Discussions

In light of the very warm weather we have had this month, can someone explain the rational in our students attending school until the end of June?  
As I see it, the school hours would be more efficiently used isfthey started back at the end of August instead of after Labor day. Their concentration level has waned by June 1st, add in sports days, field trips and excursions. It really makes you wonder whose best interest is being looked after.

Fora very long time, school did start before Labour Day, but it was eventually decided to start after Labour Day to give one last long weekend of summer activities/family plans. A lot of parents didn't bother sending their kids until after the long weekend anyway. I know the US gets three months, but their structure is vastly different from ours.  
 
Edited by camfarrsuperstar, 2023-06-11 10:02:22

I don't know, honestly, if it will make a difference. The last few weeks of school are a gong show because the kids sense the end is nigh lol. It won't matter if its the beginning or the end of June. August can still be awfully muggy and hot here too, so I'm not sure you're gaining anything.

I went to school in the US where we were finished the end of May. When I came here and started in grade 7, I went into the "enriched" program, which at the time was the highest of 3 levels-we were divided into enriched, regular or modified, depending on our learning level/ability. My entire grade 7 year was a repeat of what I'd already taken in grade 6 in the US. Grade 8, at least the first half of the year, was also a repeat of stuff I had already learned in grade 6 or prior. In grade 8 math was the worse. Totally a repeat. So-1 month less school, and a far better level of education. There is something wrong here when kids go to school for 1 extra month and learn less.

We went to school until mid July and returned early September. We continued our regular lessons right up until the summer break and were expected to study, we also had assigned coursework and projects to complete during the summer break. There was no slowing up or other activities to distract us.  
Students in mainland Europe are typically much harder working. When my cousins visited from France they studied about 3-4 hours each morning even when they were on vacation.

I am shocked at how the education is run here in Canada. Lots of room for improvement…… I am not sure why certain countries don’t follow the practices that other countries (who are succeeding in some areas) are doing.. Canada isn’t even in the top 10 for healthcare… Canada nor education (don’t look for literacy, but actual education - we ain’t there!)…… there are countries which I’ve seen personally that have 0 drug tolerance….. not sure what’s happening… but if it was up to me, I’d imitate some other, much more successful, economies.  
 
Sources:  
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/best-healthcare-in-the-world  
 
https://wisevoter.com/country-rankings/education-rankings-by-country/

We get #6 in drug use! Yay for us?…  
 
https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/drug-use-by-country  
 
I am not sure how we are expecting Canada to grow strong when the education is failing… I mean… do we not understand that education fuels the country? Our leaders are born from a broken system, how do we expect things to improve?…. Just my thought anyway

You are right. Having put my step daughter through school ( graduates in two weeks) there is a distinct lack of work ethic taught in Canadian schools and it’s creating a wider problem.

When did you go back to school in the US? I was under the impression it was early August in many places, but not always.  
 
The school year in Canada and US is historically based on agriculture and farm labour. The kids got the summer off, in part, because their help was needed on the farm. June is haying season in much of Canada, but it's earlier, in May, in the US because their growing season starts sooner. Also, because it's hot here - much hotter than most of Europe where modern schooling comes from (Prussia, to he exact, which coalesced with other nation-states that eventually became Germany).  
 
As for curricula, that's an interesting observation!

I get what you are saying, but you are simply pointing out an individual's trait. I went to school back in the 80's and we had a nap time in kindergarten, and plenty of recess, and remember those parachutes, and dodgeball for gym class? What did we learn from that?  
 
I have a daughter working her way through college, paying for her own classes and doing quite well at both. Perhaps a person's drive, determination and "work ethic" comes form home.

Imo, some parents rely on teachers too much to teach their children. Work ethic is taught at home, not up to the teachers to do it all when it comes to who your kid is and who they’ll become  
 
Also, before complaining about our school systems, what have you done in regard to your role as part of your child’s team? Have you set them up to succeed or fail? Are they going to school with a full belly of healthy food to sustain them? Are they well rested for the day? Have you taught them to respect the adults in their life? Have you set boundaries at home so they aren’t first introduced to boundaries at school and flip out on the teachers for being told, “no”? Have you taught them manners, compassion, empathy, how to be a good person?  
 
Go into any classroom in any school….I can almost guarantee you that the teacher is first having to deal with behavioural issues before they can even get started on the daily teaching plans.  
 
Remember, school isn’t where we learn everything. There’s just not enough hours in a day for that to even be possible

Also, like I mentioned in the other thread, May would just become the new June.  
 
Think about the weeks before your holidays…are you still in work mode right to the very end?

I went to school in a province where school was done the first week of June..... Maybe, and a slight maybe, the early second week depending on how exams lined up. We had a more action packed work load, so you didn't coast weeks before the end of the year. Now, I understand younger grades will shut their minds off earlier, but grades 5 and up should be able to make it closer to the finish line. Keeping them engaged is key, which brings up the bigger issue, the Manitoba curriculum is horrible!  
 
It was horrible 20 years ago when I jumped into it from out of province, and it continued to be horrible while all my kinda went through it.  
 
Teachers have become a babysitter. The curriculum needs a major revamp so Manitoba isn't one of the lowest testing provinces in Canada. School should be done in the beginning of June (and start after Sept long) so the kids aren't stuck in a hot building wanting to be somewhere else.

When I was in school there we never went back to school until the week after Labor Day so we had the full 3 months off school.  
 
Editing because I checked the school calendar for 2034-24 in Minnesota. They start back to school after Labor Day this fall and last day of school will be June 7, 2024. Either they have changed it a bit or Minnesota is just a bit different-I was always finished before the last day of May.  
 
Edited by JessieJay, 2023-06-12 19:53:56

Thanks for sharing that bit.  
 
I looked it up. Minnesota currently has a minimum of 165 instruction days with an average of 5.5 hours a day up to grade 5 (more after that). In Manitoba, we have 185 instruction days, also for about 5.5 instructional hours per day. So yes, that supports what you're saying! It's mandated in Minnesota that school not start before Labour's Day.

We also have to keep in mind that Manitoba has one of the highest rates of childhood poverty in Canada. That has a direct correlation with outcomes. If we really want to address academic achievement in this province, we first need to tackle this problem!

I’m sorry, but Canada poverty is not the same as poverty in other countries… don’t get me wrong, no poverty is good. And i still don’t understand how Canada has the poverty ( and drugs as I mentioned before) as it does! Very astonishing… however… the educational system that is in place is garbage, so even if you take poverty out of the mix, Canadian education is VERY much lacking. Hence the whole point of the thread…. The educational structure has literally nothing to do with those in poverty but rather the ones who are creating the educational structure…. Free education that Canada provides needs to be completely turned upside down… this has nothing to do with those attending the institute, but rather the institution itself…  
 
Again, for those hard of hearing - I am not saying low-income has nothing to do with it. However there are countries who are lower on the poverty list than us, but still scoring higher intelligence… the system needs changing, and then your poverty line will decrease as well.