During my childhood, summer was a time of relaxation. July and August were some of the few months when I didn’t have homework or extra-curricular activities. My dad’s philosophy was to work hard during the school year so that we could break when school’s out. I used to think ‘break’ meant to do absolutely nothing—like lounging. However, I very quickly discovered that ‘break’ was literally just ‘a pause from your normal routine.’
My parents made sure that I studied over summer break because they believed that reviewing everything we learned during our time away from school would help us stay connected to our studies. Essentially, keeping the information fresh in our minds is important for our success because research shows that humans forget what they’ve learned within two to three days if they don’t practice.
Flashback to now, and I’m the one holding the cards in my parenting role. It was wrong to deny my son the delights of his well-earned summer break—we all need days to do absolutely nothing—but, young minds do need nurturing too.
Life lesson 101: you will not understand why your parents do the things they do until you become a parent yourself. It is true; we should never stop learning even when school’s out. However, summer learning doesn’t have to be the same as learning in school. It can be less structured and focus on creativity.
Interested to learn more tips?
Check out the August edition of ‘Hold On‘ to read the full article to learn tips for creating summer activities that are fun and educational experiences. If you haven’t signed up for my newsletter yet, you can get access to read my digital magazine here.