WebParenTips – The Online Parenting Newsletter
               vol.2 no.6, Apr 18, 2001

                 SUMMER PLANS

Spring is in the air--or will be soon.  This means, it's time
to plan for the long, hot summer!

Your parenting challenge is to:1) Balance your children’s
structured and unstructured time. 2) Encourage them to continue
learning even though school is out. 3) Foster their increasing
personal growth and responsibility. 4) Ensure their safety and
well-being.


BALANCE STRUCTURED/UNSTRUCTURED TIME

When I look back on my summers as a child, what I liked was
having enough time for big projects, reading for hours out on
the porch, being in charge of the house while my artist mother
painted, and daydreaming on a swing my father built for me in
an old apple tree.  My summers were balanced.

Most children--although few will admit it on the last day of
school--look forward to school in the fall.  Three months is
simply too long a chunk of unstructured time for most children.

Children need both structure and freedom from structure during
summer vacation.  Why unstructured time?  First of all, children
need time to play.  All mammals, including children, need both
solitary play and play with peers to prepare for adult life.

Children also need time to do nothing.  They need to daydream,
think about the world, and watch the clouds go by.

Children are not good planners--planning and time-competency
skills must be taught.  And too much unstructured time can lead
to a near-terminal case of boredom.

Your children need YOUR HELP to balance the summer and ensure
proper amounts of both kinds of time.  Activities you and your
children plan together depend on the child's age, personality,
likes and dislikes, skills, and the availability of resources
in the community.


SUMMER LEARNING

Just as adults should be lifelong learners, children should be
year-round learners.  Don't let your kids assume that they can
disengage their brains and waste 25% of the year just because
school's out.

 o  Schedule a part of the summer for academic work.  Summer
academic work falls into three categories: remedial, review,
and enrichment.  If the teacher has assigned work over the
summer, help the child set up a schedule to complete the
assignment before school starts--no last minute scrambling!
If the child has passed everything but is weak in an academic
area, set up your own family summer school.  30 minutes a week
in spelling or fractions can be a big help.  And, of course,
it won't hurt the A students to review some basics before
school starts.

 o  Look for enrichment courses in languages or computers at
a public or private school.

 o  Start a summer reading program for the whole family.
Include a family reading hour when each person reads aloud
as well as a reward for reading a certain number of books.

 o  Sign your child up for classes in subjects like drama or
dance offered by community organizations, or instruction in
sports like swimming or tennis.

 o  Private lessons in music or tennis enrich the child in
two ways. They provide individual instruction and they require
practice time which adds to the structure of the child's day.

 o  Day camp, sports camp, or play school provide the child
with instruction in sports or crafts as well as group experience.


NEW RESPONSIBILITIES

Enhance your children's opportunity for personal growth by
providing new challenges and experiences. Summer is the perfect
time to help children become more responsible for themselves and
to others.

 o  Show your child how to set up a schedule for the summer and
go over it with the child every week.

 o  Give each child extra summer chores.  When school's out
children have more time to do house or yard work.  Just as
children gain in height over the summer, so should they grow
in responsibility.  Try to help each child learn new ways to act
and feel responsible.  For example, older children can prepare
meals for the entire family.

 o  Buy your child a diary to write in every day.  This is an
activity children do by themselves and for themselves without
parental involvement.

 o  Encourage or suggest projects that require planning.  My
children loved putting on plays or neighborhood circuses using
the local pets. Gardening is a long-term activity.  Summer is
also a good time to start or improve collections or hobbies like
building models.  Be sure your child has a good place to work
and store the necessary paraphernalia.

 o Involve older children in volunteer work like walking an
elderly neighbor's dog or cleaning up that neighbor's yard.

Plan ahead.  Start thinking now about what summer activities
you should sign your child up for.  Work out the dates for the
family vacation well in advance so you know what weeks your
child will be free.  Leave a few days open for one day mini
vacations the entire family can enjoy--a hike or a picnic at
a nearby state park or a mystery trip.


SUMMER HEALTH AND SAFETY

Obey all Water Safety Rules: always assign a "designated
watcher" who is doing nothing but watching the children in
the pool or at the beach--not grilling chicken or talking to
friends.  Never leave a child alone near any body of water
(pool, wading pool, bathtub, bucket) even for a minute -- a
child can drown in the time it takes to answer the telephone.
Never rely on floaties or other inflatable toys.  Learn CPR
just in case.

Protect your child's skin from the SUN.  The deadliest form
of skin cancer can result from a severe sunburn in childhood.
Put sun screen on your children the way you would put mittens
on them if you lived in Minnesota -- automatically. Dress
children in a tee shirt when they are swimming to protect
the shoulders and use hats to protect the ears and face.
Protect your children's eyes from the sun with a hat and
sun glasses.

Don't forget basic child and home safety this summer:
seat belts EVERY TIME; no riding in the back of a pickup
truck;  bicycle helmets; lock up all toxic substances,
medicines, and guns; no  fireworks--even sparklers can burn;
no playing with matches, barbecue grills or campfires; no
running near glass doors.

Be sure your children observe the look-both-ways-before-
crossing-rule.  Also make sure your children know their
full name, address and phone number and know how to use 911.

Finally, PROTECT YOUR CHILD’S GROWING MIND FROM AN OVERDOSE
OF SUMMER TV.  Set up stringent summer TV rules which both
limit the child's time in front of the TV set and forbid
unwholesome programs.

Have a great summer!


Happy Parenting,
Marilyn Heins, M.D.

NOTE: There are New ParenTips on the website. See:

ParenTips


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Dr. Marilyn Heins is a Tucson pediatrician, parenting
columnist for the Arizona Daily Star, author of the book,
ParenTips, as well as a mother, stepmother and grandmother.

She is available for workshops and lectures to groups of
parents, teachers, and grandparents. See:

Dr. Heins' Lectures
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