I don't know about other moms and dads

Well, I am not a mom or a dad, so maybe I don't see it. I did also get Friday of last week off due to parent-teacher conferences, and I am off the rest of the week due to Spring Break. But since I am still in school, all I see is a break off from school, and I need to finish my project that is due next week. I feel that we haven't had as many days off as usual, and that may be good. But, sometimes it just gets so stressful to not have a break off. And, it is not like we are taking two weeks off, so what is it really hurting? The snow days did take some actual school days off, but we are making them up and it is taking away from our summer. They are also starting school earlier!! :( I guess that will mean though that we can get out sooner!! :D Yay. Sorry if I disagree...it may be the fact that I am still in school! :) Great Discussion though.

I was just saying this last night- We went to the school website to see the school lunch menu for the week- My daughter has only 2 full days of school- Wed & Thurs are only half days-- Parent teacher conf and Friday off for record keeping day! They just had a full week off for mid-winter break! and they have Good Friday and the week after for Spring Break! I don't ever remember having so much time off! But we must have had alot too... Its just different when your a kid-- you look forward to the time off-- My daughter is 10!

Did you know that in some countries, there is no time off. The children go to school all year around. I guess with all the unions and rights, that this is what is happening. Sounds like a bit too much time off from school. I agree.

well you can't help some time off with children as they can pick up lots of bugs

We had four no-bus days just before March Break. There was one school day, then a P.D. Day before March Break. The teacher piled on the homework for the kids to do over March Break to make up for the no-bus days. I think this is terrible. My 13 year old spent most of the March Break doing homework, or stewing over it. There was no fun for her. I am livid about it. I was ready to write that teacher a book if she complained that my daughter didn't have all her work done. Fortunately it did not become an issue at school today. Frankly, I don't think they should take 2 full months off school over the summer. I think that one month (last two weeks of July, first two weeks of August) is plenty. My kids get so bored over the summer because all their friends are away. Keep them in school longer over the school year and stop giving them homework so they can enjoy activities after school and I think everyonen would be happier.

How many days off do they get? We had 190 days of school a year. In fact from Thanksgiving to Christmas (Canadian Thanksgiving is on Columbus Day for you Americans) we have no days off. And from New Years to March Break, there is no day off. 190/5 = 38 weeks The school year is spread over 42 weeks with 2 weeks for Christmas 1 week for March Break and 5 days off in between. We always needed a couple more days off. I think 185 days would have been better for us.

I don't have school age kids but I looked after 2 boys and I had them full days a lot. They thing I find incredible is that the school those boys went to extended their school day to make up the time lost. Now the kids start at 8 am and end at 4 pm. A longer day so that there can be more days off, silly to me.

Here in Florida it is ridiculous also. I homeschool my daughter but I have a friend who has a 5th grader and he is out all the time. Every other wednesday is early out day. Just about every other week there is one or more days they have set aside for "restructuring" days. There was one month I counted and they were out 10 days that didn't include the early out days. I thought it was bad back in AR where they were out 2-4 days a month for restructuring then I get here and they are out all the time. I am glad I home school atleast our learning is steady.

I guess it depends on the state and the school system. The school system in Oklahoma does not have that many days off. They actually get a bit of a longer summer than some other states. But they make up for it by not having as many days off during the school year. It did hurt us this past winter because we got that ice storm and it took them out of school for a week longer. So, they have made it up by taking away a couple of days and extending the school year by a few days. But I can say that when I was in Florida...I wondered the same thing. It seemed like there were too many days off too. This made it very hard at times for working parents. But since I can say that I have lived in 5 different states while my kids have been in school...it seems to differ with each state. Some give more days off during the school year...while other give more off during the summer. I prefer the longer break in the summer. Less time to forget during the school year...it seems that when they have a long break, the teachers have to re-teach what was just taught right before the break.

my son is not in school yet, but i have to drive past the school he will be attending next fall and on the board outside they have what days they are closed or have early dismissal for the month, and it seems like every other friday they have early dismissal. how is that getting the hours in that they need to educate our children? i just do not understand.

I think a big problem with all those off days that parents who have a job can't take the day off or have to bend over backwards to find childminders for that day. I'm a stay at home Mom but I get annoyed when say they start the christnas holiday on thursday afternoon in stead of friday (as they did last year). The schools forget that parents also have appointments and things to do.

The problem there in your place is there are so many occasions, celebrations etc. Besides, there is a minimum number of school days a school should have in one shool year. And if that is not followed, for sure your government organization whatever about education will investigate and will fire the one responsible for that. Meaning, maybe that school is not yet violating the rule. Meaning, it is still ok to go for a week or more vacations. Because they will still reach the minimum required number of school days.

I do agree that there are too many "off" days for schools these days. I'm not sure where you are located, but where I live in California, it's not at all like any schedule I had when I was in school. My neice is a Junior this year and it only seems to have gotten worse. What ever happended to the basic holidays off and the 3 month summer vacation? Now there are "year round" schedules with 2-3 week breaks every 3 months. How are these kids supposed to reatain anything they've learned if they are not consistantly practicing the subject without a week off? She now only has a "full" school day 8:25 AM to 2:15PM Mon, Wed, Fri and Tues/Thurs are only half days! This is how we are sucuring the future of our country? By barely educating our future leaders? Good Night! What scares me most is not so much that I'll still be around, but the state of the future for my children who are only 4 & 3