Popper Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 My kids aged 6 and 9 see their school friends outside of school constantly (2-3 times a week).We socialise with their friend's families (holidays, coffee, lunches, dinners out, etc).We go to the park a couple of times a week which is a constant catch up location for kids and parents alike.Our extra curricula activities also include their friends from school.It probably helps that DH and myself very much enjoy socialising and entertaining. I make an effort to invite any kids/parents over that my kids identify as new friends which means our circle is constantly expanding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aughra Posted May 6, 2021 Share Posted May 6, 2021 DS8 sees friends at after school care and Scouts and has the occasional play date or birthday party. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sincerely Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 DS8 sees friends at after school care and Scouts and has the occasional play date or birthday party. After school activities mutually attended by friends are great at combining social aspects with skill development. My kids used to attend a martial arts dojo three times a week and a lot of the other kids were from their school, including some who were friends. Now my youngest does dancing at the same studio as a couple of friends. Her best friends don’t dance, so separate social catch ups are organised with them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zogee Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 My oldest (yr7) sees her friends on the weekend every few weeks. My son (yr4) doesn’t socialise much outside of school. Having his friends over at our place is often a lot of work /disruption (think loud video gaming with commentary rotating through the 2 tv areas in the house) so I don’t go out of my way to encourage it! He gets invited to some parties but not heaps. He’s quite happy just chilling out at home mostly. He also has just started basketball so there’s training and games for that. He doesn’t know the kids on the team well yet. OP I wouldn’t worry about your son based on what you’ve said they also may be keeping on touch online and that’s enough to feel ‘social’ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaitForMe Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 Rarely, and like you OP I do wonder what it means and if I should be concerned.But when I think back to my own childhood, outside of school hours I mostly played with the kids on my street of which there were many and they all went to other schools. We'd just play on the street and then move from backyard to backyard. That just doesn't really happen any more or at least not where we live. We've tried actively encouraging it with one nearby house but its always us knocking on their door and asking them over they never initiate it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley225 Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 But when I think back to my own childhood, outside of school hours I mostly played with the kids on my street of which there were many and they all went to other schools. We'd just play on the street and then move from backyard to backyard. That's what my childhood was although most DID go to the same school. But we'd also play with their siblings so there was a wide age range.Does it make a difference now neighbours don't all go to the same schools?And i did very few outside things back then so you didn't get the social aspect out of school so was home by 3.30 in primary so more time to play and more need. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WaitForMe Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 But when I think back to my own childhood, outside of school hours I mostly played with the kids on my street of which there were many and they all went to other schools. We'd just play on the street and then move from backyard to backyard. That's what my childhood was although most DID go to the same school. But we'd also play with their siblings so there was a wide age range.Does it make a difference now neighbours don't all go to the same schools?And i did very few outside things back then so you didn't get the social aspect out of school so was home by 3.30 in primary so more time to play and more need. Most of the kids on my street go to our school which doesn't seem to make a difference.Thats a good point about the time, my kids are in OOSHC... and maybe because of that it doesn't matter? They get a solid 2 hours playing after school. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spidey_Senses Posted May 8, 2021 Share Posted May 8, 2021 We dont have many playdates during term time because we are very busy (I strongly reject the word overscheduled for our situation).The older kids ( 10 and 8 ) each do 2 sports as well as music through school. Part of the reason I encourage those things is because I very strongly believe in making friends outside of school as well as within school). Obviously they see school friends in music but it widens their circles. They also go to osch mornings only. They do have playdates during school holidays but we also go away a lot as a family (camping / fishing / 4wd group). Its actually something I wondered about recently. -- The family time we have together on our camping trips is awesome but I wonder whether its cutting into their friendship time and whether it would be better for them to go away less as a family. But then we sometimes go with friends who have kids so theres still social opportunities for them that way or they make friends at the campsite, as kids tend to do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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