Should schools just have a "do over" year?

[DLgal]

What do you think? Should schools nationwide just call it at this point and reconvene in the fall and have everyone just repeat the grade they are currently in?

I kind of feel like they should. If our schools don't go back, the kids will have missed an entire semester almost. Our last semester only ended 3 weeks ago.

No matter how hard they try, home based learning will never capture the full breadth of what kids would have learned in a classroom environment. Already, it's pretty clear to me (kids in middle and high school) this is not going to work well long term.

The logistics involved make it impossible for families with multiple kids to dedicate the amount of time each kid would need to receive an equal education, and that's not even accounting for parents who need to work from home during all this!

I'm all for a do over. Everyone will be one year older. Kids start school too young nowadays anyway.

 

[momto2girls]

No.

 

[scoutie]

No way. We've completed the majority of the year. E-learning will take care of the rest. Having kids repeat 3/4 of the school year makes no sense. What will seniors do who are slated to go to college? When the kids come back in the fall, teachers will be ready to fill in the gaps.

 

[Katiebird]

For us at least, definitely not. Kids here were more than 3/4 done with the year already - they’re missing two months, and for elementary, at least a month of that would’ve been state testing and test prep. For older kids, maybe, but at the same time I don’t see much benefit to them repeating 3/4 of the curriculum anyway. There will be some gaps and catch up, but they’ll be ok.

 

[DisneyTeacher]

I disagree. We were more than 3/4 of the way through the year when our state closed schools. It would do none of my students any good to do the entire year over again. We have kids set to go off the college in the fall, they are ready and will be fine missing 9 weeks of formal instruction. We are doing what we can to continue learning while we’re out and they will all be fine coming back next year. We will all know what they missed the year before and catch as many skills as we can.

 

[dish rag]

LOL ha ha. No.

 

[SaintsManiac]

Absolutely not! We have completed 3 of 4 terms.

 

[fla4fun]

I don’t know if anyone here remembers the oil shortages in the 70’s. One year, there wasn’t any heating oil for the schools in our district so we had school at home. Obviously there was no internet back in those days, but we had books and homework assignments and one day per month we went to school and handed in work and got new assignments. I can’t remember if it was two or three months we were closed (I remember going in on two days for the work swap) but we didn’t make up the time and we all did just fine. With the tools available for teachers and students today, I feel they can get as good an education at home as they do at school, providing everyone has an Internet connection. I can see where that could be an issue for some districts. If they are getting lessons remotely they don’t have anything to make up, in my opinion.

 

[lil mermaid]

What do you think? Should schools nationwide just call it at this point and reconvene in the fall and have everyone just repeat the grade they are currently in?

I kind of feel like they should. If our schools don't go back, the kids will have missed an entire semester almost. Our last semester only ended 3 weeks ago.

No matter how hard they try, home based learning will never capture the full breadth of what kids would have learned in a classroom environment. Already, it's pretty clear to me (kids in middle and high school) this is not going to work well long term.

The logistics involved make it impossible for families with multiple kids to dedicate the amount of time each kid would need to receive an equal education, and that's not even accounting for parents who need to work from home during all this!

I'm all for a do over. Everyone will be one year older. Kids start school too young nowadays anyway.

Hell no.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

In Saskatchewan, school usually runs until at least mid-June. They have already called off the school year and are giving all students a minimum of 50% in all classes. The grade a student currently has in their class will be their final grade. If your kid was failing, they will get a 50% and pass the class. This includes seniors who are to be graduating. It is important to note, that there are no SAT's in Saskatchewan and students get into college based on their high school grade averages.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/school-saskatchewan-covid-19-coronavirus-1.5500225

 

[HeatherC]

I don’t agree either. The next month would have been spent getting ready for all the standardized tests. After that nothing new is really introduced and then end of the year activities kick in. The kids will be fine. This is a blip in their academic careers. Really. They will be fine.

 

[MrsCobraBubbles]

I think we should give the kids a pass on this year. Just advance everyone to the next grade level, and graduate the seniors. There isn't much extra learning that happens in the last grading period anyway, we are re-teaching and reviewing concepts that will be on the state standardized tests, introducing topics that will be taught in the next school year, and going on field trips. The loss of the last quarter of the school year isn't enough of a reason to take away an entire year of these kids' lives by adding on an extra year of school.

 

[Kitty 34]

Heck no.

 

[#1hoosierfan]

Unequivocally no.

 

[lil mermaid]

In Saskatchewan, school usually runs until at least mid-June. They have already called off the school year and are giving all students a minimum of 50% in all classes. The grade a student currently has in their class will be their final grade. If your kid was failing, they will get a 50% and pass the class. This includes seniors who are to be graduating. It is important to note, that there are no SAT's in Saskatchewan and students get into college based on their high school grade averages.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/school-saskatchewan-covid-19-coronavirus-1.5500225

What if they want to go to college outside of Saskatchewan?

 

[wenrob]

No way. We've completed the majority of the year. E-learning will take care of the rest. Having kids repeat 3/4 of the school year makes no sense. What will seniors do who are slated to go to college? When the kids come back in the fall, teachers will be ready to fill in the gaps.

This.

I would hope there will be some kind of plan to catch them up. My kids literally just started their last quarter when schools were closed. They were on the home stretch, having to do the whole year over would be awful for them. Plus, mine were born at the end of November so already a little older than their peers. The age gap would be too wide.

 

[AlohaNow]

There would be no incoming freshman class at any university. That would be interesting…

 

[Southernmiss]

That's a huge he## no . My daughter is a senior and has worked her tail off. I'm perfectly happy with what she has learned for the year and she is ready to move on.

All schools across the world are in the same boat. All teachers know this.

After Katrina schools were closed for a month. Many local families sent their kids off to school with family in other parts of the country.

As a several generation native of this area I was appalled.

The lessons kids learn of hope, resilience, accomplishment, doing without, adjusting and going with the flow and helping your neighbors among others are so much more valuable to me than any school learning.

My kids all did fine and graduated 1 or 2 in their classes and learned valuable life lessons.

 

[Frozen Canuck]

What if they want to go to college outside of Saskatchewan?

I have no idea. This was just announced. I'm sure things are fluid. They say they are going to work towards smooth transitions to colleges for graduating students, but I assume that is for those within the province.

My guess is that a LOT of colleges world-wide are going to have to find some kind of system to take the whole shutdown into consideration. From what I have heard, schools everywhere have been shutting down, learning has been interrupted, things just aren't how they were two months ago. This is a different world we live in. It won't be just Saskatchewan that has to make accommodations.

 

[disny_luvr]

That’s a big no!