<p>I'm just entering the world of fifth grade with my child and am hoping to get him plugged into a club or two that has the potential for national recognition. My dilemma is neither he nor I know where his true interests lie, so helping him to select an extracurricular club is challenging. At this point, I think it wise to select clubs that are nationally recognized and provide avenues for competing to excel at something.</p>
<p>Any suggestions on which clubs to look at that come with a reputation of excellence?</p>
<p>Why don’t you start with some of the clubs available to you at his school? Fifth grade is the time to explore lots of different ideas. Don’t worry about national recognition until he finds at least a category of club that he likes. Relax and enjoy your time with your fifth grader instead of reading college forums. </p>
<p>I got some very good advice when my D was in 5th grade. She was an avid swimmer - going to several practices a week - even sometimes several in a day. Her coach said that kids like her often were burned out by the time they got to high school - much less college. Sure enough that was D. She didn’t even swim one day in high school. Focused on debate instead. </p>
<p>I know lots of over zealous kids like my D and by the time high school came around no one cared what they did in grade school and it certainly didn’t mean much for college. And all are in great colleges for them.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. My apologies-I left out the information that we are homeschoolers, so I am not able to rely on a school to provide extracurricular activities.
Also, of note, I am not a mother to pressure my child into anything. However, I am a firm believer in being prepared, and I don’t want to wake up, let’s say 5 years from now, and realize I missed an opportunity for him because I didn’t stay abreast about what’s going on in the educational world. Regards…</p>
<p>With all due respect, if you are not “a mother to pressure (her) child into anything,” why do you care about a club that might have some kind of “national recognition”? Why is it not enough to simply expose your child to various activities–music, sports, scouting or other service organizations–and see what makes his eyes light up?</p>
<p>Step 1: Let HIM find something he loves.
Step 2: Support him.
Step 3: Recognition</p>
<p>If you force him into some sure-fire path to success right now, I guarantee you that he will not end up nationally recognized. To excel in something, you have to love it. Most well-decorated people I know don’t care about their awards, they just can’t imagine NOT participating in ____.</p>
<p>Are you looking for a club where individuals can achieve national recognition (e.g. a chess club that will train kids to compete at high levels?) or a club that people will see on an application and say “Oh, I’ve heard of that?” If it’s the former, I think that goal’s inappropriate, kids at this age should be exploring things with the goal of figuring out what they love, not impressing others. </p>
<p>If it’s the latter, I guess I can see a benefit for a homeschool kid who wants to show that they have some mainstream experiences. What about 4H or campfire? Both of these have national name recognition, and will provide your child with a variety of experiences so he can figure out his own interests.</p>
<p>awca1234: It is possible to be nationally recognized in every imaginable endeavor. However, the chance of that happening for any individual student is so remote, it really shouldn’t even be on your radar at this point. And, it definitely should not be a goal unless and until you have some indication from your child that he is interested in acheiving that level of recognition. </p>
<p>I live in a very small town–a long way from a big city. There are no private schools here and the public schools are slightly above average. I don’t know that I’ve ever heard of a student in our district acheiving national recognition in anything–aside from National Merit Scholar finalist or semi-finalist. But, plenty of students here head off to HYPMS (or whatever it is) and top 20 LACs. </p>
<p>Try a lot of different activities to she what your kiddo is interested in. If you want to try to use the activity to get into college, then try less mainstream activities. For sports, consider fencing, crew, la crosse, rock climbing. For music, try bassoon. For computers, try making films or video game design classes. For art, try sculpture, animation. Don’t worry about national recognition. Try things for fun and develop increasing passion and depth of knowledge.</p>
<p>Thank you for your responses. I was simply looking for recommendations on quality clubs from parents who have gone before me. A homeschooler has to be creative.</p>
<p>As to responses on what decisions I’m making for my child (ren), well…Let’s just say I left the practice of medicine to raise and educate my family. Helping them is my motive, nothing more. I think the conversation has gotten skewed.
All the best.</p>
<p>“At this point, I think it wise to select clubs that are nationally recognized and provide avenues for competing to excel at something.”</p>
<p>It’s odd to me that a homeschoolers would be concerned with competition. Isn’t one of the beauties of hs just being able to follow one’s interests? </p>
<p>Anyway, not all interests lend themselves to competition. Playing an instrument might – stagecraft less so. Math or science club might – learning about the Civil War doesn’t. Take off the competition factor. Fwiw, I have 2 kids in top schools and neither won any kind of major award or recognition in their interest areas.</p>
<p>Actually that is not what you asked. You asked specifically for clubs that would lead to national recognition, presumably by college admissions people. (That IS who you are talking about, right? Otherwise, why post on a college-oriented website regarding a fifth grader?) “Quality” organizations exist in many places. Without knowing what’s available in your community, it’s hard to say more. </p>
<p>Also, I don’t agree that the conversation has gotten “skewed”–you set out to find something your child might “compete in” at a national level, not find something he loves doing. Not surprisingly, almost everyone who has posted has had the same response.</p>
<p>National recognition for a fifth grader is a pretty silly idea. That said, two organizations that my older son enjoyed at that age were MathCounts and Science Olympiad. Actually his school didn’t have Science Olympiad for middle schoolers, he did it in high school, but I know it exists. (This is assuming you have a kid who likes competition.)</p>
<p>I apologize that so many responders have jumped on you instead of answering your question. I am a parent of two students who have gone to boarding school (high school) and fifth grade is none too early to be thinking of extracurricular activities that might enhance admission to prep school. Probably too early for college and kids are likely to develop different interests as they mature.</p>
<p>I felt your initial query was fine. Your child does not have any obvious leanings and as long as you have to dredge something up, you’d like it to fall within certain parameters. I had to slightly strong-arm my kids to pick up activities that could be put on their prep school applications. Debate for one, tennis and yearbook for the other. They ended up enjoying those ECs. If they had wanted to choose something else that would have been OK but left to their own devices they might have chosen nothing and not been admitted to prep school which they would both say is the most wonderful thing that ever happened to them.</p>
<p>LOTS of people gently pressure (or strongly in some cases) their children to take up a musical instrument at a young age. How is that so different from what awca1234 is asking?</p>
<p>awca1234, I am sorry I don’t have many specifics to offer you. A suggestion would be that if your child is gifted, find the regional organization for gifted and talented children, and they will have listings of summer programs to explore. It might be a way to find where your child’s passion and ability lie. I live in a pretty rural area but even so, we have a small art museum and they have art classes specifically for home-schooled kids. Our local community college has College for Kids classes in the summer. I have home-schooled my kids at certain times and one time the local school allowed my daughter to be in band even while she was home schooled.</p>
<p>Regarding my interest in finding a nationally recognized club…homeschoolers are seen as a completely different animal by admissions boards. While the number of homeschoolers is growing, we are still in the minority of college applicants. I’ve read that to show you are as “qualified” as the next, you should participate in the same clubs or activities as those students from a public or private school. </p>
<p>Regarding why post for a fifth grader specifically…I’ve read about missing a window of opportunity for your child so that is part of my reasoning for researching various clubs out there. I’d like to educate myself on what exists so that if HE shows an interest in something, I can direct to him to a particular avenue. If I don’t know it exists, then I can’t help him. I will admittedly tell you that I feel pressure regarding his education, even at his early age. I do not believe I put this pressure on him. I expect him to try his best in his studies and be responsible at home. The pressure that exists is directed towards me and it is self-induced. That being said, I love homeschooling, teaching them, and learning with them.</p>
<p>Maybe I’m reading different articles out there that what you’re reading because the articles I’ve seen say start early and provide them plenty of opportunities to explore. When I wrote the initial post, that was where I was coming from. </p>
<p>Thank you for the clubs mentioned above. I’ve heard of them and will investigate further.
Regards…</p>
<p>D at that age was involved in children’s theater and writing and illustrating a book. Read “How to be a high school superstar” by Cal Newport. It tells how to find passions and learn to pursue them. How can you find out what you are interested in if you have never done it? The answer is in the book.</p>
<p>Oh, that’s great on the book recommendation. Thank you.
I was just on my local library’s site searching for books that might help me decipher/determine my child’s interests. I would think that information would be helpful at most any age.</p>