I’m really so confused. Wasn’t the talk a few years back that American kids were falling behind a bunch of other countries in academics? Wasn’t that what “common core” was all about? Aren’t we scared that our kids are getting dumber relative to the world, and even more so now that they’ve lost so much quality education time because of covid? Yes? Then why in God’s green earth are we giving them so much vacation?!
Labor Day for Who?
Every year, when school finally starts back up, I fool myself into thinking that I might finally be able to focus on my life again, but right from jump street, the schools make it clear we shouldn’t get too comfortable. Particularly cruel is the way they start the first day of school on the Friday before Labor Day. All that day I’m fist-pumping the area, excitedly thinking about all of the work I’m finally going to get done. I’m so blissfully unaware that it’s a long weekend, it’s astounding. My denial runs so deep, it doesn’t even occur to me that Monday is a holiday until Monday arrives. I wake up, take a shower, and when my wife asks me what I want to do with the kids, I search my brain for clues, but nothing comes. Um, let them go to school?
It would be so much better if the kids just started school the Tuesday after Labor Day. Someone once told me that the kids go back the Friday before so that they can have a long weekend to decompress from the stress of starting up a new school year. Is that really true? Didn’t they just have a three-month holiday? What about me? Where do I fit into this plan? Has anyone considered the psychological trauma it gives parents to tease them with the idea that regular life has started back up again, only to pull the carpet out from under their feet and award the kids another vacation day for performing one day of “work”?
Actual footage of me at home: “What is happening?”
What Happened With Columbus?
Speaking of teasing, wasn’t Columbus cancelled? I thought everybody was mad at Columbus, so why did my kids get two days off for it? I was really excited for that to be a full work week this year. Word on the street is that the second day wasn’t even for the kids to process Columbus’s missteps, but for the teachers to have a professional day. Apparently, the faculty gets one of these every month now, so that’s another nine days of my kids floating around the house, interrupting me to tell me that they’re bored. I don’t remember getting those days growing up. Is there somewhere I can file a claim for that?
And Extra Thanksgiving?
Now we have Thanksgiving and I was greeted by the news that the school has decided to go with a full week off for Thanksgiving this year. A FULL WEEK? FOR THANKSGIVING??! What happened to just Thursday and Friday? You go home, you watch the Lions lose another game, eat a bunch of food, take a four-day nap, and then go back to regular life. I was very thankful for that. Now kids get a whole week? I think having a full week off robs Thanksgiving of that special “bonus vacation” weekend” feel. Remember that? Now it’s just too much. To tell you the truth, the amount of vacation my kids get is so high that they are already looking forward to going back to school! Is that the point of all this vacation? To make kids miss school instead of dreading it? Because it’s working.
Don’t get me wrong. I realize that in fifteen minutes I’m going to be begging my kids to come spend every free minute of their time with me. Soon they will be in high school and I’ll be competing with their friends and other plans for their time. I love the free time with my kids. Cherish it, really. But isn’t the school calendar getting a little out of hand? How is all of this free time going to prepare them for the next phase of their lives? Oh right, the next step is college where they get to take even less classes and have even more free time. Ok, point taken. No point fighting it. Might as well just enjoy this while I can. A full week off for Thanksgiving it is! Happy Thanksgiving everybody!
First off, let me preface my remarks by saying I’m a retired elementary teacher (clearly biased). I”m sure this sounds defensive, but I’m okay with that. Our summers are nine weeks (not three months which is a common misconception). I taught thirty-one years but countless hours on my own time. A typical work week was 80 hours, including going in at least 1/2 day on Saturdays to prepare for the next week. Summers off? What’s that? I had my own painting business for 20 years to help pay the mortgage. Teachers aren’t poor, but our wages aren’t super either, especially considering how many free hours we give. I also attended at least one extracurricular event of all of my students during the year (If invited, of course.🤣). Most teachers go into school during the summer (not every day, but we’re not sipping wine coolers on the beach somewhere.) Don’t get me wrong—I loved what I did, and I would do it all over again if I could.
There is a nationwide teacher shortage in our country. Lots of teachers are quitting because they’ve reached their breaking point. They don’t feel supported by SOME administrators, school boards, and parents. I’m a parent too, and I know how hard this whole Covid thing has been on children and parents too. I know it feels like kids have more time off when you and I were in school, but the number of days is the same. It’s the law. What’s different is that the tradeoff is more vacations during the year vs. a shorter summer.
I didn’t mean to unload on you, Matt. I thought you might want to hear from a teacher’s perspective. Happy Thanksgiving!
No worries Pete. Certainly not referring to teacher’s schedules or their work ethic. I know how hard teacher’s got it and I appreciate it everyday more and more. Just joking about how much time my kids get vs when I was a kid. My kids’ school ends in May and they go back in Sept, so they get a 3 month summer, 2 weeks in March, a week in Feb and April, etc, etc! They’re at home so much I’m thinking of starting a farm. Cheers