The school year is over. Summer begins tomorrow, June 21. It’s a great time for children and families, and those of us who are a bit more mature, who surely remember the magical qualities of long, lazy summer summer days and nights.

This is a time of year when children are able, for the most part, to let their minds wander and to play to their hearts content. Education does not stop at the last school bell before the summer break.

Summer allows for exploration, experiments, excitement and very valuable continued education, which is to say, learning, in a very real and deep sense.

Children, the young ones and those strange people who are teenagers, learn by doing. They are very experiential learners. What they touch, see, smell and hear, as a package, they are likely to remember. It is for this reason that parents should provide the opportunities for their children to play.

Since there is no schedule, mostly, for how the days progress, the spontaneity of play is at the forefront of what children do. It is very important for adults to remember that children, especially the younger ones, when they are playing, actually, in their heads, become the person or thing that they are playing.

If they are part of Luke Skywalker’s entourage, or Luke or Princess Leia even, they really are them. If your child is prancing about as a horse or unicorn, or Buzz Lightyear, it’s because, to them, they have simply seamlessly morphed into the critter or person in their heads. To a child, it’s real. To you, it’s make-believe.

Superman, Superwoman, Spidey and the rest all become live, simply by putting on a cape–which to you may be an old towel–or a mask made of an old shower cap or sunglasses. They explore all the possibilities of these characters.

When you are reading to them the pictures in their minds are every bit as bright as the ones in the book.

When they graduate to chapter books, sans pictures, they create their own artwork. Your child, curled up in a cozy spot, reading, absolutely gone deeply into their book, should make your heart sing.

Warm summer nights, staying up late with a book, just to get to the next chapter, create huge bunkers of memories. We all have them.

The key here is to provide your children the space, books, and some of the stuff, to build those memories. They can make most of what they need. Some of the most creative rocket ships, ocean going ships, tanks, race cars, submarines, and general science labs, have been crafted out of cardboard boxes and crayons, or a couple of chairs next to a table with a sheet over them. It’s absolute magic to see, and even better to experience.

Get outside. Turn off the electronics. Head to the library on a regular basis, find a pool, or a park close by, and go. When it’s possible, get out of town and explore a bit.

The mountains are fairly close by, the rivers and lakes run through everything in the greater Sacramento area, the parks are legendary. For us, the ocean isn’t too far away.

It’s probably the same in many other parts of the country as well, except perhaps for the bit about the ocean. North Dakota, Nebraska, for instance, have a long way to go to get to the ocean.

Your children will learn more than you can possibly imagine over the summer break. Will it help them when the 2012-13 school year begins? Yes. Imagination and creativity drive all learning. It really is that simple.

Enjoy the summer, your families, and your next book!

 

 

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