The Advantages of a Year-Round School Schedule

For many years, there has been considerable debate on the idea of year-round schooling in elementary school, middle school, and high school. Both sides of the argument have pointed to substantial advantages and disadvantages in both year round, as well as traditional school. This article highlights some of the advantages of year round schooling. Year-round schooling can instill a strong work ethic as well as self-discipline that will come in handy in years to come as students graduate and enter the workforce.

One of the biggest concerns that parents have about the concept of year-round schooling is that their children will be in school for most of the full calendar year, except for the traditional holidays that students normally have from school. In most school systems, there is a break between terms in a year round school environment. With these breaks, the actual amount of days spent in class in year round schooling is almost exactly equal with the amount of class days in a traditional school calendar.

Studies have shown that children tend to spend the greater part of summer vacation doing other activities that have nothing to do with learning. Activities such as summer sports and family vacations are great forms of recreation for children, however, it can be difficult for students to recall information that they learn when school starts back in the fall. Some would argue that year round learning could actually hinder a student's ability to earn passing grades and remember the subject matter. However, in a year round school calendar there are student holidays scheduled for traditional holidays such as Christmas, as well as breaks in between each semester, which allow students to have time to rest their minds from learning material.

Year round schooling also has economic advantages for parents. The cost of fulltime daycare and baby-sitting for children during the summer is often a great expense. A few hours of after school daycare are far less an expense than paying for a full day of daycare, especially if you have more than one child in daycare at a time.