My son, Jay, came home from school on Friday a little disappointed. “I got basketball” he told me, with a hint of sadness in his eyes. It wasn’t what he was hoping for, but after a bit of a chat, he decided it was, not just okay, but a potentially good thing.
You see, here in Singapore, primary 3 students (that’s elementary grade 3 for the North Americans) get to choose a CCA (Co-Curricular Activity). The choices include things like science, music, dance, martial arts, scouts, red cross, a few different sports, and some others I can’t remember at the moment. I think there were about 16 choices in all, and the students get to list the 3 they are most interested in.
In their first 2 years they do get a chance to do other CCAs, like Rollerblading that Jay did, but they don’t continue these. They’re only short term courses where they learn a skill to continue with outside of school.
For Jay, his first choice was the robotics club, where he would’ve learnt how to make robots and control them, as well as learn other skills like programming and photography. His second choice was science, where he has a major interest, and would’ve allowed to learn more about a subject that he has a passion for. I’ve written about his interest in science here. To decide who got into what CCA, the school put all the names who were interested in each CCA into the old electronic hat and randomly chose who would join each club. Unfortunately, he didn’t get either of his first two choices.
His third choice was, if you haven’t guessed already, Basketball. It is something he’s interested in, but he was hoping to get one of the other two. This did disappoint him, but after talking a bit he’s getting more excited about doing a sport. He is, after all, quite tall for his age (he towers over most of his peers), but we’ll have to wait to see if he has the skill the support the physical advantage.
The other good thing, which Jay brought up himself, is that it will help with his physical fitness and weight. If you haven’t read about Jay’s weight issue, you can read about it here. This is a big positive, but my main concern is that he enjoys himself. He’s only eight and I believe that at his age he should be learning and playing sports for enjoyment. That doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be competitive, and I’m proud to say Jay mocks other people who are proud about getting a participation award, but I do want him to focus on the fun and not worry as much about the competition or how it’s helping him to lose weight.