June - July 2002 Edition 

Summer With Kids    by Mrs. Ann Lustgarten, Fifth Grade Teacher at the Radburn School Now that summer has arrived, what are we going to do with our children for the summer? Well, it depends on the age of the child. Understandably, it also depends on the working situation of the parents, too.  The whole purpose of a summer vacation is to let children and educators have a few weeks of respite from the stress of learning and teaching. It is meant to be a time to regroup, relax and enjoy our families. We have long since passed the days when summer vacation was a time to help tend the crops.  It is important that we give our children an opportunity to be children. Younger children need time to ‘lay back’, lie in the grass and watch an ant build its home. They need to play in the mud. They need to cuddle, and laugh and be read to.  Younger teenagers need to have some structure – such as a camp or enriching summer school. Some can be “mothers’ helpers” - babysit - go to camp. Older teenagers, also needing structure, can be encouraged to find some part-time work, or work as a camp counselor.  As parents, we need to find a balance between allowing children sufficient free time to relax and unwind, and enough structure to avoid ‘couch-potato-ness’ and the complete atrophy of the mind. Most curricula provide for the refreshing of knowledge and thinking skills early in the year. There is a great deal of review in September, but parents need to help keep our children’s mind stimulated. How can we do this?  Read to our children. Read with our children. Listen to our children read to us.  Go to the Fair Lawn Public Library. Go to the bookstore. Find a variety of material which is of interest to our children – trains, planes or Hogwarts students. Reading together provides us an opportunity to interact with our children, as well as keeping the brain cells alive and working.  Give our children a variety of learning opportunities, which they don’t see as traditional learning – travel, visit museums, go fishing. Try not to OVER schedule our children. Let’s enjoy them and, most importantly, let them enjoy time with US!   See Mrs. Lustgarten's Previous Column PTA/PTO Involvement  (April-May 2002) Telling The Teacher  (February-March 2002)