Children crossing sign

School holidays ensure increased motivation for the next term.

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.