“As summer vacation is fast approaching, I wonder how I am going to keep my boy engaged all day at home as well as get my work done. Time at school gave him space to vent his energy and a major part of the day was done with. Now I have to contend with an unending ball of energy all through the day. The thought itself seems daunting… especially with work and responsibilities already piled up on my plate. The way out seems to be sending him for summer programs and granting more TV/DVD/ internet time to keep him from harm’s way.
Also summer classes seem to teach them anything we can pay for from ice skating to Kung Fu or brain development.” Does that sound like you? Is this what summer holidays in childhood ought to look like? What are your memories of your childhood summers? Isn’t it supposed to involve playing in the sun, climbing trees, getting dirty and hurt, doing anything a child can imagine? Suicide rates among the younger lot are increasing. It is said to peak after exams.
One of the reasons is that though this generation has high IQ, their EQ (Emotional Quotient) is pretty low. I believe this is because we have forgotten to let children be children in the way we were. We try to fill their life with every luxury and gadget that we could not afford and they demand more and more. With children and even adults ‘more is less and less is more’ when it comes to accumulating things and the opposite is true with regard to quality time. The less they have and the more they play creatively, they learn life skills that can help them survive and succeed when life hits them.
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I tried to teach my child from books- – Author Unknown |
“What is he doing?”, “just playing” is a common refrain from many adults. Beuschlein in her book ‘FYI to Parents’ says, “often play appears to us adults as ‘aimless puttering about with paints, toys, or blocks’. However, for a child, play provides not only enjoyment and excitement but unending opportunities to learn and grow.” Beuschlein enumerates many things that play is for a child:
- Discovering and Exploring
- Building Self-confidence
- Testing new ideas or strategies
- Taking risks
- Active learning with “hands on” experiences
- Making decisions and choices
- Building Verbal skills
- Interacting and building relationships
- Developing positive attitudes
- The primary means by which children learn
- FUN!!!
I can vouch this is true. My son has recently started a small pretend shop at home and he uses real coins for the sale. Every morning and evening he tidies his shop and opens it for customers (read Dad and Mom). He decides the prices of items and then counts the coins we give, calculates the change and offers it back. This boy who is not yet 4 years old is now learning addition and subtraction with no effort from us. Until recently he could only count till 10.
After another game he invented he has now learnt to count till 50 and still going strong. Apart from learning arithmetic, his confidence, joy, self-esteem has all been given a major boost with every game he invents and plays. And playing with him is the greatest stress buster and joy for us. We laugh so much more doing crazy skits, songs in unknown languages, conjuring stories etc. With older children, if they don’t come up with ideas initially you could even start with your home version of their favourite TV show like ‘Minute to Win it’ or ‘Indian idol.’
For younger ones, the space could be transformed into an air plane or jungle… the list is endless. Playing with your children does not require much, you can draw the boundaries as to which corner of the room they can play, what they can use, how long it can go on etc., in discussion with your child. Space, things, ideas etc. are not constraints, only our attitude and time is. This summer spend time letting your child’s imagination be the limit to what your home and life can be transformed into. The greatest beneficiary may be you as you learn to laugh more, love more and live more.
