Too Early For School?

[flocay]

I was having this conversation a couple of days ago and I thought it would be an idea to get some feedback from more people.

Does school start too early in the morning?

I am personally not a morning person and, in my 17 years of teaching, getting up was the toughest thing most days. Now, much as I am not a morning person, I do get up and once I am up, I am up.

Kids, however, don't seem to function like this. I worked in 5 different countries and in most places, school started around 8. I grew up in a system that was typically from 8 to 12 and then from 2 to 5 with variations of schedule depending on the day. I was half asleep in most of my first hour classes.

What I did notice in my years of teaching was that a lot of kids are very very un-responsive in that first class. I had a number of incidents where kids were literally asleep in class.

There was no way you could have an interactive class at that time and if you gave a test, there was a chance that the kids really didn't have their ideas very clear. The only good thing about the early class was the peace and quiet everybody enjoyed... Perfect environment for a nap really.

I really ask myself if we are doing things right. Teachers, kids and parents alike are exhausted at the end of each term or semester. If kids are involved in any serious extra curricular activity which requires some form of commitment, they end up getting 5 hours sleep or so! Is that what we want for kids?

Wouldn't it be better to start a bit later, have shorter classes but pack it in more efficiently to kids that are actually with us in the classroom as opposed to still in lala land?

I'd be happy to read your comments and see what you think!
Thanks!

[KelEMcE]

My daughters' school goes from 7:40 to 2:25. Last year, at our old school, my daughter's start time was 9:05. She didn't get out until 3:45. Snack, homework, etc - suddenly it's 4:30 and she hasn't even had a chance to play!

I much prefer an early start time. My kids are young (5 and 7) and go to bed by 7:30 every night - an appropriate bedtime for young children. They can get up at 7 AM and get off to school just fine. I do not put them on the bus (not only because it comes at 6:37 AM). Getting out earlier means more playtime after school and more time for extra curriculars.

I understand that for working parents, a later start time might be desirable - more evening time with families, for example - but starting at 8:30 or 9:00 means kids don't even leave school until 3:30 or even later!

I think that elementary schools should start NO later than 8 AM, while middle schools should start at 9. You also have to consider the fact that schools within a district share busses, so after elementary drop off, those drivers begin their middle school pick ups.

High school start times are largely driven by after school sports practice. As a high school student in LA, our district gave us the option of taking periods 1-6, 2-7, or 3-8. Period 1 began at 7:10, Period 2 at 8:20, and Period 3 at 9:30, much like college. Anyone playing school sports started at Period 2 and had practice begin at period 9, part of one's PE credit. Early birds were out in the very early afternoon (nice for after school jobs) and late risers could choose a later schedule. Very progressive.

Young children should start school early, and should be in bed early. Older kids and teens may need to start later, as studies show that their circadian rhythms are completely different. That said, once they get out of school and start working, the boss isn't going to care that they are night owls. There's nothing wrong with teaching our kids to adapt to their environment rather than expecting the environment to adapt to our children. That's life, and many parents do their kids a disservice by expecting the world to revolve around their kids. But that's a different topic!

[Mikey_BKK]

Between 8 and 8:30 is the best time in my opinion
After 8:30 is simply too late, before 8 is a bit early, 7:50 is still acceptable but no earlier than that
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One of our must important and difficult role as parents is to make sure that our kids get enough sleep, I feel that when I succeed in giving my daughter the 10 hours of sleep that I see that she needs now, then 8 AM is fine. I don't always succeed of course :)
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I don't think changing the start time is the solution
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Michael
Father of Idea, the good idea