How to Stay Productive over the School Holidays
“Help them to make changes that they will thank you for in the future”
Summer Holidays are a time when your child can clear their head, relax and stretch their brains in different ways. However, letting study routines slip means your child is missing out on a huge opportunity to get ahead.
Studies have shown that learners, particularly young children, display a dip in their academic abilities after extended holiday periods. Upon returning to school, children are expected to continue on the same, if not higher level, however, teachers speak of a noticeable backslide in all subjects. Structuring a balanced Holiday that allows children to relax and recover as well as build momentum for the next year is invaluable.
1. Switch Off
Step one: switch off. If you regularly have your study on your child’s mind, they are never going to have a break from it. Tell them that they are not going to study till a specific (reasonably timed) date, and then let the children avoid study guilt-free. Let them enjoy the summer! Being with friends, family and doing fun things is essential for their minds to recharge!
2. Revision – build up their confidence
After the children have had a mental break, it’s time to switch critical thinking back on. Make sure they don’t relax for too long, as if they don’t get enough time to prepare for next year they will be unnecessarily stressed.
During the school holidays, children don’t have the constant onslaught of new content coming in from their teachers every day, which makes it the perfect time to organise the notes from the previous 10 weeks of learning. Doing some revision during the holidays, will help your child feel even more confident about themselves before going back to school. If they believe they have learned and improved during the school break, it will give them self-confidence and an assured head start for the term.
3. They are on holiday – but their brains aren’t
When children are on a break, they are no longer working their brain at full capacity all day, every day. The brain acts just like a muscle and needs regular exercise to keep working at its best. Just as when you stop working out at the gym for a few weeks and you drop back your fitness levels, it takes time to get back to the level you were once at.
Using Study Space throughout the break, allows your child to keep their brain active and helps stay accustomed to working on problems, meaning when they return to school, they’ll be the first in their class to pick up where they left off.
4. Organisation and Routine – continue the momentum
Now that their back in the game and sort out the children’s goals for the year. Now might be the only time you have spare time with the children for quite a while, so make the most of it.
Put all of their commitments and due dates on to a calendar, get on top of and work towards deadlines that are early on once school goes begins. Try to make the most of any resources your teachers have sent you for the break. If you are lacking resources, use online tools like Study Space to gain access to more resources and online educational lessons to assist your child in learning.
We all know how important routines are for children. They help your child feel safe and develop self-discipline. Getting back into the learning routine can be hard after an extended break, so school holiday revision with Study Space makes the transition to the new school term an easy one.
5. Learning is fun!
Study Space believes that learning should be a fun and engaging process which helps your child develop a lifelong love of learning. School holiday revision using the Study Space platform lets your child learn without the pressure of doing well just for the mark they receive.
Remember that learning empowers your children, so let’s allow our children to reach their full potential and make the school holidays count. If your child needs extra support to get ahead these holidays, Study Space is here to help.
