By Nandi Bette
Once again the long vacation is here. Parents will, for some time heave a sigh of relief and have some rest.
There will be a respite from the early morning routine of waking up to prepare the children for school; picking them home after dismissal; and assisting them do homework assignments.
But even at that, parents will still be faced with the task of taking care and guiding the children during the long vacation period to ensure they don’t derail. This is in view of the fact that an idle mind is the devil’s workshop.
Incidentally, some parents complain that during the long vacation children play too much, disturb through out the whole day, and eat a lot of food.
As a result of this, parents choose to send the children back to school for the so-called *holiday lessons*. This, however should not be the best thing to do.
It is noteworthy to bear in mind that the Experts who designed the Education Calendar, ages ago, deliberately created the long vacation period to allow children take a break from academic work, so that the brain can rest from formal classroom lessons.
The long vacation should rather therefore be a period for the children to learn new things that are not taught in school; things that may involve more of manipulative skills.
In this era when the world is turning towards innovative entrepreneurship, the long vacation should be a period for the children to acquire useful skills and knowledge, especially as they prepare for adulthood.
Exposing and training children to learn new skills and programs is highly beneficial instead of sending them back to school for the same classroom routine, when they ought to officially be on holiday.
There are so many skills today that children need to learn for them to fit into the competitive society the world has become.
Even the best of schools may not be able to teach those skills as subjects; so it becomes the responsibility of parents to ensure that their children acquire such skills elsewhere during the long vacation.
Children could, for instance, be introduced to *Adventure Skills* by taking them to visit a memorable place, or travel to a new location during holidays to provide them with new experiences.
They could be encouraged to learn *Coding And Computer* Skills to further prepare them for the Computer based tests that have beome the mode of writing Examinations.
Children could be exposed to *Culinary* skills, for them to learn to prepare at least one new meal during the holidays. It may interest the females to go into baking Cakes.Both Boys and girls need to at least know how to boil water for garri or tea.
Children could be trained on how to respond to *Safety and Security* threats in view of the growing insecurity of our time.
Children could as well be taught some *Family Support* skills. They could learn to play some basic roles in the family, like following the parents to the shop or market to keep records of sales.
Children could be introduced to *Health and Hygiene* skills. This will help them begin to promote neatness inside and outside the home.
Children could be introduced to *Musical* skills, where they could learn to play one or two musical instruments during holidays
They could as well learn *Crafting And Pattern* skills, so that the could draw, cut and join clothing patterns or other materials to produce a usable item of decoration that may be used to beautify the home.
Most importantly, Children could be introduced to *Gardening and Planting* skills. They could be taught to plant flowers at home. Those in rural areas could be made to accompany their parents to farm.
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This helps build a mindset of creating the necessity of growing food. The children will be equipped to acknowledge the importance of farming and key into the reality that there is dignity in manual labour.
There are other activities that could be employed to keep children busy during the long vacation, rather than sending them back to same school for lessons during holiday.
In conclusion, parenting should not just stop at sending children to school, paying school fees and providing their material needs. There is need for parents and children to really bond together during the long vacation, This is a necessity that requires utmost attention.
In the midst of so much hustle to make ends meet, some Fathers leave home before Children rise, and most often return when the may have retired to bed.
So the Long Vacation should afford Children the opportunity to get closer, feel the warmth and know better of their parents, especially their fathers!