Missing a Month of School - Three Perspectives of This Week's Steemit Education Homework
@steemiteducation asked this question for homework this week:
Would you take your child out of school for a month to go on a vacation?
My initial thought was that I would definitely take a child out of school for a month to go on vacation. Having a vacation during the school year is sometimes the only time parents can afford it since plane and hotel fees go up during the summer. While on our trip, there are plenty of ways for the child to engage academically. For instance, we could have our child write a report about what they are learning or where they are visiting to be turned in to the teacher upon returning. The child can ask for work in advance and that can be done in the car, plane or during down time. We can also do many activities to keep the child thinking academically, such as asking them to recite multiplication tables, memorize poetry and write a letter to a friend about their trip. We can also bring along books for the child to read in their free time to keep their mind engaged. Good classical literature is always a great place to start.
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As a teacher, on the other hand, this is not as easy of a decision. This was something I dreaded! When a student would come to me and tell me they would be out of school for the next four weeks and would like to have all of their assignments in advance, I would kind of freak out a little. You see, during that time, they would probably miss a handful of quizzes and a test or possibly two. Those cannot really be done while away and making them up after the fact will take quite some time out of their already busy schedule. It could take months to make up a missed month of school (especially in older grades where there is not just one class). I was a Spanish teacher, so I could assign workbook pages and lessons to be read, but it is very unlikely that the child could teach himself Spanish from a textbook. This does not even mention the practice, extra activities done in class, projects, videos watched and student interaction that the student will miss.
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As a homeschooling mom, I definitely would stop school for a month for vacation time. It is very common for us to enjoy long periods with no school for various reasons. For example, when we moved in April, we put a hold on school for about two months while we settled into our house, got used to a new country and unpacked our books. We then picked up when our friends in the US were having a summer and we worked straight through that. We take our breaks as needed, but we also continue to work toward completing our lessons in a timely manner. We would probably even learn while on our vacation as we have many books online that we could read in our free time, nature we can explore in a new place and real life experiences that are necessary for growing up all around us. Learning can happen anywhere at any time, you just have to keep an eye out for a teachable moment.
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Thank you for asking the question, @steemiteducation!
Would you take your child out of school for a month?
If you are also interested in answering this question, head over to their homework post, give it an upvote and resteem, and then write a post discussing your thoughts.
I think you make a lot of great points! When I was younger there were times my parents pulled us out of school but only for a week. Where did you live when you taught that students would be out of school for a month?
I just meant in general I didn't love it when students would ask for "future" work. ;) Lol. I had a teacher friend at my school who had one student who was out regularly because she was an Olympian on the women's gymnastic team. She was always out...I actually don't ever remember seeing her. I lived in Texas then.
Ohh haha okay that makes sense. I can see how that would be stressful especially when you haven’t even planned out what you would be teaching that far ahead! Wow that had to be a lot of traveling!
Yes, I hated doing lesson plans. There were some people who had them for the whole year planned out. I was more of the "turn them in on Friday before the next week" kind of girl...if I turned them in. Not fun. ;) So a kid asking for next week's assignments could get any number of things including stuff we might possibly get to...or not. ;)
The learning opportunities are everywhere when in a new location! I wouldn’t hesitate for a moment if my kids were homeschooled. The most important things I’ve learned have been out in nature. Math? My horrible peso to dollar conversion and realizing I had bought $10 worth of bookmarks.. science? Having to research why the sand flowed in Perdido Key, Florida (bioluminescent microscopic organisms in the sand)... omg! The learning is endless. In “regular school” I would imagine a parent would get slapped with a truancy letter for their child missing yet another standardized test. :(
Yes, that is quite true about missing a standardized test. Yuck, those things are no fun for anyone! Yes, I agree about being able to find "subjects" everywhere. Lol! I bet the kids still remember why the sand moved!
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