Choosing the right summer extracurricular activities for kids

In recent years, summer extracurricular programs for children have become increasingly rich and diverse, showing great concern of society for the need for entertainment and comprehensive development of children. Besides familiar types such as summer camps, sports clubs, life skills training classes, talent classes... recently, the form of summer extracurricular activities at temples (also known as summer retreats) is attracting the attention of many parents.

According to experts, children actively participating in extracurricular activities will help them improve their health, develop their physical strength, increase their adaptability, and at the same time help relieve stress and pressure from studying. Experiences from extracurricular activities help children discover themselves, develop comprehensively, demonstrate their abilities and personal strengths, making them confident and more motivated to be ready to enter the new school year. On the other hand, extracurricular activities also encourage children to strengthen their bonds with friends, build team spirit as well as develop necessary life skills, expand their social knowledge, and avoid getting caught up in useless and unhealthy games.

In fact, after a vibrant summer with diverse and useful extracurricular activities, many children have had positive changes in their awareness and actions, knowing how to appreciate the merits of their parents and teachers, living independently, being responsible for themselves and their families. To achieve this result, parents must choose the types of summer activities that are suitable for their children. This is an extremely important requirement because the increasing demand for summer extracurricular programs for children has caused the market in this field to grow rapidly, quality is difficult to control, the situation of gold and copper mixed together is not easy to distinguish, pushing many parents into a situation of losing money and suffering.

Observing reality, children's participation in summer extracurricular activities today mainly comes from the wishes of their parents, not really from the needs, concerns, and excitement of the children themselves. Because of being forced by their parents to participate in summer camps, summer clubs, etc., many children are still psychologically uncomfortable, even having uncooperative and rebellious attitudes. Specifically, when participating in the course, children always find excuses to cause trouble with friends and instructors, do not comply with regulations, and become difficult to manage. Therefore, participating in summer extracurricular activities not only does not bring good results but also upsets parents, causing psychological inhibition for children. Some children experience mental health problems after participating in summer camps, and have to be treated for a long time to recover.

Besides, the organization of summer extracurricular activities in some places still has many shortcomings from the curriculum, activity content, to inadequate facilities.

Recently, summer retreats have attracted a lot of attention. This is one of the activities that temples proactively organize according to their abilities and conditions. The goal of the retreats is to create opportunities for participants to learn about the teachings and ethics, cultivate their souls, train their minds and experience the monastic lifestyle, without being dependent on technological devices.

However, even though it is a form of extracurricular activity at the temple, the children participating in the experience do not simply sit and listen to lectures and learn doctrines, but also need a practical environment to help practice life skills, have healthy entertainment, as well as conditions to ensure safety of life and health. Caring for, teaching, managing, and guiding hundreds of children at the same time requires the organization at the temple to be extremely professional, but not all places have the capacity to implement it.

The content taught in the retreats is something that worries many parents.

At some facilities, the accommodation is cramped, hygiene is not guaranteed, and there is a lack of human resources to manage activities, care for and supervise children, causing the activities at some retreats to be patchwork, unsystematic, and ineffective, causing unfortunate consequences.

In addition, the content of the teachings in the retreats is something that makes many parents worried. Following some lectures in the program of a retreat that was spread online, even adults feel burdened by the somewhat "technical" content of the teachings. It should be noted that the audience for these teachings are students aged 9-15, an age of innocence, naivety, hyperactivity, and somewhat incomplete awareness. Therefore, it is impossible not to worry because if the content of the lecture is not suitable for the psychology of the age group, it is very likely that it will make it difficult for the children to concentrate, making studying and listening to the teachings not as effective as desired.

Not to mention, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Tran Thanh Nam (University of Education , Hanoi National University), the proliferation of summer camps in the form of retreats, learning lifestyles and survival skills without strict control of quality and standards is very likely to not only not contribute to educating students' qualities and personalities but also cause harm and insecurity for them both physically and mentally.

He analyzed: "We do not realize the difference between normal play activities and educational activities that form skills and qualities through play activities. Sending children to an experience area and playing freely will never help them form skills. Asking children to wake up early, fold their own blankets, and pick up trash in a few days of experience cannot help children form the quality of self-discipline, but only spontaneous behavior due to compulsion."

This reality shows that encouraging children to participate in summer extracurricular activities is necessary, but it is necessary to choose the right type for each child, absolutely cannot follow the trend, the crowd, so that the consequences that children have to bear are very unpredictable. Accordingly, before considering the type of activity suitable for their children, parents need to pay attention, carefully research the program, consult with those who have participated, can even go directly to the place to evaluate, at the same time discuss with children, on that basis make a decision whether to let their children participate or not.

It is also important to emphasize that regardless of the different types, from clubs, summer camps or retreats, they only provide short-term experiences for children and are not a magic wand to immediately transform them into the role models that parents expect. If you want children to form skills, habits of living in order, discipline, and independence, parents as well as teachers must regularly support, guide and accompany them. Besides the important role of family and school, children also need the attention and support of the whole community in building a safe and healthy environment, helping children have the opportunity to play and entertain, contributing to comprehensive development of both mind and body.

Faced with the current situation of summer extracurricular activities flourishing across the country in many forms, it is thought that the authorities as well as the government need to have an appropriate control mechanism. Because summer activities, whether organized by an organization, individual, or temple, but with the nature of educational activities, attracting a large number of children to participate, need to be strictly managed to ensure quality and effectiveness, safety for children, which is also to protect their rights. Specifically, the authorities should only allow extracurricular activities to be organized for qualified units, avoiding spontaneous development, while not having enough actual capacity.

At the same time, there needs to be regular inspection and supervision by competent authorities of the curriculum, experiential activities, as well as environmental sanitation, food safety, security and order plans, fire prevention, etc. Strengthening management and supervision by competent authorities will help prevent negative aspects in the implementation of summer extracurricular activities, as well as prevent the problem of online fraud impersonating summer camps, retreats, and life skills classes that are showing signs of outbreak. A meaningful summer will become a beautiful and unforgettable memory in the luggage of many children when entering adulthood. Therefore, from now on, parents should work with their children to create joyful and rewarding days, a practical playground in the summer from their sober and wise choices.

Source: https://nhandan.vn/lua-chon-hoat-dong-ngoai-khoa-mua-he-phu-hop-voi-tre-em-post815425.html