Wow, that was lovely. And it gave me an avenue I hadn't considered before. Many thanks-

Well rounded to me doesn't necessarily mean traditional organized children's activities. How about: learn to maintain a car from books or a few lessons from a local mechanic, and then maintain your own car together. Learn a language with a parent with the goal of a family trip to some neat place (if you are in the US and don't want to go far, a native American language might be interesting) -- take a class if you can but otherwise do internet/CDs etc. Learn to make a website so that the you and he can start a small business for real (selling something not necessarily designed to make a lot of money, just for the cool-ness of being an internet CEO, twigs by the ounce, or "video game tips by email" for example). DS keeps proceeds. Build a bookshelf (for his books) from a book or with the assistance of a local carpenter for the hard parts. Still a kid so maybe interest wanes, but done in a organized way the way any "official" activity would be it gets to be a routine and a lot can be accomplished, ie Tuesdays for an hour is X. Time consuming for the parent but if one can swing it, rewarding for the kid to be included in a "adult" thing.

Polly

That is a very wonderful idea. My DS has wanted to make little businesses before. He wanted to sell braceletts, pretty beads on toothe picks and some other ideas but I never figured out how to help him do this. I always feel like I need a few ideas ready to be there to suggest. Right now he is on another path - learning programming.

We have the same difficulty with ds6 (not the reading part!). What I've found is that he loses interest so quickly in most activities, it's hard to keep up. I can't figure out if he gives up because it becomes a challenge (he complains of things that are too easy but is a classic case of a child who hasn't had to learn to work at anything yet), or if he's just quickly habituating to the activity. Maybe sports are just not his thing. For my ds, sports that allow constant activity work best for him. T-ball was torture after about the first two weeks. He usually was digging in the dirt. Gymnastics: it was fun until a "big boy" picked on him and he had to wait too long for his turn. He loved soccer the first time around, so we're going to try that again in the spring. Ds just started mixed martial arts, and LOVES it. They keep them moving almost the entire time, plus they get to kick, punch, wrestle, and run relay races. They do a good job of making it fun, and it's something new he feels like he can do well. This is key for us, as we're dealing with a major case of perfectionism. He gives up quickly.

I've heard quite a few people mention tennis. My ds6 really wants to take hip-hop dancing classes! He LOVES "So You Think You Can Dance," and he's always dancing around the house. He's quite serious about this, so I'm looking into it! I agree that an instrument is a good idea, but it seems like for us everything is a shot in the dark. Some local zoos have programs where kids can go and learn about the animals. They get to feed them and do minor care-taking. We like kayaking and canoeing as a family. Hiking is great because it's not a structured, repetitive activity. I love the idea of rock climbing and repelling, but we're in FL, and it's totally flat! We really like being outside when possible and are not as inclined to do the indoor rock walls. Do you live near water? We like to go water-skiing when possible. Ds is also learning to surf. Oh, and one of ds's friends is taking lacrosse.

Good thread; I'm curious what to do about my ds getting tired of activities really quickly and wanting to move on to something else. Like you, I feel the pressure to keep him stimulated and challenged, but there's only so much you can do. I do think we get a little caught up in the pressure to be involved in EVERYTHING we can. Being well-rounded involves home-life and independent play just as much as enjoying and learning some extracturricular activity. That said, physical activity is important enough to continue to try to find an outlet to stay healthy and active.

Very random, but hopefully a little helpful.

I gave you the wrong impression. My DS can stick with stuff for hours. He is a project Kid. He also keeps building on ideas since K like making paper airplanes and legos. Activities just keep getting more involved.

Along the way I keep offering variety so he learns to try need things. This summer we took a on day fly fishing class just to try it. I had no intentions of getting into Free fly fishing. It was a day we had some great one on one time, which gets hard to come by sometimes.

I think my showing interest and actively participating helps. He can do all his homework by himself, but wants me there just to have time with me.

Don't get me wrong. I not saying you are not participating enough. Lots of kids don't have long attention spands like my DS but they have other qualities. I hope this helps in some way. I'm not sure of what else to suggest other than working on perfectionism. Maturity will probally help as he gets older. It sounds like you do lots of wonderful activites.

Best of Luck.

You have a town that does Ninjitsu? Wow. I found my books on it the other day, in the bottom of a large box of books. I didn't know there was anywhere that it had caught on that big.

My DD5 does Art, Tennis, Piano and Chess. It is all driven by her...