Your children, like anybody else, have the right to pursue their passions and hone their skills and talents. Even if you are struggling financially, there are many ways that you can help your children pursue their dreams to become a pianist, ballerina, dancer, and athlete. Why should your financial problems hinder your children to work on themselves? Your job is to help open doorways for them.
Aside from that, another important reason you should invest in letting your children pursue their extracurricular activities is that it’s one way for them to enter a college or university of their choice. Higher education has higher demands. If your children want to attend college, they can do it through these two means: a scholarship or through student aid and loans.
All colleges value the activities that an applicant does outside of the school. Whether it be helping communities or volunteering in an animal shelter, these have extra brownie points in a college application. But what else can separate your children from the rest of those who are also applying for the same spot? If they are involved in extracurricular activities such as sports and music, they can apply for a scholarship corresponding to that expertise.
Sell Your Valuables
That said, it is important that you do your best to provide for your kids so that they can pursue these activities. These are vital to their futures as well if they want to go to a prestigious school. Do you have some valuables lying around? Perhaps you can sell that beautiful braided diamond engagement ring that you received when money was not an issue yet.
Preloved and secondhand engagement rings are huge in the market. You would think that people would want to be the first owner of their engagement rings, but practicality still ensues even among couples in love. Is it practical for you to let go of something so valuable? Probably not. But if it’s going to pay for your kids’ ballet program, the sacrifice will be worth it.
Ask from Sponsors
Of course, selling your valuables is not the first thing on the list. You can find local sponsors for your children, especially if they are competing regionally and nationally. Local businesses, especially the bigger ones, usually sponsor a local student as part of their corporate social responsibility in the community. All you have to do to be considered for sponsorship is to write a letter detailing what your child needs and what the sponsorship will mean to your family.
As an exchange, the sponsored kids will need to attend company events. If they are competing, they will also have to wear the logo of the company that sponsored them on their uniforms. This is a small price to pay in exchange for the financial support they will get from local companies.
Crowdfunding
If you have never heard of crowdfunding before, then where were you exactly? Crowdfunding on the Internet is the easiest way to get money for financially strapped individuals. People who want to help various causes usually go to crowdfunding sites to read stories that evoke emotions from them. On these sites, people can donate as little as $5 to as much as a couple of hundreds of dollars.
Most of the stories you will find on crowdfunding sites are like yours—though there are plenty of stories about medical needs, too. Many low-income families struggle to enroll their children in training programs and lessons. They also bring these stories to the attention of people on the Internet who might offer to help.
Scholarships
Are your children eyeing a particular program? Then why not talk to the institution or training director? You can ask if they are offering scholarships for low-income families. Most of them are happy to accommodate one or two students who showed exemplary work. But if this doesn’t work, you can ask if you can take on extra work on the side in exchange for your kids getting in the program for free.
Many parents do this all the time. They volunteer their time and expertise to these training institutions so that their kids can get a discount on the tuition. The upside to this is that you get to keep your eye on your kids, too, since you’ll be working and training in the same location.
The hardest part about being a parent is wanting to open as many doors as possible for your kids. You want them to have all kinds of opportunities, whether you can afford them or not. With resourcefulness and the various options available for you today, you will give yourself and family a chance for a better future.
