School summer vacation!

Yesterday was Abhay’s last day of school before the unbelievably long summer vacation. School summer vacations or a summer break in between school years is probably a tradition as old as schooling itself! Although most educational institutions close down during summer, a vacation of two long months is typical only to schools. A tradition that I was all gung-ho about as kid  but not so much as a parent!  In my defense, I must say that those were the days when life was much simpler with less distractions for kids and a lot less hectic for us parents! At the same time, life is expected to turn a lot more competitive for our kids than it was for us!  So whether it’s  from mid-March to June in South India or mid-May to August in Northern India or mid- June to mid-September in the west or from December to February in Australia, its time for our  little ones to make the most of it now before their vacations get eschewed by tuitions and coaching classes as they move to higher classes!

To celebrate Abhay’s start of summer vacation 2013, I had him read “School Holidays” by Leanne Wells and illustrated by Celina Korcak, a level 1 Early Reader from Cambridge University Press. Narrated by three kids who indulge in different activities every day of their school holidays - skating on Monday, fishing on Tuesday, swimming on Wednesday, riding on Thursday, watching  Television on Friday (All day?? asked Abhay!) and playing on computer on Saturday, sparing just enough energy to clean up for Sunday and …….just like that ......they get ready to go to school on Monday! ( If only it were that simple!) Not much of a story, but this series provides guide notes in the end to improve your little one’s critical thinking and language skills, and help them reflect on the story that they have just read. “School holidays” for the kids in the book last only for a week but Abhay has over 76 days of summer holidays this year! So...here's wishing everyone who have either started their summer vacation already or are going to in the near future......Happy Holidays!