Teaching life lessons during summertime

To the dismay of some parents and to the utter joy of most children, school is out for the summer. But that doesn't mean education takes a pause.

Follow me, if you will.

When kids take a break from the textbook over the summer months, there are still ample lessons that can be taught and learned on personal responsibility, initiative and maturity.

Granted, kids need a break from the classroom, the tests and the homework.

But parents can play a substantial role in the summer months by teaching the important life lessons that, quite frankly, only parents can teach.

Sleeping half the day away followed by video games or endless television may be a leisure pursuit that is attractive to kids. But those habits do little to teach equally important aspects of life like personal responsibility.

Chores around the house should not be optional for kids over the summer months. By holding higher expectations for youngsters, parents can teach a lesson about life and success and motivation.

Don't misunderstand. A 12-year-old should not be expected to hold a summer job. But that 12-year-old can be responsible for emptying the trash and helping around the house.

Unfortunately, absentee parents during the school year are most likely to be absent during the summer as well.

But parents miss a golden opportunity when they fail to teach those essential life lessons over the summer months.

Kids will be kids as well they should. They should play and romp and spend endless summer hours enjoying their youth and all that goes with that magical time.

But in the real world we often have to work first and enjoy that wonderful leisure time second. It's a lesson that should not be lost on our children.

If a child is held to some expectations at home they tend to accept those same levels of expectation in the classroom.

If a child is held to no expectations whatsoever, then the transition to the classroom becomes more difficult.

I didn't often practice what I preached when I was raising children. And much of that stems from the fact that parents don't want to always be seen as the taskmaster to their children.

But simple lessons taught over the summer can reap major benefits when the school bell rings this fall.

And those same lessons that carry over to the classroom may well carry over to life.