Everyday is a Learning Opportunity

After reading many Facebook posts about school letting out for summer, I thought I would share my feelings regarding the subject.

Most educators anticipate and celebrate the upcoming summer months.  I completely understand the desire and necessity to rejuvenate, revitalize, and relax so that one can be a better teacher in the fall.  This is the first year I am actually NOT teaching this summer.  I have offered summer lessons for the past 20 summers (doesn't seem possible, but alas it is true), but felt that my family needed my undivided energy and focus this year.

So I imagine most will find what I write next as a complete contradiction to above.

An Arbitrary Date
I have always felt sorry for teachers when the end of the school year approaches.  National and state benchmarks are needed to be met, but 99% of the time books and curriculum are never finished.  A few of the items are sent home with families on the last day of school (everything but the books that can be reused in the fall), but teachers never assume all students complete the materials during the summer months.  In fact, I know that only a fraction of my private students will practice daily over the summer break, let alone practice at all.

We all know the last week (or weeks) of school are flooded by picnics, field trips, and other fun activities that put traditional curriculum on the back burner.  During the school year, teachers must comply by the requirements put in place by those in charge and therefore, not able to complete everything.  There is also a mindset with children (and their parents) that it is okay to "turn it off" in the summertime.  After all, children are force-fed so much information that a break is definitely needed.  In many cases children are taught to do schoolwork like it is a race, rather than at their own pace which only leads to partial learning.

I can remember the countless tests I studied for and memorized the important dates, definitions, and information, just to simply forget it the day after the test.  Garbage In/Garbage Out I would say.  And I still use this analogy with my students today.  I am not teaching children to learn a song so they can play it/sing it for the recital.  I am teaching students to become musicians - to truly understand what they are learning, so they can one day not need me anymore.

And isn't it interesting that one school ends on one date and another school ends on another date?  I know it has to do with days in school, per government regulations, and how many days are not taught during the "school year".  However, I think the "last day of school" is only an arbitrary date on the calendar.  I have been very aware of this mindset, so I have done my best to engage the Ladybugs in learning activities throughout the summer months.  However, if one homeschools there never has to be a break from the daily grind, the testing, and the ridiculous benchmarks made by people who no longer have a pulse on the changing education dynamics, because there isn't any of that.  There is simply learning.

So What Does This Really Mean?
I believe that learning shouldn't simply happen between 8am and 3pm, Monday thru Friday, September (or end of August) thru the beginning of June (or end of May).  What if school was all year and the students and teachers had breaks throughout the school year?  Like a week here and two weeks there.  And more breaks throughout the day, rather than one recess at lunchtime.  I remember getting three recesses when I was in school, and having an hour for lunch.  Now there is barely enough time to scarf down a lunch and run off steam to be gathered back into the classroom.  And people wonder why we have so many kids with attention problems.

Therefore, rather than the proverbial summer slide, students would move at a steady pace and truly learn about the subject(s).  Students could move into curriculum and objectives when they were ready, rather than when someone sitting in an office thinks it is time.  We could return to a time when school was taught to learn and not to determine who was the smartest or the best.  School used to be a privilege when the public school system was created; now in many cases school is a prison.

I have to agree that with the amount of "stuff" given to students for 9 months of the year, they do need time off to recuperate.  But what is the answer?  I do not have the answer, just ideas that float around in my head.  I do know that with my Ladybugs they each learn differently and at different paces.  Some material is taught and the light bulb goes on quickly, and in other cases the light bulb needs more time to glow.  They also have completely different interests and it is obvious when we are working on daily tasks.

The one thing I've learned this year is that no one situation works for everyone.  Homeschool is not for everyone, just like private nor public is made for everyone.  The bigger issue is that so many people judge others for the decisions they make for their families, rather than embracing that we all must make decisions based on what is right for our own family.

This reminds me of a quote attributed to Einstein (there is much speculation regarding the origins):

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”