I find it difficult to believe of any other generation of children in recent years who have suffered through a disjointed education than the present one unless we include the war years of 1939-45 when children were separated from their parents.
What advice can I give? It must be chill out and enjoy your well deserved break.
Professionally I hope the Government pull out all the stops and inform the schools what the policies of next year’s examinations will take prior to the school year commencing and not wait for the potential crisis to occur before taking action. The new Year 11s’ and 13s’ have already missed 6 months and more of conventional classroom education. To expect them to take next year’s GCSE’s and A Levels without this being taken into consideration would be negligence of the highest order.
Let the Children Chill
Perhaps we adults should ask the youngsters how to chill. We sometimes forget that we were once children, and the enjoyable memories of our early lives will be forever with us.
When you were a child what irked you most? Think of it and ask yourself if you would allow your children to do what you were not allowed to do. Provided there are no safety issues let your youngsters off the reigns:
Give your children the time to play and create friendships.
Support them in making age appropriate decisions. To the older ones treat them respectfully as young responsible adults.
Do not transfer your personal anxieties to the children. This will serve no purpose.
Get the children outdoors for walks. Point out what you can see and let them show you what they can see. This way you will learn a little of how they perceive their own worlds. If struggling for something new look upwards, we spend far too much time with our own thoughts looking down or at the most at eye level, thus missing a big chunk of our world.
Ban the iphone and computer for a set 2/3 hours a day and this includes you, the parent. It can be done and instils a little self-discipline.
You need hobby time whether it be painting, handicraft, tennis, cricket, swimming, football, cycling, walking, music, cooking, gardening – the list is
endless.
Have a positive conversation at the end of each day with your youngsters. Let it be on any topic such as “How did the day go?”, “How can we improve on what we have done today?” “What is the plan for tomorrow?”.
Reward your child’s efforts, show how proud and appreciative of them you are.
John Harris