This question is for a group project at school. I know, a site for yoyos is a strange place to ask this But I’m sure you are still in school (like myself), or have gone to school at some point
So this is a debate about if school should be year-round: spring, summer, fall, winter. BUT, you would only go to school 9 weeks at a time. Then 3 weeks of vacation. Then 9 weeks of school, then 3 weeks off again. This would be continuous for the entire year (after a few adjustments to fit the calendar year). You’d still have your holidays: Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter etc. This, versus the conventional “school all year except summer”.
Votes will be appreciated very much! ;D
And if you have the time, say why you this think it is or isn’t a good idea
I don’t know about a “year round” school year but I’m for a shorter summer break. When I was in school I’d forgotten many things that I just learned before summer vacation.
I’d say a month off would be sufficient.
If I was still in school, maybe my answer would be different. lol.
First, I’m not thrilled my kids go to a year round school, but at least they are on the same track. My in-laws were spread over enough tracks where someone was always in school, but with 8 kids… well, that’s how it goes sometimes.
In my case, it’s 12 weeks on, 4 weeks off. Trust me, those 4 weeks around my house are NOT pleasant!
My kids can’t seem to get along with each other. What you don’t see is me having to scream at them and almost beat them every other minute because they’ve found it’s more important to fight than to behave. 3 months of this crap on a 24X7 basis? I’m sorry, but even Mother Teresa would beat the crap out of them with a metal rod, and she’s supposed to be a saint!(so they say) No, ain’t happening.
Now, what do I get? I get November off and March off. We like to go to Disneyland, and we get annual passes now so we can go twice year, and now we can hit it in the off-season when lines are less and hotels cost less. Kids enjoy it, I enjoy it, wife enjoys it. Or we can go to WDW(we like Disney, in case you didn’t notice) in a few years when the kids are older. Lower airfare, hotels and car rentals. We get to avoid the typical summer madhouse crowds, waiting marathons and the extreme heat of Anaheim. I recall in 1989, when Splash Mountain opened up, waiting in line in August on the HOTTEST day of the year for 2 hours and 45 minutes to go on Splash Mountain. Liked it so much I went on it again later in the day(same day, but like, after 10:30PM when the crowd starts to leak out after fireworks) and only waited 15 minutes. But, the weather in November and March is mild and comfortable, so it’s a good time to go despite attraction closures.
Still, I’m not thrilled about this track stuff, as I prefer the traditional 9 on/3 off better.
In the case of the school my kids go do, and most of the district, the schools are overcrowded. Having 4 tracks(A,B,C,D), means 25% of the kids are gone at any given point in time, allowing a school with a 900-student capacity to handle 1200 students. Since they aren’t going to open new schools and the state(california) things cutting education is the key to their financial woes(it’s not, I found over $3 Billion in departmental wastes just in IT related areas but they don’t want to cut that despite already having the infrastructure in place to no longer need the wastes!), they are closing schools and cramming more kids in fewer schools. It’s an unfortunate necessity.
As a result, to ensure our kids get the quality of education we want, and we can’t afford private school, there are many learning workbooks that can be bought at very affordable prices, starting at $4.95 and going as high as $10.95, which makes me question why the public schools can post prices such as their cost of $20+ per unit of a similar sized workbook covering roughly the same material. Just shows there is deliberate waste involved and vendors taking advantage, but that’s another issue.
Using such materials, my kind in kindergarten is a bit ahead in his reading. My 2nd grader is way ahead in math and reading.
I am against year round, because if your in the middle of learning, and then you have a long break, you will forget allot of the stuff you learned, and possibly any homework. In normal school you go up a grade, after the break, you have no home work (win, win), and you won’t be in the middle of learning any thing. Studio makes a good point too.
No. Not really interested in cruises right now. Just isn’t my thing. That’s something my family is considering for some time in the future. I kinda like the feeling of having dirt/rock/something solid beneath my feet. Not a big fan of flying either.
Back on topic:
My kid get off their track on the 28th of October. They are complaining because they don’t get the “full break” thanks to thanksgiving. Hopefully they forget about that during the Disneyland trip.
I am providing a lot of AV services for the school, so even though my kids may be off, I may still be doing stuff for the school. That’s fine with me. My gear is meant to be used, not sitting around.
That’s not weird compared to being in the 12th grade, graduating, and then the next day… nothing (not counting college, tech schools, university, etc). Real bizarre feeling, trust me.
Took a while to get that feeling out of my system. I hated school while I was in it but as soon as I finished I began to miss it. Enjoy it while you can guys.
alot of kids dont even understand what year round schooling is. I know that at least at my school kids think it is school with no breaks at all except for weekends untill you graduate from highschool.
Also Summer vacations give teachers time, to reorganize classrooms, gather new supplies, and take a break. Teachers also benefit from the extended break. I think they also enjoy the break.
things i would push for in schools are things like an extra 1.5 hours a day, then take friday off, having three semesters thruought the course of a year, and choosing which period to take the “summer vacation” regardless of wether or not it actually falls in summer, and having a spring break for each of those semesters… regardless of spring
Hm, all this is very interesting! :o When my class voted either pro-“year-round” or con-“year-round”, the count was almost split down the middle. 15 pro, 13 con. I guess seeing your friends more regularly and breaks being scattered throughout the year were appealing to us.
Yeah, true stuff. We didn’t really see this change from anybody’s perspective besides ours I go to a private (catholic) school, so I’m not familiar with tracks. But I understand Studio42’s concern about the quality of the education children receive if so many kids are in one school!
I know, if you’ve never experienced the 9 weeks school/3 weeks off schedule, it would be weird having only 3 weeks off between grades! But, since it’s only three weeks, wouldn’t you forget less of what you’ve learned than if you took 3 MONTHS off? But then again, the 3 weeks off thing happens several times throughout the year.
This topic came up in class, too. I like this idea. Less commuting, less pollution, less hours spent in congested traffic, less spending on transportation, and more time in the weekend! Though, I would take Monday off. I hate the feeling on Sunday night, “Ugh, school’s tomorrow…”. But this is another topic with a whole new set of arguments.
This is exactly what some classmates of mine said!
applause 8) Yet another verse from the book of Joshua!
Keeps the prisons packed and correctional officers employed. That’s fine with me, only because someone I work with a lot is a corrections officer and I wish him to remain employed.
If I could, I'd definitely go to school year round, rather than having a long summer break. The reason for this being: I start to get [i]exhausted[/i] towards the end of the year. At that point I usually have to stay after school for a couple hours every other day, and will have to give up most of my Saturdays for something school related anyways, so I tend to have less and less time to do things. In the summer, I tend to get bored. I'd be much happier if I could go to school all the time, just with large enough breaks in between.
If anything, I’d like to be home schooled, despite that being unlikely.
But I’m sure you are still in school (like myself), or have gone to school at some point 
I go to a private (catholic) school, so I’m not familiar with tracks. But I understand Studio42’s concern about the quality of the education children receive if so many kids are in one school!
This is exactly what some classmates of mine said!