What in the world did parents do before minivans came equipped with VCRs and DVD players, especially during those summer family vacations? How did they deal with the backseat barrage of “Are we there yet?” “Where are we now?” “How much longer ’till we get there?”
And what about that classic lament, “I’m bored,” once the intoxicating first couple of weeks of summer release have passed – and there are eight more to go?
If you have school-age children, you probably have already developed several strategies to help everyone survive those gloriously unstructured days of summer.
For example, while traveling, you hand the map back to your children and explain speed and distance. Just like that, they become navigators; and the new questions don’t seem as grating. (There will always be questions; the trick is to keep them fresh and varied.)
Spending time with your children can keep their minds from turning into mush and having to reboot their brains in September without robbing them of that time-honored season of childhood memories.
“We all get caught up in our busy lives. But playing cards, having the kids help plan the weekend, fostering that love for reading, spending time together talking – those little things are really important,” said Sharon Lariviere, who teaches third grade at Sherwood Heights Elementary School in Auburn.
“Even as a teacher, I sometimes need reminders that it’s those little everyday things that keep conversations going and keep kids asking questions,” said Lariviere, a 16-year classroom veteran.
Her own family, teenagers included, made a game of spotting license plates through the summer last year. By the time school started again, they had found all 50 states, including Alaska and Hawaii, just in the Lewiston-Auburn area.
While Lariviere advocates that children should have their summers, she also believes that learning continues with ordinary events such as trips to the grocery store or a family road trip.
Lariviere has noticed that students who may have ended the previous year reading on grade-level often return in September with lagging skills if they’ve taken a hiatus from reading during the summer.
Those same children may be more than ready to return to the classroom by summer’s end and to jump-start their brains again. “A lot of kids are ready to come back to school,” said Lariviere. “They’re ready to learn, and they want to learn.”
Whether you talk to teachers, parents or physicians, or spend hours scanning the plethora of “expert” advice on the Internet, you’ll find you already know how to keep children active, actively learning and better able to transition back to the school year routine. It all boils down to a few simple reminders:
• Turn off the TV and shoo the kids outdoors.
• Encourage reading by example.
• Include your children in household tasks.
• Keep reasonable boundaries.
• Encourage curiosity with questions and conversations, but without drilling.
• Play.
‘Summer ought to be fun’
Dr. Will Wilkoff, a Brunswick pediatrician and author, doesn’t advocate summer academic programs and camps or drilling at home with flashcards. “I’m not sure that you ought to worry about keeping kids academically sharp during the summer,” said Wilkoff. “Summer ought to be for fun. The challenge is getting them more physically active after the long winters in Maine.”
Wilkoff said that when children spend time doing ordinary things with their parents or grandparents, they’re still learning but from sources outside the classroom.
The noted child expert sees adjusting sleep schedules as the biggest problem for families making the transition between summer vacation and the new school year. Start enforcing a bedtime at least four or five days before the first day of school, Wilkoff suggested, noting that Labor Day weekend sometimes throws a kink into well-intentioned plans.
“I think that parents should just accept that once school starts there will be some adjustments and problems,” said Wilkoff.
For one Auburn family of four, summer doesn’t drastically alter their sleep patterns or daily routines. They may have later bedtimes since the end of school, but Colin, 8, and Liam, 6, are still up around 6:30 or 7 a.m., said their mother Kate Benson.
“They still get dressed, make their beds, have breakfast and brush their teeth just like always,” said Benson. “Then they’re ready to go.”
Ready to go may mean running errands with mom. Colin and Liam routinely write out the grocery lists and often help fetch items, said Benson, who has found errands much easier now that both boys want to bring along a magazine for the car.
A rainy day may result in the boys scanning the Internet with their mother for new recipes. The treat comes when they get to help mom try out them out.
“For the Fourth of July, Liam chose a recipe for blueberry crumb bars,” said Benson. “And Colin loves to measure things. So we spend a lot of time cooking together. But it’s nothing that we do deliberately. That’s just what we do.”
During the Benson family’s recent vacation to Williamsburg, Va, both boys took on a big part of planning what exhibits to visit and making out their itinerary. That meant telling time and managing time. Benson interjected that she’s a strong believer in watches with good old-fashioned dial faces.
As a physical therapist by profession, Benson also believes that summer should be a time for playing and moving. She said she is conscious about limiting computer and TV times but doesn’t mind them watching the occasional cartoon or movie. She recently noticed her sons running around with light sabers and re-enacting Star Wars adventures.
“I don’t really believe in doing organized activities during the summer,” said Benson. “To be honest, I don’t really see that kids who are in academic programs do all that much better than the average kid. But I do believe that reading is important.”
Benson found that summer reading lists from teachers had a negative effect on her sons. Instead, she encourages reading just for fun when the boys are out of school. Benson said that she and her husband normally spend the evenings reading and that their sons have naturally picked up the habit. Either she or her husband, Paul, reads to the boys each night before bed year-round. Summer just means that they can languish a bit more and fudge the bedtime a little easier.
Emily Tuttle has taught high-school English on the Navajo Reservation in Arizona and English Language Learners at King Middle School in Portland. She is currently a Title I reading teacher at King Middle School. She and her husband have two children who are entering second and third grade.
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