exposed to alot of negative influences. My husband and I have talked alot about it and he is confident that things will be fine. He plans to actually be my son's coach throughout. We actually have a competitive homeschool baseball league but not until high school. I am just worried. My daughter is in dance but she takes day classes with other homeschoolers. The friends she has made over 2 years are wonderful, encouraging, uplifting girls. Also, she is a leaer and has no problem turning away from innappropriateness. My son is definitely a follower. While I know he is young still, his coach and my husband are very impressed with his natural abililty. And his coach actually plans moving up to 5/6 year olds next spring and wants my son to move up with him. This of course, excites my husband that he may follow in his footsteps. I'm just a natural worrier. Long story but....do you allow your kids to participate in organized sports? Please share your experience.
Organized Sports?
(5 posts) (4 voices) [closed]-
Britney
MemberPosted 2 years ago # Report Post -
Britney,
We struggled with this last summer when our son was eligible to play t-ball. He had been talking and asking about playing for a year, and we just didn't want to keep him from doing something he enjoyed on account of others. We had the same concerns you have, especially as ds gets older. "Dugout talk" can be very inappropriate or even downright gross (I dated a baseball player in high school and know this firsthand, unfortunately.).
One great way you could continue to shelter your son and include him in the sports is if your husband is willing to coach or participate heavily as an adult influence on the team. My husband was not a coach, but he usually stayed at practices and helped out at the games as a first base or third base coach. Our son LOVED his first season of t-ball, and looks forward to beginning coach-pitch softball this summer.
Our dd has also been in ballet for 3 years and loves it too. I trust her teacher completely and know several of the families whose daughters are also in her class. Our town happens to offer ballet at a couple different places, and we chose where our dd would take ballet very carefully. The main ballet company in town is not only expensive, but there are lots of boys in the classes as well as homosexual male instructors. We just knew we did not want our dd in that environment. So, we put her in the classes at our local community college. Not only is it much less expensive, but there are no boys in any of the classes and there are no male instructors. I help out as much as I can, and I feel really good about our decision to allow her to continue to participate in ballet.
That's our story. We would put our family in the same sheltering category as you: don't put our kids in childrens' ministry at church, spend all our time together, etc. etc. We have had very positive experiences so far with organized sports and activities, but we do limit what each child does so as not to put a strain on family time or to elevate any one activity as being more important than our time as a family.
Hope that helps,
Lindsey
Posted 2 years ago # Report Post -
Britney
MemberI have read several replies on this forum from you and feel as though our families are very much alike so I appreciated you sharing your experience so far. My husband really wants him to try this out and hopefully with him being so involved it will go well. He wants to play basketball and football also. But luckily the church we are currently attending has both available. It's very much like Upwards but it is competitive with score keeping, etc. But baseball is something he loves. Even at 4 he knows most all the MLB team names, has a favorite player and everything. He just loves sports and so does my husband so I really hope this works out. I also know that if it becomes a problem we won't hesitate to get out of it. We'll just keep praying for God to lead. Thanks again.
Posted 2 years ago # Report Post -
Sue
MemberDOUG....would it be possible to merge this thread with the duplicate one that has the same question? My point-and-click hand needs a break!
BTW, Britney, my kids (2dd, 1ds) participate in sports at a local recreation center (it's free for city residents), and we switched to a different center about 2 miles further away (not too bad) because there is less of a "rough crowd" at the new one. At this one, the "No Sagging of Pants Allowed" sign is actually enforced, and the coaches/instructors are more focused on the kids. Needless to say, I stay and watch the practices as well as the games.
Sue
Posted 2 years ago # Report Post -
Sue, I don't have any easy way to merge threads. I'll close this one from posting and everyone can continue the conversation in the other thread. Here's the link to the other one:
http://simplycharlottemason.com/scmforum/topic/organized-sports-1
Posted 2 years ago # Report Post
Topic Closed
This topic has been closed to new replies.