TOS Blog Cruise - Is it really extra?

Blog cruise question this week is - How do you incorporate all the extras in to your day?

Extras ~ Do we really do ALL of this *extra* stuff?  What exactly is extra? Is it really extra? Why is it called that?  Some may think that music lessons are extra, but if you have an up and coming musician, then it should be core.  If you have a budding artist, it should be a main focus. Right?
I think there are so man extra's that we can get sidetracked from where our focus should be. But we should be careful about casting anything off to the side as an extra, just because we don't have time for it. We should evaluate our kiddos and see where their strengths and weaknesses are and focus on those.  We should focus on their strengths for several reasons - to build confidence in them, to help them do one thing and do it well, for them to have something to feel good about. While we should also focus on their weaknesses, we need to focus on the weaknesses that will give them an area to grow in, or in some cases, an area that they need to learn to adapt in. Obviously if they struggle with a basic, then we need to focus on that, but if their area of weakness is something that they can make it through life without, like art or music, then it's not that pressing!
Around here, we have managed to get all of our music lessons and programs on the same day, so we are able to spend one solid day focused on music. They practice voice and choir while they are in the car- all the time! We do need to spend more time with our instruments during the week, but they get the voice practice in.As for art, they both take art as part of our weekly co-op. We have been blessed with a wonderful art teacher who has taught them art history, focused on different artist, and different styles of art.  They both are in an astronomy class with co-op and Riley is taking SignLanguage, while Samantha takes Geography.  So, with our co-op, they are both getting a little extra in addition to our music.  
Everything else - or anything else - as it comes up - I just add it to our calendar and hope for the best!  They know that if they want to do the extra's, then the essentials come first!  I think that is probably the key around here - If I tell them that there is an option for something that I would consider extra, then the are pretty good about focusing and getting school work done!