The Virginian-Pilot
                             THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT 
              Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: Friday, June 28, 1996                 TAG: 9606270148
SECTION: PORTSMOUTH CURRENTS     PAGE: 08   EDITION: FINAL 
TYPE: Cover Story 
SOURCE: BY JANIE BRYANT, STAFF WRITER 
                                            LENGTH:   74 lines

LET SUMMER PLANS FOCUS ON CHILDREN'S INTERESTS

FEW CAN FORGET that glorious rush of freedom that fills one's soul when the last school bell of the year rings.

But how does a good parent make sure that happy moment does not turn into weeks of long, lazy days in front of the television set watching who knows what or playing video games?

Planning is the key, say three veteran educators who have done plenty of summer strategizing for their own families.

It's a time that families can step back and share quality time together, said Helen Taylor, principal of Westhaven Elementary School.

But it is important that children and parents sit down and do the planning together, whether its places to go or the family teamwork needed for repair and cleanup projects around the house.

Take Connie Liverman, music teacher at S.H. Clarke and Simonsdale elementary schools.

Last week, she and her two children - 12-year-old Leigh Ann and 16-year-old Brian - spent the first days of summer vacation scraping wallpaper in the dining room.

After they finish wallpapering that room, they'll paper the kitchen and then clean the garage.

But the threesome also have planned a good deal of family fun.

``We're getting ready to take a very big vacation this year,'' said Liverman. ``We've saved up a couple of years.''

They'll stop at Pennsylvania's Hershey Park on their way to Niagara Falls. And on the way home, they'll stop at the University of Michigan.

``My son has his heart set on the school, and I'm hoping he realizes he doesn't want to go,'' Liverman confessed.

Liverman suspects the school may be much bigger than her son realizes.

``But since it was the top school on his list, I felt it was my responsibility to take him and let him see it.''

Over the years, Liverman's children have tried a variety of things from soccer and softball to cheerleading and gymnastics. By now both are more focused on the things they enjoy doing.

Leigh Ann is getting ready for a month of ballet camp and a week at a church-sponsored lakeside camp. She's learning some baby-sitting skills by watching a neighbor's small children, while the mother does things around the house.

Her brother has signed up for tennis lessons and like many teenagers, he's headed for driving school.

Marlene Randall, a retired Portsmouth school administrator, also remembers planning summers around the activities and interests of her children.

Both Randall and her husband, Vernon, were lifetime educators so they didn't do anything that didn't turn into a learning opportunity for their three children, now educators.

They mapped out long road trips and short day trips and everywhere they went they played travel games, quizzed each other and created open-ended stories.

But after 10 months of learning, none of the three educators advocate forcing youngsters into ambitious attempts to hone all their academic skills during the dog days of summer.

Do listen and look for the child's natural interests and build on that, they say.

As Randall's children got older, they were involved in enrichment programs and they took electives they were interested in but didn't have time for during the school year.

``Their lives were always occupied with something,'' said Randall. ``But we just found you had to program and plan things around their interests.''

Of course, most educators have the advantage of having the summer off with their children. In today's world, many parents don't have that luxury.

So what advice do they have for working parents?

It might be harder to do, but the answer is the same.

Get together as a family and plan how that time will be spent.

Make sure children are supervised and occupied in positive activities.

And before the next school bell rings, find time to work, learn and play as a family. by CNB