In comparison to various countries across the globe, a vast majority of American schools operate under a calendar that gives students and staff the summer off, beginning the next school year at the end of August or the beginning of September.
According to Success By Design, Inc., year-round schooling is “an umbrella term used to describe any school schedule that operates for all 12 months of the year.”
There are still “180 instruction days” every year, but they are spread throughout the entire year instead of being crammed together.
A handful of American schools have adopted the same policy that many Asian and African schools have of year-round schooling. In today’s world, this is the route to go.
Besides the fact that kids won’t succumb to summer’s learning loss while school is out, there are more frequent breaks compared to the summer break school year calendar.
Success By Design Inc. believes that “students learn better when they can take more frequent breaks. Instead of working hard for nine or 10 months with very little time off, they receive time to rest their minds and their bodies every two to three months.”
This type of school scheduling can also help prevent the academic burnout students experience throughout the year.
It’s not just the students who would benefit; teachers would also be positively impacted by year-round school and the many breaks it provides.
The two- to three-week breaks every two or so months would allow teachers time to plan more “thoughtful lessons” and prevent them from burning out, too.
With more frequent breaks instead of a three-month off period, students are continuously building on their skills, which prevents them from forgetting what they’ve learned.
As per U.S. News, “Advocates of year-round calendar systems often cite reduced summer learning loss as a reason to shift away from the traditional calendar. The logic here seems sound – since students have shorter summer breaks, there’s less time to forget what they learned during the school year.”
If there’s less learning loss, teachers save time since they don’t have to reteach lessons. Therefore more class time can be spent on learning new material.
On top of all of that, kids have an excuse to spend time with their friends throughout the year.
During the summer break school year, people get busy with work, vacation and camps, which can make finding time to hang out with friends difficult.
With year-round school, students may not see each other for two or three-week time periods dispersed throughout the year. This helps kids form close relationships with their peers while mimicking a similar schedule of real-world jobs.
“Year-round schooling enables students to get to know their teachers and other school staff better,” education consultant and college advisor Joseph Adeboyega-Edun of Care.com said. “Parents, teachers and students have the opportunity to grow and foster relationships over the year, which helps promote a more harmonious school environment for students.”
Overall, since it’s more beneficial for students and teachers, year-round schooling needs to be the standardized schedule for school.