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FROM
THE SUPERINTENDENT’S CORNER
Making Lasting Memories on Vacation
By Dr. Carole G. Hankin with Randi T. Sachs
With summer upon us, many of you are
probably planning trips with your family. No doubt you’ve chosen your
destination carefully and considered many different factors. The ages and
interest of your children are certain to impact your decision, but the good
news is that for most children, any kind of travel can be an adventure and an
opportunity for learning.
Summer travel has some unique advantages. It’s a great chance to get away from
your family’s usual routine and rhythm of meshing everyone’s individual activities
and interests into your daily calendar. It’s a time to connect with one
another. So be sure to include some downtime on your itinerary, even if you
have a lot of different sights you want to visit. On vacation, you can all
experience new things together. You can take adventure trips such as white
water rafting, hiking on mountain trails, or horseback riding, all carefully
guided and supervised by experts. You can experience different cultures, or see
great works of art that you may only have seen before in books.
If your children are old enough, give them their own inexpensive digital
cameras and let them snap away. Digital cameras are so freeing for the young
photographer. They can see their photos instantly, and if it’s not worth keeping
it can be deleted just as fast. The expenses saved from having film developed
quickly cover the cost of the cameras for your children.
My granddaughter keeps a special travelogue album that she created based on the
popular “Flat Stanley” character. A paper doll she made in her own image is
taken along on all her trips. She photographs the doll in different settings
and then pastes the picture along with a written description in her album. It’s
a great way to motivate your children to write about their travel experiences
and also about the interesting people that they meet during their family
adventures. She also will send the doll along with family or friends on trips
of their own. They take a picture of the doll in a different setting, and she
learns about that place and writes about it in her album.
If your travel plans bring your children together with new friends or family
you don’t get to see regularly—perhaps cousins who live far away, or
friends they meet at a resort area children’s program—it’s become quite easy
to maintain these friendships as email pals (the modern-day answer to pen
pals).
Vacation travel can be very special times
for children. With photographs and written descriptions they can revisit their
favorite places anytime they want to. Enjoy viewing their photo albums and scrapbooks
with them. You’ll be able to take the trip all over again through your
children’s eyes.#
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