Cutting Summer Break NOOOOOOO

[meldan98]

If my dd could get art taught by an actual teacher instead of a parent volunteer, have PE more than one time a week, and have music, and a foreign language taught during the week, then I'd be all for a longer day. I wouldn't even mind having fewer weeks of summer vacation, if it would mean that my dd was getting a better education. Right now, she is only attending half day for Kindergarten and IMHO should be attending full day. I'm one of those involved, active parents, and she is bored silly, but because of the odd age requirements is almost 6 and in class with kids that are 4. I also feel that we need to raise the bar as far as what we should expect our kids to accomplish. I get letting kids be kids, but what about letting them be smart well rounded kids too!

[thrillme]

Yep...longer days in addition to more school. This isn't "year round school" that's being talked about. Year round school still only goes "x" amount of days a year...they still get week to two week vacations throughout the year that make up the single chunk of summer vacation. That time will be devoted to school. Year round schooling has it's good parts and bad parts. I guess the good is being able to get time outside of the normal summertime for vacations/outings...the bad...kills teens from being able to hold summer jobs and devote the fall to school.

Students that perhaps need additional assistance will end up being more limited. Usually in the summer they have an opportunity to have smaller classes and more devoted attention in a quiter environment. Well that time will be gone. Teens wanting to earn some money ...forget it...after school jobs too because they'll pretty much be going till dinner time.

Parents and families are a MAJOR part of what makes a child successful. Schools do not do that alone. I guess I don't want the school raising my child. I don't need my child becoming some mindless drone to the system. My views and values deserve time too.

I also don't think teachers are going to be to pleased working more hours with less time off.

[PirateLover]

As a teacher, I'm totally with Ian and the OP on this one. In fact, my written essay for my Praxis I exam was on this very issue. I argued a few main points. First I would ask you if you've ever had to teach a classroom of 30+ Children in 90+ weather. Many schools in our country do not have air conditioning (mine included). Those last days before vacation and the first days back are pretty much lost because the kids are dead. Last week we had a spike in humidity and some of my 12 year old boys were dripping in sweat! The cost of installing and running air conditioning is very high and simply not feasible for many schools.

Another point is that summer vacation to me is something that is quintessentially American. Yes learning is important but schools should always have summer assignments anyway to keep the most important skills fresh (more than just summer reading). The kids need some time to be kids and re-coup, go to summer camp, go to the beach, go on vacation, etc. AND as a teacher, we need that time as much as the kids! I spent the whole summer reflecting on my lessons, making them better, shopping for supplies, etc.
As to extending the school day- Again, I ask you if you've taught kids in the morning or afternoon. The first and last classes are typically the worst as the kids are just waking up, and then by 2 they are counting down the minutes until dismissal. My high school actually rotated the order of our classes each day to combat this, and it worked pretty well. There are many things broken with our education in this country, but I'm not so sure the school schedule is one of them.

[Mammabruski]

As a high school math teacher (I teacher ALL the math classes 9-12 in a small high school), I can say without a doubt, that a longer day and more days would make a difference in the education of American children. Period. Yes there are other factors that contribute to a child's education (social-economic status, parental involvement, lack of funding, I can go on and on) but with more time, my 9th graders might actually be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide when they get to me. This is a good idea from an educational standpoint - not considering things like vacations and kids being kids (which is important). If we want to improve education in America, this is one step in the right direction.

[Melanie]

As a high school math teacher (I teacher ALL the math classes 9-12 in a small high school), I can say without a doubt, that a longer day and more days would make a difference in the education of American children. Period. Yes there are other factors that contribute to a child's education (social-economic status, parental involvement, lack of funding, I can go on and on) but with more time, my 9th graders might actually be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide when they get to me. This is a good idea from an educational standpoint - not considering things like vacations and kids being kids (which is important). If we want to improve education in America, this is one step in the right direction.

And let's throw mandatory school uniforms in there as well!

[Hammer]

As a high school math teacher (I teacher ALL the math classes 9-12 in a small high school), I can say without a doubt, that a longer day and more days would make a difference in the education of American children. Period. Yes there are other factors that contribute to a child's education (social-economic status, parental involvement, lack of funding, I can go on and on) but with more time, my 9th graders might actually be able to add, subtract, multiply and divide when they get to me. This is a good idea from an educational standpoint - not considering things like vacations and kids being kids (which is important). If we want to improve education in America, this is one step in the right direction.

And let's throw mandatory school uniforms in there as well!

I absolutely think that we as a nation need to beef up our children's classroom education and this would be a good start.

[magicofdisney]

Generally speaking, the first 6 weeks and last 4 weeks of school are typically review. There are approximately 36 weeks in a school year. Just think of the educational advantage our kids would have using those 10 weeks for learning instead of reviewing. Year round schooling helps to accomplish this.

Although we are a homeschooling family, I like this idea. My kids want to be "off" when public school is "off" and I prefer the idea of schooling continually.

[Georgesgirl1]

As a teacher I hate this idea and will be writing the president and my elected officials regarding it. First, kids are already overscheduled with no time to "just be kids" and this would only add to the problem. Second, I find it hard enough to make time with DS with my current hours and commitments at school. Third, you better believe that if they increase my hours and days worked I am going to be expecting a large salary increase which wouldn't be in the budgets of any local school system in my area. Fourth, the federal government doesn't even have the right to make these types of decisions if they would actually read and follow the constitution (another topic entirely).

Yes, there are problems with our current education system, but throwing more days into the school year would not solve these problems.

[MNNHFLTX]

First of all, I want to acknowledge what Maryanne mentioned as a potential problem with year-round school or longer school years--the cost of air-conditioning schools. That certainly would be a budget consideration.

First, kids are already overscheduled with no time to "just be kids" and this would only add to the problem.

Studies show that American kids, on average, spend about 30 minutes on homework after school. As far as the rest of their afternoon and evening, I think a fair amount probably spend it doing fairly mindless things--watching TV, playing video games, text-messaging each other, etc. And during the summer months it seems to be much of the same. I know a lot of kids out there are involved in activities outside of school--sports, dance classes and the like. But there are very few kids that I know that seem overscheduled to me, even with the extra activities. But maybe that's just my experience.

I'm with those who say that the educational bar in our country could be raised a little higher and adding on a limited number of extra classroom days might be a start.

[Suz36]

I will be home schooling my kids if this goes through! Our summers are already too short, and I really cherish that time with them. And they need that break! Oh, I could go on and on about this one!

[Lakin]

I say, to this idea, NO! I'm an 8th grader that works my hardest in school, does all of my assignments, and does 100% into everything I do. This means, with my schoolwork, I'm busy, busy, busy. All 9 periods of the day, 7 hours, thinking about something. Subject, after subject, after subject. It's difficult work for us kids, and frankly, when I come home from school, I'm pooped. I want to rest. But, I can't. Why? Because I have to do about 40 Advanced Math problems, 20 questions for current (Advanced) English novels, along with a whole entire portfolio for math, and having to study for the next extremely difficult Social Studies test. So, what's the extra time in school going to do me? Nothing. It not like they're going to give us the time to study or do homework or anything. Nope. They're just going to use it to pack even more of a load on us. For us kids that work hard in school, this extra time is going to do nothing but give us less time to go home and do our 'geek' homework. Not to mention when I come home I don't have any time to do anything else - well, unless I come onto the computer at 9:00, like I am right now. I manage to somehow fit softball into my schedule, too.

Now, for the opposing point of view, what is this going to do for the people that slack off in school? Nothing. It just gives them more time in school to talk, misbehave, and act childish. It gives them more assignments to not do, and just more time to bug their teachers. As soon as the slackers hear about having longer school days, it's just going to encourage them to skip!

Sorry to speak so strongly on this, but I really can't help it.

[magicofdisney]

Maybe I missed this somewhere, but it is my understanding that year round schooling DOES NOT mean more schooling. The amount of time in school is the same, just without the long summer break.

Essentially, less reviewing is necessary and more learning is possible because kids are continually exposed to teaching. So the number of weeks in school (approximately 36) would not change, they would just be spread out more.

There seem to be a lot of unfounded fears because this doesn't require the student to attend school more often or take on a heavier work load.

[PirateLover]

Many schools are instituting block scheduling, or time cycles. In block scheduling classes are similar to college- Instead of 45 mins every day, you'd have close to two hours every other day. This gives the teacher more time to really get in depth into topics and touch base with each learner. Time cycles are similar... you have all of your classes each day, but one class is longer. Which one it is will switch each day. This is one way to get more learning in within typical school times.

MagicofDisney, I have to say, both as a student and as a teacher, I have never spent 6 weeks reviewing in the beginning of the year or 4 weeks reviewing at the end.
Typically your first week is half a week for organizational stuff, laying out the course, setting standards. You spend the first full week reviewing, quiz or test on it if you like, and then move on to that year's curriculum in the 2nd full week. At the end of the year, exams are the final week and we review the week before.

*This is another place where schools and teachers can make sure students retain information. Instead of testing on each individual unit and then having to cram for finals, tests should be cumulative, throwing in questions from previous topics as well. "Use it or lose it."

[PirateLover]

Maybe I missed this somewhere, but it is my understanding that year round schooling DOES NOT mean more schooling. The amount of time in school is the same, just without the long summer break.
.

The article that the OP is talking about had this quote: "Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas"

Year round schooling was brought up by other posters as an example of how some areas do it. This is not necessarily what is being proposed.

[magicofdisney]

Year round schooling was brought up by other posters as an example of how some areas do it. This is not necessarily what is being proposed.

Gotcha. I guess I jumped the gun with solutions on hand. I shouldn't have assumed, ya know?

[magicofdisney]

MagicofDisney, I have to say, both as a student and as a teacher, I have never spent 6 weeks reviewing in the beginning of the year or 4 weeks reviewing at the end.
Typically your first week is half a week for organizational stuff, laying out the course, setting standards. You spend the first full week reviewing, quiz or test on it if you like, and then move on to that year's curriculum in the 2nd full week. At the end of the year, exams are the final week and we review the week before.

This has been our experience so far. I apologize for generalizing this information. At times it's seemed so wasteful to me and at others times necessary because of the summer break.

This review I'm speaking of is in core classes such as arithmetic and language.

[green ranger]

There seem to be a lot of unfounded fears because this doesn't require the student to attend school more often or take on a heavier work load.

There would be more days added onto the school year.

As a teacher, I could tell you that a longer school year would NOT make a difference. In my teachings, I have found that students that made the greatest strides throughout the school year were those who had strong parental involvement. I keep hearing about our schools compared to other countries, but I was just wondering if anyone looked at how much the parents are available and involved in the other countries. Maybe that's the difference.

[magicofdisney]

As a teacher, I could tell you that a longer school year would NOT make a difference. In my teachings, I have found that students that made the greatest strides throughout the school year were those who had strong parental involvement. I keep hearing about our schools compared to other countries, but I was just wondering if anyone looked at how much the parents are available and involved in the other countries. Maybe that's the difference.

Is this your opinion, or have you worked both scenarios to know for a fact? I'm not trying to be snarky, I truly want to know.

I'm not contradicting your assertion that parental involvement is key. I wholeheartedly agree.

BTW, most of what I've posted is opinion because I haven't tried out the year round option but I'd be willing to give it a shot.

[Melanie]

I keep hearing about our schools compared to other countries, but I was just wondering if anyone looked at how much the parents are available and involved in the other countries. Maybe that's the difference.

I think it's a combination of parent involvement and school schedule.

Sadly though, I believe parental involvement is too far gone in so many instances in our society (as compared to some other countries).

[IloveDisney71]

I don't think this will happen any time soon. My school district and state are talking about cutting the school days because we don't have any money. They are cutting teachers, custodians, bus drivers, aides, cafeteria workers, and office staff left and right. We have no funding for school supplies or new text books due to the economy. There is no way we can extend our school hours or year in the economic crisis my state and county are facing.