i am curious to your opinions, especially those of you who are in education.
one thing i am wanting is shorter summer vacations - man those last weeks of summer vacay KILL me. plus by that time the kids are also wanting to get back.
and over here, we only have an 8 week summer break - i think you guys in america have even longer summer breaks! i would like to see a 6 week summer break - to me that would be ideal. (cause the article is right - kids these days aren't working on the family farm anymore...i more see working parents struggling to arrange daycare)
also, over here in Lux the kids go to school 8-4, i think those hours are longer than the us, no?
Megan-those hours are longer than here in the US, however, I am wondering what the time is there for lunch and such? It may be a case where your kids are there for a longer time period overall, but not any longer in terms of instructional time. At my old school, lunch periods are 30 minute blocks-but by the time the kid get in, get lunch, eat and get out, it is much less than that-they are lucky to have 20 minutes. Teachers are lucky to have 15 minutes to shovel in lunch. Recess is the same thing-they end up getting 20-25 minutes. Middle and high school are even tougher on kids with lunch times because half the time their class right before lunch isn't near the lunchroom and they have to stand in long ass lines to get their lunch. My neighbor (who is a freshman this year) said there are a lot of kids who are just getting out of the lunch line when the bell rings to signal that lunch is over.
Anyway, my initial reaction is that I don't love this idea. Of course, I firmly believe that we push our children too much too soon, so it shouldn't be surprising that I will not be lobbying for this to happen. I am already upset that my children are going to have to go to full day K. I mean absolutely no disrespect to working parents, but I know in my area, that is what really pushed the full day K drive. It bothers me to no end that my kids have to go to school for what I feel is too long of a day so that they can accomodate working parents. I know there are situations where the child is better off in school all day than at home, and I know it is easier on working parents, but in all honesty, I feel it is unfair to my kids and I hate it. Of course, I don't want my kids to fall behind, but again, I feel like the general attitude is to push too much too soon.
I think a shorter summer break would be a better thing than a longer day. Kids lose so much over the summer breaks. (and here-summer starts in early June and they go back in late August-it is like 11ish weeks depending on how things fall on the calendar and how many snow days were used) I have a friend who is in a year round system, and she loves it-she gets time off at all different times of the year-not just summer-and the kids don't lose as much info because they have a few weeks off at a time rather than an entire summer. I mean, I love having the girls around, but in terms of an educational standpoint, I think shorter summers and a longer school year (NOT longer days) would be better. As the article said, there are ther countries who surpass us in test scores whose school years are longer, but they have fewer instructional hours.
As a past teacher, I hate the idea of a longer day. It is such a demanding job anyway-teachers' jobs hardly end at the last bell, as we all know-extending the school day would be keeping teachers up into the night on their "own" time just trying to keep up. Again, I think a longer school year would be a better idea.
in colorado, the movement has been to a year-round school calendar. they get 2-3 weeks off at various points throughout the year, but they go 12 months per year.
the one thing i have an issue with in reference to your comments about working parents really relates to my sister...in her town, the school has half-day kindergarten, but only provides transportation to 3 local daycares. my sister went and saw them and refused to send my nephew to any of them. i really think that if school districts worked with parents, they would have more success and parents could make various schedules work.
for example, where jammi's son goes to k in colorado, he is full day, but they have before and after school care, plus care available on days when the school is closed for vacation. of course, it all has a fee, but it still gives her options. i think that's the issue in so many cases - there aren't enough options for the parents.
i really can't imagine how they would be able to extend the high school day with sports and activities. i know that many athletes don't get home until after 6pm and that's with a school day that ends at 2:15.
in colorado, the movement has been to a year-round school calendar. they get 2-3 weeks off at various points throughout the year, but they go 12 months per year.
the one thing i have an issue with in reference to your comments about working parents really relates to my sister...in her town, the school has half-day kindergarten, but only provides transportation to 3 local daycares. my sister went and saw them and refused to send my nephew to any of them. i really think that if school districts worked with parents, they would have more success and parents could make various schedules work.
for example, where jammi's son goes to k in colorado, he is full day, but they have before and after school care, plus care available on days when the school is closed for vacation. of course, it all has a fee, but it still gives her options. i think that's the issue in so many cases - there aren't enough options for the parents.
i really can't imagine how they would be able to extend the high school day with sports and activities. i know that many athletes don't get home until after 6pm and that's with a school day that ends at 2:15.
My friend who teaches year round is in Vail!! She said at first she was upset, but as soon as she got into the year round schedule, she realized how great it was and she loves it. She said she never wants to go back.
I do get that-in terms of the transportation. Here, the only thing aside from buses to take kids home and/or daycare is kindercare. They don't offer any other transportation for students to daycare centers. So I can see that as being a problem (and while they had an after school program, needless to say that only worked for the PM K kids). But here, parents were and still are allowed to change their kids to a different school and/or bus route to drop them off at their chosen daycare. It isn't always a great option, but it is one. Bottom line is that while I do understand the issues and limitations that half day K causes for working parents, I still feel that my kids are having to "suffer" (which I use loosely-I don't think they are suffering I just think they would be better off going half days-which I believe is true of most 5 year olds) as a result of that, which I think is completely unfair. It makes me feel as if I have to do something that I don't feel is in the best interest of my children to accommodate other people's schedules. I'm all for compromise, and I am all for advancement when it is in the best interest of the people involved (and to me that means the kids-and this is not advancement-I have talked to the K teachers and they are doing the exact same curriculums, they just stretched things out to fill the day and added specials), but this is neither of those things. It doesn't really matter, since my only other option is homeschooling, which I don't see as a reasonable option at all. Bill and I are just not happy about it-Bill more than me, actually.
And you are so right abotut HS. The after school activities and sports keep kids crazy busy. Not to mention the added community service hours they have to put in now. IDK how they could manage it.
just to clarify - i dont think that school should be there for childcare. not at all.
but i have seen IRL working mom friends struggle to find appropriate care for their children during the long summer break - that's all my comment was referencing.
supa - my kids get 90 minutes for lunch break, and they get to come home so i see the girls at lunchtime. and a slightly shorter day on tuesday and thursday, so i guess you are right the daily instructional hours are probably about the same. we do have a shorter summer vacation, 8 weeks, but i think we have more breaks during the year, kind of what apies was saying in her post about year round school.
my kids get have a trimester schedule and the breaks are
8 weeks summer
2 weeks easter
2 weeks christmas
1 week fall break (1st week of nov)
1 week winter break (mid feb - perfect for skiing :) )
1 week spring break (end of may/early june depending on easter)
so in a 52 weeks year, 15 weeks are vacation, 37 weeks school.
also to note - kindergarden starts, "full time" at 4 years old and is a continuous 2 year program - same teacher/kids the entire 2 years and the curriculum continues the entire time.
also, kids have 13 years of school - grades 1-13. elementary starts at 6yo, grades 1-6 and a combined jr/sr high for grades 7-13.
so in effect, the european school system is two years longer, with an extra kindergarden year and an extra high school year.
after high school most kids who want to go to a good university take a year long study program - this is an intensive classroom oriented study program where the child focuses on subjects necessary to take the university entrance exams.
after a 4-5 year university program, most European young adults are 24-25 years old when they are looking for their first job. that was the norm at the bank where i worked and we interviewed the grads.
anywho - just explaining what happens over here as the article references comparisons with american school systems vs. other countries.
in colorado, the movement has been to a year-round school calendar. they get 2-3 weeks off at various points throughout the year, but they go 12 months per year.
the one thing i have an issue with in reference to your comments about working parents really relates to my sister...in her town, the school has half-day kindergarten, but only provides transportation to 3 local daycares. my sister went and saw them and refused to send my nephew to any of them. i really think that if school districts worked with parents, they would have more success and parents could make various schedules work.
for example, where jammi's son goes to k in colorado, he is full day, but they have before and after school care, plus care available on days when the school is closed for vacation. of course, it all has a fee, but it still gives her options. i think that's the issue in so many cases - there aren't enough options for the parents.
i really can't imagine how they would be able to extend the high school day with sports and activities. i know that many athletes don't get home until after 6pm and that's with a school day that ends at 2:15.
My friend who teaches year round is in Vail!! She said at first she was upset, but as soon as she got into the year round schedule, she realized how great it was and she loves it. She said she never wants to go back.
I do get that-in terms of the transportation. Here, the only thing aside from buses to take kids home and/or daycare is kindercare. They don't offer any other transportation for students to daycare centers. So I can see that as being a problem (and while they had an after school program, needless to say that only worked for the PM K kids). But here, parents were and still are allowed to change their kids to a different school and/or bus route to drop them off at their chosen daycare. It isn't always a great option, but it is one. Bottom line is that while I do understand the issues and limitations that half day K causes for working parents, I still feel that my kids are having to "suffer" (which I use loosely-I don't think they are suffering I just think they would be better off going half days-which I believe is true of most 5 year olds) as a result of that, which I think is completely unfair. It makes me feel as if I have to do something that I don't feel is in the best interest of my children to accommodate other people's schedules. I'm all for compromise, and I am all for advancement when it is in the best interest of the people involved (and to me that means the kids-and this is not advancement-I have talked to the K teachers and they are doing the exact same curriculums, they just stretched things out to fill the day and added specials), but this is neither of those things. It doesn't really matter, since my only other option is homeschooling, which I don't see as a reasonable option at all. Bill and I are just not happy about it-Bill more than me, actually.
And you are so right abotut HS. The after school activities and sports keep kids crazy busy. Not to mention the added community service hours they have to put in now. IDK how they could manage it.
i also TA with the crazy highschool schedule. Timmy might be a bit extreme as he goes to a special sports HS, but he leaves at 7am and the earliest he gets home is 7:30 (2 nights/week) 8:15 (2 nights/week) and 9:15pm! (1 night/week).
fortunately, he has an advisor - a teacher at the school who is responsible for liaising with us about his performance, and the school also offers study hours and we have the option (and we certainly do!) to have a tudor help/review homework - this is an hour every day in the afternoon.
so he may come home at night absolutely exhausted, but we know his schoolwork is already completed and reviewed.
i certainly miss my boy - but this is the life of a teen!
