Old School Summer


summerlearningFacts are facts, and the facts are that summer vacation sets back the learning process. It’s a well known fact, and teachers in America have been discussing the challenges it creates for well over a century now. Young students in the midst of learning new skills have a summer interruption, get a bit rusty in that area, and then on the other side time is spent reviewing what was taught back in the spring.

The tradition of summer is so ingrained in American tradition now, it is difficult to imagine a time when it will be no longer. And supporters of the tradition actually have greater arguments now as children’s school schedule and extracurricula activities leave little unstructured time for the imagination to be free. It is the nostalgic sense of freedom that summer vacation evokes, and for good cause.

Imgaination is inherent in childhood, but any stage of life should fight its stagnation. People with imagination shape the world, they invent, they inspire, they lead. The authority of school and home can often stifle the imagination, so summer vacation can offer more opportunities for exploration, personal preference, and adventure.

When it comes to reading, if you want to read adventure stories or fairy-tales, read them. If you want to build castles in the sand, or castles in the sky, do it. Day dream for a day, for dreams are our hopes and visions for the future.

The young at heart are always receptive to Nature’s influence. Take time to be a teacher, to yourself, to others, and interpret the life of a flower, a tree, a bird, a fish, and inspire yourself and others to new discoveries. Through intelligent empathy we can find the unity of life.

The residents of Franklin Lakes, Oakland, and Wyckoff are fortunate with each town investing into the wealth of Nature, each community investing into preserving opportunities for students of every age, from 1 to 100, to continue to learn through the summer months.

Franklin Lakes Nature Preserve

Oakland Hiking Trail

Wyckoff’s McFaul Center

Here are two classic poems to help get you inspired for a summer that will leave you smarter.

Tables Turned by William Wordsworth

Fern Hill by Dylan Thomas