Finneran: School’s Out For Summer!
Friday, June 24, 2016
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No more pencils,
No more rule books,
No more teacher’s dirty looks.
It hardly seems fair to teachers so herewith I offer a suggestion---thank the teachers for a good school year.
They work hard at a crucial job. They put up with a lot of grief from pre-occupied parents, from helicopter parents, from lazy parents, and from just plain selfish parents. Believe it or not, little Becky and little Tyler are not geniuses. Nor are they angels. They’re kids, which means they are often mischievous. And the teacher’s evaluation of their work is not drenched in malice.
Speaking of kids, can we spare them the brainiac drill instruction offered as elite summer tutelage in language labs, chemistry labs, and advanced math drills? Not everyone has to go to Harvard you know. In fact, consider my six decades of research on the issue of Harvard and the absolute scientific certainty that behind every dumb idea you’ll find a Harvard man. I’m just sayin...............
In fact, rather than summer academic drills for the kids, try this---give them a ball and a bat and send them out to the nearest playground. Send them out at 8:00 AM and tell them to come home for lunch. Then after a healthy PB&J sandwich send them out again until supper time. They’ll be fine and they will learn a lot, giving them a fighting chance of ending up both nice and normal at Harvard---like Byrne, McCloskey, Craven, Reidy, McNeil, O’Donnell, Malone and a handful of others.
Summer is already too brief around here. Summer is made for kids---for running and swimming and playing with friends. For recharging the batteries and learning how to hit, catch, and throw. For hot dogs and burgers and chips rather than arugula and kale. For fried bologna and cold pizza. For fun.
Don’t worry. Your little scholar will be back at school before you know it, probably before Labor Day. Said scholar is likely to have a summer reading list. That’s where to have him focus for an hour or so each night before bed. And on those summer drives to the mountains or the Cape or to distant relatives you can play math games, geography games, and language games.
By the way, enjoy the less congested commute to and from work. The school buses are off the road for the summer and the traffic now flows. Plus we have actual daylight, rather than the seemingly perpetual dark of November, December, January, and February, making the evening commute a particular joy.
Just one more thought before I go---those elite summer sports programs can be just as deadening to a child as the brainiac drill instruction. Early morning drills, afternoon practices, and evening and weekend games can turn a child off from a favored sport. When it becomes work rather than fun you’ve crossed a line. I take my lead from Jim Palmer, a pretty good pitcher, and Bobby Orr, a pretty good hockey player, each of whom suggests playing a wide variety of sports rather than a singular round-the-clock obsession with just one sport. If there’s talent and athleticism in a child it will emerge, to be indulged in mid and late teen years with a specific chosen sport. For all the rest of us with middling ability, seasonal variety is a treat unto itself. Basketball, football, hockey, soccer, baseball, lacrosse, tennis, etc.---it’s a smorgasbord of fun with teammates, opponents, coaches, and parents.
School’s out. Summer’s in. Enjoy.
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