Friday, February 26, 2010

No Time For School

Three day weekend! My kids are off school today and I find myself wondering just when it is that they are at school any more. In the month of February (granted it's a short month), my kids only had one full week of school. Looks like it will be five days of school next week, but then only three the following, followed by another five day week. Then it's a four day week before Spring Break starts and we're off for a bunch of days.

It's really messing with my writing mojo. I can't get back into the rhythm of things with all these days off. My productivity is waaaay down for the month of February. I know, poor me. But here's the thing - if I'm not getting much done with all these days off, what about the kids? Well, they aren't getting as much done either. How do I know? My third grader came home last night bringing homework to do over the long weekend. And it's not the first time. The teacher openly admits that there is not enough time in these shortened weeks to get it all done. So she's had to resort to sending work home in order to keep pace with the district's expectations.

Here's the funny thing: just this morning I was surmising that I'd found the reason for all the homeschoolers getting ahead of our public school kids in their class work. They have the opportunity to spend more time on their schoolwork than my kids do. And my guess was confirmed. Some homeschool friends just arrived, so I asked them, did they do school today? And their answer? Yes, they've been particularly working on the days the public school is off, because they're planning to head south for a couple of weeks and need to get nine days ahead of public school (I should clarify that they're doing a bit of hybrid schooling where some subjects they do at the public school, but most at home). Aha! I was right!

If the excess of days off frustrates me, I can't imagine how working parents must feel. What do they do when the kids aren't in school on work days? Aye yi yi!

Here we are. Another three day weekend. My kids are playing. I'm not getting much done. How about you?

4 musings:

Llama Momma said...

I know...insanity!!! And we've been passing a virus around, so the kids have missed even more school.

On the other hand, I feel like they DO learn on these days off. Trips to the library, museums, and time spent on projects are a big piece of their education, I think.

We veered off the beaten track today and headed to the Sci Tech museum in Aurora. VERY fun and educational!

Lara said...

LM - ugh! Hope by now all are healthy and totally enjoying the warmer weather. You're right about the time off being educational too. And a bit of play time doesn't hurt these kids any - especially not after the stress mine were under last week with testing.

Elizabeth said...

What are we doing? We're home schooling. :) Yes, those museums, library trips, cooking in the kitchen, and other various projects that INVOLVE our children are very much 'learning and growing opportunities'! Enjoy your time with your kids. :)

Lara said...

Elizabeth - you made me laugh. And you made me think, we need to do the museum thing on days off if we want to give our kids that kind of exposure and education. But if you want, as a homeschooling mom you can incorporate that into your school day. And I'll bet you'll be getting a lot done next week while we're off for Spring Break.

Question for any homeschool readers: do you take a "Spring/Easter Break" or an even longer one? Or do you keep going and end your year earlier? Or some other iteration?