Vacations have transformed drastically over the years.
From a time of unstructured play and fun, vacations now are a time to learn and sharpen new skills.
If you are finding it difficult to use your vacations more productively, then here are 10 steps to help you.
1. Make a Decision
Make a decision to utilize the vacation effectively from the very first day onwards. Whatever may be the plan, start from the first day itself. Once you postpone the beginning, it is difficult to stay on track.
Make a good plan and schedule for the whole vacation. Even consider leisure times too. ‘Well begun is half done.’ So make the decision properly and follow it.
2. Wake up Early in the Morning
Make it a habit to wake up early in the morning as on regular school days. Sometimes we may have the tendency to sleep for more time, but that is dangerous. If we do it for a few days it becomes a habit and it will be difficult for us to wake up even on school days. It will help you to have enough time to do daily targets. It is good to be active from the morning itself.
3. Focus on Health and Hygiene
Only a healthy body can have a healthy mind.
“To keep a body in good health is a duty…. Otherwise, we shall not be able to keep our mind strong and clear.”- Buddha.
So use your vacation in a proper way that won’t harm your health. Hygiene is a part of discipline.
4. Studies should be Continued
Even on holidays, studying remains essential for a student. It doesn’t matter whether we have finished one academic year or it’s a vacation after the exams.
Fix a particular time every day for studies and continue them. Revise the previous year’s topics or read in advance for the coming year.
Both will help you when you are back at school. Some schools will give assignments for the vacation.
5. Execute your Plans Strictly
Reduce the ‘doing nothing’ hours to the minimum. Everything that you are doing should be according to the plan.
If any changes occur, you must find the time to do the missed activities ASAP.
6. Be part of activities that give you more Exposure
It will be a great experience if you become a part of any social service or volunteer groups.
It will increase your ability to mingle with society and you can gain more friends aside from your schoolmates. So be in touch with your friends, have a great sense of accomplishment, stay active and feel fresh.
7. Start some new business that suits your hobby
Gather knowledge about the scope of your hobby to expand your vacation activities. For example, those who are interested in agriculture must learn about cultivation and try small farming activities at home.
8. Learn new technologies
Those who are interested in IT should join for some computer course and study their favorite topic in a systematic way.
Try to explore more information about computer programming and software. It will be a great advantage in the present day.
9. Camping
Go for some camps and have some adventures! It would be a great experience to stay away from home and school for a few days.
Children would be able to enjoy entirely different lifestyles for some days. Students will learn so many things from outdoor camps and it will help in their personality development.
They will learn to cook and to do households chores from camps.
10. Read New Books
Make sure that you read at least two books in a one month vacation. Choose a classic one and a recent best seller.
Make it a habit of writing down your opinion about the book. The children must read everyday newspaper thoroughly as it is necessary to increase their knowledge about current affairs.
Always be in touch with your school. Parents have the responsibility to guide and support them during these vacation activities. Teachers can only assist them by giving guidelines. There are a number of software which makes the parent-teacher interaction an easy task.
EYFS programmes have so many good ideas for utilizing school vacation productively for pre-schoolers too. But parents should be informed of the light-hearted nature of EYFS programmes. Vacations are not for entertainment only. If we plan well, it can be more useful than regular schooldays.