2007-08-25 Summer's Ending

This summer has flown by much too quickly. School is just around the corner and I feel like I’ve barely had a chance to catch my breath.

My family has enjoyed a vacation with relatives, a school trip, a mission trip, science camps, volunteering at our church Bible School, attending family gatherings, hanging out with family and friends, swimming, staying up late and sleeping in, bike riding, reading, playing cards, playing video games, spending time on IM, Facebook, and e-mail. There have been countless sleepovers. This is what childhood summers should be filled with.

We’ve also had a multitude of visits to doctors, the dentist, orthodontist and oral surgeon, and Driver’s Ed,.

School registrations for the fall are done for all three schools and we have the dozens of necessary school supplies and a parking pass for WVHS.

Some exciting news is that my daughter Jessica was accepted into the Lederman Scholars program at North Central College. She’ll start classes there this fall in addition to attending her senior year of high school. This is Jessica’s thirteenth and last year as a student in Indian Prairie School District. Even though we moved only once, she attended three grade schools, two middle schools, and two high school buildings. At the end of this year she’ll also have credits from two colleges. She plans to be a high school teacher.

Now for today’s gripe. My kids have summer homework. They have a LOT of summer homework. They also get homework to do over winter break and spring break. Most of the high school students I know work extremely hard during the school year and it would be great if any of these times off of school could actually be a real break! These teens carry a heavy course load during the school year and from the end of eighth grade through the end of high school there doesn’t seem to be a single day when there isn’t homework hanging over their heads.

Theoretically they could spend weeks in June completing the summer homework, if they have already purchased all the books or other necessary supplies and if they are not amazingly busy with summer activities. Realistically, they spend the month of June worrying about the homework and obtaining the needed supplies. In July they make some headway tackling the least objectionable assignments. By August most are in a panic about how much there is left to do and how little time and they find themselves doing homework in situations where those who’ve taken an easier schedule are relaxing and having fun.

I understand the value of assigning difficult orchestra pieces as summer homework for those students in the top audition orchestra group. These musicians need to keep up with their practice all year long. But the same is just not true of most academic courses the top students are taking. I wonder from the teachers’ point of view what value there is to the summer assignments.

While some teenagers may benefit from the routine of having homework throughout the school year, the students who typically take the honors and AP courses that have summer homework are the same students who tend to be involved in many activities and volunteer opportunities and would both make good use of their time off in the summer as well as easily get back into the homework routine when school starts in the fall.

I don’t expect this will change given the competitive climate of our high schools, but it makes me sad that many in this generation lose out on the carefree days of summer.