Where Did My Summer Go?
Summer is unofficially over for me today. While the kids and I go back to school today, amidst 90 degree temperatures I might add, I have to wonder what happened to the days of going back to school after Labor Day. Does anyone even do that anymore?
Now is the time of year when we have to give up our weekday nights catching fireflies and letting them go. We have to abandon our days at the lake and our frequent visits to the grandparents. There will be no more staying up late and sleeping in during the week. The boys have to go to bed when there’s still light outside. Most importantly to me, today’s my youngest son’s first day of “big kid” school. My little boy is no longer my baby.
While I’m sad that there is so much coming to an end, there’s quite a bit to look forward to as well. The boys will have their school days with friends. High school football will begin at the end of the month and college football won’t be too far behind. I’m even looking forward to boiling peanuts. And one day, though it seems like forever away, it’ll gradually get cooler. I can’t wait for that!
I’m homeschooling for the first time…and we’re “going back” after Labor Day!
I live in NorCal, too. My kids get out of school mid-June and start the last week of August. It was pretty hard to get used to, for me, because back home (Eastern Europe) school starts September 1. It was practically set in stone – calendar year starts January 1 and school year starts September 1st.
This reminds me of a friend of my mom’s who, while adorable, was a bit of a dim bulb. She told my mom and me once that we were going back to school a few days before Labor Day so we could have that Labor Day holiday.
Ha!
The schools here (in northern California) used to start after Labor Day and get out in June. But teachers/parents/officials/etc. realized that the 2 week Christmas break coming so soon before the semester ends in January, was causing students’ grades to be poor on their semester finals. Or, if they were too young to have finals, they wouldn’t do any of their homework over the break. So the start of school was moved up a couple weeks into August, for the sole purpose of ending the semester when Christmas break starts. Now there’s no homework over the break (it’s now truly a break), and the semester starts fresh in January. School gets out in May. So it’s all the same amount of time spent in school, but it was better for the students to move the schedule up those few weeks. Our Spring Break still comes on Easter.
The change was made when I was in high school, and I thought it was fantastic. Pretty much all of us did. No more homework during Christmas!! There are still a couple of individual schools around here that refused to change, and I feel sorry for those kids. Not only do they have to deal with things like homework over their break, they’re still in school when the majority of the students are already out enjoying their summer vacation. And the climate here doesn’t change much in those couple of weeks between August and early September, so that wasn’t a factor.
My daughter goes back in a week. Her orientation is August 15th and the first day back is August 17. Most of the other schools around here don’t go back till Labor Day. But they got out June 4 and she was out on May 15. So it goes with private school.
Tee, I think Texas may have a similar law and I think it’s a great idea.
We get out in mid-May. It was around the 20th this past May, when its still relatively cool for Georgia. Then we go back early August (yesterday), when it 90+ degrees and usually stays that way into September. Last year we had 100+ temps for probably two weeks in August. It seems cheaper to me to send kids to school later, after Labor Day, instead of the middle of the Dog Days of summer when your energy costs are astronomical. But hey, what do I know…..
Wow! That’s really early to start back to school. August can be one of the hottest months. Do your schools have super long breaks during the school year?
Up here school ends last week of June and the kids don’t go back until after Labour Day. And 14 days off at Christmas and a week for March break (which is not in February). So do your kids get a month off somewhere else?
Cindys
That’s super early to return to school. We had a protest here in Michigan from people saying that returning before Labor Day was not a good idea especially since the summer is quite busy with vacationers. Eventually, the state legislature passed a bill stating that school can’t begin in the state before Labor Day.
When do your kids get out of school for the summer, Heather? It must be in May. August is a big month around here with all kinds of fairs and carnivals and families take full advantage of all these things to enjoy the end of summer with their kids.