With the upcoming summer holiday, do you want your child to have a relaxing but at the same time productive break? Do you want them to strengthen their work ethic, motivation and academic pursuits in preparation for the next year?
I strongly believe that summer is a great opportunity to recharge your batteries and have a break from full-on academic work. However, this doesn’t mean that your child should do nothing. We know from our own experiences that if we don’t plan our days or weeks in advance, then we are likely to procrastinate and waste the time away.
A similar principle applies to our children. If they don’t have a planned (even relaxed) structure to the day and certain academic and extra-curricular targets, then they are likely to procrastinate and waste the hours away watching TV, scrolling through social media and checking emails mindlessly. Does this mean that they properly relaxed and will feel rejuvenated? Clearly not! Instead, it is essential to help your child plan their holiday and have a structure to their day. Make sure they plan proper endeavours, such as time out with family, pursuing their hobbies or meeting their friends.
It is important to utilise this summer time to the maximum to help your child have a relaxing break as well as achieving their academic, extra-curricular and personal targets to allow them to succeed in their studies and future career.
Here are my top ideas to help you plan the summer for your child:
My top tips:
1. Catch up on revision notes for the next academic year
Often, when I start working with my students, I find it surprising that they rarely do revision notes to learn the required theory. I ask how they know exactly what they need to know for their exams or tests. Their answer is usually that they have textbooks or class notes, or they keep all the information in their heads.
Revision notes are the student’s interpretation of how they understand the material and a summary of the key points they need to know for their exams. Previous studies have also shown that writing notes significantly increases test scores (Mueller and Oppenheimer, 2014). Unfortunately, schools rarely teach this important study skill or even request students to do revision notes.
Therefore, the summer holiday provides an ideal time for students to do revision notes for their subjects in preparation for the next academic year.
2. Read read read
Let’s be honest, when was the last time your child read a book? National Literacy Trust estimates that only 28% of 8 to 18 year olds read books on a frequent basis. I am going to write a separate article on the importance of reading, but in summary it is invaluable in developing a child’s cognitive function and their ability to share feelings with characters and imagination of different worlds and scenarios. It also undoubtedly teaches them to focus for prolonged periods of time.
Summer holiday is a perfect opportunity to encourage your children to read books and maybe introduce some reading challenges. For students preparing for their university applications, they should also be reading non-fiction material for their subject of choice.
3. Work experience
If you child is old enough, they should get some work experience or do some voluntary work to strengthen their future university application as well as develop essential interpersonal and professional skills. Summer provides a great opportunity where they can try different types of work and see what they prefer the most. Make sure to discuss what aspects they like and don’t like, as this can help their personal development and in deciding what university degree and future career suits them the most.
4. Visit museums
How often does your child visit different museums? If the answer is not often, then make sure to take your child to a variety of museums regardless of their age and interests. Exposing them to real-life objects outside of textbooks and documentaries should develop their academic curiosity. This is a particularly useful exercise if your child isn’t sure what interests them academically. Try to engage them in museum activities, be interested in exhibits yourself and try to share the stories with them. This activity is also great for family bonding.
5. Pursue hobbies and extra-curricular activities
Although the importance of academic growth is inarguable, it is also imperative for our children to pursue their hobbies and excel in their extra-curricular activities. At the end of the day, all students cover similar subjects and school curriculum. However, it is their hobbies that make them unique and stand out from the crowd. As many of you know, mine was chess and through this I represented England as a junior and participated in the World Junior Championship. I made many friends and developed confidence and problem-solving skills. Make sure as a parent that your child has at least one extra-curricular activity and keep it throughout their school studies in preparation for their university applications.
6. Minimise social media usage
This topic is very close to my heart and I have already written numerous articles on this. We live in times when our attention is stolen by social media and endless scrolling on our phones. It substantially reduces our children’s attention span, hindering the ability to keep prolonged focus and ability to do deep work. There is also overwhelming evidence that it results in a massive decrease in mental health and wellbeing, particularly for girls.
It is absolutely essential that you impose clear rules and restrictions on how much your child is allowed to spend on social media. Regardless of whether it will cause some initial arguments and resistance, you are the ones likely buying their phone in the first place. If you want your child to excel academically and be a happy well-rounded individual, then minimise their social media usage as much as possible.
Watch my Youtube video below for more tips and subscribe to my channel for more educational advice and insights.
With warmest regards,
Dr Anna York-Weaving
Academic Coach, Scientist and Founder of York-Weaving Education
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