Three rules to decide first for elementary school summer vacation: How to manage daily rhythm, homework, and screen time

Summer vacation has begun.

For children, it is the long-awaited summer vacation.

“No school!”
“I can take it easy in the morning!”
“What should I play?”

They might be filled with such excitement.

On the other hand, as parents, we might feel a bit uneasy.

“How should we handle homework?”
“Will their daily rhythm be okay?”
“Will their time spent on games and videos increase too much?”
“What should I even say to them every day?”

Summer vacation is long.

That is precisely why, now that it has just begun, there are a few things parents and children should confirm together.

The secret to getting through summer vacation without conflict as a family is
not to manage everything strictly, but to set some “family guidelines” at the start.I believe.

First, these are the three things you should decide.

There is no need to create perfect rules.

However, just by talking about them a little at the beginning, when things fall apart during the summer vacation,

“We decided to do it this way, didn't we?”

it becomes a way to remind them.

Summer vacation is easy to get lost in because of all the freedom.

On school days, the rhythm is somewhat set.

Wake up in the morning.
Go to school.
Come home.
Do homework.
Eat dinner.
Go to sleep.

Of course, every day is hectic, but there is a flow.

However, during summer vacation, that flow loosens all at once.

That is also the beauty of summer vacation.

🍧 You can take it easy.
🍧 You can do what you like.
🍧 You spend more time at home.
🍧 You can work on things you usually can't.

However, with more free time, both children and parents can easily feel lost.

“What time will you wake up?”
“When will you do your homework?”
“How much gaming is okay?”
“What should I do today?”

If things start off vaguely like this, it becomes easy for parents and children to clash after a few days.

That is why, now that summer vacation has begun, it is time for parents and children to first confirm “our family's summer vacation rules.”

This is not to restrict the child.

It is preparation to make the long summer vacation a little easier for both parents and children to spend together.

Thing to decide #1: Daily rhythm ⏰️

The first thing to decide is the daily rhythm.

Since it is summer vacation, I don't think it has to be exactly the same as school days.

It's okay to have days where you wake up a little later.
It's okay to have days where you just relax.
It is also important to have time to breathe a sigh of relief after the first term ends.

However, if your day-night cycle gets reversed, it will be hard to fix later.

So, parents and children should just confirm these two things.

“What time will you wake up in the morning?”
“What time will you go to bed at night?”

It doesn't have to be decided down to the exact minute.

But having a rough guideline makes it easier to speak up when the daily rhythm starts to fall apart.

“It's almost time for bed.”
“We decided what time we would go to bed, right?”

Just being able to say this one thing makes the parent's warning feel a little softer.

Thing to decide #2: How to proceed with homework

The next thing to decide is how to proceed with homework.

Summer vacation homework might seem like it has plenty of time now that it has just begun.

However, if you let your guard down, the days will pass in the blink of an eye.

Workbooks.
Printouts.
Book reports.
Independent research projects.
Art or crafts.
Diaries.
Tablet assignments.

The content varies by school and grade level, but first, it is important to make 'what needs to be done' visible.

As I wrote before in 3 things parents and children should decide before summer vacation to reduce asking 'Did you do your homework?', checking these three things will make summer homework a little easier.

✅ What homework is there
✅ When to start the difficult homework
✅ When and how much the parent will check

In particular, homework like book reports, independent research, and crafts is difficult if left until the end.

Therefore,

'When will you start thinking about this?'
'From what date will you start the workbooks?'
'Will the parent check it every day? How many times a week?'

Talk about these things at the beginning.

Parents do not need to manage everything.

However, it is also difficult to leave it entirely up to the child.

The support parents can provide is not to provide the answers, but to create a plan together.

Just by looking at the overall homework at the start of summer vacation, it becomes easier to reduce the number of times you ask 'Did you do your homework?' in the second half.

Things to decide (3): How to end games and videos

During summer vacation, time spent on games and videos tends to increase.

I don't think you need to forbid all of this either.

It is one of the pleasures for children.

However, if you haven't decided on anything, it's easy to have arguments when it's time to finish.

"It's over!"
"Just a little more!"
"I'm at a good part!"
"I told you that already!"

This exchange happens, doesn't it?

That's why, for games and videos, I recommend deciding not just on the time, but also on the "way to finish." is recommended.

For example,

"Finish before dinner"
"Stop once when the timer goes off"
"Do it after homework"
"Finish by what time at night"

There will be days when they can't keep them.

But if you have decided on them, parents don't have to get angry from scratch every time.

"What are you going to do about the way we agreed to finish?"

Just being able to say that makes a little bit of a difference.

Rules are landmarks to return to

During summer vacation, there will definitely be days when things don't go as planned.

Days when you go out.
Days when it's hot and you're tired.
Days when parents are busy with work.
Days when the child isn't in a good mood to move.

Therefore, rules are not made just to make them follow them perfectly.

They are for returning to when things fall apart. is.

"Shall we go back to this once more?"
"Shall we try to remember what we decided at the beginning?"

If you have a landmark you can say that to,it becomes easier to get back on track in the middle of summer vacation.

Summer vacation, let's start by deciding this

Summer vacation is an exciting time for children. is.

Precisely because they have finished the first term, some time to rest is also important.

However, now that the long break has started,if you don't decide anything and just go with the flow, it can become difficult for both parent and child later on.

So, start with these three things.

1. What time to wake up in the morning and what time to go to bed

2. The amount of homework, the day to start, and when the parent will check it

3. How to finish playing games or watching videos

Not to force them to work hard, butso that parent and child can spend time together pleasantly.

Now that summer vacation has begun, why not start by talking a little bit about“our family's summer vacation rules”?

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