Reschedule vacation
Allow me to suggest that the Education Ministry think outside the box and make a drastic change to the dates of the major school vacation in July and August.
Parents and grandparents struggle every summer to find interesting and enjoyable activities for preschool and school-age children, as kindergartens and schools take the longest vacation of the year. Summer camps for those who can afford them take up short periods, but in August, most of us are scratching our heads to find ways of keeping the children happy and occupied.
There are wonderful nature attractions, as well as adventure playgrounds, forested picnic areas, trails, streams and waterfalls. But it’s too damned hot! Even our beautiful beaches are blistering hot during the daytime hours.
So what are the alternatives to sitting in air-conditioned houses watching TV or gaping all day at a computer screen? The alternatives are also indoors, but at a price. Museums and indoor play centers offer healthy and educational activities, but the cost of entry for a family is prohibitive if one has to fill up several weeks of vacation.
This year, the children’s films are of the lowest level: Smurfs Hidden Village or Captain Underpants are just examples of ear-splitting, eye-dazzling computer effects with banal story lines. What happened to the classics that were beautifully filmed not so long ago?
My suggestion, therefore, is to keep schools running during the hottest months and extend the holidays in the spring and autumn. No sooner do the kids return to school on the first day of September, they are already preparing for the High Holy Days, celebrating them and (for the benefit of teachers) recovering from them, and we are well into October.
Why not start “summer vacation” on September 1 and return to school on November 1? This would give religiously observant families ample opportunity to enjoy leisure and travel, and families could venture out into nature instead of choosing any attraction that is air conditioned.
To break up the long term between Hanukka and September, the Pessah holiday could also be extended because spring is often the most wondrous time to see Israel in bloom and splash in the replenished streams and waterfalls. What do parents say? WENDY BLUMFIELD
Haifa