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Clare Wooldridge

There's More to Educating than Schoolwork: Summer Tuition (Part 3)

Clare Wooldridge

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My Family Care asks Clare: Children spend many months of the year in the classroom but some parents feel they need extra tuition during the holidays. Do children need the tuition and do they benefit from the extra help? What can parents be doing at home to make things more educational but still fun?

 

I'm opting out

I'll lay my cards on the table at the outset - I won't be organising summer tuition for my kids (aged 9 and 12) this summer. To be honest, the thought had not even crossed my mind and (having done a quick poll at the school gates last week) it seems I am not alone. It just doesn't seem to be part of the fabric around here (my kids go to non-selective state schools in a North-East London borough). But being asked the question has made me think about whether I should...

Both kids are subjected to tests every half-term to measure their progress so we have a pretty good idea of how they are doing and they are apparently both where they should be. If we extended their formal learning into the holidays they would probably do even better and exceed their targets. But to what end and at what cost?

Time for a bit of R and R

As the kids of working parents, they lead very full lives during term-time - out of the house by 8am and rarely home again before 5pm having taken part in a range of extra-curricular activities after the formal school day has ended. Evenings and weekends are taken up with homework, instrumental practice and an array of sporting activities.

Come holiday time, what they most seem to crave is a chance to relax, catch up with their friends and lead a less structured life whilst they re-charge their batteries - both have been known on occasion to stay in bed beyond midday reading - why not?! And family time of course - both still enjoy spending time out and about with their parents and I'm making the most of that while it lasts! Neither has missed a single day of school in the last three years and I feel sure that having proper downtime in the holidays has played a big part in that.

Of course it is important that they do well in school, get a fistful of decent qualifications and jobs that give them personal fulfilment and pay the rent. But they also need to be happy, well-rounded individuals with a wide range of interests and experiences. In our household, formal academic study takes place in term-time only; holidays are for spreading your wings, having new experiences and making memories to last a lifetime.

If it worked for us...

I can't remember how to do algebra anymore (and my parents did pay for me to have maths tuition!) but I have perfect recall of sunny days on the beach in Suffolk with my cousin (incidentally now a highly-qualified scientist who has spent his career working on the Hadron Collider) introducing me to the delights of rock-pooling, and my grandparents (sadly now long gone) stuffing us full of jam sandwiches and ice creams whilst teaching us Geordie folk songs.

I'll never know what difference - if any - it would have made to my life if I had spent my summers with my head in my school books instead. But I think my husband and I have turned out ok - we had similar childhood experiences - and we're 100% comfortable with following the same path with our children.

Not a workbook in sight

So, with both parents still at work during the first two weeks, the summer holidays in our house will pan out something like this:

  • Art camp for my daughter - bliss for her as neither parent has a creative bone in their body whilst she likes nothing better than to do and make
  • Table tennis camp for my son - 6 hours a day, non-stop. Not something either mum or dad would have the stamina for
  • Followed by two weeks of visiting grandparents and assorted relatives who live too far away for term-time weekend catch-ups, with dad who, thankfully, has a more generous holiday allowance than me
  • And finally two weeks of family holiday abroad. It's Orlando this year - nil points for educational value but we are going to have a ball!

And in between times, lots of family activities - visits to the zoo, museums, art galleries, National Trust properties, ice skating, swimming at the lido, walks on the marshes, BBQs in the garden with friends, a trip to Southend, the new Minion movie... the kids' wish list is endless!

Come the dark autumn evenings, I'll mug up on my algebra and make mathematical geniuses of both my kids. There's time enough for that yet.

Clare Wooldridge, Mum of 2, Coaching and Consultancy Services Manager

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