Our Summer is Getting Busy!

I don't even know how we have time for TV right now. Vacation Bible school, day camps, trips with friends to the zoo and local kid-friendly attractions, and a couple of weekends out of town -- and our schedule is filling quickly! Add to that stacks of books from the library (and discount table at the bookstore), and boredom isn't something I hear about over here.

I really didn't think it would be this easy to keep the kids busy without television. Shame on me.

In fact, the kids seldom even ask to turn the TV on anymore. They are finding amusement in books, playing with toys, finding craft items that I stored away for rainy days (or excessively hot days like we've been experiencing), and finding new uses for old toys. I should have taken a picture the other day when they were making some of those shrinking things that you color and bake. Their little noses were all but pressed against the window of the oven, watching their artistic creations warm up, curl, then flatten out to something about 1/4 its original size. Yesterday they asked to play under the sprinkler in the back yard. I had to be at a meeting and told the sitter it would be fine if they did that. I'm not sure how long they were out there, but there was still mud and standing water in a couple of places in my back yard this morning when I went outside to water the garden. They obviously had fun.

For the first summer I can remember, I'm not worried about my daughter retaining what she learned during the school year. She is reading (avidly!), and we enrolled her in a summer math program. In the past, I would print off some math worksheets that I found on the internet with the expectation that she would have to complete "X" worksheets each day, along with reading for a specific period of time. It was little more than a constant struggle, leaving us both frustrated. Now, she loves her math program. Because she isn't reading just so that she can catch the next TV show, her retention of what she's just read has improved significantly.

Needless to say, the TV may play a much less significant role in our family well beyond the summer months. Do I miss some of my favorite shows? Yes, I do. I also feel a little guilty when I think about the emotional energy I invested in fictional characters. It's my personal feeling that maybe I should be investing that time in my family and the *real* people in my life.

Never Underestimate the Power of a Good Book

I have one child that is in elementary school.  This child is intelligent (did you expect me to say anything else???), but I noticed that this child was having trouble with math.  This is hard for me to wrap my head around -- I admit that freely.  I'm a math nerd.  In fact, I'm just a few credit hours away from a major in math, if that gives you a clue.  Trust me when I tell you that I was NOT the ideal choice to step in as the tutor.  Math is something that was fairly easy for me to grasp (until Calculus III and Partial Differential Equations), and I didn't have the patience to move through the areas where my child needed help.

Seeking information, I sat and talked to one of my neighbors (a teacher) for over an hour about the situation.  I shared my frustrations.  She listened.  I asked for help, fully expecting to hear things about flash cards and practice tests.  Instead, this was the first bit of advice my neighbor offered:

"Read out loud with your child for 30 minutes every night.  Take turns reading pages if that's what you have to do to get started, but start reading out loud and see where it takes you."

huh?

My child is having problems with math, and you want me to read?  And where am I going to find another 30 minutes in my day to do this?

I figured it couldn't hurt.  My child spent some time most days reading silently.  Part of me took this as a challenge.  I doubted.  How could reading out loud help? 

But it has.... and very quickly, I might add.  My child took to the activity quickly.  I thought I would have to dig in my heels to get to 30 minutes.  To my surprise, my child didn't want to stop.  It is not unusual for us to read together for 40-45 minutes. 

I've seen my child's math grades -- and confidence -- increase significantly in just a few short weeks.  And the complaining about different things (and people) at school has decreased quite a bit.  It is no longer like pulling teeth to find out something good that happened during the day.  Actually, all of the grades have come up.  I'm not the only one to see positive changes.  My child's teacher told me that my child has been much calmer and more attentive in class.

My child's teacher told me that there are all kinds of studies out there that document these results.  Could it be that my child needed that interaction with me on so many different levels?  Maybe my child understands a little better that I am an advocate, and that I have their best interests at heart.  Perhaps this activity nurtures my child on a different level... a level that may be so much more important as we approach the teen years. 

One of the sweeter surprises for me in this is how much I'm enjoying the books, too.  Years of diapers, nursing, and lack of sleep put my joy of reading on the back burner.  This activity lets me share one of my joys with my child.  We talk about the characters and what we would do if we were in the same situation.  We talk about what we think will happen next in the book.  It opens up opportunities for us to talk about other things that are important.

I know that we've all probably watched a little more TV than usual with the Olympics airing over the past couple of weeks.  They will end in a few days.  My suggestion to you is to pick out a book with your child and start reading it together.

You never know what will happen... it just might become a great new habit.

return to TheMomsResource