Cutting Summer Break NOOOOOOO

[thrillme]

I'm depressed. This latest news article about wanting to cut summer break. If anything I've been wanting it extended till after labor day.

There's just not enough time for kids to be kids anymore. I guess I'm going to have to write my congressman. I guess I'm just posting because I feel like I've lost so much control over what I want for my son and I'm really

I just can't imagine 307 million people trying to fit summer vacation into only 3-4 weeks what's hard enough to do in 2 1/2 months. Can you imagine how packed Disney will be in June?

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WASHINGTON - Students beware: The summer vacation you just enjoyed could be sharply curtailed if President Barack Obama gets his way.

Obama says American kids spend too little time in school, putting them at a disadvantage with other students around the globe.

"Now, I know longer school days and school years are not wildly popular ideas," the president said earlier this year. "Not with Malia and Sasha, not in my family, and probably not in yours. But the challenges of a new century demand more time in the classroom."

[Jeri]

I saw this too this morning. I don't like it either. I know for my kids a longer school day would not be good and I do not want our summers taken away. Here in Minnesota our summers are short enough as it is weather wise.

I get mad too though when I hear about schools telling parents they can't take their kids out for things either. I always say they are MY kids and shouldn't I get a say in what is best for them.

Oh well that is a disscusion for another day. I just don't like the government telling me how I should raise MY kids.

Sorry I will stop now

[DVC2004]

I don't like this either.

My older son goes to a special school for his needs and goes year round. However, the school has always been very accomodating when we take him out to travel at various times of year. In the summer he only goes half days as well- but the reason he goes all year is for retention of what he was taught as well as ongoing therapy.

As a mandatory thing across the country for kids who don't have special needs? Uh, no.

[vicster]

It might not be as bad as you think. Approximately 60% of Chicago schools go year round. They go for 9 weeks and have 2 weeks off throughout the school year with the exception of summer where they have 5 weeks off. There's plenty of time for vacations throughout the year. My friend is off this week and next week (a teacher in Chicago). Believe me, this would be a better time to go to Disney than July. Kids lose too much during the summer and too much time is wasted at the beginning of each school year reviewing. The education in this country lags way behind other countries.

[Ian]

The education in this country lags way behind other countries.

While that may be true, does it really have anything to do with the amount of time our kids spend in the classroom? Not to mention the amount of time they devote to homework!

I'd love to see a comparison between how much time American kids are in school vs. how much time kids from school systems that have measured superior are in school.

There are tons of reasons why American kids are at a disadvantage educationally, but I'm not sure lack of time working on schoolwork is part of it.

[vicster]

There are tons of reasons why American kids are at a disadvantage educationally, but I'm not sure lack of time working on schoolwork is part of it.

Just a note - the Chicago kids on year round school attend the same number of school days as everyone else.

[Simba's Mom]

I saw Obama's ideas, and as a former teacher, whether I personally agree or not, I think the teachers' unions will really fight his idea! Either that or they'll demand big increases in salary!

[bucky at disney]

And just where are they going to come up with the money to pay for this? The states are already cutting the financing for schools. Most districts are not getting by now...this just frustrates me!

[vicster]

And just where are they going to come up with the money to pay for this? The states are already cutting the financing for schools. Most districts are not getting by now...this just frustrates me!

From CHINA!!!

[Mickey'sGirl]

I can't see how it would cost any more money... aren't teacher's salarys based on 12 months? They are here in Ontario, but they are paid out over 10 months. We have several year round schools in our region, and the idea of several shorter breaks through the year is far more appealing to us than the long summer break. Unfortunately, the programs our children need are only available during the mainstream program. My brother's children in England go to school in a "year roundish" schedule too. It means opportunity for travel in off times as well.

I agree with the whole idea. If the information is kept fresh in the child's mind, then less time will be needed to review, remind and reteach.

[MNNHFLTX]

I'm not opposed to year-round school or a longer school-year. In fact, in the past I have had the opposite problem with our current school district. Last year between Hurricane Ike and a storm that caused water damage to the school, the kids in my son's high school missed 14 days! They utilized one weather make-up day in January, otherwise applied for and received a waiver for the rest. This was a big loss of classroom time and I think potentially put these kids at a disadvantage.

It's true that our average school year (and school day) in the U.S. is much shorter than most other comparable countries. I do believe it's true that the amount of time kids spend studying outside the classroom is very important. But it's kind of hard to ignore the fact that kids from countries with longer school years outscore U.S. kids pretty much across the board. More days = more homework? Maybe. But whatever it is, the correlation exists.

The matter of summer vacations aside, I would be interested to hear what teachers think the value (or not) of a longer school year and/or year-round school would be for students. Do they have trouble completing the curriculum in the amount of time they have now?

[Melanie]

I'd love to see a comparison between how much time American kids are in school vs. how much time kids from school systems that have measured superior are in school.

I know in Japan the kids go 6 days/week. They get a 6 week summer break, and a two week break in both winter and spring. I could be wrong, but I would rank the Japanese education superior to ours.

Oh, and I should add that I wouldn't be against this. Of course, my oldest son leaves the house now at 8:25am and doesn't get home until 4:45pm. How much longer can the day get?

[Mickey'sGirl]

I know in Japan the kids go 6 days/week. They get a 6 week summer break, and a two week break in both winter and spring. I could be wrong, but I would rank the Japanese education superior to ours.

I believe it's South Korea and Japan at the top in maths and sciences. Finland, Canada and New Zealand rank highest in reading literacy, and near the top for science and maths.

[Lizzy]

I would be all for more days in school each year if that would allow for less homework time.

As a working single parent, while I do enjoy helping my son with his projects for school, I get very little time to spend quality time with him. We don't get home till after 6:30. He then has to sit down and do his homework and usually needs help with it. Then I have to go over it and usually he will have one or two things to fix, then I have to sign his planning books to say that I checked (I love that his teachers do this, it keeps me and my son on track with his homework) but by the time all this is over with, he usually only has an hour and a half left before bedtime. In which he has to take his shower, eat dinner and his daily chores. That leaves me less than an hour a day to just "hang out" or do something fun with my son. I don't want to spend every night doing homework when I could find more enriching things for he and I to do together.


Side note though, shortening the summer break would totally mess with my divorce paperwork and parenting plan!

[Melanie]

I believe it's South Korea and Japan at the top in maths and sciences. Finland, Canada and New Zealand rank highest in reading literacy, and near the top for science and maths.

So Jenn, what is Canada's school year/day like?

[Ian]

I can't see how it would cost any more money... aren't teacher's salarys based on 12 months?

They may be paid out overr 12 months, but they're not paid to work 12 months.

But it's kind of hard to ignore the fact that kids from countries with longer school years outscore U.S. kids pretty much across the board. More days = more homework? Maybe. But whatever it is, the correlation exists.

Not necessarily. There could be other factors un-related to length of time spent in school that influence the success of school systems in other countries.

It could be that, since Asian cultures put a high premium on education in the home, that their children are just primed more and supported more to succeed in school. The length of their school year/days could be irrelevant.

This just seems knee jerk to me. I highly doubt length of time spent in the classroom really has any solid correlation to success.

Personally, I think the failures of the U.S. education system have a lot more do with the parents and certain systemic problems with the way our schools are structured than with how much time kids are spending in the classroom.

In fact, I'll go as far to say that I find it highly unlikely that's got any real bearing on kids' success or failure. Why? Because education is a highly complex issue and simplistic solutions like "Spend more time in the classroom" are rarely adequate solutions to complex problems. If that was the case, then we could just send kids to school 12 hours a day every day, 365 days a year and they'd all be brilliant.

Right?

[Mickey'sGirl]

I agree with Ian that the importance a family or society puts on education likely plays a HUGE role in a child's success.

Melanie, there are 194 instructional day (basically September to June with 2 weeks at Christmas, and a week in March). School days are 7 hours long, with an hour for lunch/breaks. School starts in "Junior" Kindergarten (age 4), and homework starts at that time too. Nothing taxing, but simple worksheets (letters, numbers, rhyming etc) are sent home daily in Kindergarten. Homework for the higher grades (I only have knowledge up to Grade 6 so far) tends to be unfinished seatwork and projects. The children also have daily phys ed, two periods of music, and two periods of art per week.

There are also two government paid school systems in Canada (as set out by the British North America Act), one is completely secular, and the other involves the Roman Catholic doctrines. There's a bit of competition between the two systems, so I think that eggs on success. Honestly. We also perform standardized testing in Grades 3, 6 and 9.

Also, it's cold for a very long time during the school year. What else are kids gonna do but read?

[MNNHFLTX]

Because education is a highly complex issue and simplistic solutions like "Spend more time in the classroom" are rarely adequate solutions to complex problems. If that was the case, then we could just send kids to school 12 hours a day every day, 365 days a year and they'd all be brilliant.

Right?

Um, yeah--I kind of think they would be. That's probably closer to the amount of time kids in Japan spend on education, between classroom time and homework.

I do agree that a lot depends on parental involvement, but there again, the length of time kids that are at risk (i.e.--from homes where there is little parental participation in the education of their children) are out of school for any extended length of time, the greater it can affect their overall learning. If it affects their ability to succeed in school, it might also make these kids more likely to drop out. A high drop-out rate is another reason that the schools in the U.S. are sometimes regarded as inferior.

[MNNHFLTX]

Also, it's cold for a very long time during the school year. What else are kids gonna do but read?

You don't have video games up there? I think I want to send my son off to school in Canada!

[Lakin]

Did you also hear that they want to make our school days longer?