Our under-achieving DD9 LOVES her extra-curricular science club for girls. It is run by student mentors at my alma mater and is, hands down, the coolest program I have ever seen for young kids. DD glows when I pick her up. I could write paragraphs about the fun things she does and learns (one day they met with scientists and learned all about their research... DD's favourite was the 45 minute presentation on diarrhea!).
I am all for extra-curricular if it is something that lights the spark that is missing at school. If it was something she struggled in, like math, she would shut down completely... just like she does at school. All of her activities this year are aimed at boosting her self-esteem and making her happy in the hours outside of school. It doesn't begin to make up for the not-so-great fit that school is for her, but I want to preserve that slowing dying spark at all costs.
