The holiday is a time to rest, however, children still need to be guided so that they don’t entirely forget about school. A little rest and fun is good, but some activities that are connected to learning shouldn’t be forgotten. Parents ought to be part of the inspiration that allows students to keep on learning.
According to Richard Kaweesi, the chief executive of Brain Teasers Rwanda, parents should encourage the culture of reading and spelling. That is why a holiday spelling competition is organised on December 21, to enable students from eight to fifteen years of age to take part and improve their vocabulary and pronunciation, boost their confidence, and at the same time, have fun.
He says, students’ minds need to be charged with anything they can learn from so that by the time the new term begins, they are still active and ready to learn even more.
Kaweesi says that children can still take part in writing stories, as that is how they are groomed to be great authors. However, learning how to write can only be possible if these children are trained on how to read, which means, they have to read something daily.
"Don’t waste this long holiday yet you can be equipped with a number of skills; we train children in public speaking, and debates. Such abilities taught will assist them in all their endeavours, now and in the future,” he says.
Isa Kiyingi, a language teacher at CCI-Essi-Nyamirambo, says that learners should be provided with opportunities for success. Make good use of whatever talent they are good at.
He further notes, students can be equipped with hands-on-skills, like baking, weaving or tailoring, as it will not only occupy them, but will be rewarding at the same time.
Kiyingi adds that learners shouldn’t use the whole day to play games and watch TV, but use half the time for revision, so that they are able to remember what they learned in the course of the previous term.
He says that even though a student is bright, if they don’t get a chance to revise, there is a high possibility of forgetting what they learned, hence, declining in class.
"Some students have a tendency of doing their holiday package at the last minute for the sake of finishing, which leads to careless mistakes like wrong spellings, yet this can be avoided if they start attending to their holiday package in time. It enables them to do research or ask for assistance where need be,” Kiyingi says.
He also explains that parents should work hand-in-hand with teachers so that students are assessed through weekly tests, as this will push them to read more.
Holiday is the perfect time for whatever didn’t make sense in class, that is to say, any topic that seemed complicated can be given extra time so that it is further explained. By the time school starts, it will be one of the simplest topics, Kaweesi says.
Kiyingi urges parents to use this time to take their children for a thorough health check-up to know if they have any problems that need medical attention.
He believes that a healthy child is likely to concentrate more in class than a child who is sickly and isn’t able to attend classes always.
Kiyingi also says that for students with health conditions, parents should notify their teachers so that they know how to handle them while at school.
Barbra Kantengwa, a teacher at APAPEC-Irebero School, Gisozi, urges students, especially those joining candidate classes, to plan how they will aim at being the best. It is now that they can set such goals because they can’t accomplish what they haven’t planned yet.
She also notes that students who haven’t behaved well must use this time to improve their behaviour.