Marlis said...My answer is probably going to surprise Marlis. IF I had young children and they were in PUBLIC SCHOOL I would be in favor of the 4 day school week. Mainly because my husband has a 4 day work week and I just think it is easier for families if everyone has the same schedule. When my husbands company went to the 4 day work week our homeschool went to a 4 day week too. Although if we didn't get the work done Monday through Thursday due to sickness or a field trip we used Friday to catch up.
http://www.principalspartnership.com/fourdayschoolweek.pdf
Alasandra, there is an interesting article about a 4 day school week being considered in some areas to combat dwindling budgets. The above link appears to be over all convinced that it is a positive change which wouldn't affect students at all. Admittedly I skimmed over it since I haven't found enough time to read it yet. I wanted to forward this to you since I found this so entirely appalling. Let us know what you think about this.
That being said I really hate the 4 day work week. By the time Friday rolls around my husband is so exhausted from the 10 hour days and shortage of sleep that Friday is basically spent recuperating. But I do see how a 4 day work/school week would be better for the environment, save a company or school district money and provide workers/students with a day to keep business & doctors appointments. So I think it would be a matter of some families would like it and others wouldn't. There would be some drawbacks but there would be some advantages. Like much of life there would be pros and cons. Unfortunately public schools are not able to do what is best for each individual child and must make their decision on what is best for the community as a whole. Parents who choose to homeschool are free to tailor their child's schedule to suit their families needs.
Alasandra, thanks so much for your input. My take on this wasn't whether this wasn't so much that it may be convenient for some families and good for the budget but rather bad for the students in terms of education. With the average true instruction time per class being so short at any rate, taking one full instruction day out of the week will leave many more children behind. Having experienced public school both as a student and a parent I have experienced first hand how terribly many parents leave 'education' up to the institutions alone without any effort on their part once the children are at home. So, while a four day week would certainly be easier on the budget and some parents, the true loosers are, once again, the children. The slow students will fall all the more behind and the smart ones will get the short end of the stick thanks to 'no child left behind'. When the classes are taught according to the lowest common denominator this is a disaster waiting to happen.
ReplyDeletewith a smile,
M.
Marlis, I am assuming they will increase the length of the school day to make up for the lost day. Some kids will have no problem covering more material at one time, but I do see how those who are having trouble "getting" a concept would have even more trouble keeping up. So it could be a positive thing for some students (those ahead of their classmates who are bored) but a negative thing for others (those struggling to keep up).
ReplyDeleteBlock schedules which some high schools implemented has some of the same problems.
http://www.jefflindsay.com/Block.shtml
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