Acıbadem Dr. Sinasi Can (Kadıköy) Hospital Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz explained the rules that parents should pay attention to for a productive semester break, and made suggestions and warnings.
Do not leave your child too flexible or too authoritarian during the semester break. Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz said, “As a parent, never be a teacher at home. Take care to be a leader who guides and supports your child. Because being a teacher can cause the relationship with the child to turn into a power struggle. As a result, studying and doing homework are no longer his own responsibility and can turn into a work that serves the wishes of his parents.” said.
Take care to stay away from approaches such as punishment and reward during the semester break. Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz said, “The success of the child, especially in report cards, should be interpreted as his/her effort and effort, and the matching of success and reward should be avoided. The interpretation made on the child's labor and effort will increase the sense of responsibility in his inner world. Punishment increases feelings of inadequacy and guilt, and can make the child feel deprived of support.” she spoke.
He stated that another important point to be considered during the semester break is not to make major changes in routines. Expert Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz stated that otherwise, at the end of the holiday, the child's return to school and adaptation may become difficult, and that small flexibility can be made in the routines during the day, for example, if the child goes to bed at 21.00 in the evening, this period can be extended by half an hour.
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz said that it is very important to plan with your child what you can do during the holiday and to create activities that may interest him, by thinking together, and continued:
“Caring about your child's opinion will increase their self-confidence. You can play board games, do puzzles, read books, watch movies together and talk about it in the house. Doing such enjoyable activities together and laughing a lot will be very effective in reducing your child's stress and facilitating the transition to the next term of school. It is also very important to ensure that your child is socialized during the holidays. Because, socializing with their own group of friends and being involved in various group activities that they have not experienced before can help them realize their new social skills.”
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz, who says it is extremely important for her teachers to fulfill the responsibilities given to them during the semester break, said, “These responsibilities enable the child to develop awareness that he is responsible for his school and teacher. Therefore, if you do not want to do his homework and if you approach him as 'nothing will happen if he doesn't do it', you may cause your child to develop a sense of guilt on their way back to school. Therefore, you should remind and support that her teacher expects her to fulfill her responsibilities,” she said.
If your child's report grade and performance are low, do not force him to study by criticizing and putting pressure during the holiday period. Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz, warning that this behavior will harm your relationship, said, “You should show your child that there are ups and downs as well as ups and you should be in an attitude that gives hope and support that he can achieve this. If an additional study is required for the homework given at school, you can create an additional study order with the guidance of your teacher.
3 or 4 days before the opening of schools, you need to gradually switch to the old routine. Specialist Clinical Psychologist Mine Şahbaz said, “In addition, the end of the holiday will create a feeling of sadness and separation on the child. For this reason, let him open up space for his feelings about how the holiday went and how he felt. Encouraging him to express his feelings and accompanying his feelings will help him relax during this transition.” he said.
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