Summertime for Kids
You are a parent. You're supposed to be all-knowing and all-seeing regarding raising your children. And when you're the actual parent, you just laugh at that kind of statement. While a child looks up to a parent and sees knowledge, wisdom, and authority, the parent looks in the mirror at the same individual and asks the question of whether or not they know what they're doing.
Thus are the summertime routines and priorities for my family. With a 10-year-old and a six-year-old, summer is about fun. And yet, my wife and I, over the last few summer breaks, have instituted regular learning time for the kids. And while that may not be what any child wants, the question we're asking ourselves is, is that what the kids need?
My parents purchased an app for their iPads many years ago that had a curriculum, based on game scenarios, built for each grade level. The kids then are rated on a five-star system and on each one of the 18 different sectors within that grade level. And as mentioned, they all look like games. Beat the asteroid before it gets to the star. Timed events. Cars racing you have to fill in the answer before they get to the finish line.
I don't ever remember having this much structure regarding academic work when I was a kid. No child grew up in a more loving and supportive household. And academics was always the priority. But in today's world, I find myself, along with my wife, pushing the kids to make sure their minds are actively engaged in academic-level work each and every day. Sometimes it's just reading a book. Sometimes it's the iPad and the games. We even had our son take typing lessons this summer through an online portal. The funny thing is, I didn't have typing until I was in 8th grade. It was with an electric typewriter. They need this skill set a lot earlier than I did.
While I think my children would say they have fun with these activities, we always want to make sure there's plenty of time just to go out in the backyard and play. Or to go to the pool and swim. Or go camping. But in a challenging world and coming out of the pandemic, I feel more and more responsibility to make sure they're academically prepared even though they go to a tremendous school in a good school district. An interesting dichotomy where summer represents getting away from school while as a parent I seem to be pushing them to “a classroom” a little more often in June and July each year.
