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.

[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?

[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!

[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."

[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.

[Jeri]

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. ."

This is what my sons middle school has started doing this year. The kids like it alot. They have the normal 7 classes Mon, Tues, Friday and Wed, Thurs the schedule is different with longer classes depending on the day. They only have 3 to 4 classes on those 2 days.
As far as homework goes someone said their kids only have 40 minutes , well I wish my 7th grader only had 40 minutes. He has atleast 1hour and sometimes up to 2 hours a night. Also they jumpped right in to working on the 1st day back and had homework the 1st night. I don't think he could handle more hours in the day. He goes from 7:30 to 2:20 and that is long enough. I will point out that he has been a straight A student every year too.
I think longer days, and/or taking away the summer vacation would burn him out. And I believe would only cause those students who are bearly keeping up or have not a lot of interest to drop out. I think you would see more kids dropping out due to being burned out by such schedules.

[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.

[oliver&bianca]

Do I care whether children in Japan are more superior than my child??????? NO I DO NOT!!!

I am like a lot of the other posters in that I do not like the idea of the government having a sense of ownership of my child.

Also, I live in a very rural area and children already have long days due to the bus situation. My son's friend is on the bus for approximately an hour each way (On the bus at 7am and not off until 4:30pm).Add more school time to this plus homework. How is that healthy for a child? Where does family time get put in?

c r a z y !

[Ian]

I am like a lot of the other posters in that I do not like the idea of the government having a sense of ownership of my child.

Precisely why I'm fundamentally opposed to government running the school system in the first place.

As parents, we should have choices as to where and how our kids are educated. It shouldn't be this Big Brother approach where it's a "one size fits all" mentality.

If I want my kids to be more well-rounded and have more time to spend with friends and family, that should be my choice. If I want my kids to be hyper-educated, that should also be my choice. It shouldn't be mandated by faceless people with questionable educational credentials.

[d_m_n_n]

If I want my kids to be more well-rounded and have more time to spend with friends and family, that should be my choice. If I want my kids to be hyper-educated, that should also be my choice. It shouldn't be mandated by faceless people with questionable educational credentials.

DING DING DING!!! I want my children to be more well-rounded, so what do I do? I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT!!! If I want them to learn something more than what they are learning in school...I TEACH IT!

[Ian]

DING DING DING!!! I want my children to be more well-rounded, so what do I do? I TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR IT!!! If I want them to learn something more than what they are learning in school...I TEACH IT!

Right or you facilitate them being taught it by someone else.

For example, I think it's ridiculous that school tax dollars are used to teach kids music and art. If my kids want to play a musical instrument or learn to paint, I'll send them to a music teacher or an art school. If they don't, then why should I pay for someone else's kid to learn to play the flute or paint posies???

[Hammer]

Right or you facilitate them being taught it by someone else.

For example, I think it's ridiculous that school tax dollars are used to teach kids music and art. If my kids want to play a musical instrument or learn to paint, I'll send them to a music teacher or an art school. If they don't, then why should I pay for someone else's kid to learn to play the flute or paint posies???

So, only those children whose parents have discretionary income should be able to cultivate musical and artistic abilities? Many great talents in this country would never have been able to grow if you had your way.

[Hammer]

Do I care whether children in Japan are more superior than my child??????? NO I DO NOT!!!

People will care when jobs go to people from Japan because a company wants to hire the best trained/education person for the job. It is already happening and will only grow.

[Melanie]

People will care when jobs go to people from Japan because a company wants to hire the best trained/education person for the job. It is already happening and will only grow.

Exactly.

[Mammabruski]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 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.

Posted by Ian:
That's a pretty bold statement. What do you base that on? Do you have any facts or statistics to back up what you say or is it just opinion?

If it's just opinion, I'd probably avoid stating it with the " ... period." at the end.

I have two first hand situations where more time has greatly improved the performance and educational well being of my students. The first school I taught at when I moved to Colorado was on "Academic Alert" this meant they were being watched due to very low test scores, specifically in math and language arts (I know, test scores aren't everything, that's a whole other debate) This school which was grades 8-12 with about 900 students, and was on a block (90 minute class periods) decided to have 8th graders take math and language arts everyday, all year for 90 minutes instead of 90 minutes every other day. So I taught my 8th graders (ranging from remedial to advanced) 90 minutes every day. What progress we made. Not only could we address the holes in their math education, we could, in detail and without being rushed meet the standards set by the state. This extra time was amazing.

The second situation is from my current school (the small high school where I teach all the classes). Again there were some issues in math, again culminating in the 8th grade, so the school district added a second math class that they attended every other day. It once more addressed the holes in their learning and allowed critical topics to be addressed in more detail.

In both situations the improvement in the students was marked. It showed in their scores, in their confidence and in their comprehension of mathematics. It also allowed the students to have almost no homework, as they had extra time in school to perfect their skills. Currently with my 9-12th graders I do give at least 30 minutes of homework per night, but they only have 50 minutes in class per day.

As for research, as an individual with a degree in mathematics, I can say that you will find studies that agree that a longer day and more days make a difference and studies that say they don't. Both will have statistics backing them up. Statistics can be skewed to favor pretty much any conclusion, so my personal experience is what I based my earlier statement on.

Anyways, I stand behind my statement that more days and longer hours will make a difference in the education of American students. Period.