Longer school year. Yay or Nay

[Rider]

Originally Posted by azoomm

Last time I checked, June July and August are three months.

Up North - the school let out end of May and didn't start until after Labor day...

My kids go to school until mid june, start the day after labor day.

3 years ago it became a state law that kids can't start school before labor day weekend so that the state can get one last chance at tourism money.

[OneSickPsycho]

Set it up like the college model - year round, breaks quarterly, and various time off for holidays and such. I remember hating going back to school each year... I hated having to go over the same bullshit we learned the year before because half of my peers lost their freakin minds over summer break.

[CrazyKell]

I'm all for year round schooling.

I taught at a school that had 1 week off in October, 2 in December, 1 in February, 2 in April, 1 in May, and 4 in August. You still got the feeling of summer without the brain drain that most kids go through.

As for teachers using those breaks to update their education, not really possible and means no vacation for the teachers. And bitch however much you want about teacher's vacation (and yes, there will be bitchers), but you wouldn't work a full year without vacation.

[Dave]

Fuck no. My property taxes are high enough thanks. Bad enough I have to pay for everyone elses darling little mistakes in the first place

[defector]

Both of my kids had year round classes until we moved. They had the same amount of time off as "normal" school schedules for a calendar year.
A week off here and there, and a two week "fall break".

I didn't like it at first, but not wasting most of the first month of school having refreshers was nice. IMO, it was very productive from about the third day in.

[Adeptus_Minor]

Originally Posted by OneSickPsycho

Set it up like the college model - year round, breaks quarterly, and various time off for holidays and such. I remember hating going back to school each year... I hated having to go over the same bullshit we learned the year before because half of my peers lost their freakin minds over summer break.

I went to a school with a schedule like that for my last year and a half of high school. I think it's a better model, really.
As you say, it does something to reduce the need for all that review at the beginning of the next school year.

[101lifts2]

Originally Posted by Dave

Fuck no. My property taxes are high enough thanks. Bad enough I have to pay for everyone elses darling little mistakes in the first place

How much we talkin here? Mine keep going down. Started at 3600...now they are 1100. Oh course the property value plummeted, but hey lower taxes.

[Kaneman]

I might be down for what you guys are talking about with the vacation spread out through the year, but I think what Obama is proposing is to just send kids to school for more weeks out of the year.

My kid just turned 7, he's in first grade and he brings home an hour of homework every night, and then a couple hours on Friday. It is so absurd. Now, they're not going to fail him if he doesn't do the homework, because that could hit them in the pocketbook....no, they only make him feel like a bad kid and ensure that he's depressed all day 'til I pick him up. Of course, a 7 year old doesn't have a vast amount of control over whether he does his homework or not.

There are other things in life than school a kid needs to be learning about. In my kid's case he studies Jiu Jitsu, he has a couple of "jobs" that he has to do, etc. etc....you know, it can't be all school all the time. We do the homework when we have time, but it doesn't always get done, life happens....but more school certainly doesn't seem like the answer to me.

[CrazyKell]

Originally Posted by Kaneman

I might be down for what you guys are talking about with the vacation spread out through the year, but I think what Obama is proposing is to just send kids to school for more weeks out of the year.

My kid just turned 7, he's in first grade and he brings home an hour of homework every night, and then a couple hours on Friday. It is so absurd. Now, they're not going to fail him if he doesn't do the homework, because that could hit them in the pocketbook....no, they only make him feel like a bad kid and ensure that he's depressed all day 'til I pick him up. Of course, a 7 year old doesn't have a vast amount of control over whether he does his homework or not.

There are other things in life than school a kid needs to be learning about. In my kid's case he studies Jiu Jitsu, he has a couple of "jobs" that he has to do, etc. etc....you know, it can't be all school all the time. We do the homework when we have time, but it doesn't always get done, life happens....but more school certainly doesn't seem like the answer to me.

I used to give homework only once a week. They had the whole week and weekend to get it done. And usually it was stuff of the more "fun" variety that required them to look some things up, or tell me about something they were interested in.

Homework is such a stupid farce in the younger grades and I'm not sure I could teach at a school that required me to be that asinine.

[Kaneman]

Originally Posted by CrazyKell

I used to give homework only once a week. They had the whole week and weekend to get it done. And usually it was stuff of the more "fun" variety that required them to look some things up, or tell me about something they were interested in.

Homework is such a stupid farce in the younger grades and I'm not sure I could teach at a school that required me to be that asinine.

This is on top of a measly 15 minute recess and P.E. 2 times a week. They are literally training kids to be fat little mindless drones. I gotta get a picture of the kindergartners walking around the playground in a single file lines for recess one of these days...