<p>Leonid Bernstein told his students not to practice too much every day, that 3 hours should be enough. My comment was along those lines. Assuming 8 hours of school, 1 hour of commute, 8 hours of sleep, 2 hours of downtime, 2 hours for misc., there is 3 hours left in the day for everything else. Can multiple musical instruments and academics all be fitted into that? Perhaps. Perhaps not. Also, what about some sports?</p>
<p>wake: 7:45am
school starts: 8:00
School out: 3:00
sport practice starts (after 1 hour commute): 4:00
practice over: 7:00
Home: 8:00
Dinner, maybe, over at 9:00
texting, fb, phone, music over at 11:00pm
homework: 11:00 to 1am-ish (asleep with lights and music on and books open)
get up and do it again.</p>
<p>Weekends start at 5am, practice at 6am</p>
<p>times 4 years.</p>
<p>stats: 2300, 3.9, 8 AP’s, state champion academic club leader (practice fit in between dinner and sleep) and national champion athlete, number one recruit in the country, recruited and accepted everywhere, HYS, etc, etc.</p>
<p>what’s the big deal? oh and for arts, guest starring roles in major TV sitcom. As well as major city theater with sold out crowds, try juggling that schedule!</p>
<p>IP: there are kids who do this and “they” do it, the parents just hang on for the ride.</p>
<p>Where’s breakfast if you wake up at 7:45 and are out the door by 8? And sorry, an EC that required the kid always having dinner solo at 9 pm, after the rest of the family, would be unacceptable on a regular basis in our family.</p>
<p>breakfast: coffee and a cigarette:) almost that bad:) </p>
<p>dinner was often at restaurants between practice and home and at home dinners were often short or dinner in bed with books spread everywhere, music blasting, fbooking and texting…she said it helped her focus on her school work, I kid you not.</p>
<p>dinners were never alone, usually grabbed dinner with team or cast when acting</p>
<p>and those dinners in bed almost always included a teammate, our biggest challenge was having family only time.</p>
<p>i would argue EC’s are more important than school. for some kids EC’s are where they really learn and live. school is just a required distraction from the EC(s).</p>
<p>Congratulations pacheight. Now, do you think adding another sport would have been feasible? Remember, the discussion was having multiple music ECs.</p>
<p>BTW, smoking while in school?</p>
<p>IP: national champion athlete EC, entertaining 6 million people on TV EC, and leading and winning state (CA) one of the most competitive academic teams in the country EC not enough for you?? she does speak three languages fluently does that count as a fourth EC in your book?</p>
<p>maybe your child is just a slacker? there are a lot of talented hardworking kids, a lot! And you’ll find them in college at places like HYPS. and many of these kids are the driving force behind their accomplishments and exceptional talents, not from their parents pushing them.</p>
<p>if a kid has a passion for 1 or more EC’s, that’s more important than classwork.</p>
<p>“smoking”</p>
<p>you actually didn’t catch that as a joke???</p>
<p>There is a big difference between practicing "no more "than 3 hrs/day (ascribed to Leonard Bernstein) and practicing “at least” 3hrs/day (IP)</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Actually IP…that was YOUR discussion. The original topic related to ECs for the rest of your life, not MULTIPLE music ECs. </p>
<p>IP…most of your response posts are just other questions. I have to wonder what you really want to know here.</p>
<p>How old are your own kids, IP…and what are their ECs? It sounds like you are fishing for information here without actually ASKING the question you really want to ask. Do you want to know how many and which ECs kids should pursue for college admissions or happiness in life? What DO you want to know.</p>
<p>^^^
I think IP was pretty clear about his intentions in post#1
</p>
<p>Mission halfway accomplished!</p>
<p>Does anybody other than me wonder if posters like IP and others are “plants” to increase the count and ad revenue? Paid plants?</p>
<p>Could anything else account for the endless, inane threads?</p>
<p>I don’t think there’s anything less than legitimate about the original topic of this thread – although the discussion has since veered in several directions.</p>
<p>I think someone who has recently been pounding several connected threads with questions and provocative comments despite many, many attempts by many people to sincerely address the issues is possibly:</p>
<ol>
<li><p>A smart, bored, unemployed teen who is fascinated with the “Socratic Method” and how far he can push it.</p></li>
<li><p>A smart PhD or Masters candidate whose thesis is related to the psychology of hijacked discussions.</p></li>
<li><p>A smart creative writer researching a potential novel.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>
</p>
<p>May be. </p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Young. Very Asian-like.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I wonder why people are so upset with me.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>I did see an ad about working from home making $2000/week …</p>
<p>
</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Or, 4. Just another Indian Parent.</p>
<p>Young, as in what grade??? (What grade will they be in this upcoming academic year?)</p>
<p>At times folks do inquire on this college forum regarding ECs for kiddos…as young as elementary school. Usually this is in the context of how to “package” their child for admissions to very competitive colleges. </p>
<p>Free advice IP…if your kids are younger than 14, they should be allowed to explore ECs that are of interest to them and that they want to pursue. Hopefully in that mix will be something that they will cultivate a REAL interest in…and will pursue for years.</p>
<p>BUT for young kids…there is often a lot of trial and error. For example…some parents really think their kids will be competition winners on instruments if the kids start playing early enough. The reality is that it’s not the LENGTH of time of the study but rather the commitment to do well. One of the best pianists I know didn’t start taking lessons at all until she was in middle school…but she really did well because she had the drive to do so…and it had NOTHING to do with her parents…it was her own initiative.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Somewhere in K-12.</p>
<p>You still wondering why posters are annoyed with you? See post # 231</p>