I love summer vacation. As a teacher, the lazy days always gave me a chance to recharge and get excited about a new group of students. My mind could relax and come up with new teaching ideas. My own kids had a chance to take swimming lessons, and we took some wonderful family trips. Some educators feel that the summer vacation should be cut even more. Longer school years can provide more learning time. Would this mean higher test scores?
A longer school year may become a reality for many American kids. Some Massachusetts school districts want to add 20 more days to the school year. And an Indiana state senator recently proposed a bill that would add three more weeks of class time for Indiana students by 2010.
Ben Q., 14, attends the Latin School of Chicago and says he doesn't feel a longer year is necessary for the students at his school. "I think everyone learns well with the time given," he says.
Ben and his classmates receive assignments over the summer. He says he has to read several books and write essays. But when school begins in the fall, his class doesn't have to spend too much time reviewing last year's lessons. "For the first week [we review], and then it's full force into new subjects and new matters," Ben says.
When I was a kid, we had all of June, July, and August off and usually didn't return to school until after Labor Day. We were encouraged to read during the summer, but there were never any required assignments. There weren't any big tests that we had to pass to prove that our teachers were doing a good job. My sister and I spent our summers picking bagworms off of the cedar trees, riding our bikes, and making our own paper dolls. We recently found the shoe box containing all of the paper dolls we had made during those glorious summers. Hopefully, we won't find any of the bagworms. One time we picked a whole trash can full of the critters and stupidly placed the can with its wiggling contents back in the bathroom. Later that day, my sister came running out of the bathroom screaming because the worms had crawled out and were hanging from the walls and ceiling. Maybe longer school years could have helped us after all!