We all love the summer holidays don’t we I say optimistically. But do we? Summer holidays can be a difficult time for many families as they have to juggle work and childcare and it is not always easy especially when you have children who don’t want to go to camp and would rather be at home with you or hanging out with their friends.
Camp can be a wonderful thing for children as it allows them to try out new activities, make new friends, learn new skills and give them space from mum and dad. Whether or not you are working camp can be a great place for them to be but it is not for everyone.
If your child is at home and you want them to gain some new skills during the holidays then why not use the time productively to do this. Perhaps you could choose specific skills you would like your child to develop. These can be academic or non-academic. You may want them to start learning about some of the subjects they are going to be doing in their next academic year or get them to brush up on their essay writing or you may want them to be able tie their own shoelaces or learn to swim backstroke. Whatever it is they have six weeks to start enjoying something new so why not talk about your ideas and see what they think.
Alternatively why not ask them what activities and interests they would like to pursue in the given time. They may surprise you with their ideas. They may want to have an area of the garden that they want to create or design a board game.
They could even do something from your list and theirs and they could be their projects when they are at home at a lose end.
Summer is a great time to develop skills and personality so why not use it as this as well as a time for your child to be idle, relax and play.
What do you think? Will you be encouraging your child to learn something new?
Hey Naomi! Great stuff here. Camp has been a huge part of Team Sprad’s life. This has given our kids the opportunity to make new and great friends.
We are focusing our kids right now on how to start their own business. I believe this is a skill that will help them throughout the entirety of their life.
Wow Chris that is pretty impressive. Well done and I hope it goes well. Thank you for your input and enjoy the rest of your summer.
You are so right Naomi, vacation time is a great time to help kids develop life skills in a really practical way. At our home we have planted a vege garden which is fun of course but allowed me to talk about the benefits of eating fresh vegetables, how to care for plants and showed our son first hand where veges come from… so he doesn’t believe carrots come from the shops anymore! Thanks for this great tip!
Very educational Rosina. My children will be trying out new sports at camp but more importantly we are going to use this time to learn how to ride a bike and get fit. Thank you fro your comment.
Hi Naomi, you are spot on with this. The summer holidays are the perfect opportunity to really focus on learning and developing skills as it is a good length of undisturbed time.
We’re focussed on providing a Financial Education, and instilling the good financial habits that will stand my son, Seb, in good stead later in life. In fact, you can see how we’re getting on on our website, http://www.GoldstarSavingsBank.com as this is something that we have developed into an app!
We’ve made it as inspiring and creative as possible, so he’s really enjoying it too!
Six weeks is the perfect start for him!
Wow – he is going to learn some great stuff. What a great idea. I think with children it has to inspiring and creative so they want to learn. Good luck Rebecca and thank you for adding your thoughts.