The Smart Mamas' Guide to After-School Activities

Book excerpt: You want the best for your kids, but resources are limited and you’re overloaded with information. From the moment your kids are born, the kiddie-perfecting complex is pushing you to buy-buy-buy. And playtime is no different. You feel pressured to sign the kids up for an ever-escalating array of classes and clinics, send them to the right sleep-away or math enrichment camp, soccer clinic, ballet, art, and music classes—or else they’re doomed to fail. Right? Not so fast. Lifestyle guru Rosalyn Hoffman knows that kids need balance: time to be bored and find their own inner resources, time to ride their bikes and shoot hoops, time to experience the joy of free play. And when it’s time to sign them up for organized activities, Hoffman offers sane guidance for navigating the world of lessons and programs, explaining how to get them in everything from art classes to music lessons to sports to camp—without breaking the bank.