by Elizabeth Wordsmith

Created on: April 27, 2008   Last Updated: April 24, 2009

While I do not believe the school year should be lengthened, there can be many benefits for offering summer classes and opportunities for children to explore courses of studies that interest them.

Some schools offer interim courses during a part of the school year in which students can elect to work on a particular subject specifically and intently, subjects such as drama or engineering or foreign language. Some of them even take students on travel-study trips. But this isn't the norm. This would be a nice possibility during the summer months, but should be an elective.

During the school year children are charged with the task of learning required courses of study such as grammar, essay writing,reading, math, science, and history. Seldom do they have the time to explore other more personal and specific interests. Many schools do not have the funding to offer enrichment activities and to take children on field trips. The summer months allow the time and opportunities for parents to provide all those wonderful additional learning experiences.

Summer camps are a wonderful experience for children be they day camps or sleep away camps. There are so many types of summer camp experiences from which to choose: language camps, sea camps, horse camps, band camps, tennis camps, math camps, and a plethora of others. These camps allow children to explore areas of interest hands on and to really delve into a subject in a way they might not be able to in a traditional school classroom setting. Children learn social skills and learn how to do new activities in camps, and meet friends and make memories they will cherish for a life time.

Family vacations are another wonderful learning experience for children. Parents can take their children on car trips to see other parts of the country or even travel outside the country. They can enjoy their own community and visit parks and museums. They can get involved in summer programs such as children's theater, art programs, swim classes, sports classes, and other fun group activities.

A child who likes to read and write can be encouraged to make their own selection of reading material and write as their imagination leads them. With some arts and crafts supplies, they can pursue more creative interests without the restrictions of assignment guidelines and time restrictions.

Even though the school year should not be lengthened, it is vital that children not lose the advances made during the previous school year. It is important to reinforce

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