A teenager who cannot be dragged out of bed, the toddler who wants another ice cream for dessert or your youngest child who spends all day on the tablet. After four weeks of summer vacation, it is no longer so cozy in many households and parents are counting down to the start of the new school year. That begs the question: isn’t six weeks off in the summer a bit too long?
All primary schools in Brabant will be open again in a week and a half. According to pedagogue Daniëlle Relouw of Kinderpraktijk Eindhoven, this is a major transition for many children after six weeks of holiday. “When the structure of school disappears, you see that reflected in the behavior and every child expresses itself differently. For example, they can become tearful or angry without the incentives and challenges they do receive at school.”
“It might be better to have a shorter summer holiday and to be free more often in between.”
According to Relouw, there is a big difference between children who do not go on holiday and children who do. “When you’re at home for six weeks, your brain gets quite a dip. Relaxation is of course good for parent and child, but you also see that children get bored after a while. It would perhaps be better to shorten the summer holidays and to release more often in between.”
Relouw also has two children of his own and the youngest is going to group three this school year. “She has to get used to the school system during the first two weeks, but quite a lot is already being asked of her. My daughter must know a lot of letters by the autumn holidays. I’m already practicing with her, but you shouldn’t be doing that during the summer holidays.”
“In week two you can see that they are back in the rhythm and that things are going well.”
Jasper van der Noordt, master Jasper for the children, works as a group 6 teacher at the Klimroos primary school in Roosendaal. In the first week of the school year, he knows that he has to do his best to get the children back into the school rhythm. “They’re wobbling a bit more in their seats and they’re more easily distracted.”
That’s why I don’t focus on learning during the first week. I let them talk about the holidays and we play games to get the atmosphere in the classroom right and to get to know each other. Children secretly find a new school year with a new teacher quite exciting, but in week two you see that they are used to it again and that it is going well.”
Still, Master Jasper wouldn’t want to shorten the six-week vacation. “In Germany, the United Kingdom and Denmark, they also have six weeks of holiday. In Belgium, schools are closed for two months in the summer and in many other countries they have even longer holidays. Then six weeks is actually not too bad.”