Summer is so long and it’s the worst for kids and parents.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's too long. I feel like we should have 6 weeks like most of Europe does, and maybe longer/more frequent breaks during the year.

This would be perfect. Few weeks of camp, few weeks of travel . . . back to school!

More breaks are good, too. Everyone gets burned out with the grind during the year.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's too long. I feel like we should have 6 weeks like most of Europe does, and maybe longer/more frequent breaks during the year.

This would be perfect. Few weeks of camp, few weeks of travel . . . back to school!

More breaks are good, too. Everyone gets burned out with the grind during the year.

I posted above that I like summer. I also would not mind a yearlong school year with longer breaks throughout the year like a month winter break, month spring break and a 6 week summer vacation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's too long. I feel like we should have 6 weeks like most of Europe does, and maybe longer/more frequent breaks during the year.

This would be perfect. Few weeks of camp, few weeks of travel . . . back to school!

More breaks are good, too. Everyone gets burned out with the grind during the year.

I posted above that I like summer. I also would not mind a yearlong school year with longer breaks throughout the year like a month winter break, month spring break and a 6 week summer vacation.

DP and agreed. As long as there are options for camps/childcare during those breaks OR employers are flexible, sounds great to me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For working parents, summers suck.

For kid of working parents, some of that stress bleeds over. We are not having lazy morning and lounging by the pool and taking excursions. We are cursing the stupid camp schedules and arguing over who can leave work at 3:45 to make pick up in time.

I would be perfectly content with a shorter summer. But I also hate being hot and summer is a busy season for me at work, so I know I'm biased.

However, plenty of people love summer, so this post is just not quite on target. Even though there are those of us who agree!

Live within your means and both parents don't have to work.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both of my neighbors are teachers and both would likely quit if school was year round. My dad was a teacher and loved his summers. So, it's definitely a mixed bag so far as teachers are concerned.

My son is at a year round school, but summers are more laid back. Our director says she has to offer her elementary teachers the summers off or she can't hire anyone (she needs to be "competitive" with the school district). So, the summer teacher is the teaching assistant from the rest of the year.

As a parent, it's nice to not have to hustle to find camp for my kid, but now that he's a little older we actually are keeping him out of school for nearly 6 weeks on purpose -- just to let him have some space to breathe. My husband and I both work, but I work remotely and he is a professor and doesn't teach in the summer.

I can see pros and cons to each way, but if we moved to year round school as a society I do think that summers shouldn't be "mandatory" in the same way that Labor Day - Memorial Day is. It's nice for families to have the flexibility to take vacations.

Wait, I don't understand the year round school. He has a teacher aide teaching the curriculum during the summer part of the school year? Then when 5th grade or whatever starts in the fall, the real teachers show back up?

At our school, the Assistant teacher (not a teaching aide) is in the classroom year round, but she is Lead during the summer (she takes vacations during the other part of the year). And the Lead school-year teacher is there for September-June.

[Anonymous]

Not OP but I hate summer. Too hot to be outside, camps are expensive and all the SAHM families are away so we don't even get playdates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both of my neighbors are teachers and both would likely quit if school was year round. My dad was a teacher and loved his summers. So, it's definitely a mixed bag so far as teachers are concerned.

My son is at a year round school, but summers are more laid back. Our director says she has to offer her elementary teachers the summers off or she can't hire anyone (she needs to be "competitive" with the school district). So, the summer teacher is the teaching assistant from the rest of the year.

As a parent, it's nice to not have to hustle to find camp for my kid, but now that he's a little older we actually are keeping him out of school for nearly 6 weeks on purpose -- just to let him have some space to breathe. My husband and I both work, but I work remotely and he is a professor and doesn't teach in the summer.

I can see pros and cons to each way, but if we moved to year round school as a society I do think that summers shouldn't be "mandatory" in the same way that Labor Day - Memorial Day is. It's nice for families to have the flexibility to take vacations.

Wait, I don't understand the year round school. He has a teacher aide teaching the curriculum during the summer part of the school year? Then when 5th grade or whatever starts in the fall, the real teachers show back up?

At our school, the Assistant teacher (not a teaching aide) is in the classroom year round, but she is Lead during the summer (she takes vacations during the other part of the year). And the Lead school-year teacher is there for September-June.

This makes no sense. Is this an actual K-12 school? Or "school" as in daycare?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Both of my neighbors are teachers and both would likely quit if school was year round. My dad was a teacher and loved his summers. So, it's definitely a mixed bag so far as teachers are concerned.

My son is at a year round school, but summers are more laid back. Our director says she has to offer her elementary teachers the summers off or she can't hire anyone (she needs to be "competitive" with the school district). So, the summer teacher is the teaching assistant from the rest of the year.

As a parent, it's nice to not have to hustle to find camp for my kid, but now that he's a little older we actually are keeping him out of school for nearly 6 weeks on purpose -- just to let him have some space to breathe. My husband and I both work, but I work remotely and he is a professor and doesn't teach in the summer.

I can see pros and cons to each way, but if we moved to year round school as a society I do think that summers shouldn't be "mandatory" in the same way that Labor Day - Memorial Day is. It's nice for families to have the flexibility to take vacations.

Wait, I don't understand the year round school. He has a teacher aide teaching the curriculum during the summer part of the school year? Then when 5th grade or whatever starts in the fall, the real teachers show back up?

At our school, the Assistant teacher (not a teaching aide) is in the classroom year round, but she is Lead during the summer (she takes vacations during the other part of the year). And the Lead school-year teacher is there for September-June.

This makes no sense. Is this an actual K-12 school? Or "school" as in daycare?

Yes, it's an actual school. K-6. My kid's a rising 2nd grader.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For working parents, summers suck.

For kid of working parents, some of that stress bleeds over. We are not having lazy morning and lounging by the pool and taking excursions. We are cursing the stupid camp schedules and arguing over who can leave work at 3:45 to make pick up in time.

I would be perfectly content with a shorter summer. But I also hate being hot and summer is a busy season for me at work, so I know I'm biased.

However, plenty of people love summer, so this post is just not quite on target. Even though there are those of us who agree!

Live within your means and both parents don't have to work.

I'm sorry, not to derail, but what makes you think this is true for for many families? Especially here? Not one of the summer-haters in the thread but come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:WHO benefits from 10 weeks off in summer??!

Not teachers: we would much prefer a year round schedule with frequent breaks.

Not kids: it’s too long without friends and work

Not parents: it’s too long to find childcare

It’s just crazy long. Why has the USA not adopted a year round schedule yet?

I know several teachers who say the reason they keep teaching are July and August off.

And most of June.

mostly because their kids are off. I have considered transferring into teaching just for that reason because I dont make that much more than a teacher in our county BUT I have to pay for summer camps, which can be in the thousands and every single holiday I have to take leave so we end up with no leave due to county closures and no vacation for the summers.

Its a circular issue.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's too long. I feel like we should have 6 weeks like most of Europe does, and maybe longer/more frequent breaks during the year.

This would be perfect. Few weeks of camp, few weeks of travel . . . back to school!

More breaks are good, too. Everyone gets burned out with the grind during the year.

I posted above that I like summer. I also would not mind a yearlong school year with longer breaks throughout the year like a month winter break, month spring break and a 6 week summer vacation.

This would be heaven. Day cares would adapt if this became the norm. Families could take vacation in months that aren’t sweltering. Typically in America we are doing everything or nothing. There is no balance. Kids would be physically and mentally healthier and there would be less learning loss. But as with the start times no one wants to do anything that is actually good for kids.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's too long. I feel like we should have 6 weeks like most of Europe does, and maybe longer/more frequent breaks during the year.

+1

[Anonymous]

I would love 6 weeks in the summer, 2 weeks in spring, 2 weeks in fall (October) and the winter break. Spring and Fall are much nicer to be outside and can also be great for travel.
Camps would just adjust.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree it's too long. I feel like we should have 6 weeks like most of Europe does, and maybe longer/more frequent breaks during the year.

This would be perfect. Few weeks of camp, few weeks of travel . . . back to school!

More breaks are good, too. Everyone gets burned out with the grind during the year.

I posted above that I like summer. I also would not mind a yearlong school year with longer breaks throughout the year like a month winter break, month spring break and a 6 week summer vacation.

This would be heaven. Day cares would adapt if this became the norm. Families could take vacation in months that aren’t sweltering. Typically in America we are doing everything or nothing. There is no balance. Kids would be physically and mentally healthier and there would be less learning loss. But as with the start times no one wants to do anything that is actually good for kids.

I posted upthread, DCPS tried this already. It may be good for kids, but unfortunately those same kids did not show up in the summer. They wanted to help kids with learning loss over the summer and the achievement gap but even then...kids just did not attend in the summer. Year round school would be a huge cultural change in the US and I'm not sure that would work. I'm not strictly against it...just don't see it happening right now.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:What does middle schooler do in summer break? Camps or stay home? I don’t think they are old enough to work, but summer break is too long to stay at home. They have no transportation, so how do they spend time over summer if parents are out working?

They can "work" in the neighborhood. Dog sit, cat sit, yardwork for neighbors, volunteer in the neighborhood, etc.

That sounds like a lot of work for the parents. Let’s face it, we don’t live in Andy Griffith land where kids can walk around and solicit long-term jobs easily.

I can afford to send my kids to fancy sleepaway camps which is the only reason I love summer vacation. Otherwise I would hate it and be stressed out.

So you love summer because your kids are gone? At least you're honest...

Well sleepaway only started a couple of years ago when they hit upper elementary. Before that it was fancy day camps + nanny to do the drop-offs and pick-ups. But my point is that summer is hard for working parents who don’t have these luxuries.