Summer vacation has long been associated with sleeping in, lazy days by the pool, hanging out with friends, learning the vocabulary of harmonic motion, constructing cheesy experiments, and graphing data. Summer 2012 will be no exception.…
Schools should be year-round because of many factors like the fact that year-round schooling can generate strong feelings. A 1994 report, “Prisoners of Time,” argued that “a departure from the traditional school calendar could better meet the needs of contemporary society and result in increased student achievement.” Research has also shown that year-round schooling does have an effective on students. Reviews of existing literature on this subject generally contend that the achievement of children in year-round schools is as good as, or slightly better than, that of their peers in traditional schools (Palmer & Bemis, 1999; Kneese, 1996). Another example would be a study on six elementary schools where year-round schools posted overall-test-score increases that was higher than those of traditional schools (Kneese, 2000). Schools should also be year-round because the common belief is that after a long three-month summer break, students are forgetting what they learned the previous year and teachers are wasting valuable time trying to review everything from the previous year. A review of 39 studies that has been conducted showed that students test scores drop over summer vacation and that mathematics…
Furthermore, I bet all of you can agree that we have a much more positive attitude towards school in the beginning of the year, than in the end. By the end of the year the majority of us are itching to get out of this school and begin our long-awaited summer vacation. Without summer vacation, there would be nothing to look forward to, therefore we would focus more on our school work and succeed all throughout the year, rather than just in the beginning. Many of you are probably thinking, you just said, “Without summer vacation, there would be nothing to look forward to,” and you expect…
were satisfied with their child’s school experiences (Shields 9). For over 100 years, most schools have adhered to a traditional summer vacation schedule which stemmed from our primitive technological resources and advancements. However, as technological growth was made schooling throughout the year became more practical and thus the concept of a year-round schedule was introduced. With year-round schedules now becoming ever more prevalent and traditional schedules becoming slowly obsolete, a debate has sparked between the merits of the two. This debate has involved comparing the different advantages and disadvantages of the two schedules. While a traditional summer vacation may…
As kids, we love those three months of summer vacation where we can forget about those math problems, or that science project. But is it really helping us? According to nayre.org, the Director of John Hopkins University for Summer Learning claims that 2.6 months of learning are simply lost during the summer months. (Priddy) In order to make up for the learning loss, teachers must take time to refresh their students’ memories, and review past lessons instead of furthering the students’ knowledge by moving forward. (complex/periodic sentence) All of the time spent reviewing and reiterating past lessons is time lost, and takes away from the students’ total education. Having school year round eliminates this problem and allows for…
Carol Lloyd, the executive editor of Great Schools says, “Summer learning loss is a major issue for kids. All children - no matter their economic level - experience a slide on math over the summer months.” But undoubtedly, this claim can be challenged because even if year round schooling prevents summer learning loss, the 3 or 2 weeks they have for breaks can also cause learning loss. They will forget the most recent concept they learned, causing their teacher to teach them again. If this happens, then the teacher will have no choice, but to go through the lesson plan again, very slowly.…
Summer is a season where individuals can experience activities like camping, hiking, swimming, traveling, etc. However it’s difficult for students to come across these events if there is school all year long. With one month in the summer, there is close to nothing that can be accomplished. A mom of five says, “Growing pains and lessons are learned through summer jobs, programs and freedom with friends” (Butler 1). Kids are only kids till they turn 18. Adolescents need their own free time to explore beyond education since, “A child’s life is not just school” (1). In school, teachers always mention “the real world”, and teens today often apply for summer jobs. Taking their summer away will only take away their chance to experience this “real world” they occasionally talk about. When a student is constantly being blocked by school from experiencing hardships, freedom, independence, or responsibilities, they won’t get the chance to familiarize with the rest of the…
One of the biggest issues that comes with year round school programs is the possibility of decreased quality family time, as many people use the long summer break to take extended vacations. However, most of the breaks provided by the yearlong calendar allow for at least two weeks of down time. In fact, parents with year round students find that they “appreciate the flexibility provided by year-round schooling, as it can be easier (and cheaper) to plan vacations during off-peak times.”…
Summer breaks can cause “summer slide” which is the decline of academic skills and knowledge over a long vacation. This shows that going to year-round school won’t make you forget over a long vacation. This also shows that if you don’t forget over a long vacation that you can improve your academic skills since you don’t have long breaks. All in all year-round schooling can improve a student’s skills and knowledge.…
High school student will also have problems with earning money by working doing school. If that the case schools should have a type of program where students can earn money if school becomes year round. Because students will face problems trying to work doing the summer since they will not have the entire summer off and will only be off in short breaks throughout the year. Although schools will save with year round there are other problems schools will face. During year- round school maintenance departments would use the extended period without students and teachers to make major repairs, changes in the maintenance of some buildings.…
It may sound logical but Dr Von Hippel has debunked this myth after completing an experiment. He states, “Students in “year-round” schools don't learn more than their peers in traditional nine-month schools... A sociologist at Ohio State University found that, over a full year, math and reading test scores improved about the same amount for children in year-round schools as they did for students whose schools followed a traditional nine-month calendar.” There's no academic improvement and on top of that many people believe that year round school is longer than a normal school which is also false. They have the same amount of days as a traditional nine-month high school however Instead they have “tracks”. So track 1 could have school for 3 weeks then they would have vacation for 3 weeks while track 2 has 3 weeks of school after coming back from vacation. This also limits who is seen by who every day if two people’s schedules do not cross. Public students should be given what's best for them. If year-round has no academic improvement then why should summer be taken away? At least summer benefits students with nutrients from the…
“Schools out!” The majority of schools in America stick to the traditional school year, attending class from early fall through the beginning of summer. End of the school year means the start of summer vacation for most students; over the years, summertime evolved into its own culture with specialized camps, family vacations, and little league games. While most would agree that children and even families love summer vacation, many are aware of its downfalls. One downfall is the difficulty students have retaining knowledge and information from the previous year. Typically, teachers spend the first six weeks of the new school year reviewing material from the last instead of moving on to the new material. The department of education has indicated the need for change. According to the Education Secretary Arne Duncan, President Barak Obama has called for a longer school year to help American students compete with students around the globe (Dessoff, 36). The future of America is in the hands of today’s youth. Students that attend year round schools are at an advantage over students that attend traditional schools in the area of knowledge retention and access to quality teaching staff.…
Have you ever considered switching to year round schooling? Here are some reasons not to switch, the summer time is packed and expensive, it’s harder for students and teachers, and finally there is a greater possibility for brain drain. In the article “Top 10 Reasons Why Year Round School is a Good Idea,” it states that by having one big vacation block, travel is more expensive. No matter the amount of time you get for summer you will still wind up spending more because both of the summer breaks, for year round and regular schooling, are during the summer months which are when airlines raise their prices. Also, by having less time off there is less time to play sports and hangout with family which is what most kids, like myself, look forward too. Another statement from the article said that breaks that are frequent are good for both students and teachers. With more frequent breaks the teachers will have to cram in all the information before each break. Students look forward to days off of school, but if breaks are more frequent, then they won’t get as excited because the breaks happen so…
Every student thinks of summer as the time to kick back and relax without having to worry about the work load school carries. However, many students come back the next year forgetting almost everything they had learned the year prior. Many of the teachers at my Elementary school and all of my teachers at my middle and high schools gave the class work to do over the summer to practice what was taught that year. Summer homework is beneficial to students because it helps continue the criteria that taught the year prior, it helps the students practice what they learned for the next year, and it pushes the students to remember what they had learned so they can put it to use the next school year.…
Kids can learn things like different sports and different summer camps - kids can learn different things! At summer camps kids can learn independence. “I think the single most important thing camp teaches children is to be independent," says Karen Rosenbach. They have to figure things out on their own, live with lots of other kids and make it work -- invaluable life lessons." Also, you can learn from taking vacations in the summer. For example, if someone goes to Hawaii they can learn about the Hawaiian culture. Mandy Viccaji from family vacation clinic says “Going to Alaska my kid learned about whale watching, learned about totem poles and Eskimo culture, panned for gold, and saw glaciers first-hand.” Kids can also learn from sports! Experts from Livestrong say “Learning to cooperate with others towards a common goal in sports is what builds character, friendship and important life skills for players and coaches. The friendships built within a team can last a lifetime for some players…”…
