[mesmark]

Do you teach intesive summer courses? What are they like and how much do students really benefit from them?

A few people have asked me to do them (for their kids,) but besides the fact that I don't want to give up my two weeks of vacation, I think the kids need a break. Isn't that what summer vacation is for?

[emile]

The kids will be in a different frame of mind when they need to use English all day long instead of just one hour during English class. You can make it fun with games and DVDs and so on.

But, yeah, kids need a break. When I think back to when I was a kid, I can hardly remember school, but I remember every minute of what I got up to during the holidays!

[susan53]

If all they get is two weeks, then I completely agree. But here it's twelve. Summer courses for a few of those weeks are a good way of making sure they don't forget everything from the year before, or of working intensively on subjects that they're weaker in.

[clivehawkins]

Yes, 12 week holidays are great for the kids but can pose a huge problem for working parents - who looks after the kids? A lot of the kids who come to us are here not only to consolidate their English \ recuperate what they missed during the school year but also because some parents don't know what else to do with them. A few hours at a sports club, a few with extended family and a few doing English - the day passes soon enough.

As for the adult courses, the summer is often the only chance they get to do a course so they make the most of it by cramming as many hours as possible into the few weeks holiday they get.

[emile]

Can't kids keep themselves entertained for a while?

After all, they aren't kids for long.

[clivehawkins]

Quote emile

Can't kids keep themselves entertained for a while?

After all, they aren't kids for long.

For sure they can, but where? You can't exactly have 10 year old kids wandering the streets alone

[emile]

For sure they can, but where? You can't exactly have 10 year old kids wandering the streets alone

Actually, I did, when I was 10, but then I lived out in the burbs. Just seems such a shame if they have nowhere to go.