Time in School

[ISYairio]

Time in School (http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_otfwl2zc6Qc/SjT-KOWROHI/AAAAAAAAKT4/qtiXaCKWja4/s1600-h/school.png)

I think I would've gone crazy. :shifty:

[Safiel]

Heh.

My kids home schooled six days a week. Five hours of self led formal school time Monday through Friday and about three on Saturday. Or about 28 hours a week. The kicker though is we went 283 days a year as opposed to 180 in the public school system.

I think increasing the length of the school day becomes self defeating at some point. Kids simply burn out.

[ISYairio]

Some more info:

They have one of the shortest school years anywhere, a mere 180 days compared with an average of 195 for OECD countries and more than 200 for East Asian countries. German children spend 20 more days in school than American ones, and South Koreans over a month more. Over 12 years, a 15-day deficit means American children lose out on 180 days of school, equivalent to an entire year.

... But the long summer vacation acts like a mental eraser, with the average child reportedly forgetting about a month’s-worth of instruction in many subjects and almost three times that in mathematics. (http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/06/lazy-summers-short-days-fewer-weeks-in.html)

[ISYairio]

Heh.

My kids home schooled six days a week. Five hours of self led formal school time Monday through Friday and about three on Saturday. Or about 28 hours a week. The kicker though is we went 283 days a year as opposed to 180 in the public school system.

I think increasing the length of the school day becomes self defeating at some point. Kids simply burn out.

But how much "homework"? :eek: :razz:

[Wilhelm Scream]

Does the OP have a citation for this graph? Where did this come from?

I don't doubt the data on Sweden, though. I've been there myself and have heard first-hand that Swedish education is quite rigorous. It explains the nation's prevalent bilingualism, I suppose.

[ISYairio]

Does the OP have a citation for this graph? Where did this come from?

I don't doubt the data on Sweden, though. I've been there myself and have heard first-hand that Swedish education is quite rigorous. It explains the nation's prevalent bilingualism, I suppose.

It comes from here (http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/06/lazy-summers-short-days-fewer-weeks-in.html), I put the link in the "more information" post as well. :shifty:

Professor Perry likely created the graph himself w/ the info provided from The Economist article quoted in the blog post.

[Wilhelm Scream]

It comes from here (http://mjperry.blogspot.com/2009/06/lazy-summers-short-days-fewer-weeks-in.html), I put the link in the "more information" post as well. :shifty:

Ah, I see it now. My bad. Rarely do I mouseover quoted text.
Interesting article.

[janer]

I would be in favor of a longer school day, but one that starts later. I don't think kids should be standing out at a bus stop at 6:30 am to make a 7:45 start time so that school can let out at 2:10 in order to squeeze in sports and extracurriculars. I would have a 9-4, 9-5 school day, but here's the kicker - I would have longer class periods and no homework.

[countmein]

We homeschool and our children have school 48 weeks a year. They go 11 weeks, off 1, go 12, off 2, go 11 off 1, go 12, off another 2. The two week "vacations" fall in the summer and around Christmas. We don't have a set time on how long our school day is, but usually start around 9 a.m. Just how long the school day is depends on how much work there is for that day. My 15 year old sets her own goals for the day and goes until she is finished. On an easy day it might take 4 or 5 hours. On a harder day she may go 8 or 9 hours. It all depends on what she is doing. My son is starting his 1st grade curriculum and it only takes a couple of hours to do his school work. We then spend time reading and playing games but leave plenty of free time for him to do whatever he wants. My 4 year old is starting her kindergarten work. That only takes an hour or so a day, all depending on how well she pays attention and how quickly she does her work. She already knows all her letter, numbers, colors and shapes by sight and all of her letter sounds. She is actually starting to spell and sound out words already. What we are really working on is getting her use to sitting down and following directions and such. She is taking to it pretty well.

[chris13]

You do know why we have the long summer break, don't you?

School schedules are still based on our old agriculture- and family farm-based society. Children were needed in the summer to help on the farm.
There have been places that have tried year-round schooling, but the results have not been very palatable to most families. This has come from different aged children not having the same schedules of time-off and Americans "summer vacation" mindset.

[Safiel]

We always worked through the summer, taking our vacations deliberately in the non peak months. It was very rare for us to take any trips between Memorial Day and Labor Day.