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What to do with your kids for the summer
July 05, 2017
Yes Jamaica, the hot days of summer are with us! Holiday time is here again. What are you parents and children planning to do with it?
For some young people who are enrolled in regular school, the remainder of July and all of August looms large and attractive as a time to 'bruck out' and 'romp down' the place. Rest, relaxation and recreation seem to now be the obvious focus for many. But is that the only way to view summer break?
Of course, I know it's supposed to be a welcome break from the routine of regular school for many. But I don't think it has to be a complete break from the very important process of learning. What you think?
After all, we already factor in key periods of rest, relaxation and recreation into the regular school schedule. So I strongly suggest that we should also plan for continued or even increased learning during this holiday period. Unnu nuh agree?
PRODUCTIVE PROGRAMME
Look here nuh parents, even if you can't afford to finance involvement of your children in the various summer schools that are being advertised, you can still create a productive and practical programme of special learning for this summer. We could use this summer as a time to teach and learn how to engage respectfully in a conversation or carry out a debate where disagreement can be aired and conflicting views can be shared without anybody resorting to angry retorts or ugly name-calling.
Yes, peeps, we could use this summer as time to increase our active vocabulary so we have a larger arsenal of adjectives to replace all the profane words some of us often use.
How about making this the summer when your children learn to make their own beds, fold their own laundry and iron their own clothes? With the help of parents, guardians and other adults, children, boys especially, could use this summer to learn how to completely wash a load of clothes, hang the pieces on the line, and then retrieve them and fold them when they're dry.
They could also learn to actually prepare and serve a proper meal completely from scratch. And I don't mean they should be given the chance to 'run a boat' or cook a pot full of dumpling on an outside fire.
I'm talking about parents guiding a child through the process of fully planning, preparing and serving a balanced meal with starch, vegetables and protein. And then cleaning up the kitchen afterwards. Wha unnu say, peeps? Mek wi try it nuh!
