Cure for BoredomBy Peggy Kord
Suite101
The sun is shining! Birds
are chirping! Flowers are blooming! Temperatures are rising! It’s summer!
You picture your children playing and laughing happy to be free of the regiment
of school! What a glorious time of the year! Then it happens! The serenity
of the season is broken. Two words can cloud the sun, silence the birds and
freeze you daydream! You know what they are but
play along with me. Shrug your shoulders, roll your eyes and in your whiniest
voice (with defiance please) scream, “I’m bored!” The summer’s
worst syndrome has attacked your family! I don’t think an official
study has been done but if it were all children equally whine those two words
whether gifted or not. However, as a parent, they are least likely to be tolerated
coming from a gifted child’s lip curled mouth. This child is supposed to
be a creative thinker! Her curiosity and “gift” for exploration and
discovery should surly keep her occupied! Wrong! Even a gifted child needs direction.
He must be channeled! That’s where, as a parent, you must do your pre summer
homework! Vacation and residential
camp planning is easy compared to the lull of in-between hazy days! The time
to get started was at the end of last summer. Don’t panic! You still have
time. Get a notebook. One with
dividers is preferable. How you divide it is up to you. Some suggestions are
outdoors, computer, local places, and day trips. After you have your main topic,
start researching! This may sound way too systematic but it will lower your
blood pressure when a“lilting” voice chimes, “I’m bored!” Outdoors – This
is probably the easiest category. Ask your child (before school is out) about
her favorite summer things to do outside. Write this list down. Then begin your
own list. Walks with counting activities. Walks with alphabet activities. Animal
watches, insect alerts, guessing destinations of people you see are ideas. Chalk
games, ball games, jump rope rhymes you played as a child always intrigue children.
Mine were fascinated by kick the can and watermelon seed spitting contests (I
grew up in Chicago what more can I say). Give her an ordinary thing and tell
her to create a game and then play with her. Computer – Your
gifted child is probably better at surfing then you are! What he needs is direction.
Have him find out about something you have a question about. Have him create
a new holiday and send e-cards to relatives
and friends! Use map finder to compute some exotic destination! There are endless
possibilities. Local Places –
Call the library for their summer programs. Contact your chamber of commerce.
They will be able to give you tour schedules of local businesses and factories. Day Trips –
Call the YMCA for a list of their summer activities. Contact the park district
for planned activities and swimming schedules. Visit a zoo. Walk through a museum. Present your child with
a disposable camera at the beginning of the summer. Let her take her own summer
memory pictures and make a scrapbook. The pages can be created as she takes
the pictures leaving a space for the developed picture. Follow up questions and
activities are a key in gifted parenting. Whatever the activities encourage
your child to take his experience one step further. Open-ended activities are
mind builders! Get to work! Safeguard your
sanity! You can be victorious over the “I’m bored” syndrome!
MEET YOUR PALPeggy Kord has a B.A. in
English with an Art minor and a M.S. in Gifted and Elementary Education. She
has taught kindergarten, middle school, Basic English at the High school level,
and Composition, Reading, Speech, Interpersonal Communications, and Study Skills
at the jr. college level. Mrs. Lord was also the Special Populations director
and an academic advisor for the college. She coached the state final speech
team, directed and wrote school plays, and was a gifted director. She has also
been very involved in a birth-3 program for children with disabilities. You
can read more articles by her at:
http://www.suite101.com/welcome.cfm/simply_gifted | 
