Examining the Question of: “How Should Children Spend Their Time?”
There are many speculations and presumptions surrounding the basis of the best usage of children’s time. Parents are often overwhelmed with the different opinions presented to them; the ramifications of a child’s upbringing are well established to affect their personality and academic performance, and so this is a topic that requires deliberation of all angles.
The first and most dated suggestion is that children should spend their time experiencing new and challenging things, most often outside away from the comfort of home. In this current time where the internet is everywhere and there are a multitude of devices to use, it could be considered to be especially important. Most common activities would include: arts and crafts, camping, sports, games and socialising with friends. These are considered to help develop a variety of skills and maintain a healthy mind and body. This theory is discussed in 1Community Playthings: “First, many of the developmental tasks that children must achieve—exploring, risk-taking, fine and gross motor development and the absorption of vast amounts of basic knowledge—can be most effectively learned through outdoor play”.
Another point of view could be seen as the usage of tests and puzzles to challenge your child. This is a modern approach that attempts to amplify the child’s capacity to learn and develop. This belief is most often practiced by encouraging a child to learn a second language. It is considered to be extremely crucial to push children to be the best they can be – the brain is far less susceptible to development as we grow older. This idea is supported in the 2Cornell Chronicle: “In other words, “Cognitive advantages follow from becoming bilingual,” Lust says. “These cognitive advantages can contribute to a child’s future academic success “”.
