Mission: Help your child develop socially during their rec season.
Your child wants to play in the local sports league. The time to start approaches. It helps to involve your child in local organizations to build social skills. As a homeschool family, you understand this idea. I believe local sport leagues are one of the best extracurricular activities for a homeschooling family because they can help develop kids in three of our Nxt Era pillars of homeschooling success:
- Health: Sports help build a healthier individual and develop coordination, athletic ability, and confidence.
- Socially: Sports build team communication skills, teach kids to handle criticism, and help them meet local families.
- Academically: Sports can foster learning and develop new brain connections.
While sports touch on three of our four pillars, this resource prepares your family to capitalize on the Communication Pillar.
Before getting into social tips, decide on your “Big Goal in the Communication Pillar.”
- What areas can your child improve in building and maintaining relationships?
- How can this season strengthen that area?
- If they’ve played before, can they take a leadership role?
- How passionate is your child about this sport?
Day One Mission: Introduce yourself to each coach. Ask each teammate for their name and tell them yours.
- Practice communication beforehand.
- What’s your name?
- What grade are you in?
- Have you played _____ yet?
- Comment positively on clothes or environment.
- Greet The Coaches First. Look them in the eye and introduce yourself confidently.
- Greet Teammates Secondly. Be friendly, respectful, and learn every teammate’s name.
During this time, your child should actively build relationships. Encourage them to:
- Greet coaches and teammates upon arrival.
- Say goodbye and thank others when leaving.
- Offer to help carry gear or assist teammates.
- Practice together outside of team time.
- Build common goals with others.
- Maintain a positive attitude even when not liking everyone.
Notes: Implement your success plan on the Big Goal. Encourage them to always give more than asked.
As a former homeschooler, I developed many friends through teams. Parents should identify who their child wishes to continue seeing and encourage healthy friendships beyond the season.
Whether your child has many or few friends, the key is learning to build and maintain relationships. As a homeschooling parent, you hold the responsibility to teach this skill through repetition and practice. These habits will serve them throughout life.
