Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion How much?

I totally agree with this. I believe that no education is wasted. Perhaps double-true of arts education. It gives a person an informed and empathetic perspective.

We spend a lot on extracurriculars. This is partly (largely?) because our kids have unusual needs and we are willing to tailor their free time to meet those needs. I do look at how much my child is enjoying and growing from an activity before deciding to continue for another enrollment period-- we try to keep them in things they genuinely like doing, but also things that push them to be a little ambitious about stretching to learn new things.

We can do this only because we have enough to do it; I wouldn't not fund my retirement to give the kids this much.

DeeDee

Daytripper - I am not sure how old your dd is? Someone suggested 7-8. We have been told repeatedly by multiple sources not to let anyone train our DDs voice before 18, or close to it. Choirs and group singing yes, true vocal training no. She was 5 when people started to stop talking to me and stare over her singing, she stopped singing so much for a few years and has recently started again and I am getting comments again. I am reminding myself no more than a good choir...

What's the distinction being drawn, do you know? Good choirs (major cathedral choirs here, which have produced many of our best singers and other musicians for centuries) do pretty intense vocal training, and individual singing lessons as I know them appear to do the same kinds of things, so this is confusing to me.

I'm sorry, I am as musically incompetent as its possible to get. I am guessing no attempts to expand her range? Also the sorts of choirs we were directed to seem to be more about learning the skills for group singing, timing, and just having fun etc. Also, the choirs I am aware of regularly performing in cathedrals in my city are university or other adult choirs, not 8-12yr olds...

Ah; I could easily believe the wrong kind of training could be harmful. The English choral tradition takes boys (traditionally - now girls too) from, yes, about 8 to puberty. Here's an example of the result:

(This is the choir of King's College Cambridge; the choir schools are all, I think, associated either with a cathedral or with an Oxford or Cambridge college. In some cases, being a chorister is an extracurricular, as it were, but in the best, the choristers attend schools organised around music.)
And here's one link about the history:
http://winchester-cathedral.org.uk/music-choir/our-choral-tradition/

ETA Lest there be too little connection to gifted education, let me comment that I've heard it said this is a great education for some gifted children. Not only is the musical education they get fantastic, but also, the schools have to provide a flexible and fast-paced education to fit in with the musical demands, and the hard-working ethos rubs off. The schools are fee-paying, but support for the choristers is easily available, and the experience makes them attractive to the best senior schools too. If we weren't atheists, and/or if our nearest choral option had been better, and/or if our best other option had been less good, we'd certainly have considered applying for DS. I dare say there are people with less rosy experiences than the ones I've heard about, though.

My thoughts exactly. Obviously you don't want to bankrupt your family, but IMHO these young years are fleeting for our kids and any positive, enriching experience (that they want and seek) are worth supporting. My DH is very much of the "how much money will she get back in wages" mind set, and I disagree... for me it would be about the positive experiences and learning for the child (confidence, self-esteem boosting, etc).

I was in guitar lessons from the age of 9 (and was really good at it) and also took voice lessons after high school. I've never earned a dime from my musical talent, but it's definitely enriched my sense of self.

On the other hand, if you have a "future career value" perspective, you can always look at the transferable skills, like commitment to task (practicing), presentation (performing), people skills, etc.

If you can afford it, $400 seems ok to me. I've spent that much putting my two in sports (for DS8 it was even almost like sensory integration therapy) and I've never regretted it.

LOL

Hmmm. This is interesting. I get that puberty changes the vocal instrument and renders it vulnerable to damage from abuse, but the vocal training I took was very "vocal hygiene" focused... proper warm ups were stressed, as well as using your instrument properly (i.e. lifting your palate, relaxing your tongue, dropping your jaw, relaxing your shoulders, etc etc, so that the resonance would be in your body more so than your chords). The main focus of what we were taught was to avoid injury and maintain vocal health. I can't see how this could hurt someone pre-puberty?

Maybe it depends on the type of teacher and the type of lessons. Daytripper you could ask the teacher about vocal hygiene... you know, in a subtle way: "Are there things that DD should avoid when practicing at home so she doesn't hurt her voice?" ...that sort of thing.

Well, I'll be the total outlier. My DD9 is in afterschool chorus (free) and afterschool art club (minimal fee--$50/year?). We do swimming lessons for a few weeks a year and Scouts. That's it. We have gone back and forth on music lessons a million times, but she's wary of having to practice and so am I. She has an hour or more of homework a day and the two clubs do keep her at school till after 3 two days a week. She dropped chess and science club this year.

Free time is really important to her (for reading, creative stuff, and active play). I feel a bit weird that she doesn't "do" more, but we also don't have much to spend on this. I would like her to find one sport and one activity she really likes, but she is not at all sporty and her talents/ interests are art (not much available) and drama (time commitment is extraordinarily high).

Extracurriculars are really essential for keeping our 2E DD's anxiety in check so we are very generous with them. Her school day focuses so much on her difficulties we consider it really important to give her the opportunity to participate in activities that she truly enjoys and that support her strengths. Things like swim lessons and horseback riding took the place of physical therapy. Dance classes, acting classes and the local musical theater group allow her to tap her creativity. Nature and marine biology programs allow her to engage in experiential learning. All of them feed her need for a lot of social activity. We obviously don't do all at the same time but she rotates through them during the course of a year.

Besides classes and lessons we also take her to A LOT of performances and every type of museum imaginable. Yesterday she went to a performance of Hamlet, last week it was a high school production of "You're a Good Man Charlie Brown." A few weeks ago it was an opera of Romeo and Juliet. I haven't added up how much we spend each month (and frankly I don't want to) but for us it's worth whatever it is costing. Weekends, vacations and extracurriculars give her the strength she needs to navigate the school week. If we didn't have the 2E scenario? Who knows...