The summer holiday is a long one for schoolchildren. Parents may be surprised to learn that it's also, potentially, a damaging one. The findings of a recent study by Harris Cooper, a professor of psychology and neuroscience at Duke University in North Carolina, suggest that children typically "forget" between one and three months of schooling during the break.
Maths skills were particularly badly affected in the survey, as they are dependent on memory. As for reading, while middle-class children improved over the summer (because independent reading tends to be an ingrained practice in middle-class homes) their working-class peers suffered marked deterioration, a classic demonstration of what's known in educational circles as "faucet theory", where resources for the poor are turned off during the holidays.
For Cooper, this pattern explained the "achievement gap between those who have financial resources and those who don't" and he suggested a simple solution: summer learning programmes. This sounds like a severe, less-than-fun way to spend a summer holiday when, many parents would argue, children ought to be relaxing away from the increasingly pressured environment of school.
Like many educationalists, Cooper feels the long summer holiday is an anachronism - a hangover in many cases from an agriculture-based economy. Now politicians are starting to feel the same: earlier this year, the Dutch education minister Marja van Bijsterveldt put forward draft legislation to shorten Dutch schools' summer holidays from seven weeks to six, though it was bitterly opposed by teaching unions.
Still, Cooper told the National Summer Learning Association in the US that he believed summer afforded "more freedom to digress from a prescribed curriculum, so you can study at a more leisurely, individualised pace". Which is a roundabout way of saying you can do more or less what you like as long as it has educational value.
With this in mind, then, here are some summer activities to train (rather than drain) the brain:
Design a treasure hunt
Hide treats around your home. The trick here is to make the clues brain-teasing questions or riddles that relate to where you've hidden things.
Go through family photos
Children are fascinated by the past, and old photographs are a brilliant way to bring it to life, especially if they feature known people. Encourage them to think about technology (why are the cars different?), fashion (why is Auntie Marge wearing that awful dress?) and war (how come the house Granddad is standing in front of no longer exists?). You could even discuss the nature of photography itself. Why is a particular image black and white? What is the difference between digital and chemical photography?
Play a board game
In a world of Nintendo DS and Wii, it's hard to convince children of the value of board games. The gameplay will feel slow to them at first and the rules hard to learn. Persevere, though, and you will have a brilliant time. Children are both competitive and acquisitive, qualities that lend themselves to Monopoly. But my seven-year-old loves the mystery-solving element of Cluedo (the "classic" format, not the tacky relaunched version). And despite the game's fearsome cerebral reputation, the basics of chess are by no means beyond primary-age children.
Put on a play
Find a box of dressing-up clothes and help your cast devise a plot. Discuss how acts and scenes work, and how dialogue moves the story along while teaching us about a character. Think about different types of plays. Will this be a pantomime or a serious drama? Why, in Shakespeare plays, do people often speak in verse? Is it true that in the old days the groundlings in the stalls used to talk through the performance and throw things at the actors?
Write a story
Buy them a beautiful, cloth-bound pad or similar ornate notebook and a quill pen. Give basic instructions: the story should be in a certain genre, should feature four characters, should take place by the seaside. Then step back and let them get on with it.
Tie-dyeing
Easier than it sounds, plus your kids won't have any preconceptions about hippies and nasty market stalls. Get some old white T-shirts. Fold them up and tie them with rubber bands or string and leave them to soak in a fabric dye. How is the effect produced?
Make biscuits
It's so simple, you can't go wrong. Well, you can, but not if you use this recipe: mix together 250g butter, softened; 140g caster sugar; 1 egg yolk; 2 tsp vanilla extract; 300g plain flour. Roll out the resulting dough, cut into strips, place on a baking tray and cook for 15 minutes at 180°C. Get children to measure out the ingredients; also to think about why they might need more of one ingredient, flour, say, than another.
Make a city out of boxes
Shoeboxes are good, though you can use bigger ones for public buildings. Paint them, cut door- and window-holes, design their interiors, then arrange them around the room. Tell stories about the houses you've made. Why have you arranged them in a particular way? (Where should the hospital be in relation to the block of flats?) Where should the roads go? What about trees, fountains and sculptures to brighten the place up a bit?
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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The design
The protective shell is covered in solar panels to make use of light and produce energy. This will drastically reduce energy loss.
More than 80 per cent of the energy consumed by the French pavilion will be produced by the sun.
The architecture will control light sources to provide a highly insulated and airtight building.
The forecourt is protected from the sun and the plants will refresh the inner spaces.
A micro water treatment plant will recycle used water to supply the irrigation for the plants and to flush the toilets. This will reduce the pavilion’s need for fresh water by 30 per cent.
Energy-saving equipment will be used for all lighting and projections.
Beyond its use for the expo, the pavilion will be easy to dismantle and reuse the material.
Some elements of the metal frame can be prefabricated in a factory.
From architects to sound technicians and construction companies, a group of experts from 10 companies have created the pavilion.
Work will begin in May; the first stone will be laid in Dubai in the second quarter of 2019.
Construction of the pavilion will take 17 months from May 2019 to September 2020.
Results
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The specs
Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors
Power: 480kW
Torque: 850Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)
On sale: Now
The specs
Engine: 2-litre or 3-litre 4Motion all-wheel-drive Power: 250Nm (2-litre); 340 (3-litre) Torque: 450Nm Transmission: 8-speed automatic Starting price: From Dh212,000 On sale: Now
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Where can I submit a sample?
Volunteers can now submit DNA samples at a number of centres across Abu Dhabi. The programme is open to all ages.
Collection centres in Abu Dhabi include:
- Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (ADNEC)
- Biogenix Labs in Masdar City
- Al Towayya in Al Ain
- NMC Royal Hospital in Khalifa City
- Bareen International Hospital
- NMC Specialty Hospital, Al Ain
- NMC Royal Medical Centre - Abu Dhabi
- NMC Royal Women’s Hospital.
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FIXTURES
All times UAE ( 4 GMT)
Friday
Saint-Etienne v Montpellier (10.45pm)
Saturday
Monaco v Caen (7pm)
Amiens v Bordeaux (10pm)
Angers v Toulouse (10pm)
Metz v Dijon (10pm)
Nantes v Guingamp (10pm)
Rennes v Lille (10pm)
Sunday
Nice v Strasbourg (5pm)
Troyes v Lyon (7pm)
Marseille v Paris Saint-Germain (11pm)
Thank You for Banking with Us
Director: Laila Abbas
Starring: Yasmine Al Massri, Clara Khoury, Kamel El Basha, Ashraf Barhoum
Rating: 4/5
What is Genes in Space?
Genes in Space is an annual competition first launched by the UAE Space Agency, The National and Boeing in 2015.
It challenges school pupils to design experiments to be conducted in space and it aims to encourage future talent for the UAE’s fledgling space industry. It is the first of its kind in the UAE and, as well as encouraging talent, it also aims to raise interest and awareness among the general population about space exploration.
EA Sports FC 25
Developer: EA Vancouver, EA Romania
Publisher: EA Sports
Consoles: Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4&5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre 4-cylinder petrol
Power: 154bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Transmission: 7-speed automatic with 8-speed sports option
Price: From Dh79,600
On sale: Now
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The specs
Engine: Long-range single or dual motor with 200kW or 400kW battery
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Max touring range: 620km / 590km
Price: From Dh250,000 (estimated)
Racecard
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MATCH INFO
Who: UAE v USA
What: first T20 international
When: Friday, 2pm
Where: ICC Academy in Dubai
The biog
Name: Abeer Al Shahi
Emirate: Sharjah – Khor Fakkan
Education: Master’s degree in special education, preparing for a PhD in philosophy.
Favourite activities: Bungee jumping
Favourite quote: “My people and I will not settle for anything less than first place” – Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid.
The 10 Questions
- Is there a God?
- How did it all begin?
- What is inside a black hole?
- Can we predict the future?
- Is time travel possible?
- Will we survive on Earth?
- Is there other intelligent life in the universe?
- Should we colonise space?
- Will artificial intelligence outsmart us?
- How do we shape the future?