in the ancient world, if you weren’t working… just to survive, you had time, leisure. And with that leisure, you had the luxury… of study, of learning, of enriching yourself…
Andrew Pudewa, Institute for Excellence in Writing
The Liberated Learner — Column by Suzanne Kearney
Summer has officially begun in the Kearney family and the house is currently quiet. My oldest is helping at a basketball camp, my middle is playing chess (okay, it’s on an app, but at least he’s engaging his mind), and my daughter is working a puzzle at the kitchen table. Are we “not doing school”? Some would say yes, but I disagree. You could say we are not engaging in traditional academic pursuits, but we are still learning. Summer is the time of year when we spend less time on the Three R’s and branch out. The key is to find balance.
It reminds me of an episode I heard several years ago on The Arts of Language Podcast. The speakers were discussing the learning loss that inevitably takes place over the summer when children are “off” from school. At the time, I instantly felt a creeping sense of panic. Would my children forget everything I had stuffed into their brains the past nine months? Would we have to start all over in the fall? Should we never take a break? I was somewhat relieved to realize that they talked more about alternative forms of learning during the summer months, rather than continuing to pound through books and papers when the sun was shining and the beach beckoning.
The temptation during this time is to either push through the “curriculum” (either because it’s not finished, your child is “behind,” you want to “get ahead,” or some other reason), or, to do nothing at all. Neither is great for you or your child. Students aren’t the only ones who need time off—so does Mom. But time off with nothing on the agenda is also counterproductive; multiplying the temptation to waste away the long, warm days being sucked into the four corners of a screen.
There is an alternative, a balanced way to keep kids engaged in the learning process while still preserving some of that laid-backness that makes summer a time of refreshment. In my home, we have a summer “checklist” that the kids complete before accessing screen time, which includes reading (something chosen by the child), a math puzzle or challenge (something fun they can work together on as a collaborative thinking project and not just rote drills), a household need or task to complete, and time spent outside.
We have pickleball set up on the driveway, a volleyball net on the grass, and we’re getting our hot tub ready. My kids also help with our little “farm”—picking, harvesting, and canning all the fresh produce that comes from our garden and fruit trees. Add to this frequent outings: beach days, parks, prepping animals for the state fair, meeting with friends, travel (local and, this summer, international), as well as work (paid and volunteer), and this rounds out the “real-life learning” that takes place during the months of June through August.
Other great ideas were also offered during the above-mentioned podcast: state history/local state parks and museums; nature study; read-alouds; camps; arts and crafts; family tree/geneaology research; scavenger hunts; studying and following maps; cooking; sewing; or researching a topic of interest for which there wasn’t time during the school year.
If you’re feeling a bit worried that your child might fall behind if the books stay on the shelves the next three months, take comfort from the Greeks: According to etymology.com, “The word ‘school’ originates from the Greek term ‘skholē,’ which originally meant ‘leisure’ or ‘free time’.
In the ancient world, having the time to learn was a luxury to be engaged in only when the “work” was done. Unfortunately, our culture has turned the word’s original meaning on its head. I propose that we rethink the ways we educate, take advantage of the short window our children are given to engage full-time in the luxury of learning, and make education the fascinating exploration it was meant to be.
This summer, think of some things that you want to learn alongside your kids, and plan out some days on the calendar. Fall will come soon enough, and before you know it, your kids will be grown. The time is now.
