Impact of Year Round Schooling on Student Activities, Homework and Family Life
Nancy Illiano, Kelsey Shiflett, Aislinn Cunningham, Brittany Lewis
Family Life
Now more than ever, parents are considering the option of admitting their children in year round school systems. Articles show some families really benefit from year round schooling while other families find that the schedule is difficult to work around. Families who benefit from year round schools are often those of a sinlge parent with more than one child. The single parents find it easier to maintain 2 or more jobs while their children are in year round schools because they do not need to worry about who will watch their children while they are still at work. Students who attend year round schools are able to not only have a safe place to be until parents are home from work, but they are also able to keep their academic skills sharp year round. Studies have shown that the students of lower income families also find year round scools highly beneficial. These students spend more time in school, therefore they have better access to books, computers, and other helpful resources that they may not have access to at home. However, some parents do not like the idea of changing the school calender. The main reason is because of family vacation. Parents who do not support the implementation of year round schools also do not get to choose their vacation time at work. This means that the vacation time they get may not be during the same time their children are on vacation from school. Another issue with vacation time is that if parents have one child in elementary school and one child in middle school, their vacation times may differ so this makes planning family vacations difficult as well. In our society, a lot of focus is on the idea of summer break for students with traditional calendars. Because of having such an extended break, parents try to place their kids in scouting groups or other clubs and with the year-round schooling schedule this is no longer possible.
Homework
Summer vacation provides a break from all the stressors school puts on students. While most agree students deserve the summer off to relax and prepare for the next school year ahead, some educators feel that long summers off will cause students to forget what they learned over the previous school year. Some teachers feel that too much time is contributed to reviewing learned material in the fall after a long summer break. Although some students tend to forget learned material, there are ways to keep their brain stimulated. Attending academically based summer camps or taking time to complete school related packets can help students retain the information they learned from the past school year. Research has also showed that year round school students do not always perform better on tests compared to traditional school students. The math and reading test scores improved the same amount with both types of schooling. Another option to consider is the average time spent on homework for students who attend traditional schools is around 2-3 hours each night. With year round schooling, the time spent on homework could potentially be much less each night because the material can be learned at a slower pase due to the longer school days and the longer school year.
After School Activities
Considering most year round schooling systems end the school day around 5:30pm, it is hard to imagine there being enough time after school for recreational team practices. Studies show that most year round schools make students and parents sign a contract before the student can be enrolled in classes. The contract states a lot of rules and regulations of the school system, including its academic and activity calendar. According to the calendar, during the summer school session it is mandatory for the students to participate in enrichment programs, activities, or remedial work. Problems with year round schooling emerge when it comes to sport activities. Students who participate in sports might find it difficult to juggle the year round schedule with team practices because the practices would be held on weekends or during the various short breaks throughout the year. Team practices generally do not conflict with student schedules because most practices are held immediately following school. Coaches feel that the more frequent breaks in a year-round schedule will give them more time for rigorous practices. Within the districts, however, scheduling games between teams can become difficult when they have different school calendars.
Below are two calendars; one of the 210 day year round school calendar and the other of the 180 day traditional school calendar. The major differences presented in the calendars are obvious. Year round schools offer more small breaks in the calendar while the traditional calendar has larger breaks.
Impact of Year Round Schooling on Student Activities, Homework and Family Life
Nancy Illiano, Kelsey Shiflett, Aislinn Cunningham, Brittany Lewis
Family Life
Now more than ever, parents are considering the option of admitting their children in year round school systems. Articles show some families really benefit from year round schooling while other families find that the schedule is difficult to work around. Families who benefit from year round schools are often those of a sinlge parent with more than one child. The single parents find it easier to maintain 2 or more jobs while their children are in year round schools because they do not need to worry about who will watch their children while they are still at work. Students who attend year round schools are able to not only have a safe place to be until parents are home from work, but they are also able to keep their academic skills sharp year round. Studies have shown that the students of lower income families also find year round scools highly beneficial. These students spend more time in school, therefore they have better access to books, computers, and other helpful resources that they may not have access to at home.
However, some parents do not like the idea of changing the school calender. The main reason is because of family vacation. Parents who do not support the implementation of year round schools also do not get to choose their vacation time at work. This means that the vacation time they get may not be during the same time their children are on vacation from school. Another issue with vacation time is that if parents have one child in elementary school and one child in middle school, their vacation times may differ so this makes planning family vacations difficult as well. In our society, a lot of focus is on the idea of summer break for students with traditional calendars. Because of having such an extended break, parents try to place their kids in scouting groups or other clubs and with the year-round schooling schedule this is no longer possible.
Homework
Summer vacation provides a break from all the stressors school puts on students. While most agree students deserve the summer off to relax and prepare for the next school year ahead, some educators feel that long summers off will cause students to forget what they learned over the previous school year. Some teachers feel that too much time is contributed to reviewing learned material in the fall after a long summer break. Although some students tend to forget learned material, there are ways to keep their brain stimulated. Attending academically based summer camps or taking time to complete school related packets can help students retain the information they learned from the past school year. Research has also showed that year round school students do not always perform better on tests compared to traditional school students. The math and reading test scores improved the same amount with both types of schooling. Another option to consider is the average time spent on homework for students who attend traditional schools is around 2-3 hours each night. With year round schooling, the time spent on homework could potentially be much less each night because the material can be learned at a slower pase due to the longer school days and the longer school year.
After School Activities
Considering most year round schooling systems end the school day around 5:30pm, it is hard to imagine there being enough time after school for recreational team practices. Studies show that most year round schools make students and parents sign a contract before the student can be enrolled in classes. The contract states a lot of rules and regulations of the school system, including its academic and activity calendar. According to the calendar, during the summer school session it is mandatory for the students to participate in enrichment programs, activities, or remedial work. Problems with year round schooling emerge when it comes to sport activities. Students who participate in sports might find it difficult to juggle the year round schedule with team practices because the practices would be held on weekends or during the various short breaks throughout the year. Team practices generally do not conflict with student schedules because most practices are held immediately following school. Coaches feel that the more frequent breaks in a year-round schedule will give them more time for rigorous practices. Within the districts, however, scheduling games between teams can become difficult when they have different school calendars.
Below are two calendars; one of the 210 day year round school calendar and the other of the 180 day traditional school calendar. The major differences presented in the calendars are obvious. Year round schools offer more small breaks in the calendar while the traditional calendar has larger breaks.
ReferencesClark, C. (Jul 2010). Year- round schooling: a wrinkle in time. National Journal. Retrieved from Academic Search Premiere database online.http://web.ebscohost.com.proxy-tu.researchport.umd.edu/ehost/detail?sid=4ffcbf45-425a-4b16-8750-bf4d1ea38ac6%40sessionmgr111&vid=1&hid=107&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWhvc3QtbGl2ZQ%3d%3d#db=aph&AN=52514183Mewes, T. (Jan 2011). Parents weigh in on year-round school. Austin Daily Herald. Retrieved from http://www.austindailyherald.com/2011/01/18/parents-weigh-in-on-year-round-school/
Ohio State University (2007, August 14). Year-round Schools Don't Boost Learning, Study Finds. ScienceDaily. Retrieved May 10, 2011, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070811151449.htm
PBS News. (2001). Going to school year-round. Retrieved from http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/features/july-dec01/year-round.html.
Year Round School | Teen Opinion Essay on summer vacation and students. (n.d.). Teen Ink | A teen literary magazine and website. Retrieved May 5, 2011, from http://www.teenink.com/opinion/school_college/article/156267/Year-Round-School/
YRS - the issues." Auburn University. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 May 2011. <http://www.auburn.edu/~eneb