Hellobee Boards

The kids have 11 weeks off. I think it's a good amount. The downside is that I don't have any help during the week so the girls don't have enough time apart from each other. DD1 is 6 so she can do much more than her 3.5 year old sister so she's been getting frustrated at some of our activities. Overall, the summer is flying by and it's super nice to do just whatever we want though!

I think it's too long. I know we're looking at it on a year by year basis, but if you add up all the time off over a 13 year school career, it's extra instruction that other kids around the world are getting and ours are not.

I think it's especially important for low income kids where school is their main source of meals during the school year.

@mrbee: my sisters' kids attended a year-round school where they "tracked out" for three weeks at a time, three times per year. Everyone also had a week off at Christmas, and a spring break.

This system seems fantastic for so many reasons - more kids can be educated in less space without crowding, less "summer slide", and the opportunity to take vacations at non-peak times.

@mrbee: I thought this too at first, but actually, it's not any worse than standard summer, because all the local kids' activity places/aftercare programs run "track out camps". It's the entire school district operating this way, so the local businesses all cater to it! my nieces had grandma care, but other kids do a week of gymnastics, a week of drama camp, a week if d hence camp....it sounds really fun! Nannies aren't popular in the area, but in theory the same nanny could work for several families whose kids were on different teams/tracks and be constantly employed.

@looch: that's kind of what we are about to get into. Summer break is 8-9 weeks. Then they have breaks every 6-8 weeks during the year for anywhere between 1-2 weeks at a time. I'm not sure how I feel about it all yet!

@looch: i totally agree about the meals. I've volunteered in past with programs that feed lower income kids but sometimes getting the meals to them is half the battle.