Summer can be beneficial for children, learning

Summer vacation can lead to new levels of learning with many benefits for children of all ages. To begin with, children can have more time to play with their friends as well as develop new friendships with students who do not attend the same school.

Playtime is very important for children as it gives them time to relax, go on vacations and spend time at the library. Libraries have a tremendous number of books for children. When parents take their children to the library, the “kids” soon discover there is a lot of information out there.

Some time ago, when I was at a library in the Twin Cities, a young child was asking a librarian questions about South America. The librarian showed the child some geography books, and he was smiling from ear to ear. He was all excited about picking out one or two books to take home to read.

The librarian asked him a question: “Do you think you can read that book?” He immediately said “Yes, and if I have any trouble, I can ask my mom or dad for some help.” He went on to say he really was excited about learning more about South America, and he hoped he could convince his parents to go on a vacation in Brazil. He said he had high hopes of visiting the jungles and learning about the South American Indians.

The librarian asked another question: “How did you know there are jungles and Indians in South America?” His response, “I have read about it, and I want to learn more.”

The child was going into third grade, and it turned out the books he was looking at were at a much higher level than his grade level.

The summer vacation provides time for children to not only get a chance to read more books, but also meet new friends, which in turn can provide an opportunity to learn about hobbies. One experience I have with a child took place on the Pizza Train on the North Shore Scenic Railroad. (I volunteer as a car hop.) The young boy told me that he had no idea that passenger trains existed, and especially a train where you could have pizza. He said he thought you could only get pizza at the store or a restaurant.

He went on to ask if there were such things as toy trains. His family lived in a small town in the Upper Peninsula, where there were no railroads, as well as no hobby shops either. We told him that he and his parents could visit the depot to see what model trains look like. He was so excited about what a model train looked like.

When children get introduced to hobbies it almost always stimulates an interest to learn more about the subject. Besides hobbies, such as stamp collecting, there are hobbies involving airplanes, either models of fighter planes or passenger airlines and more, automobile models and the list can go on. The stimulation to learn more about a specific hobby can lead to books and magazines, where there is a tremendous amount of information about the topic.

Thus reading about a variety of topics for not only hobbies, can provide children with new levels of the types of books out there. Fiction stories, geography, astronomy, and more can stimulate students for new levels of a quest for learning. Besides that, reading books provides children with new levels of conversations about what they have read with both adults and other children.

Books of all types can stimulate children to think about what they might like to do for their career. Just one example would be about animals. In this case, it might cause them to think about a future in biology, zoology, or how to care for pets of all kinds.

It is common for children who read during summer vacation to return to school at a higher reading level than when they finished the previous grade. Beside the expanded levels of knowledge have a long lasting impact on the desire to learn, and have in-depth conversations, not only with classmates, but with adults as well.

There is no doubt about it, reading provides new levels of interest and a quest for learning.

Patrick C. Dorin is a member of the Superior school board and retired as principal. He has also worked in the railroad industry and has published numerous books.

Tags: opinion, family, health, education