Year around school?

[mykidsand_i]

OK, I am starting this thread for those of you WHO ARE EXPOSED (parent, grandparent, caregivers, school staff) TO SCHOOL AGE KIDS...

What do YOU think of year around school? I have very strong feelings leaning towards not doing it, but it's because of past experiances I have. I'm not saying it's bad for every kid, and there are situations it may actually help a kid. BUT, I don't believe that most kids would benifit from it.

I have training in child Psych. and I have my feelings about this issue:

1. If ANY parent has complained about how their family is TOO busy, it wouldn't get less busy if school was year around! It would be worse. AND the LARGEST problem for elementary students (in our district) nowdays is the fact that their parents don't spend enough time WITH them. It is a fact. A lot of parents 'overschedule their kids'. We have a 'rule of thumb' that we tell parents of kids who are struggling in school. Do not allow your children to be enrolled in activities more than 2-3 nights a week durring the school year.

YES, some kids can do a TON of activities, but the majority of ELEMENTARY aged students who struggle in school have 1 of 2 issues- 1- Over scheduled or 2- poor home life.

My next reason...
2. When are KIDS allowed to be KIDS if they are going to school year around?
-going to summer camps (wether it be scouts, church camp, fun camps)...when would there be time for kids to experiance that? I'm not talking about the 2-4 week camps that people know of in large cities such as new York or where ever...I'm talking about the 1/2 week or full week camp that I grew up going to. I believe summer camps are a great thing for kids to develop.
-playing at the pool...I'll use our town for an example. Three years ago there was this beautiful outdoor pool and waterpark built. They close in mid-August, because that's when the H.S. lifeguards start school. If the pool is open, ALL of it has to be maintained on a DAILY BASIS, so if it's only open on weekends, the maintinence costs wouldn't get taken care of just by weekend opening...SO, it closes durring the entire school year- even in the hottest part of the summer here, which is mid-late August. If there was year around school, things like that would suffer.
-vacations. A HUGE amount of families go on vacations in the summer- HUGE amount. We camp A LOT, we go on one big vacation AND my kids look forward to going to stay with their grandparents once or twice for a week.

3. THE COST!!!!! It costs the states, government and US a TON of money for schooling each DAY. Adding days is only going to hurt the US financially.

4. BEING A KID is PART of a child's education!!!!! My kids learn A LOT in the summer months that they can't learn in school. They learn about LIFE...they experiance things that they could not if school was year around!

5. In the midwest and other areas, parents DEPEND on their kids to have summer vacation to help with farming, to help with picking up jobs for summer travelers, to help with family buisnesses. When i was growing up, it was NORMAL for some farm kids to take days off from school to help their parents durring the harvest. Parents in the midwest STILL do this- not as often, but it does happen.

I believe if school was a year around thing, I would home school. I know they'd have to continue their education through out the summer too, but at least we'd be able to have the time to take them on vacations still, they'd still get to experiance being kids, they'd still get to go stay with grandparents on occasion...

Those are my reasons. I have more. I don't believe that parents who support all year school are wrong, I just believe they have different life experiances than my family has had.

I didn't start this thread for people to come on and 'fight' about their opinions and state why others are 'wrong, or right'...I just like to hear others opinions on the subject. I want to understand why people feel the way they do. I know that there are people who support all year school fully- And for their kids, maybe it's a good thing.

I think it's localized...some larger cities, it may work really well for- but for us smaller midwestern towns, I don't think it makes any sense.

 

[luvmy3]

I don't believe year round school will fix any of the problems with our education system and thats all I can say without (probably) offending alot of people


ETA, I'm not talking about the people who do support it.

 

[mykidsand_i]

Yeah- I think you're right. I don't think it would help anyone, In my opinion, after it would get changed- I think we'd have new, but different problems.

 

[SaraJayne]

You realize that year-round school isn't every single day for the entire year, right?

I have no opinion one way or the other, but kids in year-round school don't go to school 52 weeks of the year.

 

[daughtersrus]

OK, I am starting this thread for those of you WHO ARE EXPOSED (parent, grandparent, caregivers, school staff) TO SCHOOL AGE KIDS...

What do YOU think of year around school? I have very strong feelings leaning towards not doing it, but it's because of past experiances I have. I'm not saying it's bad for every kid, and there are situations it may actually help a kid. BUT, I don't believe that most kids would benifit from it.

I have training in child Psych. and I have my feelings about this issue:

1. If ANY parent has complained about how their family is TOO busy, it wouldn't get less busy if school was year around! It would be worse. AND the LARGEST problem for elementary students (in our district) nowdays is the fact that their parents don't spend enough time WITH them. It is a fact. A lot of parents 'overschedule their kids'. We have a 'rule of thumb' that we tell parents of kids who are struggling in school. Do not allow your children to be enrolled in activities more than 2-3 nights a week durring the school year.

YES, some kids can do a TON of activities, but the majority of ELEMENTARY aged students who struggle in school have 1 of 2 issues- 1- Over scheduled or 2- poor home life.

My next reason...
2. When are KIDS allowed to be KIDS if they are going to school year around?
-going to summer camps (wether it be scouts, church camp, fun camps)...when would there be time for kids to experiance that? I'm not talking about the 2-4 week camps that people know of in large cities such as new York or where ever...I'm talking about the 1/2 week or full week camp that I grew up going to. I believe summer camps are a great thing for kids to develop.
-playing at the pool...I'll use our town for an example. Three years ago there was this beautiful outdoor pool and waterpark built. They close in mid-August, because that's when the H.S. lifeguards start school. If the pool is open, ALL of it has to be maintained on a DAILY BASIS, so if it's only open on weekends, the maintinence costs wouldn't get taken care of just by weekend opening...SO, it closes durring the entire school year- even in the hottest part of the summer here, which is mid-late August. If there was year around school, things like that would suffer.
-vacations. A HUGE amount of families go on vacations in the summer- HUGE amount. We camp A LOT, we go on one big vacation AND my kids look forward to going to stay with their grandparents once or twice for a week.

3. THE COST!!!!! It costs the states, government and US a TON of money for schooling each DAY. Adding days is only going to hurt the US financially.

4. BEING A KID is PART of a child's education!!!!! My kids learn A LOT in the summer months that they can't learn in school. They learn about LIFE...they experiance things that they could not if school was year around!

5. In the midwest and other areas, parents DEPEND on their kids to have summer vacation to help with farming, to help with picking up jobs for summer travelers, to help with family buisnesses. When i was growing up, it was NORMAL for some farm kids to take days off from school to help their parents durring the harvest. Parents in the midwest STILL do this- not as often, but it does happen.

I believe if school was a year around thing, I would home school. I know they'd have to continue their education through out the summer too, but at least we'd be able to have the time to take them on vacations still, they'd still get to experiance being kids, they'd still get to go stay with grandparents on occasion...

Those are my reasons. I have more. I don't believe that parents who support all year school are wrong, I just believe they have different life experiances than my family has had.

I didn't start this thread for people to come on and 'fight' about their opinions and state why others are 'wrong, or right'...I just like to hear others opinions on the subject. I want to understand why people feel the way they do. I know that there are people who support all year school fully- And for their kids, maybe it's a good thing.

I think it's localized...some larger cities, it may work really well for- but for us smaller midwestern towns, I don't think it makes any sense.

Depending on the needs of the area, year-round school could actually cost less. The way that they did it here years ago, the students still went to school the same number of days. The days were just spread out through the whole year. They went to school for 45 days and then were off 15 days. This way, they were able to educate more students without building new buildings. Many people actually liked it because it would give the kids a break and they could go on vacation at "off peak" times. Students in the same family were all on the same schedule so there wasn't any conflict. I have family members that live in school districts that are not "unified". (they have a district for elementary and a different one for high school). The districts do not have the same days off. For example, one has spring break the end of March and the other is always off Easter week.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

We have a few districts here that are yr round and people moved into that district for the yr round schooling. They are public schools.

They get lots of great breaks and their summer break is over after the 4th of July.

I don't know, they love getting 2 weeks off when everyone else is in school.

You might find out you can do more things than less things with yr round schooling.

Biggest benefit is they don't have to waste time reviewing when they get back. For some people it works for them.

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Actually, I prefer a model closer to year-round schooling than what is offered in the US and Canada right now. My favourite model is Australia, which still has an 6-week break in their summer, but has four semesters of 10 weeks of class with 2 weeks off in between semesters. We found that it gave us MORE time with our kids, since it was easier to plan vacations when there were more weeks off throughout the school year. Also, the kids didn't 'lose' as much of their knowledge over the 6-week break as they do over the longer breaks in North America, and the regular breaks really allowed the kids (and teachers) to regroup and return refreshed and focussed.

 

[Planogirl]

When would teachers get time off for vacations and for continuing education if needed? Would their salaries increase?

What about building maintenance, utilities, other staff and so on?

I'm against year-round school for many reasons.

 

[luvmy3]

Depending on the needs of the area, year-round school could actually cost less. The way that they did it here years ago, the students still went to school the same number of days. The days were just spread out through the whole year. They went to school for 45 days and then were off 15 days. This way, they were able to educate more students without building new buildings. Many people actually liked it because it would give the kids a break and they could go on vacation at "off peak" times. Students in the same family were all on the same schedule so there wasn't any conflict. I have family members that live in school districts that are not "unified". (they have a district for elementary and a different one for high school). The districts do not have the same days off. For example, one has spring break the end of March and the other is always off Easter week.

My BIL taught in a year round district and preferred the schedule to the traditional schedule he grew up with. The big question for me is how do these school districts that go year roound compare to those that don't? Are they ranked better?

 

[hrh_disney_queen]

Our system has been talking about switching over and I don't think it would bother me or my kids. The lose a lot over the summer, and after about a month off they get bored. I think it would be nice to be off school for vacations while everyone else is in school. I won't oppose it if it comes to be, and I won't worry about it either.

 

[RunningGirl]

My kids have both attended year-round and traditional school. They both prefer year-round. The schedule is 9 weeks in, 3 weeks off. By the end of 9 weeks they need a break. After 3 weeks they're ready to go back. They've both done camps over track-outs, so they're not missing out on that. They go to school the same number of days as traditional students.

Now, if I lived in the north I would not like it. But here, the weather is actually best and we do more outside during their fall and spring track-outs. It's a great time for us to take vacations as a family! Also, they get the traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas vacations. Everyone has the week of July 4th off.

Different schedules work for different kids and families. I find that a lot of people who think year-round is a bad idea don't really understand it. Before my kids were in year-round I thought it was a horrible idea. Now I really like it.

 

[Mickeypooh99]

I would love to see year round school. Like PP said they wouldn't go to school more days. Their breaks would be more spread out. It would be great to have 2 week breaks throughout the year. You could still go to camp and on summer vacations during your 2 week breaks.

My kids have plenty of time to be kids during the school year. Thats what weekends are for. We supplement their education during the summer to help them retain what they learned during the school year. Summer is just too long to go without some learning.

I think it is a sad waste of time that the kids spend so much time in the fall reviewing things they learned last year. If they were learning year round they wouldn't have to do that.

I don't think this would solve all the education problems, but I still think it would be a good thing.

 

[krcit]

I would have to see a breakdown of the schedule but I don't think I would be against it. I don't have to worry about it though...would never happen here for a number of reasons. The main one being the schools are not air-conditioned and it's too hot in July and August.

 

[BCDisneyFanatic]

Different schedules work for different kids and families. I find that a lot of people who think year-round is a bad idea don't really understand it. Before my kids were in year-round I thought it was a horrible idea. Now I really like it.

I think changing from traditional models is always scary...but sometimes change is good! To be honest, I haven't heard of anyone who regrets switching to year-round schooling, but I've heard lots of people who are really happy with it (disclaimer: my sample size is pretty small!)

 

[lovesmurfs]

OK, I am starting this thread for those of you WHO ARE EXPOSED (parent, grandparent, caregivers, school staff) TO SCHOOL AGE KIDS...

What do YOU think of year around school? I have very strong feelings leaning towards not doing it, but it's because of past experiances I have. I'm not saying it's bad for every kid, and there are situations it may actually help a kid. BUT, I don't believe that most kids would benifit from it.

I have training in child Psych. and I have my feelings about this issue:

1. If ANY parent has complained about how their family is TOO busy, it wouldn't get less busy if school was year around! It would be worse. AND the LARGEST problem for elementary students (in our district) nowdays is the fact that their parents don't spend enough time WITH them. It is a fact. A lot of parents 'overschedule their kids'. We have a 'rule of thumb' that we tell parents of kids who are struggling in school. Do not allow your children to be enrolled in activities more than 2-3 nights a week durring the school year.

YES, some kids can do a TON of activities, but the majority of ELEMENTARY aged students who struggle in school have 1 of 2 issues- 1- Over scheduled or 2- poor home life.

My next reason...
2. When are KIDS allowed to be KIDS if they are going to school year around?
-going to summer camps (wether it be scouts, church camp, fun camps)...when would there be time for kids to experiance that? I'm not talking about the 2-4 week camps that people know of in large cities such as new York or where ever...I'm talking about the 1/2 week or full week camp that I grew up going to. I believe summer camps are a great thing for kids to develop.
-playing at the pool...I'll use our town for an example. Three years ago there was this beautiful outdoor pool and waterpark built. They close in mid-August, because that's when the H.S. lifeguards start school. If the pool is open, ALL of it has to be maintained on a DAILY BASIS, so if it's only open on weekends, the maintinence costs wouldn't get taken care of just by weekend opening...SO, it closes durring the entire school year- even in the hottest part of the summer here, which is mid-late August. If there was year around school, things like that would suffer.
-vacations. A HUGE amount of families go on vacations in the summer- HUGE amount. We camp A LOT, we go on one big vacation AND my kids look forward to going to stay with their grandparents once or twice for a week.

3. THE COST!!!!! It costs the states, government and US a TON of money for schooling each DAY. Adding days is only going to hurt the US financially.

4. BEING A KID is PART of a child's education!!!!! My kids learn A LOT in the summer months that they can't learn in school. They learn about LIFE...they experiance things that they could not if school was year around!

5. In the midwest and other areas, parents DEPEND on their kids to have summer vacation to help with farming, to help with picking up jobs for summer travelers, to help with family buisnesses. When i was growing up, it was NORMAL for some farm kids to take days off from school to help their parents durring the harvest. Parents in the midwest STILL do this- not as often, but it does happen.

I believe if school was a year around thing, I would home school. I know they'd have to continue their education through out the summer too, but at least we'd be able to have the time to take them on vacations still, they'd still get to experiance being kids, they'd still get to go stay with grandparents on occasion...

Those are my reasons. I have more. I don't believe that parents who support all year school are wrong, I just believe they have different life experiances than my family has had.

I didn't start this thread for people to come on and 'fight' about their opinions and state why others are 'wrong, or right'...I just like to hear others opinions on the subject. I want to understand why people feel the way they do. I know that there are people who support all year school fully- And for their kids, maybe it's a good thing.

I think it's localized...some larger cities, it may work really well for- but for us smaller midwestern towns, I don't think it makes any sense.

There are year-round schools in our district (NW Chicago suburb), and DS (before the boundary lines were changed) was in year-round from K-4th grade. Kids start in July, then have 3 weeks off in October, 2 weeks off at Christmas, 3 weeks off in March, and then 6 weeks in the summer.

It was an awful nightmare. Don't even get me started, as a working mom, on the "find a sitter for three weeks" issue in October and March (none of the "extra programs" they offered for intercession went for the full time school would have gone).

The worst part is that DS has ADHD, and as soon as we'd gotten him settled into a routine, BANG! Vacation time again. I was so glad when the redistricting happened. And it was horrible trying to schedule vacation (the only time DH can take is in early August).

Now, because of school budgetary cutbacks, I believe that next year all year-round schools will be going back to a 9-month schedule.

 

[taylor3297]

A year round school normally works on a 4 track system at there always a track that is tracked out. For example, Tracks 1, 2, and 3 start school at the near the beginning of July, thus track 4 is tracked out. When track 4 starts school, then track 3 will track out, when track 3 comes back, track 2 tracks out. Track outs are for a 3 week period. Kids who attend year round school go the same 180 days that traditional calendar students go.

Teachers who teach a core subject track out the sametime as their students, but have to do workdays during track out time. These teachers get the same amount of time off as a traditional calendar but the time off is spread out throughout the year. Teachers who teach a core get 10 months of pay distributed over the 12 month period (after the track out time, they are working only 10 months) Those who teach electives/specials and work the whole 12 months, get a full 12 months of pay and earn vacation days to take when they would like.

As to what parents do with kids during track out time, many places offer camps and such for these kids. So kids don't miss out.

I have taught both on the traditional calendar and the year round calendar. There are advantages and disadvantages to both. The one advantage is that I had to do less reviewing of objectives due to students not having 8 - 10 weeks off at one time. There is only one week in between school years on the year round calendar.

 

[daughtersrus]

My BIL taught in a year round district and preferred the schedule to the traditional schedule he grew up with. The big question for me is how do these school districts that go year roound compare to those that don't? Are they ranked better?

I don't really know. Our district switched back to the regular schedule quite awhile ago. I'm sure that there's been a study or two about the pros/cons.

When would teachers get time off for vacations and for continuing education if needed? Would their salaries increase?

What about building maintenance, utilities, other staff and so on?

I'm against year-round school for many reasons.

When they did it here, the teachers followed the same schedule as their students...45 on 15 off. There were extra expenses for office staff, utilities and maintenance but it was still a lot cheaper than building new schools and staffing them.

Just curious, but why are you against them?

 

[SpecialK]

I'm in favor of it. The model that I've seen proposed is the nine weeks on/three weeks off one. The time in school would not be any longer and less time would be wasted on review after a long summer break. I wish we'd go year round.

 

[simba20]

There was a school sysytem here in Georgia, who years ago, had a modified "year round schedule." Stduents attended school for six weeks and then stduenst and teachers had two weeks off and then went back for another six weeks. Then they got six weeks off or so for the summer.

CNN had a show on last night talking about success in Hong Kong schools and how (all) stduenst seek private tutors in addition to their studies. They have a shorter school day than US schools and shorter year, but yet test scores remain high. However I got to thinking that surely, there must be some UNmotivated HK stduents and CNN was only focusing on the best.

I don;t know how to fix US schools, but year round wouldn't bother me. Kids would have a place to be during the summer (schools could even provide untraditional school during the summer and have "camps") and parents would not have to race to fill summer daycare spots. Schooling during the summer could also provide the opportunity for children to catch up on concepts/skills while advance stduenst could take enrichment courses or advance ahead in studies for that time.

 

[taylor3297]

3. THE COST!!!!! It costs the states, government and US a TON of money for schooling each DAY. Adding days is only going to hurt the US financially

Actually you save money because a year round school, can hold more students due to the tracking in and out. For example, where I have taught a traditional middle school holds around 1000 students, the year round school can use the same building but have 1300 students because a track is always tracked out. So the teachers rotate the use of the different classrooms. Also, due to tracking in and out, you don't have to buy as many textbooks, because you hand out the books at track in and take them back up at track out.