
DATE: Friday, June 20, 1997                 TAG: 9706200688

SECTION: FRONT                   PAGE: A1   EDITION: FINAL 

SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER 

                                            LENGTH:  121 lines

SUMMER TIME EDUCATIONAL AND FUN ACTIVITIES ABOUND TO KEEP CHILDREN FROM GETTING BORED.

When Wendy Stewart was growing up, her parents took the one-stop shopping approach to summer activities.

``They dropped me off at the pool at 10 in the morning and picked me up at 6,'' she said.

Summer is just a tad more complicated for her school-age son, 7-year-old Kevin.

First there's swim team practice, then swim lessons, then karate lessons in the afternoons. Later this summer he has zoo camp and soccer camp, not to mention outings to Busch Gardens, Ocean Breeze and Water Country USA.

While Kevin looked plenty relaxed lounging in a pool chair at the Larkspur Swim & Racquet Club in Virginia Beach, his mom looked winded just thinking about the summer schedule.

``It's actually harder during the summer, trying to find things to entertain him and to keep him excited and learning,'' said Stewart, a working mom who also has a 9-month-old son, William, and 5-year-old son, Ricky. ``Kids need more entertainment than they used to. They're used to doing things, and they expect it.''

Ahh, sweet summer. That heavenly three months when kids get to relax and Mom and Dad get to find ways to keep them from getting bored.

This is the first week of summer vacation for most area school children, and while their parents may be scrambling to keep them busy - either through camps or by carting them places themselves - the kids are definitely enjoying the taste of freedom.

``Summer's great,'' said Kevin, who was alternating between swimming and playing soccer with his buddy, Michael McMahon. ``Because I don't have to work all the time.''

Stewart took off from her job as a dental hygienist this week, just to make sure the summer schedule got off to a smooth start. Next week, the grandparents step in.

Eleven-year-old Matthew Albee, who was roller blading at Chesapeake City Park Thursday, sums up the difference between last week and this one like this:

``It's like, a lot better. You keep right on sleeping in the morning.''

And while the day may have started leisurely, Matthew and his 8-year-old brother, Nathan, also have a long list of must-dos for the summer: Discovery Zone, Chuck E. Cheese, Ocean Breeze Park, Water Country USA.

Tammy Fox, who has gone from caring for the two boys a few hours after school to all day, said the summer schedule means racheting up the pace. ``I have to come up with things for them to do to keep them from getting bored,'' said Fox, who's also a student at Tidewater Community College.

For parents and caregivers, there's an up side to summer vacations too. No more last-minute scramble for homework. No more getting sack lunches packed. No more final rush out the door.

``We get up later, and I'm not as rushed,'' said Ouida Johnson, who was with her three daughters, 7-year-old Mariyam, 6-year-old Jamela and 3-year-old Amira at the Virginia Beach Public Library on Thursday. ``Those are the good parts.''

The tough part is finding things to stimulate their minds.

``I'm always looking for things that will educate them,'' Johnson said. ``We still do homework. They feel like they should be completely off for the summer, but I still have them work on math and English.''

But it's not ``all work and no play'' for the girls. They yell out the summer activities at the top of their list.

``Go to the beach!'' Mariyam says.

``The zoo!'' adds Jamela.

``Stay up late!'' Mariyam says.

``Festivals!'' Jamela chimes in again.

The summer spread of days is a good opportunity for children to try sports they think they might be interested in, join a summer reading program, or start new hobbies, said Susan Goranson, a child-care resource and referral coordinator at The Planning Council, a Norfolk-based child services agency.

``Think of ways to creatively use that out-of-school time, but be mindful of overscheduling,'' she said. One of the best ways for parents to come up with fun summer activities is to remember their own childhood, and what made good impressions, she said. ``If you remember lying there doing nothing but staring at the stars, and that's a good memory, then that's something your kids might like to do, too,'' Goranson said.

While children of working parents may have a more structured day than those who have a caregiver at home, there's still time at camps and lessons, or at night, on weekends and during vacations to pursue children's interests.

Chanel Ford, an 8-year-old Virginia Beach girl, spent Thursday up to her ears in her favorite sport: Swimming.

Chanel says she still has to get up early each day to go to YMCA camp at Mount Trashmore while her parents work, but once she gets there, the routine is far different than school.

``Here we get to swim,'' said Chanel, snapping on a pair of purple swim goggles. ``It's much funner than school. It's much, much fun.'' ILLUSTRATION: Color photos

STEVE EARLEY/The Virginian-Pilot

Kevin Stewart, 7, spent some time looking over his basketball card

collection at the Larkspur Swim and Racquet Club in Virginia Beach.

His friend Michael McMahon, 7, needed more action. Lifeguard Dan

Hundley, top, keeps a watchful eye on YMCA camp swimmers at Mount

Trashmore.

Chanel Ford, 8, doesn't mind getting up early for camp at the Mount

Trashmore YMCA. ``Here we get to swim,'' she said, snapping on her

swim goggles. ``It's much funner than school. It's much, much

fun.''

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