Year Round School in Michigan?

Year Round School in Michigan? Count me in! With the school year fast-approaching, it’s a perfect time to discuss the year-round option for Michigan school districts. I am going to be quick and to the point on this one… I’m a fan of year round school in Michigan and here’s why…

Year Round School in Michigan?

It’s an outdated concept to have summers off. My guess is that summers were important back in the day when farmers were most busy and needed help from their children. I can speak on this since both of my parents lived in Italy and quit school to work on the farm. But, how much of an issue is this today?

The summer is too long. I don’t think it’s easy for anyone to have that much time off. If I got a three month break from work, I might actually start to miss it. This happens with the kids as well. Not only do they miss school, but they miss their friends. Many think school is fun and they love to learn so this long of a break actually has them wanting to go back.

Believe it or not, kids get bored in the summer. I see many kids trying to figure out what to do with themselves. They are so used to the busy, fast pace of school, and now they don’t have that structure. I see my kids wanting to go back even during winter holiday break!

Working parents may also find it difficult to find summer care for their kids. It might be easier to make arrangements when the breaks are shorter and spread throughout the year if there was year round school in Michigan.

With year-round school in Michigan, taking a vacation gives you more options. It doesn’t have to be in the summer or during holiday break. You’ll get several opportunities during the year and during different seasons.

The teachers would have it easier. With year-round school, there would be no “academic slide.” Students can stay fresh on the subject and lessons learned. And, teachers would not have to spend so much time on review work. Plus, families would save a lot of money that they normally spend on summer tutors in attempt to avoid the academic slide. What a huge issue this is that can be easily resolved by just changing things to a more modernized fashion.

The US needs to maintain a more competitive stance academically. Other countries go year-round and some even on Saturdays! I’m not suggesting weekends, but year-round sounds really good to me. It would give students more opportunity to excel, but with good balance and no pressure.

There are schools in Michigan that already have year-round school in Michigan programs. I’m guessing if it was awful, they’d opt to go back to summers off. I give those schools so much credit for taking such a big step to do something “outside the box.” I only hope that other schools take the chance and work off the success of these other schools’ models. I would be a fan of year round school in Michigan in our district… hint hint.