Summer Holidays

We are two weeks into the Summer Holidays - the much-awaited time of the year for kids. I don't know why but I have been getting nostalgic a lot recently and it has started to reflect in my writing - well, more than reflect, I have dedicated a couple of posts to my childhood recollections, in the past month.

• Dialing Back in Time
• Cycling Tales: Riding down the memory lane
• Meeno and Muffin
• Is the Game Over?

I won't bore you down with the details of my uninteresting summer holidays because they were filled with only piles of homework. The only good thing about it was that my dad used to reward me for finishing my homework on time and before my brothers.

Coming back to the present, the educational system is nothing like what it was back in my day. It's all activity-based with less homework. Each of my kids has got one homework booklet. Both books are so cool that I am tempted to do their homework myself.

Enough of the homework because that's mandatory without a question. I intend to share something else which is - the summer plan of my son. He's written it down with so much enthusiasm that I almost felt that he was going to follow it.

Homework is top of the list which seems like his last priority now.

He takes as much interest in religion as he does in science. I'm happy that he's still taking his Quran classes despite the holidays from school and he's also learning how to pray.

Another activity that is on the list and he's regularly doing is swimming. His mom is afraid of water, it's a good thing he's not. All the benefits of swimming (cardiovascular health, strength, endurance) aside, what I love the most is that he comes home exhausted and sleeps on time. 🤣

Homework, Quran, and Swimming are the usuals. He's doing something new this summer. Although related to academics, he's excited about it.

There's an International level Science test in August for which he's appearing. The test will be conducted in his school and an outline of the topics has been shared. He's never prepared for an exam with this level (or any level) of enthusiasm but he's happy about it like it's a cricket world cup. Unlike me, he's religiously following the T20 World Cup.

Life Cycle, Motion, Classification, Environment, Plants, Animals, Human Body, Food, Housing and Clothing, Family and Festivals, Occupations, Good Habits and Safety Rules, Transport and Communication, Air, Water, Patterns, Measuring Units, Geometrical Shapes, Analogy, Living and Non-living Things.

He's studying these topics for the test. I'm also kind of excited to help him prepare. Until now, he's been leanring writing basics in school, this is the first time they have introduced science and other concepts. Perhaps, that's why we both are thrilled about it.

Some other activities on his list are:

• Read at least one book
• Learn about cars
• Learn about plants
• Learn to take pictures
• Learn to make food

I made him add the last one. 😅 I told him that he should learn to prepare his food that doesn't require a burner or knives.

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All is going well but we are leaving for our hometown for Eid-ul-Adha soon and this whole list of activities is going to get messed up badly.

I wanted to share this light blog because I don't know when I will be able to write again. I will try to not fall out of Steem's routine but already have curation and newcomers on my small plate, so fingers crossed.