Good-bye, bad-bye

A sense of curiosity is nature's original school of education. ~~Smiley Blanton


How did it get to be the last day of school already?  Where did the school year go? 


Friday is the first full day of summer vacation for my children.  No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks.  Except that there will still be pencils and books.  My children will probably get more dirty looks from their mother this summer than they did over the school year from their teachers.

My kids are fairly good students, but even they suffer from summer brain drain.  I'm going to try to make more of an effort to prevent that this year.  We're going to play yahtzee, monopoly, or any number of other games where you end up doing math.  The girls will continue to read without much influence from me.  We'll travel and explore new things.  We'll do our best to not slide back from where we are now.

Summer brain drain can be easily overcome.  It does take a little bit of effort, but it isn't impossible to prevent.  Probably the easiest way to prevent it is to limit the screen time for your child.  TV, video games, computer time, movies, iPhones, iPads, the list goes on and on.  If it has a screen, it needs to be included in screen time.  This is the easiest and most difficult thing to do.  Chances are that when the screen is removed, the complaining will start.  "I'm bored.  There's nothing to do."  Which eventually leads to no screen time for a day or two.  At all.  Which is as much a punishment for me as it is an eye-opening experience for my children.  It usually only takes a few days of no screen time to make them remember that there is more to life than a screen.

Go outside and explore.  Yes, it can be very boring.  Especially when your child is completely engrossed in an ant hill and wants you to join in the fun of watching it.  For hours.  Give it a few minutes, and talk about the things you see.  If your child has questions, find the answers.  Even better would be to help them find the answers for themselves.  If you have questions, ask them.  What kind of bug is that?  What kind of flower is that?  Where is the Big Dipper?  Find the answers to these questions and your child may not be the only one who walks away from summer with a broader knowledge than they started with.

Let the summer learning begin!

You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.
~~Anonymous
 

Summer's Unofficial Start

Memorial Day Weekend is upon us.  I have heard repeated over and over by the weathermen that this marks the unofficial start of summer.  I'm tired of hearing that.  We live in northern Minnesota, if summer didn't start until the summer solstice on June 21st we'd miss a lot of summer days.  Summer may not technically end until September 22nd, but our northern Minnesota days and nights can get pretty chilly by then.  So, can we get the date of summer officially changed? 

 
What happens on the unofficial start of summer?  Here's a clue: grocery stores have hot dogs, buns, chips, marshmallows, and graham crackers on sale.  Home improvement stores have lawn furniture and gardening supplies on sale.  Sporting goods stores have tents and sleeping bags on sale.  You guessed it; it's outside time! 


Being that I live in northern Minnesota, I don't feel the need to get out to the campsite or lake this long weekend.  We don't live that far, so we can go any time.  Which is good, because this is the weekend that those in the metro area flock to the great outdoors.  I'll let them have this weekend and go camping when the rush has died down a bit.  I'm more of a fair weather camper anyway.  My parents went camping last weekend, and we went out and visited them for a day.  I was happy to get home that evening and sleep in my own bed instead of having to sleep under the rain clouds. 


I can wait until the official start of summer ends before I spend a weekend in the great outdoors.  After looking for pictures to go along with this posting, I don't think I can wait that long for a s'more.  It's currently pouring rain outside, so I'm not going to be able to make a fire and make an offical s'more this evening.  I suppose an unofficial one will have to do.  Just like the start of summer.


Now pass the marshmallows. 

Real Fun vs. Fake Fun

Life ain't easy. Terrible things happen to everyone. You have to keep your sense of humor, give something of yourself to others, make friends who are younger than you, learn new things, and have fun.
-George Vaillant

Fun:

–noun
1. something that provides mirth or amusement: A picnic would be fun.

2. enjoyment or playfulness: She's full of fun.

A&N in the waves, a photo by aawikstrom on Flickr.

So that's what fun is! What's fun for one person may not be fun for another. My dad would often say, "Hey, kids, let's go have some fun!!" which would be met by groans from my siblings and I. My dad's version of fun often involved picking rock, fixing fence, and making wood. That was not fun for us. Now, of course, it is kind of fun for me to haul wood. It's an activity that gets me moving in the crisp autumn air. It's "real" fun. I'm accomplishing something, I'm moving, I'm enjoying the outdoors.

I had a bit of an epiphany the other day as I was playing a game online. It occurred to me that what I was doing was fake fun. I sat like a rock on my chair, playing a game without any physical interaction. Fake fun. Now, don't get me wrong. I'm not about to get offline anytime soon. Facebook and I are about as tight as two friends can be. I have just come to the realization that I should spend more time having real fun than fake fun.

So, what is the difference between the two? I'm not really sure. I would think that real fun is something where you are having a good time, with other people or alone, doing something tangible, smiling, laughing, and moving. (Even if it's just moving the coffee cup from the table to your mouth.) Adults have a different idea of what fun is than kids do. I suppose all the various stages of life have their own ideas of what fun is. Candyland is fun when you're 3, but not much fun when you're 38 and playing Candyland for the fourth time in a day. Fun is sitting outside watching the bees buzz around your flower beds when you're 38, but as boring as watching paint dry for a 7 year old.

Reading can be fun. Right now I'm reading Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith and it's FUN! A lot of years ago I read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy. That wasn't fun. But I did it anyway. There are books that are fun, books that are a struggle to get through, books that teach you things, and books that spark thought. We've got them all here at the library. I have a tendency to do more fun reading in the summer. There's something about laying in the warm summer sunshine with a good book.

Go outside and have some real fun. Go ahead and leave a comment on your thoughts on real fun vs. fake fun. What is real fun for you? What is fake fun for you? Let us know, it would make for some fun reading for me!

There is something self-defeating in the too-conscious pursuit of pleasure. ~Max Eastman