I was surprised to hear on the news that a handful of local schools are doing year round schooling. The children have classes for 45 days (6 weeks) weeks and then 15 days off. It might surprise you that I am not at all in favor of year round schooling since I homeschool and my family can be found teaching and learning year round. The problem I have with year round school is that it controls the life of the families that goes to the school.
It is already abundantly clear that teachers and schools frown upon any missed school days for reasons of family bonding and fun. They tell families to save trips for summer and holiday breaks. This means that families have about 8 weeks each summer to find a time that will work for both parents, the children and even extended family to do any traveling.
Moving to year round public school with 15-day breaks, all flexibility is completely removed from the lives of the family. With such tight constraints, families are essentially told when they can work and when they can play. In response, as year round school becomes more popular, I am concerned that airlines, amusement parks, and all other forms of recreation will raise their fares in response to having a captive audience that will pay. Hence, year round schooling will not only control family relationships, but also family economics.
My other fear for children who do year round traditional school is that they will become burnt out. Too much of anything, good or bad, is bad. Summer breaks allow children to relax and take a break from school long enough to miss it. I remember as a child, the only thing more exciting than the last day of school for me was the first day of school. I also remember not being able to concentrate on my schoolwork during the hotter months. Even my homeschoolers learning scheduled is scaled back dramatically during the summer.
I fear that moving to year round schooling will eventually show itself as detrimental. It seems my local school systems are not necessarily in agreement over year round schooling either. While new schools have moved to year round schooling, other schools have moved back to a traditional school year. Either way, I am glad that we homeschool and are not caught in the middle of the experiment.
Read: It’s almost time for school
Dilemma: What Do You Do When Your Kids Have the Day Off From School?
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