Schools are closing all around the country for the long summer holidays this week and I’m sure many parents are gritting their teeth and bracing themselves for the increased chaos awaiting them when they get home from work and the inevitable nagging chorus of “We’re bored! What can we do?” Admittedly school holidays don’t necessarily hold the same appeal for working parents as it does for their children, but school holidays are vitally important!
As a teacher I only really ever to started to feel well-rested and relaxed toward the end of a long school holiday. What’s more, I always felt so incredibly motivated for the next term. So eager to get back to school and give it my all. In fact, I think ALL adults would benefit from longer breaks away from work.
Here are some of the reasons that your kids need a break:
- Kids are already over-scheduled. With ever increasing workloads we run the risk of them becoming completely burnt-out and simply switching off to the lesson being taught.
- Children hardly ever get time for free, child-initiated play. The kind of play where you can get completely engrossed in what you’re doing and it doesn’t matter if you spend hours at a time doing it – school holidays provide the perfect opportunity for this kind of play.
- Boredom can be a good thing. Boredom is often the precursor of creativity. It teaches children to occupy themselves and not to constantly rely on others for entertainment.
- School holidays provide an opportunity for children to learn things not taught in school. Kids are constantly learning and need more than just an academic education. The get to really explore, experience and socialise during the school holidays. They might have the time to learn a new skill, like a new language or how to play a musical instrument or even how to knit!
- School holidays provide time for family holidays and no doubt about it: Family holidays = memories. Your children won’t remember the day you got a raise or the day you hit all your sales targets or got promoted, but they will remember the day you helped them land a big fish or taught them to ride a bike or pitch a tent. The world is getting smaller and many modern families now have relatives who live far away or overseas – long school holidays provides enough time to make a visit to these relatives worthwhile.
7 Responses
I totally agree! I think that our schools should have school holidays, as students deserve to have a break every now and then. Even though we have weekends, it still isn’t long enough. We don’t need to have a holiday every week, but only a few times every year. I think that we should have holidays because it would be a great time to meet your family, if they live far away.
School holidays are the perfect time to relax and have some fun. Everyone deserves to have a little break. School holidays can also reduce stress, which can be important.
It is also a good time to do creative things. For example, if someone was painting something, it could take more than just two days to complete it, and you would also need breaks in between.
School holidays can also strengthen your relationship with your friends and family.
It can also increase your intelligence, because once you get back to school, your batteries are recharged.
Longer breaks can also help with your health, which is very important.
Not having school holidays could be hard for students, as they might need a break from school. Students also need breaks and a little time off.
Holiday time can make more time for travelling, and whilst travelling, people can learn new things. For example, they can learn more about a certain country or city, and it can also improve their geography skills.
Although learning is very important, life isn’t all about education. There is more to life than earning good grades.
Kids also barely get enough time to relax, so a school holiday could be necessary!
School holidays are also an opportunity to learn other stuff too! There are many things that schools don’t teach students, so school holidays can be where people learn new things.
Hi Katie,
Exactly my thoughts. Academics are important, but it isn’t the only component in a child’s education.
Does this apply to sport activities too? My kids jui jitsu gym doesn’t close for school holidays. Classes continue throughout the year. Pressure is on every month to earn his stripes and when we do take a break for our own choosing I worry that he will miss out. I want to suggest that the gym incorporates compulsory breaks to help the kids relax without worrying about missing their stripes and come back more fresh and motivated, but not sure if I have any merit. Any thoughts?
I agree
I might be a stranger but I agree
I totally agree with you guys
I think kids deserve a break to focus on themselves and also their families. Most high schools now do not give learners break and you find learners not motivated to learn, they are just at school to avoid punishment they get if they do not attend but not to learn. I think schools should find other ways of bridging the gap learners might have unlike forcing them to attend school daily elven on weekends and holidays. No break at all especially the grade 12 learners. They start schooling at half six and knock off at half four everyday. Is this fair to our learners? Are we building or destroying them. Maybe psychologists are the best people to assist in this.