Reply #154: I would like year round school [View All]

[BlueGirlRedState]

When I grew up in the 60s, my mom didn't work outside the house and I spent time reading, riding my bike to the library and watching TV. Now I work year round and my husband works year round. Finding childcare in the summer is hard. We usually end up with Extend-a-Care which meets in various elementary school cafeterias and has scheduled swim sessions and field trips. There are summer "camps" at various organizations but they usually only last a couple of weeks, and the hours are 9 to 3 -- sorry, but I can't take off work to take them or pick them up. These "camps" are expensive and my kids don't like learning a new routine and meeting new people every couple of weeks. My 6th grader no longer wants to go to these day care situations but she's not old enough to be on her own.

If we had year round school she would have a safe environment, consistency, friends. She's a top student and the schools would have more time to delve into subjects and make learning interesting.

And we are able to afford at least the Extend-a-Care program, or some other program, but several hundred dollars a month per child is out of reach of some families, so the kids stay home and are either bored to death or get into trouble.

Interestingly, during the heat of the election, she told me all of the kids in her school said if Obama was elected he would make them go to school all year round. I told her that was up to the school districts. But if I had my druthers, we would have all year schools.