Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:So many trolls on DCUM these days.

There's the thread on the College Forum about whether kids will have a normal college experience, given current politics. There's a thread about Elon turning off Teslas remotely.

And then there's you, generalizing your kids' sickness in to a screed about the uselessness of schools.

My kids are in high school and college, and at no point, even in daycare, were they, or any other kid I know (and I know so many after 20 years of parenting), constantly sick. And one of my kids is immuno-depressed!!!!!!

You need to upgrade your family's hygiene routine, OP.
And if it doesn't get better, ask their ped about immune issues. They could have an autoimmune disease you don't know about if they're constantly sick. THat is not a. normal state of affairs.

Also, look into tutoring and learning disorders. A neurotypical child should be able to catch up academically in between bouts of illness. My kid who isn't immuno-depressed has ADHD/ASD/low processing speed, and he's in college now, after graduating with a stellar GPA. It's possible to be successful in school, even with special needs.

Schools will always be useful. What needs to change is YOUR attitude.

To answer your actual question, I would have year-round school: a shorter summer break to eliminate summer brain drain, and larger breaks at other times to allow kids to de-stress at multiple points in the year. It would be great for tourism as well: you could travel in every season (if funds and PTO allow), instead of restricting your big vacation to the dog days of summer. For working parents, it would be easier to schedule camps at 4 points in the year, instead of stringing together care for a huge summer break.

I haven’t commented on this thread. But we are sick at least 1-2 weeks a month. And I have 3 kids so it feels continuous. The year is better than last year. We are very healthy, eat very well, wash our hands well. I too don’t remember being sick like this when I was a kid. No clue why? Is it from not immunity due to vaccines? Post Covid issues?

Anonymous wrote:Why is that? Unless they take English classes, where would they learn English? My students’ parents work multiple jobs and don’t have much opportunity to learn English. Life is expensive and basic needs come first.

Anonymous wrote:Why is that? Unless they take English classes, where would they learn English? My students’ parents work multiple jobs and don’t have much opportunity to learn English. Life is expensive and basic needs come first.

Anonymous wrote:Why is that? Unless they take English classes, where would they learn English? My students’ parents work multiple jobs and don’t have much opportunity to learn English. Life is expensive and basic needs come first.

Anonymous wrote:I think it doesn’t work but for very different reasons than what you’re stating. I think far too much time is lost to transitions and having every kid in the class wait for the very slowest or worst behaved kid. My DD could accomplish everything she does at school with two mornings of 3 hours’ of work. We send her to socialize and have fun opportunities, like learning new sports in PE and doing art projects that we wouldn’t be able to help with.

And she’s at a fancy private school.

My public elementary in the 80s worked far better than anything I’ve seen lately. Unfortunately I think it’s because it had standalone ESL classes, standalone special education classrooms, and leveled classes for reading and math plus entire semesters of pull-out work for gifted kids. Modern schools cannot do all of that without pushback from parents and legal issues. Nevermind that the 80s were probably the last years of truly professional, trained teachers. Many people who would have gone into education when I was growing up have been exposed to far more opportunity than there was back then, and they’re making other career choices. With occasional exceptions, my DD’s teachers have been not-bright and not talented at the art of teaching children or classroom management.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’m all for year-round school, with 2-3 week breaks throughout the year rather than a long summer break.

+1

Anonymous wrote:So many trolls on DCUM these days.

There's the thread on the College Forum about whether kids will have a normal college experience, given current politics. There's a thread about Elon turning off Teslas remotely.

And then there's you, generalizing your kids' sickness in to a screed about the uselessness of schools.

My kids are in high school and college, and at no point, even in daycare, were they, or any other kid I know (and I know so many after 20 years of parenting), constantly sick. And one of my kids is immuno-depressed!!!!!!

You need to upgrade your family's hygiene routine, OP.
And if it doesn't get better, ask their ped about immune issues. They could have an autoimmune disease you don't know about if they're constantly sick. THat is not a. normal state of affairs.

Also, look into tutoring and learning disorders. A neurotypical child should be able to catch up academically in between bouts of illness. My kid who isn't immuno-depressed has ADHD/ASD/low processing speed, and he's in college now, after graduating with a stellar GPA. It's possible to be successful in school, even with special needs.

Schools will always be useful. What needs to change is YOUR attitude.

To answer your actual question, I would have year-round school: a shorter summer break to eliminate summer brain drain, and larger breaks at other times to allow kids to de-stress at multiple points in the year. It would be great for tourism as well: you could travel in every season (if funds and PTO allow), instead of restricting your big vacation to the dog days of summer. For working parents, it would be easier to schedule camps at 4 points in the year, instead of stringing together care for a huge summer break.

Anonymous wrote:I have no idea what you are talking about. My kids (8 and 10) miss 1-2 days a year. Between holidays, breaks, and early release days my kids rarely have 5 full length days in their NoVa public school.

Anonymous wrote:I think it doesn’t work but for very different reasons than what you’re stating. I think far too much time is lost to transitions and having every kid in the class wait for the very slowest or worst behaved kid. My DD could accomplish everything she does at school with two mornings of 3 hours’ of work. We send her to socialize and have fun opportunities, like learning new sports in PE and doing art projects that we wouldn’t be able to help with.

And she’s at a fancy private school.

My public elementary in the 80s worked far better than anything I’ve seen lately. Unfortunately I think it’s because it had standalone ESL classes, standalone special education classrooms, and leveled classes for reading and math plus entire semesters of pull-out work for gifted kids. Modern schools cannot do all of that without pushback from parents and legal issues. Nevermind that the 80s were probably the last years of truly professional, trained teachers. Many people who would have gone into education when I was growing up have been exposed to far more opportunity than there was back then, and they’re making other career choices. With occasional exceptions, my DD’s teachers have been not-bright and not talented at the art of teaching children or classroom management.