The term “summer classes” was a foreign concept to those who had their elementary and high school education during the 90’s and the years before that. Most especially, to a kid who grew up in provincial towns and barrios during those times, the closest idea that they can conceive out of the term “summer class” was of their manong or manang spending the humid summer days studying in the city while they can spend those class-free days swimming in the river or planning tactics on how to snatch some Indian mangoes from the neighbor’s yard without getting caught.
Back then, summer classes were only for manongs and manangs who were studying in a university or college in the city. Summer classes were only used as a term by the most well-off kids in the school as an excuse for learning how to play the piano or violin and some other instruments that majority of the kids their age haven’t had the opportunity to learn. Moreover, my concept as an impressionable elementary kid during the early 90’s was that summer classes were only for those who didn’t do well during the whole school year----that it was like a sort of punishment. For how couldn’t it be such, I thought, when because of this so called “summer class”, one couldn’t do the things that kids should supposed to do during summer, and that is playing to the heart’s content? In short, during those times, “summer class” wasn’t really a part of the vocabulary of elementary or high school students because it didn’t really involve them anyway.
We couldn’t really pinpoint the exact cause. Maybe it’s the need for the kids to be able to catch up with the fast changing trends and evolving ideas. Maybe, it’s because of parents who have to hold more than one job to make both ends meet, and therefore, would entrust their kids to the school and different training centers since they don’t have the time to watch over them during those supposed to be class-free days. Maybe, it’s because of the increasing stiff competition in all areas that only those who are highly skilled enough can stand out. Maybe, it’s just the fact that everyone seems to be into it so, “why not follow the trend?”. Or maybe, it’s just an eventual cumulative process of these several reasons that in the past few years, it seems that the “summer class” trend has come crashing in as a big wave, totally changing students’ and parents’ concept of summer. All of a sudden, everyone, from five-year old kids to impressionable 16-year old teenagers, is pre-occupied by their own specific summer class and activity. And the summer classes range from academic subjects, to dance classes, to photography, to acting and drama lessons, and even cooking----the list appears to be endless. As early as the month of January or February, parents already plan the summer activity that they would enroll their kids into, and that’s aside from the summer course in their kids’ school which offers prerequisite subjects and lessons for the next school year. So the supposed to be class-free summer days turns into a one whole itinerary of activities.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not against summer classes. As a teacher, I appreciate the fact that because of the taking of prerequisite subjects during summer, teaching that particular subject in the coming school year is like sailing in less-turbulent seas. I also understand the desire of the parents to let their children explore and develop their skills by letting them enroll in different summer activities and programs. However, what I am opposed about is the fact that with the rigid and scheduled activities prepared for the kids, there is no time for the “make-believe” plays, there is no time for imagination, there is no time for “kid’s time”. Take for example, I have encountered several parents who are so eager for their kids to become good at everything that they enroll their kids to take prerequisite subjects in school, then they proceed to their swimming class, attend their speech and drama class, and do some ballet and dancing classes in between. And imagine 7 and 8 year old kids doing that? Now, do not wonder anymore why we often hear kids saying “I’m bored!”. That’s probably because during the brief in-betweens of the prepared activities for them or when their gadgets are off limits, they couldn’t think of ways to interest themselves. That’s because, the current scenario of planning their activities for them including what they should do during their spare time don’t really allow them to maximize the full potential of their imagination.
These are the changing times we say. I couldn’t agree any less to that. However, if there’s something that doesn’t change, it’s the fact that kids need play and enough room for imagination. And what we mean by play and room for imagination is not something that we readily provide or carefully plan but something that we leave to the kids to figure out for themselves. Enrolling the kids in summer classes definitely helps them in many ways. Not only do they learn new skills which may come in handy in the next coming years but they also learn to interact with other kids and develop their social skills. However, when it consumes all the time and energy of young kids such that there is no room for rest and imaginative play, then it becomes unhealthy. Maybe, we need to relearn a thing or two about the childhood and the summers of the 90’s and the years before that. Yes, the kids who grew up during those times didn’t have summer classes but they grew up just perfectly fine. That’s because during those summers, the world was their classroom.
Personally, it was during summer in which I learned to ride the bike, learned to choreograph our dance and song number for the fiesta and Flores de Mayo without a formal dance and voice classes, learned to deliver and project different roles depending on the story of our balay-balay and that’s without a formal acting class, learned the art of leadership during the laying of the rules of games such as panagu-ay and piko, learned that sometimes you have to be bruised to get to the top the moment I learned to climb and conquered my first tree. Yes, we didn’t have well planned itinerary for our summer activities during those times but if there was something that was developed within us because of the spare time given and entrusted solely for us, it was imagination.
And just like what Einstein said, the true sign of intelligence is not knowledge but imagination. As much as we want our kids to become wholistic learners, let’s try giving them something else, something very vital. Imagination.
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