After Memorial Day, which signifies the official
start of summer in the USA, the last few weeks of term seem to hurtle downhill
towards the long summer break. When
I read blogs by people in England, who are only just having half term
now, it reminds me how the shape of the school year here is just so different.
In the last few weeks of term come all manner of things that need
to be attended by parents; Field Day (aka sports day), the school Art Show, summer
parties, kindergarten ‘graduation’. Outside of school, there are dance recitals and music recitals (Americans love a good kiddie recital); having thought we'd done all ours in May, Littleboy 1 has now been asked to perform in another one, so it's back to the manic practising.
The teachers have given up on homework, even though
we still have two weeks left of school; the kids come home reporting of having watched the High School Play performed in their auditorium all day, or having extra 'free choice'. Meanwhile, parents are
busy buying teacher presents and making playdates with people they’ve meant to
ask round all year but haven’t quite managed to.
At the same time we’re getting ready for camp, with
orientations to attend, online conversations about nametape labels, trips to buy insulated lunchboxes and the like. This year, the Littleboys
start camp the Monday after finishing school on the Friday. (The Doctor says
this reminds him of a Peanuts strip where they run out of school yelling
‘school’s out!” only for Lucy to say “Oh, there’s the bus for camp!”).
While
it’s a bit of a shame they don’t get a break, I don’t feel too sorry for the boys.
Having looked around their camp the other day, I decided I would be quite happy
to spend my summer swimming twice a day, riding ponies and doing obstacle
courses in the woods. Instead of which, I’ll be continuing with work until
August, when I hope to take a well-earned break (aka looking after the boys and being splashed by manic children at the town pool every day). These long American summers may not be designed for parents, but they're heaven for kids.
5 comments:
Getting used to the shape of the year was one of my biggest hurdles as a non-American. The HUGE long summer break makes it almost impossible to have two working parents (though I've heard Americans in Britain argue the opposite, that the stop-start feel to our school year makes it impossible). I've heard it said that each grade spends the first month recapping, because the kids have forgotten so much over the summer.
It really suited us over the past two years, since we were going to the UK, so a long break to make the trip worthwhile was good news. But other than that, I won't miss it at all. I just find it way too long, and the other side of the coin is that there is so little in terms of breaks during the school year. The kids get too tired, and there's not enough to look forward to!
Summer? What summer? It's raining (again...) and bloody freezing. Summer seems to be so far away. I'd happily go to summer camp, myself.
Oh what I would do if we had such things as camp for the kids during the summer break here in the UK! Kids really do have it easy these days, in fact I would even go as far as to say my social diary consists of dropping my boys off at certain places and times and very rarely is there any kind of social engagements for me! x
In our flooded land, any reference to summer is quite hurtful...!
How lucky the boys are to have things to fill up their summer, unlike many English kids who just get more and more bored
Iota - I think I prefer the British holiday system too. They do forget so much over the summer here, it's ridiculous.
MetMum - I know. I hope it clears up soon for you all. It's only June...
Rainbow - I know! In our day we just tagged along with whatever our parents were doing...
NB - if it's any consolation, it's raining here today and we had a torrential downpour last night.
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