Too many times have I seen children, adolescents and teens throw their school work away in pure and utter exhaustion from the school year. They seem to view summer as a time to COMPLETELY forget about school work. However, I am reminded of a therapeutic and general life lesson we all need: BALANCE.
If school is too exhausting and stressful, where are the kids, parents, and families working stress-free, rejuvenating activities into their schedule during the school year? It does not take much to “refill our energy cup.” Try an experiment of one fun (at least 30 minutes) activity during the week and at least one on the weekend. The family can take turns completing one another’s ideas (as long as they are considered “fun” by ALL the family members–remember it needs to be rejuvenating and replenishing for EVERYONE!)
What happens if we give up on work entirely (especially) as kids over the summer? Time and time again, I see a lot of children, especially those with anxiety do 0% school-related work over the summer and then face a VERY difficult adjustment during the first few weeks of school. Can we proactive?!? YOU BETCHA!!! Think about ways to work in 30 minutes -1 hour of school-related work over a 7-day week. Or, get the homework from the teacher ahead of time for the first month of school and have them work on that, to ease the effect of adjusting back into the school environment. I find most teachers to be very open to this concept, as they want their classrooms less stressful as well.
HAVE A WONDERFUL SUMMER! I promise to be back as frequently as I can!
"My Kid's Mental Health"- A blog by a clinical psychologist 