Back when my kids were in public school (before we started homeschooling), I had a school bus stop conversation with a couple of mothers regarding year round education. I made it clear that I was against year round education because children needed more time and freedom to be kids, not less. Another mother felt that year round education would prevent her child from losing knowledge over the summer. The argument that has stuck with me since that day is from the mother who said that year round schooling was necessary so that she wouldn’t have to worry about finding someone to watch her kids during the summer. That argument bothered me… a lot.
There are many good and legitimate reasons for year round education. The National Association for Year Round Education supports a balanced school calendar with only 30 days off during the summer with a spring break, a fall break, and a winter break of 15 days each. There would be four 45-day sessions in between the breaks. Such a schedule might allow a student to de-stress after each marking period. Year round education arranged in this manner might also serve to make sure students lose less information during breaks.
Year round babysitting, however, is not a good reason for year round education. Schools were not designed to baby-sit students. They are meant to teach students. Any parent who feels the only reason their child is in school is to provide free childcare, (while they are smart to realize they are not being taught anyway) is not looking out for the best interest of the student.
The shorter breaks provided by year round schooling would be a good time for remediation and enrichment programs.
The shorter breaks would leave students less time to be bored as they often complain of during the summer.
The shorter breaks would provide more opportunities for family travel.
Other reasons against year round education:
Students can forget as much in three weeks as they can in 10 weeks, so teachers would have to spend a great deal of time in review at the beginning of each session.
It would be impossible for teens to get summer jobs and would miss out on valuable learning experiences.
The arguments for and against year round education are still ongoing. Studies have been called inconclusive as to whether a year round schedule is better than a traditional schedule. There is also the problem of different schools or several children in the same family being on different schedules. For many, year round schooling will remain a topic for discussion at the school bus.
