No "Summer Slide"
"Summer Slide" is a term that refers to how students forget material learned during the school year over the summer. Consequently, when they return to school, teachers have to spend time recapping what they learned from last year, instead of introducing new material.
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The Argument
"Summer slide" can set students back several months in their learning development. Long breaks lead to students forgetting information. In some cases, this warrants the need for special tutoring or remedial courses for the student. [1]
Teachers spend approximately the first two months of the school year recapping information from last year that the students may have lost. This repeated instruction leaves less room for new material to enter the education curriculum.[2] Over time, students who go through traditional schooling versus the year-round system, learn significantly less.
The 10 to 12 week summer breaks that are scheduled into traditional school systems leave students bored and parents troubled with finding daycare. Most jobs do not stop during the summer and parents must make difficult decisions during these large breaks about childcare and expenses. [3]
If students forget information during the summer and parents have to pay for tutors or remedial schooling, that is another added expense.
Year-round schooling gives parents more flexibility and students more learning opportunities to retain information that will be important for their lives.
Counter arguments
Summer breaks offer students with the ability to rest after a long school year.
Studies show excessive cramming of information is not effective. [4] If students are not allowed the opportunity to rest and take an extended break from learning, their brains would not retain any of the information given to them in the classroom.
Year round schooling would not give students enough time to rest and recuperate before their new curriculum.
Proponents
Premises
Rejecting the premises
References
- https://www.verywellfamily.com/the-pros-and-cons-of-year-round-school-621001
- https://tenneyschool.com/advantages-disadvantages-year-round-school/
- https://www.care.com/c/stories/3283/the-pros-and-cons-of-year-round-school/
- https://web.stanford.edu/~eryilmaz/cramming_is_ineffective.html#:~:text=It%20goes%20without%20saying%20that,to%20breathe%2C%20relax%20and%20refocus.