Preparing for school: let's change the way we do things
This morning I began a test run for school with my kids. I figured I might as well try to rouse them up from bed close to their school wake-up time, and then day by day, as we approach Monday, have the alarm go off 15 minutes earlier.
Well, you can imagine the reaction. Monday will prove to be interesting, especially for the high schooler who has to get up before 6 a.m. to take the school bus.
Which leads me to two points about the way we run our schools:
1) Why do we make our older kids, the ones whose body clocks demand they go to sleep late, be in class at the ungodly hour of 7:20 a.m.? We should rearrange high school hours to better reflect their needs.
2) Is there any compelling reason why we stick to an outmoded academic schedule of having 2 1/2 months off during the summer? Our current school calendar was fine during an agrarian society. Now it makes no sense, and it hurts students' retention of their studies. We need year-round school, with off weeks spread around the year. Some school districts already have this. A friend of mine in Arizona, whose son is in one of these year-round schools, loves it. Her son does better in school, doesn't lose his study habits with long periods off, and -- here's a bonus -- it's great for family vacations.
Well, you can imagine the reaction. Monday will prove to be interesting, especially for the high schooler who has to get up before 6 a.m. to take the school bus.
Which leads me to two points about the way we run our schools:
1) Why do we make our older kids, the ones whose body clocks demand they go to sleep late, be in class at the ungodly hour of 7:20 a.m.? We should rearrange high school hours to better reflect their needs.
2) Is there any compelling reason why we stick to an outmoded academic schedule of having 2 1/2 months off during the summer? Our current school calendar was fine during an agrarian society. Now it makes no sense, and it hurts students' retention of their studies. We need year-round school, with off weeks spread around the year. Some school districts already have this. A friend of mine in Arizona, whose son is in one of these year-round schools, loves it. Her son does better in school, doesn't lose his study habits with long periods off, and -- here's a bonus -- it's great for family vacations.
posted by Ana Veciana-Suarez at 8:40 AM
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1 Comments:
Gee, I don't know how to react to this latest post. I am totally surprised at a couple of the points that you made....
First, I think it is probably a good idea to have the students adjust to the time school starts -- not the school adjust to the time that is most convenient to the children. It would not be a good model for our kids - what next? - jobs should adjust their schedules to the sleep habits of employees?
By requiring that the high schoolers report to school early - we prepare them for the day that they will be reporting to jobs - at whatever time the office opens.
Talk about the tail wagging the dog!?
Secondly, all of a sudden I have been hearing about how detrimental the summer breaks are to student retention. WOW - we never had such concerns in the past -- is it that this generation is less able to retain knowledge???? I suspect that this whole issue is another symptom of the new parental goal of giving their children every advantage so that they can excell at school. In my opinion - the kids should try to excel without advantages - it builds character.
Summer vacations are a tradition - a beloved tradition in this country. But, just for the sake of arguement, let's say we go to year-round school -- would the teachers' salaries reflect the addional 2 1/2 months of work? Or are the teachers going to have to work under their current salary for the extra time?
Also, I am confused as to how this would be good for family vacations??? You need to explain further because, from where I sit, it would NOT be good for family vacations at all. Just the opposite.
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