School Starting Already?
I really shouldn’t complain. The kids going back to school means I have time to work. Much needed quiet time without hearing “MOOOOOM! Make him STOP!” or any pointless arguments. I’ve really had enough of the daily battles, and I hate to say it, but I’m looking at the school as a really cheap babysitter that I can’t wait to dump my kids on.
One thing that still bothers me though is how early the kids are going back to school. They went so far last May as to extend the school day to make up for all the snow days we missed (and it was a HORRIBLE winter - I think in all we ended up with 7 or 8 snow days). A half hour total tacked on every day for the last month or so, just so they could get out of school by the end of May. Which would have seemed great to me when I was in school, except I knew that we didn’t have to go back until the very last week of August.
This year our kids go back the 18th, but I’ve heard others saying they are already back. Are you SERIOUS? August is still summer in every sense of the term. Here in Iowa it’s hot as hell, humid, and no comfortable activities except swimming can be done during the month of August. Yet here we are, going back with two weeks left in the month.
The thing that makes the least amount of sense to me is how a lot of the schools around here still lack air conditioning. Because of that fact, they end up letting school out 2 hours early the first 2 or 3 weeks. Yet in June it’s not that hot at all, but they push so hard to get them out. In fact ,the first week or two of June it’s not even warm enough to swim!
So why are they doing this? It’s no wonder our school our failing - we are seriously shortening the amount of time they are going to school AND the amount of time they can actually learn. Trust me on this one, I went to an elementary school without air, and after noon recess the only thing you could think about was trying to keep cool. You don’t learn a thing when you are hot and uncomfortable.
It just doesn’t make any sense to me in the least. If they absolutely must give our kids a measly 10 weeks of summer vacation, let’s start it in mid-June and run to September. Or better yet, let’s ditch the 180 day rule all together with. Did you know the state only requires a child be in a school setting for 148 days? So where did we pick up the extra 32? Dang, that’s more than a month we are sending our kids to school without the law requiring it.
I think what bothers me the most is the fact we have all these “extra” days off school. At least once a month there’s a “teacher’s workshop”, then all the pointless holidays you can think of. That puts the working parent in a serious tough spot when they have to make other arrangements for daycare. Unlike the summer when they can actually plan for weeks ahead of time, having random days in the middle of the school year can be a serious problem.
I just don’t get it, and it makes me mad. I feel like summer is being robbed from my kids and they are getting days off in the middle of the winter where they can’t do anything outside. The nation has put this big emphasis on getting kids outside to play, yet then we turn around and force them inside. HUH? Please someone explain it to me!
Increasing in Him,
Kara
Topics: Mom Stuff |