Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Okay so how much is this aftercare going to cost? Sounds like a way to shift things to parents. The rich kids and then the poor kids (who get it free) get to take art, language, PE. Middle class kids just go to whatever aftercare they can afford or grandma picks them up.
I disagree with your assertion that school is too long. Most only run 8-3 anyways.
In countries that do this, aftercare is heavily subsidized and costs less to families than most of the shorter, more bare bones programs we have in the US.
I know you’ll say “well we aren’t other countries” but the point here is that maybe there is another way.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am not sure how much focus a young child could have for an entire morning of academics.
This... OP, it is highly unlikely a class of lower elementary students would do any better by spending an entire morning in one room with essentially no breaks from academics.
I suggest you spend 3+ hours in one room with 20+ kindergarteners teaching reading, math, etc only every day for a week and then get back to us.
1st grade in Germany goes to school from 8 - 11:15, has a break, does art, PE, and music.
As the kids get older, some days school goes to 12:15 or 1, with more breaks added.
So when does the school day actually end?
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am not sure how much focus a young child could have for an entire morning of academics.
This... OP, it is highly unlikely a class of lower elementary students would do any better by spending an entire morning in one room with essentially no breaks from academics.
I suggest you spend 3+ hours in one room with 20+ kindergarteners teaching reading, math, etc only every day for a week and then get back to us.
1st grade in Germany goes to school from 8 - 11:15, has a break, does art, PE, and music.
As the kids get older, some days school goes to 12:15 or 1, with more breaks added.
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:Also, the compressed schedule is being pushed by the teachers (for their convenience) and hurts kid's learning. A longer school day with breaks and outdoor time is more pedagogically advantageous. Half-day school schedules also hurt work-life balance, particularly for women, and require more of the family's budget to cover the afternoon time, or forces women to work part-time (again, limiting women's participation in the workforce).
So it all comes down to school as childcare, not what's best for the kids.
Anonymous wrote:Also, the compressed schedule is being pushed by the teachers (for their convenience) and hurts kid's learning. A longer school day with breaks and outdoor time is more pedagogically advantageous. Half-day school schedules also hurt work-life balance, particularly for women, and require more of the family's budget to cover the afternoon time, or forces women to work part-time (again, limiting women's participation in the workforce).
Anonymous wrote:Anonymous wrote:I am not sure how much focus a young child could have for an entire morning of academics.
This... OP, it is highly unlikely a class of lower elementary students would do any better by spending an entire morning in one room with essentially no breaks from academics.
I suggest you spend 3+ hours in one room with 20+ kindergarteners teaching reading, math, etc only every day for a week and then get back to us.
Anonymous wrote:OP has a couple of choices:
-move to a country with a shorter school day (because US schools won't do this, and even if she tried to lobby for it, the school system would outlast her and her kids would be in HS before it could ever happen - but it won't)
-pay for a mythical private school relatively close to where she's living and pay more for less school
-get over it
Anonymous wrote:Also, the compressed schedule is being pushed by the teachers (for their convenience) and hurts kid's learning. A longer school day with breaks and outdoor time is more pedagogically advantageous. Half-day school schedules also hurt work-life balance, particularly for women, and require more of the family's budget to cover the afternoon time, or forces women to work part-time (again, limiting women's participation in the workforce).