One of the important things I feel I must do as a mother is preserve my children’s childhoods.
This can be hard sometimes when it seems ever where I look the push is to have children above grade level or masters at instruments and sports the child is burnt out on but must do anyway because someday it might benefit them. What about now though? Shouldn’t children benefit from the time they have now in childhood? I watch as parents plan curriculum for the summer, summer schools, educational camps, and print out hundreds of worksheets and buy many novels for their children to read. I wonder, will there be at time at all for the child to explore?
We homeschool and we even homeschool through summer, but this is because we practice a lot of child led learning. They have an interest and we help get them the resources and time to explore them, striving to help them keep their love of learning. Free time though is a must and they are given this daily and all through the year as well. They don’t tell me they are bored but they have unstructured time where they have to come up with their own activities as they know if they say the “B” word that I have plenty of things on my list they can help me out with, mainly chores. LOL This lets them treasure their free time and gives them time to explore what it is they enjoy.
So while as mothers we are planning for summer I think it important to remember to preserve childhood. I think it is just as important as education if not more so as childhood can never be had again, while we can learn and learn until the day we die and on that day will be thankful for the education or basking in the memories that set is up as good human beings for a life time of joy?
Do you have special Plans this summer?
Three cheeers to your writing this posts. Well done! Well done! well done.