Fragments by Art Verdiano For every student, summer is not only much awaited but it is something that they look forward to. It is a break ...
Fragments
by Art Verdiano
For every student, summer is not only much awaited but it is something that they look forward to. It is a break from waking-up early, doing assignments, research projects and exams. For adults like us, it is a respite from taking care of our kids preparing them for school.
It is not easy to think-up of activities for children specially during the summer. The weather can be extremely hot and leaving them alone with too much smartphone or tablet time does not really improve their well-being. When we were young, I remember my parents urging me to go home. Nowadays, it is the opposite as I have to push my children to go outside and play.
Times do change. Those who grew up in the 90’s has witnessed - and were the first ones to use - technology. We were able to experience the dial-up modem and 52kbps Internet speed was already fast. We used landlines more and cellphones were analog. When my friends and I had to meet to go somewhere, a designated place and time must be agreed upon because there were no portable means of communications then.
For my kids this summer, we agreed several activities that they must fulfill this summer. The first one would be to read at least two books, preferably a classic. Books like Little Women, Tom Sawyer and The Hardy Boys are timeless classics that they can learn a lot from. Reading from the pages of a book is different from reading from a screen. You can literally smell, feel and touch the letters embedded on paper.
We also agreed to watch movies at least three times a week. One can search on IMDB a list of movies recommended for kids. It can be the Harry Potter series or even inspirational movies. Watching movies together is a great way to eat snacks together, discuss about the lesson it has, and simply to bond.
If one can afford it, it will also be good if kids can have summer class like martial arts, how to play a musical instrument, or even to swim. The lessons they will learn from these classes will last them a lifetime and any physical or intellectual activity will keep their mind alert even if they do not have to study school lessons.
And we also agreed that they will do household chores or even learn how to cook. Summer time is not a time to be idle. In fact, it is a time to organize stuff. There are so many things to clean and they can even help with gardening. With a lot of time in their hands, it will be best to spend them wisely.
What summer activities do you have for your children? Drop me an email and we can share it with others.
For every student, summer is not only much awaited but it is something that they look forward to. It is a break from waking-up early, doing assignments, research projects and exams. For adults like us, it is a respite from taking care of our kids preparing them for school.
It is not easy to think-up of activities for children specially during the summer. The weather can be extremely hot and leaving them alone with too much smartphone or tablet time does not really improve their well-being. When we were young, I remember my parents urging me to go home. Nowadays, it is the opposite as I have to push my children to go outside and play.
Times do change. Those who grew up in the 90’s has witnessed - and were the first ones to use - technology. We were able to experience the dial-up modem and 52kbps Internet speed was already fast. We used landlines more and cellphones were analog. When my friends and I had to meet to go somewhere, a designated place and time must be agreed upon because there were no portable means of communications then.
For my kids this summer, we agreed several activities that they must fulfill this summer. The first one would be to read at least two books, preferably a classic. Books like Little Women, Tom Sawyer and The Hardy Boys are timeless classics that they can learn a lot from. Reading from the pages of a book is different from reading from a screen. You can literally smell, feel and touch the letters embedded on paper.
We also agreed to watch movies at least three times a week. One can search on IMDB a list of movies recommended for kids. It can be the Harry Potter series or even inspirational movies. Watching movies together is a great way to eat snacks together, discuss about the lesson it has, and simply to bond.
If one can afford it, it will also be good if kids can have summer class like martial arts, how to play a musical instrument, or even to swim. The lessons they will learn from these classes will last them a lifetime and any physical or intellectual activity will keep their mind alert even if they do not have to study school lessons.
And we also agreed that they will do household chores or even learn how to cook. Summer time is not a time to be idle. In fact, it is a time to organize stuff. There are so many things to clean and they can even help with gardening. With a lot of time in their hands, it will be best to spend them wisely.
What summer activities do you have for your children? Drop me an email and we can share it with others.
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