Bill Would Ban School Before Labor Day

[Henry]

I have no kids in school, but I feel starting school before labor day, just isn right.  State Sen. Virginia Lyons, a Chittenden County Democrat sponsoring it, says families miss out on vacation time, employers lose labor and young people lose summer employment opportunities when they have to start school before the traditional end of the summer.

Darren Allen, a spokesman for the Vermont Education Association, says the idea's worth considering.

http://www.wptz.com/news/22355782/detail.html

[cedarman]

My daughter is several years away from starting school, but I don't have a problem with kids starting school earlier.

I think the state education board should be pushing a continuous school year without the long summer vacation.  Students forget a LOT of what was learned previously over the 2 - 3 month vacation.  Then, a lot of class time is lost relearning what they forgot.

Some schools have had success with a continuous school year going 10 weeks on, 3 weeks off, or a similar schedule.

We need to reconsider our concepts of what a school year is IF we want to get the most out of our educational dollars, and best prepare our children for a globally competitive future.

[Henry]

About forgetting during the summer - One of the big advantages I found in the little one room school I went to was hearing the grades above you and hearing the grades below you.  Amazing what you learn from accidentally listening to what is going on.  My teacher each year would promote me to the next two grades, like 5 & 6, 6 & 7 and so on.  The year I was promoted to the 7 & 8 grades, I graduated, having gone to grade school only 7 years.

By the way, my first grade reading book:

Shut your eyes Daddy.  Find me Daddy.  Where are you?  I found you.

Let me see, I read that in the first grade in 1939.

[trussell]

1939? Wow... Was that book printed on dinosaur skin?

I'll go ask my dad.  He's the same age as you, Henry

[special ED]

I was talking to trevor the other day and he said that they should not have any vacation time and that if they meaning the school, would cut all the junk classes out from the school year and just concentrate on needed classes then they would ,meaning the kids would cut 2 years from their time spent in school ,if they meaning the kids  want extra classes for art and music and sports and study hall and gym and................then let them meaning the parents pay for extra classes and do it on their own time thus saving millions of taxpayer dollars and helping the economy out by having to hire teachers privatly, WHAT,,,,, that`s just what he told me

[Henry]

Never realized that Trevor felt that way.  Wonder where he got those ideas.

[trussell]

Hmm, I don't remember that conversation with Ed... If it weren't for the "fluff" classes people like me wouldn't have graduated!

[cedarman]

I agree there MIGHT be some fluff that every school could cut.  Personally, I've never been a big fan of art and music classes being mandatory.  I'm sure some people feel the same way about agriculture, shop, home ec, and business.  Those classes all teach valuable skills that everyone should have some exposure too, even if they never plant their own garden, change an outlet or light switch, sew a ripped shirt, cook a loaf of bread, or learn how to build a budget. 

While these simple task could all be learned at home, and in most cases, you could live an entire life without doing them, i think it is beneficial for students to have exposure to them (in addition to the core science, math, reading/writting/grammer).  I'll even advocate for the importance of studying history since as a society, we are bound to repeat past mistakes if we don't learn about (and from) them.  Think of the similarities between the causes of the Great Depression and our current economy.  If we assume everything is better now, and return to our ways, we WILL repeat the initial fall/slight recovery/ HUGE fall seen in the past.

I commend your great memory Henry. 

Unfortunately, the things your generation was learning in 7th grade are probably taught to kids in 3rd or 4th grade now.  Even the things I learned in 7th and 8th grades in school are being taught in 5th and 6th.

There is SOO much information thrown at kids now to retain and process that there is less and less time to commit the information to long term memory, so it is forgotten much quicker.  I don't see our society slowing down, so I think the next best thing we can do to promote learning and memory is give our kids shorter duration and higher frequency exposure (shorter school days X more days of the year). 

[DrewCrash]

the whole notion behind banning school before labor day is ridiculous. What does it matter when our kids go to school? How bout we ban summer breaks and give them winter breaks instead. Think of the $$$ saved on heating. I hate politics.

I am cracking another one open...

Ciao

[Chris Santee]

Utah is discussing cutting 12th grade.

[roadkill]

Another thing to ponder is the end of the year. How much learning really takes place after Memorial Day?  Oh,, Utah does things differently Chris but they do make my favorite beer. Polygamy Porter. You cant have jus one.