What is your opinion on year long school?

1. 66

   Donna Janelleposted 13 years ago

   What is your opinion on year long school?
   
   Is it better for children to go to school all year long, or the regular two semesters with a summer break? What are the pros/cons?

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2. 60

   lilibeesposted 13 years ago

   I think kids of all ages can get burnt out, and need a break.

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3. 60

   hudlifeposted 13 years ago

   First! (Oops, well 2nd, lilbees beat me to it) Even though summer vacation for kids was primarily for our past agricultural society (get the kids working on the farm during harvest time), they still need a summer break.
   
   It gives parents and their kids a chance to do extended travel. There is more to life than year round school. Sure there are other countries that are ahead of us in education, but we just need to retool the existing school year. We can still compete globally with a summer vacation!

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4. 80

   Wayne Brownposted 13 years ago

   I think it has merit.  The more we are in school, the more opportunities there are to teach and learn.  After all, when we enter the workforce, the expectation is that we will work year round.  We may as well get use to that early on.  It would also help working parents in that they would not have to make other arrangements for their school age kids who have no where to be for three months in the summer and are too young to stay home unsupervised.  There are many who will argue against it on the basis of giving the students time to rest their minds. That may have some merit but the current summer lapse is far too long.  There are many traditions in education which grew out of the agricultural period in this country.  School was built around those times of year when crops were harvested and the ground was laid by.  Much of that is unimportant now so we really need to examine how we do it and see if full-time year round school is an overall positive. WB

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5. 60

   shynslyposted 13 years ago

   Agree with lili and hud... as a father of two, I feel like kids have their whole adult lives to spend stressed out, why can't we ever just let them be kids?
   
   Somewhere along the way, we've gotten this idea that if a child doesn't know calculus by the time they're in third grade, something is "wrong". Seems to me, that idea in and of itself is what's "wrong".

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6. 0

   Helpful Hannaposted 13 years ago

   Year round schools are great for teachers because it can elliminate burnout.  However, students may need a more consistant schedule of learning.  I think research has shown year round schools to be less effective than originally thought.

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7. 60

   JP Adkinsposted 13 years ago

   According to my research, the best reason for year long schooling is the lack of outside sources inhibiting a child's ability to learn.  Which can be very useful in inner-city classrooms.

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8. 76

   Kathryn L Hillposted 11 years ago

   Oh, NO summer vacation is better, all right.... for the mothers who can't stay home during the summer months because they have to help pay for the life style they insist on... And for the fathers who work long hours so they can pay for their expensive houses and impressive cars and name brand shoes. Yes, it is better, all right, for the government which needs a populace that is not in touch with their true selves and will buy the logic spewed forth by the politicians. Oh, it is better, all right, for the corporations which will eventually need a workforce of  A  u  t  o  m  a  t  o  n  s.   Maybe we should stop having so many children and just develop robots.  Let the unborn souls remain in heaven where at least there they are  F   R   E   E.  The problem is that these days, most kids are put into a  summer camp of some sort during the summer and not even given the opportunity to truly unwind from the endless days of waking up at 7, getting to school by 8 and enduring lessons that the teacher deems to be relevant, whether it is or not, to little Herman and Jasmine. No, we should not make time in our lives for summer vacation, for arts and crafts with mom or dad, messing around in the kitchen, creative writing, dance, swimming, martial arts, gymnastics, hanging out near oceans and lakes, hiking, traveling, gardening, laying around in the back yard, building forts, playing in backyard wading pools and with hoses...   
   Think about it.
   Lets build robots instead. But then, who will buy all the technological devices that are turning our kids and apparently us adults, as well, into robots?

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