The New Year holidays are approaching, and therefore the question of how schoolchildren will relax during the winter holidays of the 2018-2019 academic year becomes relevant. The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation has compiled several indicative timetables for different educational systems.
Thus, children who study in quarters will have a rest from December 26, 2018 to January 8, 2019. As for those children who study in semesters and modules, for them the winter holidays will come twice - from December 29, 2018 to January 8, 2019 and from February 18 to 24, 2019.
How are the dates for the school New Year holidays for the 2019-2019 school year formed?
The management of each school educational institution has the right to independently decide in what period to organize holidays for students. The decision is approved at a special meeting of the governing council, which, it should be noted, includes not only teachers and administration, but also the parents of the students themselves.
Since there are currently several educational systems, the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation takes this fact into account and publishes several recommended schedules that the management of educational institutions should rely on. Usually these schedules are adjusted as each school has its own needs and requirements. In connection with this fact, the final vacation schedule is published on the official website of a particular educational institution.
How long will the school New Year holidays last for the 2018-2019 school year?
For those schoolchildren whose educational process is divided into quarters, vacations traditionally last 7 days in autumn and spring, and as for the winter period, at this time the vacation period lasts 2 weeks. It should be noted that taking into account other holidays, school management has the right to add several days to the autumn or winter holidays.
In this regard, the approximate dates for the winter holidays are as follows: from December 26 of the current 2018 to January 8 of the next 2019. As for first-graders, additional holidays are provided for them, which will take place from February 25 to March 3. Such a measure is necessary in order to make the educational load on the child more moderate, and so that those students who are behind in the educational process can catch up on lost material.
For those studying in semesters or modules, winter holidays are provided for the period from December 29 of the current 2018 to January 8 of the next 2019, as well as from February 18 to 24 of the next 2019. For trimesters, the schedule will essentially be the same. Under this system, the year is divided into three academic parts (autumn, winter and spring), with holidays in between and an additional week of rest in the middle of each trimester.
The sun shines brighter, nature blossoms, but with humans it’s the other way around. The spring decline in children’s well-being is especially noticeable: they study worse, complain of headaches, and fatigue. The reasons are clear: over the long winter, the body has used up its resources, vegetables and fruits have almost lost useful vitamins, and the workload for many children is prohibitively high. But there is still the end of the school year ahead with its difficult tests, and some have exams coming up - transfer, graduation, entrance exams... How to help young and old during this period? The deputy director of the Institute of Age Physiology of the Russian Academy of Education, Professor Valentin Syunkin, and the head of the laboratory of health-saving technologies at the same institute, Evgenia Babenkova, talk about this.
1. Most often, fatigue accumulates in children who do not follow the daily routine well. In the spring, it is not too late to arrange it - so that work alternates with rest, so that the child goes to bed on time, and at the same time, and does not get up at noon, even if he studies in the second shift. Observance of the regime must be taught, and not controlled, like a warden. Three “selfs” are important here - self-control, introspection, self-esteem. This will be useful for life.
2. The second reason for spring malaise is lack of movement. In winter, the days are short, many simply do not have enough time to take a walk or play outside. Now there is more daylight, so outdoor games and walks should be done daily.
3. Children who are physically weak or who are often ill often experience drowsiness in the spring. Do not interfere with your child's desire to sleep during the day on weekends. But remember: for younger schoolchildren, the most favorable sleep time is from 13 to 15.
The duration of rest should be a multiple of 45 minutes - this is the physiological sleep cycle.
4. Another reason for spring malaise is exorbitant ambition, and often not even of the child himself, but of his parents. Such children must certainly do everything in the best possible way, be the first everywhere and in everything - but there are not enough reserves. Lower the bar of your requirements, give your child the opportunity to refuse something and do something to the minimum. It is impossible to be first everywhere.
5. Children, like adults, are divided into two main psychological types: “sprinters” and “stayers”. These features are already formed within 7-8 years. The first ones do everything quickly, often change activities, are impulsive, impetuous. The latter are slow and thorough; if they get into something, they cannot quickly get out of it. Observe your child and build his routine in accordance with his individuality. If you demand behavior that is contrary to his nature, you will ensure that the child becomes neurotic. Respect his individuality. Try to understand him.
6. Many parents complain that their child is lazy. However, the problem is not that simple. In principle, a child’s laziness, which appears from time to time, must be respected. Perhaps he is simply not interested in what he should be doing, and the protest is expressed in the form of laziness. It is also possible that this is a desire to protect oneself from excessive energy expenditure. But if a child is always lazy in everything, this is an alarming symptom. This means that something is wrong in the conditions that surround him. Analyze what your requirements are for him, when and why he became lazy. If you cannot figure out the reason yourself, you should contact a specialist.
7. Often at the end of the school year, children have or escalate a conflict with some teacher. The student is not always to blame for this. Teachers are real people, they also get tired, sometimes they can be unfair, but it is difficult for a child to understand this. Children perceive injustice extremely acutely. Your task is to help get out of this situation with dignity. The best option is to avoid escalating the conflict and settle it with a reasonable compromise. But the child should know well that he can count on you to stand up for him.
8. In spring, it is important to properly organize your nutrition. Children's diet should include vegetables, fruits, herbs, legumes, nuts, and meat. It is better not to involve the student in observing fasts; this is unsafe for the child’s body. It is worth introducing multivitamins, rosehip tea, vitamin drinks from cranberries, lingonberries, etc. into your diet.
9. During this period, you should not limit your child’s sweets if he is not overweight or allergic to specific foods. Sweets are a supplier of carbohydrates, which are necessary for an intensively working brain. Firstly, chocolate is a source of calories, and secondly, the substances contained in natural chocolate relieve stress.
10. If a child has trouble sleeping, under no circumstances give him sleeping pills without consulting a doctor. It’s better to take a walk together for 30-40 minutes before going to bed. Then let him take a warm shower, drink a glass of warm milk with a spoon of honey. Sit next to him when he goes to bed, talk, caress him. Most of all, a child at this time, as in general, needs “vitamin L” - your love.
How to support a child at the end of the school year, if his strength is running low and he wants to go for a walk?
These simple techniques will help the student gather his thoughts in order to successfully finish the year.
Method "by contradiction"
If you are the happy parent of an independent student who has managed just fine without your help all year, it's simple. Offer your child small daily and weekly rewards for academic success. A conscientious student of any age will be pleased to receive a snack or a movie ticket.The reward is valuable, but your attention and care are even more important.
For those who have been poring over lessons with their child since September 1, we advise you to surprise him. Pick up your student from class in the middle of the day, feed him his favorite lunch, and spend time together. Play board games, take a walk in the park, or watch a movie, and let him get plenty of sleep the next day.
Nothing will happen in two days without school, but a sudden change of environment and communication with you will give you strength.
The child will feel that you understand and support him, and this is the main condition for successful studies.
Self-organization techniques
Some guys are counting the days until summer, sometimes even putting crosses on the calendar. We suggest going further: depict the remaining training period in the form of a race track or time line and hang it in a visible place.Mark each week and important deadlines in the form of vertical lines (marks) with signatures. For example, a reporting concert in a music class, a test in geography. Let the child mark the progress himself: on the race track, he moves the car on a pin or magnet from pole to pole, and paints over a section of the days lived on the time line.
A visual picture will show the progress. When success is visible, it is easier to work.
In this case, the plan of important deadlines will be in front of your eyes, and the child will not miss anything.
Another approach will help distribute forces when there are not many of them. Invite your child to write on separate pieces of paper the names of important matters of the last quarter, for example, correcting a D on a history test, preparing a speech for the last bell for 9th graders.
For each task, you need to write down three levels of completion: minimal, medium and high. Everything is individual: for some, retaking the story with a “B” is a high result, but for others it is a low one. For a concert for graduates, it is not necessary to prepare a choreographic sketch with vocal accompaniment; at a minimum level, it can only be a song or poetry.
The student must determine for himself what is a sufficient result for him and what is excellent.
This way he will prioritize, spend a minimum of effort on small things and devote time to important things.
Human factor
Introduce your child to a passionate professional. Typically, schoolchildren enroll in sections, clubs and circles in the fall, so do not expect high results from classes at the end of the year. The point is for the child to immerse himself in a new atmosphere and try himself in a different activity.Find a place where a teacher or coach will definitely hook your child: a robotics club, Bulgarian language courses or a street dance school.
When a new bright spot appears in life - regular activities that you love in a circle of like-minded people, and even under the guidance of a passionate mentor, it is easier for a child to find the strength for routine activities.
If a student is not just exhausted by the end of the year, but has missed something in the academic program, it is worth taking 2-4 lessons with a tutor or a training course in the subject.
Find a professional teacher who can help your child overcome learning difficulties and build self-confidence. If there are no good in-person courses in your city, take online classes in difficult subjects. Lessons via Skype or on an online platform will cost two to three times less than usual.
Remember that the child “grows” those qualities and traits that parents pay attention to. Praise and celebrate your child’s successes more often, and be understanding about mistakes and forgetfulness. Your teenager will very soon become an adult, and he will be able to do anything if you support him now.
There are only 3 months until the end of the school year, the children are already quite tired of studying and there are no, no, marks in the diary, but C grades are starting to appear more often. You need to have time to fix everything before the final tests, but there are also exams ahead for whom you need to prepare, but you don’t have the strength or desire.
What to do? TutorOnline has collected useful tips for parents!
1. There is no such word “must”. Yes, it was the other way around all the time, but it won’t work now. The more you repeat to the child “you must”, “must”, “sit down and teach”, the more protest this will cause. And even if a child sits down to read books, most likely he will learn absolutely nothing.
2. Not “you”, but “we”. Now is the time to help share with your child the burden that has accumulated during the school year. And by saying “we,” instead of “you must,” you need, you must,” you psychologically stand on the same side with the child. No matter how old the student is, 8 or 16, he always needs support and the feeling that he is not alone with all problems. Replace “Go get ready for your exams” with “We really need to prepare for this exam one hundred percent and we will do it!” Prepare your child some tea with a delicious sandwich while he sits at his textbooks. And don’t forget to tell him how proud you are them.
3. Decide why you need it. Often children lose interest in studying because they consider all these subjects unnecessary, why teach them and waste energy? Decide together which subjects you really need to know perfectly well and why. For example, speaking English can be linked to traveling to an English-speaking country. And mathematics and the Russian language will become the main subjects on the Unified State Exam, which you need to pass well in order to enter the university of your dreams.
4. Don't set exorbitant goals. For example, if a child has a weak C in mathematics and chemistry, you should not demand that he get a solid A at the end of the quarter. Even motivation with some kind of gift or trip will not help here. The child will objectively understand that he cannot cope in such a short period of time. And if everything is clear from the very beginning, why try?
It’s better to agree that you need to reach 4, even if it’s a stretch. But this goal is already more realistic and worth fighting for.
5. Find a really good tutor. In this case, this is not the one who trains children for the Unified State Examination or Unified State Examination tests, without giving a break, “but they pass everything.” You need a teacher who can communicate easily and simply with the student, explaining the material in a way that is actually interesting to listen to. Believe me, mathematics can also be easy and even funny. And you can get so carried away with English that it will be difficult to return to Russian speech! Visit us, fill out an application for a free lesson and we will find you just such a good tutor in any of the subjects, and you will see for yourself!
Start following these tips today and in a couple of weeks you will notice that studying for your child ceases to be a punishment and a heavy duty! And by the end of the school year you will see excellent results in your diary!
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The new school year begins on September 1. Not only children, but also parents need to prepare mentally for it.
Evolution Yuga.ru learned from child psychologists Elena Steshenko and Alina Edryshova about what parents are afraid of and why it is harmful to pass on fears to children, how to set up a child for a new life and help maintain interest in learning.
analytically oriented psychologist, clinical psychologist, child psychologist. Head of the children's development center "Pencils"
The start of the school year is stressful. And that's okay
For adults and children, any change of place of residence or change of social role causes frustration - everything new frightens, unsettles, takes you out of your comfort zone. A period of getting used to new things is normal. Any development comes through frustration, through a collision with something unfamiliar and frightening.
child and family psychologist-consultant, psychotherapist, certified specialist in the field of individual and family counseling
For elementary school students, the most effective way to instill an interest in learning is through interaction with the world. For example, you can put your name out of pebbles. Look at the constellations, look for their names. Watch sunrises and sunsets. Collect leaves, look in a book or on the Internet what kind of trees they are. Then at school he will have the feeling that he is already familiar with this, and it will be easier.
If a child goes to first grade, it is worth telling him how and what will happen. Just describe the picture: there is a teacher, there are children, there will be about the same number of them there, you will study until such and such an hour, I will pick you up, you will not sleep at school like in kindergarten.
All parents are scared
The first thing that parents, especially parents of first-graders, face is their new status associated with the child’s growing up. Now he is the parent of a schoolchild who should already be a little independent. Just at this time, the child has a seven-year-old crisis - he wants to do something himself, dress himself, choose his own backpack and stationery. The parent, faced with this, is afraid of missing out on the child. I very often hear at receptions: “And if I give him freedom, won’t I miss him?”
Another fear is when parents, especially mothers, see their child as an extension of themselves. Therefore, the child’s possible failures are equated to personal failures. It’s as if the child is forced to take the rap in this world for his mother. “If he doesn’t cope, what will people think of me?” the parents reason. And this is automatically transmitted to the child - what if you can’t cope, what if you don’t get an “A”. And the child is afraid to let the parent down, feels the burden of responsibility and tries to do less of anything, just so as not to make a mistake.
A child's failures are equivalent to personal failures. It’s as if the child is forced to take the rap in this world for his mother
In general, it’s completely normal for parents to worry about their child, it’s normal to be afraid that someone might not like him, that he won’t be able to cope with something. But it is important not to fill the child with this fear.
Child's fears
The deepest fear is the fear of being rejected, of not being accepted in the team. This is due to infantile experiences about how safe the child feels in the world. A sense of security is formed in the relationship with the mother during the first year of life. And if the fear of rejection manifests itself at school, the fear of entering into something new, meeting other children, then probably this attachment is not very reliable. At the same time, it is necessary to take into account that the fear of rejection occurs not only among first-graders; older children can also worry about this: suddenly everyone has changed over the summer, suddenly they won’t accept me, suddenly my friends don’t need me anymore.
Whether the child adapts well to the new team and to new activities will be clear by October. If you have problems with this, do not hesitate to seek help from specialists.
To understand how a child feels about learning, playing “school” at home helps a lot. Parents can pretend that they are sitting in class, being capricious, and not wanting to read or teach anything. And the child tries to act as a teacher, stand near an imaginary blackboard, ask to open the textbooks, and assign homework. Firstly, this will help him see his role from the outside, join the teacher and understand his motives, and secondly, it will show his attitude to the process. We often use this game for diagnostics, not only at the beginning of the school year.
How to understand that a child is having a psychologically difficult time at school
This is quite noticeable - the child sleeps poorly, wakes up at night, and has bad dreams. Psychosomatic problems begin when the internal state is expressed through illness: stomach pain, headache, nausea.
At home, he does not talk about his friends, does not say any names, with whom he went to have a snack during recess, with whom he walked home after school.
How to adjust your child to a new daily routine
Any organism is quite easily rebuilt. The child smoothly enters the new rhythm and gets used to it. But psychologists recommend that parents not keep their children until 12 at night and during the holidays. There are books, fairy tales, when the parent sits down next to you and helps you fall asleep at about 10 pm. Rarely does anyone change this regime for the summer. But if the child still has to get up noticeably earlier, you can encourage him and say: “You are getting older, this is normal, we go to work in the morning, and you go to school, you will get used to it.”
If a child is a little older, in pre-teenage, and wants to read a book late into the night or sit at the computer, and because of this his routine is disrupted, then you need to understand who makes the rules in the family. It’s bad when the world is completely centered around the child, when he becomes the center by whose rules the whole family lives. If he always makes the rules himself, this not only does not help him, but also hinders him.
The parent can negotiate with the child: “Okay, it’s 10 now, you can still read the book until 11, but not longer.” Well, besides, ten-year-olds have been at school for several years now, they say: “Oh, I’ll start getting up normally in September,” and they start. Yes, it’s difficult at first, like it was for us after the holidays, but the children adjust.
The beginning of school automatically adjusts the daily routine, and the child gradually gets used to it. I don’t know adults who devote a week, or even three or four days of their vacation, to getting ready for work. Almost all adults relax, trying to enjoy every minute, so why take away this precious time from your children?
What words from parents hurt rather than help?
First of all, there should be no comparisons with others: with a neighbor, with Vasya, with Petya. You can’t say: “You didn’t solve the example, but Vasya did it.” You didn’t do any pull-ups on the horizontal bar, but Petya did.” Any comparisons hurt the child very painfully; the initiative to try something is discouraged - why do something if I’m already worse.
Or fears when parents themselves say: “Oh, it would be better if you stayed in kindergarten, school is so difficult.” Everything that parents say out loud is absorbed by the child and works like a program. “School is scary. They will laugh at you at school. If you misbehave, the teacher will hit you with a ruler.” Such words should be avoided.
“I believe in you” is the most important message. Tell your child that you believe in him, that he can handle everything.
It’s worth saying: “We are always with you, we will protect you in any case, we will be proud of you, no matter what happens to you” - and say something good about the school. “I believe in you” is the most important message. Tell your child that you believe in him, that he can handle everything.
School, extra classes and after-school activities
During the adaptation period, it is important to maintain those activities that the child enjoys. If he can draw, let him do it, it’s his outlet. Something that will discharge and stimulate him. He will know that he will come, do his homework and then he will be able to do what he loves, go to acrobatics or dancing.
But you shouldn’t immediately fill up with new additional classes, English, sports sections, music school, this can lead to overload. The child should have free time. If a first-grader wants to play, let him play, he’s still a child.
Extended days are also different. They often help to better adapt to school. Extended care is needed to ensure that the child is not left to his own devices at home for too long. We need to watch the after-school program. It’s good if the after-school program involves walks in the fresh air, sections related to creativity, where the child can relax.
If a child starts going to such an after-school program and you feel that he wants to study there, then why not. It's very individual.
How to understand that a child is overloaded
Excessive workload in studying causes apathy, constant “I’m tired, it’s hard for me.” Of course, by the end of the school year all children begin to feel this, but at the beginning it is not a good sign. The child will often get sick: when the emotional background decreases, the immune system also decreases, so the child begins to catch all colds. Tics and stuttering appear. This all speaks of high internal tension.
If teachers work too hard
The parent must keep in touch with the teacher. As a rule, primary school teachers do not distance themselves from their parents. The teacher observes the child in a group setting, and hearing his opinion is very important, so don’t be shy to ask.
Now there are chats with mothers or teachers, and if the whole class is outraged by the demands, then this is an issue that everyone raises together. But if only one child has problems, then the question is about his psycho-emotional state.
Sometimes we see that the child seems to be absent, in fantasy. Often this has to do with what is happening at home in the family. He is digesting some situation - quarrels and divorce of parents, death of relatives, birth of a brother or sister. The first children in families have a hard time with the appearance of younger ones and may even regress, playing with the little ones so that they are given more attention. This may also affect your studies.
If you think your child needs more time to settle into school, it's best to go and talk to the teacher about it. Only you know your child best, and only you can support and protect him in front of the teacher.
Difficulties when moving from one school to another
This is not only a situation that should cause alarm, but also a way to observe how the child fits into the new team. Sometimes in adolescence (from the age of 11), moving to a new school means living with a clean slate and the opportunity to become popular. Parents can help the child adapt: offer to invite new friends home, go to a cafe together, somehow help the child establish contact. In addition, the child watches how we communicate with our friends, whether there are traditions of getting together on holidays. Do we say good or bad things behind our friends' backs? All this is absorbed and reflected in how the child will behave with new friends.
If a child moves to another school, then you need to understand that in addition to the fact that he will have to spend energy adapting to the new one, he may still have sad, sad, angry feelings about the fact that he parted with his old friends and teachers, which he liked. Therefore, we need to talk, ask how he feels at the new school.
I had a case with a girl who had problems adapting to a new school. When we started working with her, it turned out that she was embarrassed to even ask where the toilet was in this school. Seems like a simple thing that could have been avoided if the parents had walked around the school with her and looked into it.
Briefly about the main thing
It is normal to worry about your child going to school. The main thing is not to broadcast your fear to him. You cannot compare your child with other children, scare them at school, talk about evil teachers and conflicts with classmates.
You need to separate yourself and the child and stop perceiving his failures as your own. This will remove the psychological burden from him. Faith in his strength and support from his parents is much more important and effective.
Children's biggest fear at school is being rejected by their peer group. If it is difficult for a child to adapt, it makes sense to consult a specialist.
Additional activities should not overload the child. At the beginning of the school year, it is better to leave those activities that bring him pleasure, such as dancing or drawing.
It is important to ask your child how he feels at school, pay attention to fatigue, to what he does not talk about, for example, about friends. It is necessary to maintain contact with teachers, because they can clearly see how well the child is adapting. It’s normal to defend your child’s interests to the teacher, because only you know him better than anyone else.