Get to class… and stay there
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- November
- 30
My son’s got it easy at school. At least that’s the way I see it, given that his classes don’t start until 9 a.m., and he’s out at 3 p.m. When I was a kid, I can’t recall starting school any later than 8:20 a.m., and that was seen as lenient. So what’s up?
I should note that my 10-year-old scores at the top of the class in all of the state tests he’s been required to take. And he devotes tons of his spare time to reading and games that incorporate mathematical and social studies skills. Fine. He’s studious.
But I find myself wanting more school time for him, something I think that there’s no real substitute for. It helps develop good study habits, improved listening skills, increased group-participation skills, and better social skills. True, he’s just in fifth grade now and his school day will get a tad longer as he gets into the later grades. That’s all well and good.
Still, something seems off. Take into account this Boston Globe article, in which a handful of Boston public schools extended the school day and assigned more reading and studying to their students. The result was a significant increase in MCAS scores.
Doesn’t that all seem to make sense? Or is there a case to be made for less time in class? I’d love to hear it.
This entry was posted
on Friday, November 30th, 2007 at 5:02 pm by Jorge Fitz-Gibbon.
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Eight hours of school seems excessive. Can most children maintain their focus and energy for academics for that long?
Also, my experience is that there is a lot of wasted time within a typical six-hour school day. For example, my 5th grader is currently spending hours in her school’s DARE program, which has never shown any statistically significant effect on preventing drug use.
However, I have read where disadvantaged kids benefit from longer school days, such as in KIPP schools.
I would not want my taxes raised (an extra $1,300 per student in Mass.) to prolong the school day. Frankly, I would be suspicious this is driven by those who want schools to handle more babysitting for working parents.
I don’t think the school day has shortened since I was in school. If anything, it’s a little longer, at least where I live. The elementary schools start at about 9AM but don’t let out until between 3 and 3:30PM. High schools start at a very early time, which I couldn’t have imagined when I was in high school.
I do think there’s a limit to how long kids can remain focused and pay attention in any given day. Learning is demanding.
I also echo Tex’s comment that schools spend a lot of time on this other than academics. If academics are such a priority, maybe some this other stuff ought to be cut back.
Generally, there is a disturbing trend toward schools taking on more and more of the parents’ role. This will simply lead to schools failing at both education and ‘parenting.’ I think it’s a very slippery slope, because with certain types of parents, this just validates their irresponsibility, and as the school picks up more of the parental duties, these parents will do less and less.
When I hear that schools have to serve breakfast because parents don’t do it, that makes me crazy. Some well-meaning people say, “well, the only meal these kids get is in school.” If that’s the case, the family ought to be reported to the DCF and the kids should be removed from the home.
In any case, I favor putting the schools back to their main mission, and leaving the rest to the parents. Schools are funded by all taxpayers, and the taxpayers should not be required to pay for extended babysitting services or to do what the parents ought to be doing.
Perhaps our experiences have been different in terms of our own schooling. I do know there are earlier drop-offs at my son’s school for kids who get breakfast. But this is not academic time. My son’s school also has a lot of extracurricular activity, some of which he is involved in.
However, this takes place after school and, in the case of his music education, before the start of the school day.
What I personally would like to see is more academic time, and breaking up these classes into subjects would alleviate some of the tedium you both seem to feel takes place with children in school for extended periods of time. The Boston pilot program I linked would suggest that kids react positively in terms of education when this happens.
But, of course, I put it out there for discussion, and I appreciate the varying view points on the subject. So, thank you both and keep it coming.