NationStates Jolt Archive

3 months is a long time away from school studies. In a more agrarian society this summer break made sense. Kids were needed to help out with the critical care and harvest of crops. It is how it had to be done. It probably wasnt a good environment to learn in an uncooled schoolroom in summer either.

But times have changed. Machines and pesticides do much of the work children did on farms. Schools are now air conditioned. Maybe it is time to educate 10 or 11 months of the year instead of 9. Or at least split the three months up into two 6 (or even 4) week breaks between semesters.

It would be more work for everyone employed by schools so perhaps a raise in pay ought to be implemented at the same time.

3 months is a long time away from school studies. In a more agrarian society this summer break made sense. Kids were needed to help out with the critical care and harvest of crops. It is how it had to be done. It probably wasnt a good environment to learn in an uncooled schoolroom in summer either.

But times have changed. Machines and pesticides do much of the work children did on farms. Schools are now air conditioned. Maybe it is time to educate 10 or 11 months of the year instead of 9. Or at least split the three months up into two 6 (or even 4) week breaks between semesters.

It would be more work for everyone employed by schools so perhaps a raise in pay ought to be implemented at the same time.



if they split it up then kids would look foreward to the month long breaks in the middle of the year. As it stands now there is one time when kids just give up and get ready for summer. If there were three breaks then there would be three times a year when kids would give up. And...WHY ARE YOU SCREWING WITH MY SUMMER BREAK!?

Shouldn't the thread be called "Is summer vacation to long for?"
I admit, that does make the answer obvious . . .

Are you completely insane?

Oh well I'm way past that period in my life so I could care less what kids these days have to endure (here in Vegas I think schoo is year round), but I loved my long summers.

You can pry my 2.5 months from my warm, bloody hands after I've used them to give you a thorough thrashing!

See, some of us work during the summer to make money for the rest of the year, and we depend on that money.

You can pry my 2.5 months from my warm, bloody hands after I've used them to give you a thorough thrashing!

See, some of us work during the summer to make money for the rest of the year, and we depend on that money.


Yep.

Same here.

College student?

Hell to the no.

I look forward to the 3 month summer.

It breaks the school pattern and lets me take a break...

.. that really doesn't make sense, I know, but I'll try to explain..

If you go a few weeks, then take a few weeks off, and then a few on, then off, etc.. you start to treat those few weeks like weekends and well..

I can't explain.

I'm sorry, but I need my 3 months to rest..

Three Months? My kids get two off, then it's back to school in August! Insane.

I hate to admit, i did not ready any posts in this thread, and Not Bad may have a valid point. However, since I start school in a week (:eek:) my gut reaction to this thread title is:
HELL NO!

I wish I had atleast another 2 weeks.

3 months is a long time away from school studies.

9 months is a long time for school studies. especially for all schooling before college level, which is mostly just glorified babysitting anyway.

If kids had to go to school for 11 months, when they know in the past people had around 9. Grades would suffer.

Not Bad must have never been to school.

And where I am it's 2 months also, with stupid week long breaks, one in the middle of ****ing February. What the heck is there to do in the cold of February??? There's no snow where we are, just 30 degree weather, lots of fun for the kids there.

I've been out of school for years, and still:

The idea of shortening the summer break sounds completely EVIL!

Heck, I even picked a business (not teaching or otherwise school-related, either) where I don't have to do anything all summer!

To answer your question, HELL NO! Think of all the summer jobs that would be lost if summer were cut short. Spring and summer is prime time for hiring drafters and starting construction. And I did need the long break when I was younger. It gave me time away from school to do other things that I wouldn't have had time for during the school year. Cutting summer breaks is a bad idea.

You can pry my 2.5 months from my warm, bloody hands after I've used them to give you a thorough thrashing!

See, some of us work during the summer to make money for the rest of the year, and we depend on that money.
Agreed. I haven't actually had a vacation yet due to my job. The 3 weeks' holiday I get this year will be made the most of.

Schools are now air conditioned. Where?

Yeah because heavens forbid we allow children to ever actually be children.

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Are you completely insane?

Are you completely insane?

Are you completely insane?

Are you completely insane?

Are you completely insane?

Are you completely insane?

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9 months is a long time for school studies. especially for all schooling before college level, which is mostly just glorified babysitting anyway.
Not to mention the fact that with 8 hours of school, an average of an hour and a half of homework (soon to be 2 no doubt) and the new afterschool programs, to "keep kids off the street." (I.E. From playing outside and well.. being kids!) They obviously have way too much free time already... ;)

Where?
My school!

3 months is a long time away from school studies. In a more agrarian society this summer break made sense. Kids were needed to help out with the critical care and harvest of crops. It is how it had to be done. It probably wasnt a good environment to learn in an uncooled schoolroom in summer either.

But times have changed. Machines and pesticides do much of the work children did on farms. Schools are now air conditioned. Maybe it is time to educate 10 or 11 months of the year instead of 9. Or at least split the three months up into two 6 (or even 4) week breaks between semesters.

It would be more work for everyone employed by schools so perhaps a raise in pay ought to be implemented at the same time.

My mom's a principal and she's always talking about studies that show that kids forget quite a bit in that three month long break. She's always wanted to try year-round school (still the same amount of school days, but spread around the year), but has trouble selling it to her staff and school board, as many of them are set in their ways. She'd like to have a four day week, instead of five, and have Fridays as an optional "catchup day" for kids who are falling behind. Also, if I remember right, winter and spring breaks would be a little longer -- and of course, summer break would be considerably shorter. She also thinks that it might be easier for working parents to not have to find daycare for three months for their kids.

Anyway, as far as learning is concerned, it seems like the current length of the summer break is longer than optimal.


By the way, this is at the elementary level. In high school, you run into summer job problems, as other posters have mentioned.

Anyway, as far as learning is concerned, it seems like the current length of the summer break is longer than optimal.
Maybe so but that's not what's most important here...

No way. I used to love the long summer holidays when I was at school. I'm sure kids still look forward to them now.

3 months is a long time away from school studies. In a more agrarian society this summer break made sense. Kids were needed to help out with the critical care and harvest of crops. It is how it had to be done. It probably wasnt a good environment to learn in an uncooled schoolroom in summer either.

But times have changed. Machines and pesticides do much of the work children did on farms. Schools are now air conditioned. Maybe it is time to educate 10 or 11 months of the year instead of 9. Or at least split the three months up into two 6 (or even 4) week breaks between semesters.

It would be more work for everyone employed by schools so perhaps a raise in pay ought to be implemented at the same time.


Weird, they were actually thinking of increasing our "summer holidays" (known as the Christmas holidays here) and having three bigger terms instead of four smaller ones (generally lasting about 10 weeks).

But myself, I think we should stay the same:)

If kids had to go to school for 11 months, when they know in the past people had around 9. Grades would suffer.

Not Bad must have never been to school.

And where I am it's 2 months also, with stupid week long breaks, one in the middle of ****ing February. What the heck is there to do in the cold of February??? There's no snow where we are, just 30 degree weather, lots of fun for the kids there.


Our holidays end in Feburary. And start in December

The most important thing about schooling is that students get an education.
That they want months to goof off is not nearly as important.

Most students forget a lot of what they learned and thus teachers must spend a significant portion of the next school year reviewing what they covered the previous year. Eliminate the 8 week break in the summer and you will drastically improve retention of material.

Year round schooling makes a lot more sense as more material can be covered with greater efficacy. This improves the education students receive - unless I am mistaken, education is the whole point.

High school students do not need summer jobs – if they are so desperate for money they can work an after school job like many already do. My high school even had a work release program so some students were allowed to leave a few hours early every day to go to a job. That a few students want to work summer jobs but not after school jobs should not dictate what the school board does in the education of all students.

With year round schooling students could get lots of little breaks throughout the year, which would be long enough for them to take a vacation but short enough that they will still retain much of what they have been learning. These periods could also be used to allow remedial students extra time to learn the material.

On a completely different issue, it would facilitate the elimination of categorizing students by age rather than ability. Were schooling year round, perhaps divided into quarters, it would be much easier to advance or retard students. Students good in math but poor in history should be advanced in math but not in history rather than shoved up into a higher level history class simply because he is a year older. With strongly delineated ‘years’ of education, there is a lot of pressure to advance students who lack the proper ability in some areas, and there is less ability to scale each subject area to the individual student’s ability.

The only drawback, aside from administrators who are adamantly opposed to any changes whatsoever simply out of tradition, is that there is a greater potential for education to be more individually focused, which contravenes many schools’ attempt to treat all students as a homogonous commodity. Personally I see this as a plus, even though it ‘reduces diversity in the classroom’.

Anyway, year round schooling allows for greater flexibility in education, and greater retention of material from year to year. It should be an obvious course of action, but tradition and the teachers’ union are strongly opposed to it.

Remember that it is education that is important here, not that it might interfere with students having fun.

Is summer vacation to long?

Going by your spelling ...

10 weeks is definitely not too long. With 5 summer assignments, there wouldn't be time to finish it all in much less time. And with 2-4 hours of homework every night and 5-6 hours on both Saturday and Sunday, there is no time to get an afterschool job, at least not for kids who are taking actually challenging courses (which, admittedly, aren't offered basically until junior year of high school, if even then. Honors classes are too easy, it takes AP and Dual-Enrollment and similar courses to pose any sort of challenge.)

And schools are air-conditioned where I live. They'd have to be, it's too hot in Florida without air-conditioning. When I was in middle school and we had a veteran's day assembly outside, three kids (including myself) fainted from the heat.

Is summer vacation too long?
Are health and education ridiculously overfunded?

3 months is a long time away from school studies. In a more agrarian society this summer break made sense. Kids were needed to help out with the critical care and harvest of crops. It is how it had to be done. It probably wasnt a good environment to learn in an uncooled schoolroom in summer either.

But times have changed. Machines and pesticides do much of the work children did on farms. Schools are now air conditioned. Maybe it is time to educate 10 or 11 months of the year instead of 9. Or at least split the three months up into two 6 (or even 4) week breaks between semesters.

It would be more work for everyone employed by schools so perhaps a raise in pay ought to be implemented at the same time.

I haven't had class since the end of march. H ad all of April to study for exams which lasted all of May. I'm back to college to start a masters in international relations in October! As for secondary school holidays- I had three months too. It did get to long. There were several times from January to March where a some time off would have been welcome. Also a bit longer at xmas would have been nice too. But the thing is, in Ireland if the holidays are changed parents work shedules will have to change too, and unions would complain, go on strike as would the teachers unions (for whom I have no respect) claiming that they need the paid three months off to recouporate, then would continue to hold the government to ransom and the government would give in.

I don't look at it this way. Frankly, kids belong in school in the summer. If I have to work in the summer, so should they. And honestly, what did I really do in the summer that would have been so Earth-shattering that I needed two and a half fricking months off for it?

The issue is this. When I was in college, I really didn't care for summer break. It was too long, and all the jobs were taken by the time i got home. So the hell with it. Colleges should make school year-round and offer a full schedule of classes in the summer. If the professors don't like it, well, tough; that's what they get paid the big bucks for.

What we do need, though, is a nice, long, six-to-eight-week break around the END of the year. Start it in late November, around Thanksgiving, and send the kids back a little after New Year's. The holidays are a good time for kids to be getting jobs anyway. By "kids," I mean teenagers. No eight-year-old should spend the holidays checking people out at Best Buy.

I propose the following, and this goes for everyone, not just colleges.

For the year of 2007, the year starts on the 3rd of January. Winter quarter lasts ten weeks, with 48 days of instruction. The week of March 12th begins an "overage week" in which days of instruction that are necessary in order to reach 48 days of instruction are reached. For winter, those schools who observe neither MLK Day nor Presidents' Day (this is very US-centric, guys; sorry) get the entire overage week for whatever. If that means a two-week break (for elementary kids) then great. If that means exams some days (secondary kids) then so be it. That's probably true for college people as well; that week would be exams, and extra instructional days would be at the discretion of the instructor and the university. The week of March 19th is vacation time; it's the equivalent of Spring Break.

Start back up on the 26th of March. Go until the week of may 28th, which is Memorial Day, so June 1st is the last instructional day. Memorial Day and one other day serve as days off. June 4th-8th is the overage week, and the 11th-15th is vacation. Start back up on the 18th. August 24th is the last day of Summer quarter, and the week of August 27th-31st is overage. Start back up on September 10th. November 16th becomes the last day, and the days from November 19th-21st become a compressed overage week. Thanksgiving becomes the de facto beginning of the big break, and New Year's Day becomes the de facto end. Special arrangements are made for seniors to take final exams in advance, even scheduling outside of normal instructional time, in order for them to graduate and have commencement in the weekend before Thanksgiving. Graduating college seniors likely would see one last gasp of student-hood by working for the holidays, and then in January, the frenzy of new college grads entering the job market begins.

I like it a lot better than what we have now. I think all schools should do it, with specialized instruction and refreshers occupying the time from September to late November during that "transitional" period of switching over years.

Meh I get 6 weeks of summer break with 3 week holidays for christmas and a week in Febuary. So IMO NO. I need those six weeks for holidaying and partying!

I'm sure there are a lot of very sound reasons in favor of year-round schooling, but it just seems wrong to not have the summer off. Going back before Labor Day (1st Monday in September for those of you not from the US) is also ... an abomination upon the earth!:mad: Ahem, sorry ... :p As someone said up above, we ought to allow kids to be kids, and as someone else said, those shorter breaks will soon come to feel like longish weekends. Kids will grow up soon enough and enter a world where time off from work will be about the most precious thing you have. Let's not toss them down that rabbit hole any sooner than necessary.

If I have to work in the summer, so should they.

that's stupid on at least two levels

here in Hawaii, they switched to a year round school schedule. so two weeks off between quarters.

here in Hawaii, they switched to a year round school schedule. so two weeks off between quarters.

though in hawaii it's always summer anyway

though in hawaii it's always summer anyway
*whistles innocently*
people are free to come here during your winter months. :p

I had less than three weeks of summer vacation, so excuse me if I laugh at your title ;)

I had less than three weeks of summer vacation, so excuse me if I laugh at your title ;)

Same here.

I can't stand the overly long summer vacation anymore, since I worked full time for four years between high school and university. So to solve my terrible boredom problem I took summer classes. I could have worked 40 hours a week, but that much work for $5.55/hr just isn't worth it. Especially when the VA will pay me $1184/month just for going to school.

The issue is this. When I was in college, I really didn't care for summer break. It was too long, and all the jobs were taken by the time i got home. So the hell with it.
You can not seriously expect to be able to get a job whenever your whim takes you. If you want work, you should get it sorted weeks (if not months) before you expect to start, even if that means phoning people up and having interviews during term time.

What we do need, though, is a nice, long, six-to-eight-week break around the END of the year. Start it in late November, around Thanksgiving, and send the kids back a little after New Year's.
This I agree with though. Longer winter holidays are definitely in order.

I could have worked 40 hours a week, but that much work for $5.55/hr just isn't worth it.
Jeez, that's shocking. Being paid that in the UK is illegal, even if you are under 21.

Jeez, that's shocking. Being paid that in the UK is illegal, even if you are under 21.

Federal minimum wage in the US is $5.15/hr. I'm 24 and make $5.55. True, it's a college town and I'm working at a college kid job (fast food). Michigan is raising minimum wage to $6.85 in October and it'll get to $7.25 within the next few years.

Air conditioned schools?

On Earth?

Anyway, I don't really do much with my long summers (I end up looking forward to School) but, at the end of the year, it's class to know you have 2 weeks away from it all...

You can not seriously expect to be able to get a job whenever your whim takes you. If you want work, you should get it sorted weeks (if not months) before you expect to start, even if that means phoning people up and having interviews during term time.

You're not following me. I got out of college after Sqring quarter in June. The majority of kids get out in May. They have that advantage over me. Therefore, getting a job is that much more difficult for me because I have that working against me. That plus I was at a distance from home and coming up to interview for jobs was a neat trick. I could probably have done it, but it wasn't made easy in the summer.

This I agree with though. Longer winter holidays are definitely in order.

This was the advantage I enjoyed. Most kids didn't get out of Fall term until the middle of December; I was home before Thanksgiving. Their breaks were often only three weeks long - who has time to get a job then? Really, who has time to relax, job or no job? I had time for both. My brother didn't seem to have time for either.

3 months is a long time away from school studies. In a more agrarian society this summer break made sense. Kids were needed to help out with the critical care and harvest of crops. It is how it had to be done. It probably wasnt a good environment to learn in an uncooled schoolroom in summer either.

But times have changed. Machines and pesticides do much of the work children did on farms. Schools are now air conditioned. Maybe it is time to educate 10 or 11 months of the year instead of 9. Or at least split the three months up into two 6 (or even 4) week breaks between semesters.

It would be more work for everyone employed by schools so perhaps a raise in pay ought to be implemented at the same time.
Maybe for rich people that is a viable option. Where I come from, summer is when kids get jobs and start saving up to put themselves through college. Three months of full-time work is a shitload better than spreading out that work in part-time bits while trying to also go to school and have activities and friends. You can get better jobs if you're willing to work for them full time, at least where I lived, and you don't have to worry about your studies suffering if you have to pull a couple of double shifts during the week.

You can get better jobs if you're willing to work for them full time, at least where I lived, and you don't have to worry about your studies suffering if you have to pull a couple of double shifts during the week.

Unfortunately, there aren't many better jobs in this town. I don't leave the college town because my immediate family has kinda scattered in the last few years and I don't really have anywhere else to go. That and I've been on my own for 6 years now. Anyway, in this town the only jobs you can get that pay over $6.00 are the casino, the university, and the hospital. All of which you'll have a really tough time getting a job if you don't know a guy, or at least know a guy who knows a guy.

But then, my state has 7% unemployment, so this isn't the norm in these United States.

Also, working to save up enough money for college is almost impossible these days. My books for this semester cost $452 and my estimated costs for the year (with 24 credits) is $17,000. I go to a relatively cheap university, too. If I'd worked 40 hours a week all summer (unlikely as I've never seen anyone get 40 hours there) I would have grossed a whole $2,664. And that's if I hadn't spent any of that money on anything.

Anyway, my point is that college is way too damned expensive.