VACATION AND BEYOND

“And at the end of

the day, your

feet should be dirty,

your hair messy

and your

eyes sparkling”

 Summer vacations were fun during our childhood. Well, what did we do? We used to go and stay with our cousins for two months. During our times there was no difference in how all of us were treated. So, we felt at home everywhere. Even today, when I relive those days, I have a broad smile on my face. I treasure those days. Since there were no gadgets, we played with each other. We learnt to adjust, to adapt, to share, to give and take, to forego, to be patient, to take care of the younger kids, to wait for our turn, and much more. Since there were so many kids, we slept on the floor sometimes.

We were more like siblings, and not cousins. We fought with each other, and then made up. Playing pranks on each other was what we enjoyed a lot. Story time was very engrossing. All of us used to huddle together if it was a ghost story.

Apart from all the fun that we had, we were asked to write multiplication tables every day and read the Radiant Reader English book, write a few pages of handwriting every day. So, there was a dedicated time in the morning for all this.

This helped us to develop good handwriting, reading skill, speaking skill, etc. Our exposure was far less, compared to the opportunity children have these days. But we spent most of our time in the lap of nature.

Summer vacation is a time to develop a hobby, work on your skills and learn something new. Most importantly, I would encourage you to read story books, write book reviews, poems, work on your handwriting, do some interesting craft work, learn to make simple dishes, help your mother in the kitchen, play board games with the family, apart from multiple other things that you can do. Journaling is a great way to express your thoughts and feelings. That is the beginning of the writer in you. Language skills and numeracy skills should be certainly developed. This will definitely give you an edge over others.

Teenagers can volunteer for charity work, get into a sport, take up summer jobs, work on your fitness, enroll yourself for summer camps, learn public speaking, a new language, do some puzzles and brain teasers and enrich your vocabulary. This is a time for you to discover your latent talent and innate potential. Remember to have a goal for the Summer. Tick mark everything that you have achieved. You should have a balance of outdoor and indoor activities.

Vacation is a great time to unwind, relax, learn a new art form, kick start the right routine and habits, develop new skills and take yourself to a new level of accomplishment.  I have only scratched the surface. There are a thousand other ways to enrich yourself. Find out what interests you. Don’t sleep away your Summer vacation. Rather bring life to your day. The end of every vacation should be the beginning of a new competency in you. Stun your friends with your new add on!

 #Thoughtfulthursdays #nsn #nsnschool #mentoring #parenting