President's Day/Washington's Bday/Lincoln's Bday

[spyrosmom]

Another workout stalling post

With President's Day, Washington's Birthday, Lincoln's Birthday, and Pulaski Day right around the corner, I have to ask, shouldn't kids be in school on these days? I'm going to include Columbus Day, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day in here, too. Seems to me public school kids never, ever go a whole month without a day off for some reason or another. I can't speak for private schools, but I think they have similar calendars. Instead of spending the day off to "honor" these people who the holidays are named for, shouldn't the kids be in school, perhaps LEARNING about these people? These holidays aren't just for mattress and car sales, they have a reason. Perhaps our kids should spend the day learning about the history behind them.

Just my thought for the day. Kids need more time in school, not more vacation days that come out of the middle of nowhere.

Nan

 

[sparrow13]

Ya know, I just said something similar to DH the other day. I don't think kids spend an entire month in school ever. They go back in Sept but have Labor Day weekend. October has Columbus Day. November is Thanksgiving break and Veteran's Day. Winter break week in December. January is Martin Luther King. By February the kids are apparently so exhausted from all their days off that they need another week's break! March is 1.2 days for professional development. April is spring break, yet another week off. March has a couple of 1/2 days (I checked ) May is Memorial Day, and then school ends in early June.

I don't recall having this much time off when I was a kid. Weird.

 

[jacmar]

ITA!!

My DH were JUST talking about this yesterday.

Our district is so bad, that my kids have off the entire week of 2/15 off. Its crazy!!

 

[janie1234]

I vote for year round school!!!

 

[syzygy314]

I'm with you Janie! I think they should all go year round! The hours are amazingly short too!

My solution:

Year round for all kids elementary through high school. Once in high school, classes should go from 9-5 with a 1 hour break for lunch. Get them ready for the real world since we all know the majority (unfortunate as it is) won't be going to college.

That's my 2 cents worth on the issue!

BTW, when I was in school, we didn't have this many holidays. A lot of them have been created since then!

Oh, one more thing! What the heck is a teacher's work week? Isn't that what summer break is for?

I vote for year round school!!!

 

[jonahnah]

For another perspective:

At my kids school, they do learn the meaning behind all the holidays. The only new holiday my kids get that I didn't have is Martin Luther King day. I don't have a problem w/ teacher work days as they are only 2 days a year. My kids don't get out of school 'til almost the end of June and they go back before Labor Day. It's a 10 week summer. That's short enough.

My kids have a lot more homework than I did at their age and they do a lot more interesting assignments! Consequently, teacher have more work to grade. I see school as my kids' job and they need occasional days off just like adults do.

My town is switching to all day kindergarten next year and I expect more kids will be red-shirted by their parents because they can't handle the longer hours and higher academic standards that are being imposed. Kindergarten today is like 2nd grade in the 1960s and 70s.

 

[Jonezie]

Nan, you need to leave your job and come work for the school system! You'll have all the same days off, plus summers, long Christmases, Spring Break...etc. We have Wednesday off this week for "conference day"...a few teachers meet with parents but most parents head for the hills with their kids...it turns into a ghost town here.

I am convinced that there are more than a few teachers who teach because of the fabulous schedule.

On a more serious note, I can tell you that our parents would send hate mail if we had the kids in school for days like MLK Day. We have three special days throughout the year...Mother's Visiting, Father's Visiting, and Grandparents Visiting Days...they don't even want to come for those days...many parents opt to take their kids out for the day instead and make it a long weekend.

What do you do with your kids when they have the day off? It must be hard for working women to find care for their children on these sporadic days.

Jonezie

 

[pink_fortitude]

Once in high school, classes should go from 9-5 with a 1 hour break for lunch.

Around here, school is from 8-3, so one hour shorter than the average work day, plus 4-6 hours (depending on the district) of homework they get each night!!! Are you willing to exclude that much homework from your proposal? And I am totally on board with the lunch breaks. Right now DD has 20 minutes for lunch, and most of that time is spent waiting in line. Gone all day with no real break, barely time to eat, homework all night... not seeing how that's preperation for the real world! It is seriously unbalanced and the kids really aren't doing a whole lot of learning, just information stuffing. If you are up to fixing these problems there is definitely an administration job for you in our township! I love the idea of "real world" training!

Jonahnah, this may sound ignorant, but what does "red-shirted" mean? That isn't an expression I am familiar with.

Melissa

 

[pink_fortitude]

We have three special days throughout the year...Mother's Visiting, Father's Visiting, and Grandparents Visiting Days...they don't even want to come for those days...many parents opt to take their kids out for the day instead and make it a long weekend.

Oh, now that is sad!
On our days off we almost always go to a park and hike, play around, play imaginary games with the boys (they love to pretend that they are hunting for something or on an important mission). I love nature, and I love to encourage their imaginations. It is still counted as a school day for the boys because I home school them, and it counts as PE, Science, and Fine Arts (acting ;]). While they are rescuing the world, DD and are talking - mostly she is letting out steam about her week, friends, etc. We almost always end it with ice cream cones. If it's nasty out, we do The Children's Museum or something new and neat and end the day with mineralized rock candy.

Melissa

 

[jonahnah]

Around here, school is from 8-3, so one hour shorter than the average work day, plus 4-6 hours (depending on the district) of homework they get each night!!! Are you willing to exclude that much homework from your proposal? And I am totally on board with the lunch breaks. Right now DD has 20 minutes for lunch, and most of that time is spent waiting in line. Gone all day with no real break, barely time to eat, homework all night... not seeing how that's preperation for the real world! It is seriously unbalanced and the kids really aren't doing a whole lot of learning, just information stuffing. If you are up to fixing these problems there is definitely an administration job for you in our township! I love the idea of "real world" training!

Jonahnah, this may sound ignorant, but what does "red-shirted" mean? That isn't an expression I am familiar with.

Melissa

Hi Melissa,

Not ignorant sounding at all!! Red shirting means to hold a child back for a year or more. (You hear it most often w/ college athletes--a red shirted freshman doesn't play for his/her freshman year).

More and more parents are doing this so there are more 6 and 7 year olds starting kindergarten. Most parents red shirt because they think their child isn't ready academically or socially (because of rising expectations), but others do it to make their child stand out as a leader among their peers (Absurd IMO!).

Even more shocking are the parents who do it so their child will be older (and theoretically larger) than their peers when they play sports in high school! The latter reason is more common in states such as Texas where high school football can be a very BIG deal, but it's still done elsewhere.

All of this leads to 20 year old high school graduates--assuming the child isn't held back again for other/similar reasons once they finally begin school.

 

[elliemom]

I really believe that "Redshirting" is the most awful thing to do to a child. We have a few that are a full year ahead of our children, a full head taller and and a full emotional level higher. They do not get along well with their peers and are always thought of have being " left behind"

Sports advantage is ridiculous. Why bother sending your child to school if your only concern is SPORTS? It's become such a cultural mistake IMHO. How many Pele's or Michael Jordans are we really going to have.

WAY too much emphasis on sports and not nearly enough on education
We are off for odd holidays due to Holy days of obligation ( our other holidays are limited)

My son is playing 3rd grade basketball. He is one of 2 boys on the team that ought to be in third grade. The others are a full year older!!!! This is a township team.

Both of my boys started full day kindergarten at 5.

Pretty soon we are going to have 4th graders who shave!!!

 

[jonahnah]

I really believe that "Redshirting" is the most awful thing to do to a child. We have a few that are a full year ahead of our children, a full head taller and and a full emotional level higher. They do not get along well with their peers and are always thought of have being " left behind"

Sports advantage is ridiculous. Why bother sending your child to school if your only concern is SPORTS? It's become such a cultural mistake IMHO. How many Pele's or Michael Jordans are we really going to have.

WAY too much emphasis on sports and not nearly enough on education
We are off for odd holidays due to Holy days of obligation ( our other holidays are limited)

My son is playing 3rd grade basketball. He is one of 2 boys on the team that ought to be in third grade. The others are a full year older!!!! This is a township team.

Both of my boys started full day kindergarten at 5.

Pretty soon we are going to have 4th graders who shave!!!

Dang it Ellie! I nearly spewed my water all over my laptop over that line!!

 

[pink_fortitude]

Joan, thanks! I get it now.

Melissa

 

[syzygy314]

Either things have changed in the past 6 years or it's more geographical. As to homework, at the school I was working at for a while, the kids were never sent home with work over the weekends (I always had homework over weekends and holidays AND during breaks between semesters). The days are so short here that most kids are home from school before I get home for lunch! The streets in my neighborhood are always full of kids, so I wonder when they really do their homework!

Must be geographical. Maybe in some areas, they care about the education of children more than in others.

Around here, school is from 8-3, so one hour shorter than the average work day, plus 4-6 hours (depending on the district) of homework they get each night!!! Are you willing to exclude that much homework from your proposal? And I am totally on board with the lunch breaks. Right now DD has 20 minutes for lunch, and most of that time is spent waiting in line. Gone all day with no real break, barely time to eat, homework all night... not seeing how that's preperation for the real world! It is seriously unbalanced and the kids really aren't doing a whole lot of learning, just information stuffing. If you are up to fixing these problems there is definitely an administration job for you in our township! I love the idea of "real world" training!

Jonahnah, this may sound ignorant, but what does "red-shirted" mean? That isn't an expression I am familiar with.

Melissa

 

[spyrosmom]

When I was a kid (man, that makes me sound old) we had homework everynight, on the weekends, and during breaks. DS only has homework if he has school the next day. Never on the weekends, or before a day off or break. And its normally only 1 page, plus to read for 15-20 mins. The one page just takes a few minutes, and he reads all the time anyway. He's only in 3rd grade, and to be honest, I don't remember 3rd grade. My homework memories come from Jr High and High School. He actually had more homework in Kindergarten and 1st grade than he does in 3rd grade. He would bring home 2 or 3 pages a night back then. Plus spelling words. There don't seem to be any spelling words this year. I remember having spelling words all the way through Jr High.

Oh, and lets not forget to honor Mr. General Casimir Pulaski, he has a holiday coming up in March, but I think that's just an Illinois thing. No School again!!!!

Nan

 

[Worknprogress]

I have a 4-yr old turning 5 in late August this year. He is my last out of 4. We just had his pre-school conference on Friday. My husband, myself plus his 2 teachers do not think he is ready to start kindergarten in 7 months.

My oldest entered Kindergarten and turned 5 so he was very young for his class. I accompanied him on every school trip up until high school. He was fine through most of elementary school because he could keep up academically but it became very evident, especially by middle school when puberty is hitting, that he was emotionally and mentally much more immature than his male classmates. It really hindered him being so young in all aspects of fitting in and that included sports and felt left out most of the time. I regretted not holding him back a year back then because he clearly couldn't handle it.

My middle two both turned 5 in winter so no dilemna there. They both started the following fall.

So if I truly in my heart do not think my 4 year old (and have in agreement with me my husband and his teachers now) that I should put him in just because he meets the age requirement.

I am really interested in opinions and thoughts because my mother-in-law is very upset we are planning to start him next year.

We have labored and labored over this decision and finally had peace with it when we spoke in-depth with his teachers about it.

Now this thread has me wondering. I certainly don't want him to be labeled before he even enters kindergarten.

 

[elliemom]

I have a 4-yr old turning 5 in late August this year. He is my last out of 4. We just had his pre-school conference on Friday. My husband, myself plus his 2 teachers do not think he is ready to start kindergarten in 7 months.

My oldest entered Kindergarten and turned 5 so he was very young for his class. I accompanied him on every school trip up until high school. He was fine through most of elementary school because he could keep up academically but it became very evident, especially by middle school when puberty is hitting, that he was emotionally and mentally much more immature than his male classmates. It really hindered him being so young in all aspects of fitting in and that included sports and felt left out most of the time. I regretted not holding him back a year back then because he clearly couldn't handle it.

My middle two both turned 5 in winter so no dilemna there. They both started the following fall.

So if I truly in my heart do not think my 4 year old (and have in agreement with me my husband and his teachers now) that I should put him in just because he meets the age requirement.

I am really interested in opinions and thoughts because my mother-in-law is very upset we are planning to start him next year.

We have labored and labored over this decision and finally had peace with it when we spoke in-depth with his teachers about it.

Now this thread has me wondering. I certainly don't want him to be labeled before he even enters kindergarten.

I think you are absolutely making the right decision!!!! August is very late and some states have the cutoff as Sept 1st. There's a reason for that. I truly think you would be setting him up for failure. Remember, some of those kids may have turned 5 LAST October or November. ONE YEAR is a huge difference in a kids life.

I was talking earlier about parents who don't start the kids ON PURPOSE to give them an unfair sports advantage. You are not doing this. You are taking all things into consideration and making a smart choice. Don't re-think your choice. There is nothing wrong with not entering Kindergarten as soon as you turn 5. Look at the kids who have a Sept 2 birthday. They aren't allowed to go!!! And every state seems to pick arbitrary dates anyway.

My youngest is in Kindergarten this year and he has a lot of homework. He knows the capitals of all 50 states in the order in which they entered the union, does 4 book reports a month and is adding and subtracting. If he had just turned 5 when he entered, I don't think he would have been able to do all this. It's no crayons and cookies anymore.

Keep him out for the year. Let him play and mature and be ready for school when it's time. He's still a baby

 

[Liann]

I have a 4-yr old turning 5 in late August this year. He is my last out of 4. We just had his pre-school conference on Friday. My husband, myself plus his 2 teachers do not think he is ready to start kindergarten in 7 months.

My oldest entered Kindergarten and turned 5 so he was very young for his class. I accompanied him on every school trip up until high school. He was fine through most of elementary school because he could keep up academically but it became very evident, especially by middle school when puberty is hitting, that he was emotionally and mentally much more immature than his male classmates. It really hindered him being so young in all aspects of fitting in and that included sports and felt left out most of the time. I regretted not holding him back a year back then because he clearly couldn't handle it.

My middle two both turned 5 in winter so no dilemna there. They both started the following fall.

So if I truly in my heart do not think my 4 year old (and have in agreement with me my husband and his teachers now) that I should put him in just because he meets the age requirement.

I am really interested in opinions and thoughts because my mother-in-law is very upset we are planning to start him next year.

We have labored and labored over this decision and finally had peace with it when we spoke in-depth with his teachers about it.

Now this thread has me wondering. I certainly don't want him to be labeled before he even enters kindergarten.

You are the mom and know what is best for your child. I wouldn't second guess your decision. Sounds like you have put a lot of thought and discussion into it. I started K5 at 4 years old. I didn't turn 5 until December. This worked out fine for me, but I had friends my age who definitely needed to wait and saw them struggle later in school. I think it's a decision that has to be made on a child by child basis.

 

[lainiefig]

I don't know about bigger kids but my little ones really need all the breaks they get. My 2nd grader also gets a ton of homework every week night--or what I'd call a ton for a 2nd grader--I don't remember getting any regular homework until at least 5th or 6th grade.

Also, I taught school for only one year (they ate me alive) and I really needed that break. Teaching can be stressful and even with the short days and long vacations teachers take a lot of work home with them.

 

[jonahnah]

I have a 4-yr old turning 5 in late August this year. He is my last out of 4. We just had his pre-school conference on Friday. My husband, myself plus his 2 teachers do not think he is ready to start kindergarten in 7 months.

My oldest entered Kindergarten and turned 5 so he was very young for his class. I accompanied him on every school trip up until high school. He was fine through most of elementary school because he could keep up academically but it became very evident, especially by middle school when puberty is hitting, that he was emotionally and mentally much more immature than his male classmates. It really hindered him being so young in all aspects of fitting in and that included sports and felt left out most of the time. I regretted not holding him back a year back then because he clearly couldn't handle it.

My middle two both turned 5 in winter so no dilemna there. They both started the following fall.

So if I truly in my heart do not think my 4 year old (and have in agreement with me my husband and his teachers now) that I should put him in just because he meets the age requirement.

I am really interested in opinions and thoughts because my mother-in-law is very upset we are planning to start him next year.

We have labored and labored over this decision and finally had peace with it when we spoke in-depth with his teachers about it.

Now this thread has me wondering. I certainly don't want him to be labeled before he even enters kindergarten.

If you think he's not ready, then don't send him and please don't even think twice about your decision. The academics expectations for kindergarten are even higher than when my kids went (my youngest is in 7th grade now). Boys tend to develop later than girls so the accelerated academics (& accompanying social skill demands) impact them more. Kids have to sit still longer, have better fine motor skills, higher reading readiness/ability, know more math facts/concepts, etc.

As I said in my posts, most parents red shirt because their kids are NOT ready. It's the parents who red shirt for sports advantage in later years or who do it in a bid to make their kid more of a leader that make me wonder about their priorities.