I love being a Batang ’90s, but I’m also quite envious of all the opportunities for kids readily available. I don’t know if it’s just us – being poor and living in a remote area in Nueva Ecija – but we didn’t grow up with opportunities to find our passion and develop our skills. Now, there’s so much children can do and take part in that, seriously, they have no reasons to grow up not knowing anything!

Here are some of the best extra-curricular activities parents can enroll their kids here in San Jose City:

Ballet Classes

Among the options we presented to her, Sprout is most interested in ballet at this point in her life. A former student from my first school who has a daughter who dances recommended Zachary Dance Tutorial. So far, Sprout has only had three sessions since her enrollment, but today I learned that she already knows her feet positions! And when I give her my phone, all she watches are tutorials on ballet buns. Oh, and we also learned that our daughter is a conformist. (I’m not sure how to react.)

The youngest in Sprout’s beginner’s class is three years old. There are also other classes for more advanced dancers. I’m not sure if the ballet classes are open for boys as well – I didn’t ask – but so far all the students here in San Jose City are girls.

Karate Classes

My parents met at judo back in college, so it’s natural that they want their grandkids to follow in their footsteps. So, when selecting a summer class for my niece and nephew, the karate classes at our local mall was the first choice. It’s already a popular extra-curricular activity for kids of all ages here, given the difficulty in finding parking when there are karate sessions, but most of all, Papa wants his grandkids to learn self-defense and discipline.

When: Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday afternoons (summer sessions)

Where: 2nd Fl., WalterMart San Jose City

How Much: PhP 3,000.00 per month

Swimming Classes

If you would ask my husband, swimming would be his extra-curricular activity of choice for Sprout. Swimming is an essential skill, especially since one of her dreams for now is to be a flight attendant. But because no one is available to accompany her during the weekday sessions, we chose ballet this time.

BettBien Montessori-Cornelia Campus hosts swimming lessons every summer. They are known to produce our Schools Divisions’ swimmers for the Central Luzon Region Athletic Association (CLRAA) Meet. The summer classes used to be open for students ages 8 and up, but since my niece’s teacher invited them, I think it’s now open for younger kids as well.

When: March 28 onwards (summer only)

Where: BettBien Montessori-Cornelia Campus, Brgy. Abar 2nd, San Jose City

How Much: PhP 2,500.00?

Kiddie Crew

It’s also nice to let the kids learn the behind the scenes in the service industry. Since the children in our family love McDonald’s – I know, I know – enrolling them in the summer Kiddie Crew program was also an option. For just PhP 999 for one week, the kids will get to experience how to be a McDo service crew… and get meals, too!

It’s a nice activity to encourage kids to appreciate service personnel as well as the hard work that comes with their orders. If I’m not mistaken, Jollibee and Shakey’s also had similar programs previously. But this year, McDo was the only one I saw which offered this activity.

When: April to May

Where: McDonald’s, WalterMart San Jose City

How Much: PhP 999 for one week, comes with uniform and meals

Summer Pre-Kindergarten Classes

For day care kids with nothing to do on summer vacation, one of the best kindergarten teachers in the Schools Division of San Jose City, Sir Lester Zabala, volunteers to teach pre-kindergarten classes for the summer. It’s an outreach program by his church and is open for everyone, regardless of religion. If you want to prepare your children for school or to make sure they have the much-needed follow through for what they learned in day care, feel free to message Sir Lester on his Facebook linked above.

The program only runs for a few weeks during summer, though, so by now it’s almost over. But I’m pretty sure they’d hold free classes again next year.

When: Summer

Where: TBA

How Much: Free!