放暑假了!学生是否真的过上了轻松自由的暑期生活呢?随着城市化发展，双职工家庭增加，很多我们印象中的暑期生活似乎一去不复返，比如学生自由玩耍、帮忙做家务、跟邻居朋友闲聊和展开奇思妙想。取而代之的是焦虑的家长为学生报名夏令营、夏校、STEM课程、英语辅导、奥数、足球训练等收费学习项目。

　　不得不说，这是一个遗憾。朋辈间自由玩耍、帮忙做家务和与邻居朋友闲聊，这些都是孩子们和年轻人在这个年龄段应该做的事情。朋辈间自由玩耍看似无实际学习内容，但学生们的创造力、想象力、问题解决能力和社交能力正是通过玩耍，不知不觉地培养起来。这些能力都被成为“21世纪技能”，它们是永恒的珍贵品质，也是支撑人们获得美好生活的重要因素。

　　It’s summertime and school’s out! Or not. With urbanisation, and the shift to the norm of the nuclear family with both parents working, the days of long summers spent on unstructured play, helping round the house, lazy conversations with neighbourhood friends, and daydreaming, are over. Replaced by summer camps and summer schools and structured activities and STEM and English and Maths Olympics and Soccer coaching and whatever else can be provided, for a fee, to the anxious parents who need somewhere to put their children while they go and earn the money to pay for it all.

　　Which is a shame. Because of course unstructured play, helping around the home, and long lazy conversations with neighbourhood friends is exactly how children and young people should be spending their time. It is in unstructured play that creativity and imagination, problem-solving abilities, and social skills are developed. Sometimes, oddly, known as ‘21st Century Skills’, these are the timeless human qualities that support a life lived well.

　　21世纪技能

　　朋辈间玩耍

　　朋辈间玩耍不仅培养学生的综合能力，还涉及大量的体育运动，从而有效地锻炼身体。而关于暑假培训活动，Daniel Lieberman在他新出版的书籍中指出，等待击球、听教练讲理论、轮流模拟动作等收费活动中的培训内容其实都不属于体育锻炼。

　　帮忙做家务

　　当然，这并不意味着暑假只有自由玩耍。孩子应该负起家庭成员的责任，帮忙做家务，做些力所能及的事情。籍此学会责任与承担、规划与实践、动手能力、换位思考、感恩他人劳动成果。除此之外，学生还会学会一些实际的生活技能。我们遗憾地发现，如今不少年轻人因缺乏生活技能，在刚上大学那会儿根本不知道如何照顾自己。因此，不要小看暑假学习做些力所能及家务的必要性。

　　朋辈交谈

　　对于高年级的孩子，朋辈间自由玩耍可能更多是朋辈间聚在一起闲聊。在家长看来这可能是无意义且浪费时间的闲聊，但对于孩子发展来说，这是非常宝贵的时间：学会与人相处、建立身份认同、创新畅想、发展人际交往技能和认知交谈边界。如果父母打断两个青少年看似没有意义的交谈，那其实是在打扰一场正在促进青少年技能发展的交谈呢。

　　展开奇思妙想

　　对了，我们还没提到奇思妙想的重要性。展开奇思妙想是使用大脑高级功能的活动，需要时间和空间，比如，躺在椅子上，仰望天空，想法插上翅膀自由飞翔。然而，展开奇思妙想的时间往往被所谓的教育活动占据。因此，如果我们希望我们的孩子有思考、有想法，拥有富足的精神世界，我们需要给予他们一些时间和空间，让这一切发生。

　　Play Freely

　　This is not to mention the greater physical activity that takes place when children play freely. As Daniel Lieberman has noted in his recent book, ‘Exercised’, the amount of time that children spend inactively when in organised school or club sports: waiting to bat, listening to coaches, taking turns to perform a drill, and so on, means that they aren’t exercising anything like as much as we might think.

　　Help　Around Home

　　Which is not to say that it should all be play. Children should be helping round the home. This is how to learn a sense of responsibility, to develop feelings of purpose and accomplishment, to understand what it means to work and to complete a task, to develop their fine motor abilities, to learn empathy, and to gain an appreciation of the contribution that others make. And to learn some useful skills. Far too many young people arrive at college these days without the first idea of how to look after themselves.

　　Lazy Conversation

　　For older children, unstructured play may be more likely to take the form of lazy conversations: just ‘hanging out’ What can seem to adults like pointless time-wasting can be some deeply precious hours spent learning about relationships, developing personal identities, exploring ideas, building interpersonal skills, and negotiating boundaries. The parent who interrupts two teenagers who are just chatting may be interfering with some important developmental activity.

　　Daydreaming

　　And we haven’t even mentioned the importance of daydreaming. Daydreaming is characteristic of higher brain function. But it needs time and space to be allowed to happen. Lying back and gazing at the clouds has been replaced by a daily schedule, blocked out in ten-minute segments, for structured activities, too many of them in the name of education. If we want our children to think, to have ideas, and to live rich lives of the mind, we have to give them some time and space to allow this to happen.

　　让我们一起努力，给予孩子们时间和空间，在暑期里自由玩耍、帮忙做家务、与朋友交谈和展开自由的奇思妙想。

　　最后，我们送上深圳查特豪斯书院校长为孩子们精心准备的暑假阅读推荐书单。祝孩子们拥有一个快乐且充实的暑假!

　　Let us try, where we can, to remember the value of some time spent just playing, helping the family with chores, chatting with friends, and daydreaming.

　　Finally, please kindly find the reading list recommended by Headteacher of Charterhouse College Shenzhen. Wish all of you have a happy and fulfilling summer holiday!

　　我们诚挚地邀请您参加查特豪斯活动

　　We would like to invite you to attend Open Day of Charterhouse Shenzhen

　　8月活动时间：

　　2021年8月14日(周六)

　　14th August, 2021 (Saturday)