History of the Traditional School Calendar Essay -- essays papers

History of the Traditional School Calendar The American educational system is based on the traditional, nine-month school calendar, which has been in place for over a century. Originally, the United States was an agrarian society. The majority of Americans lived on farms. People made most of the items that they needed, and with little trade necessary, there was no need for schooling (McLain, 1973). However, as people branched out into neighboring areas, they needed to learn new skills, such as basic arithmetic to price items, measure land, and more (McLain, 1973). As a result, it became the responsibility of those who were less needed on the farm or in the factory to acquire knowledge for the family (McLain, 1973). Accordingly, children went to school to learn the skills they needed for life. In rural areas, the school year lasted for five to six months, â€Å"from the last harvest to the first planting† (Shields, 2000, 24). However, in the urban environment, schools were open eleven or twelve months of the year (Shields, 2000). This is because urban schools provided a way to get children off the labor market, as well as enable them to learn the new technology of the time (McLain, 1973). Then, in 1847, in order to offer a standard curriculum, â€Å"urban schools reduced the length of their school year and rural areas increased the number of their school days (Shields, 2000, 25). The result was the traditional, agrarian school calendar of nine months in school, with a three month vacation. Year Round Education Introduced Today however, the role of the modern public school is beginning to change. The United States is no longer an agrarian society. As a result, people feel that the traditional school calendar is too old-fashioned a... ..., from Lexus Nexus. Saunders, M. (2004, September 7). Try year-round school: The lazy days of summer may hurt children who struggle in school the rest of the time. Atlanta Journal-Constitution, pp. 14A, Retrieved November 6, 2004, from Lexus-Nexus. Wildavsky, B. (1999, August 20). Scholars of summer. U.S. News and World Report, 127(5), 52-54. Bussard, B. (2004, July). Summer matters. Retrieved November 2, 2004, from http://www.summermatters.com/ Texas Center for Educational Technology. (1994). Technology helping year-round to rebuild the education puzzle at Driscoll ISD. Retrieved November 6, 2004, from www.tcet.unt.edu/images/i0601.pdf Walker, W. (2003, December). Year round education. Retrieved November 6, 2004, from http://www.geocities.com/weswalker99/index.html YRE Statistics. (2003). Retrieved November 4, 2004, from http://nayre.org/statistics.

Child Development: My Virtual Child Essay

My Virtual Child has been a fun and interesting experience. In order to raise a child a person has to be patient, calm, and prepared for any situation. Raising a virtual child prepares and gives you tips for the real world. However, this essay will discuss and compare how my virtual child and I are similar by using specific examples while referring back to the child development concepts and research and also the similarities between my middle childhood and my child’s and how it relates to the topic of social relationships within the family. As I recall my middle adolescent years, I remember having small arguments with my mother over any and everything. The reason for this was because I believed I was able to think and do certain things on my own without anyone’s opinion. My middle adolescent years, when I was in middle school, was when I thought I was grown and becoming more independent and often disagreed with my caregivers. I would argue with my mother over clothes in the shopping mall, what chores I did and did not want to do, and about having a bedtime. I felt as if I had a say so since I was the person who thought of it or was going to do it, but at the end of the day my mom and I always got along. This example of me also has some things in common with my virtual child and his behavior. Beginning at the age of twelve and continuing occasionally until the age of fourteen my child began arguing with me and my partner. Similar to what I would argue with my mom about. He argued with me about issues such as bedtime, chores, curfew, clothing choices, music choices, and much more. At the age of twelve and fourteen my child was discovering his own identity and becoming independent behaviorally and emotionally (Cook & Cook, 2010). However, we still got along pretty well. These two examples of my virtual child and I are both related to the topic of teens developing autonomy and conflict with parents that’s discussed more in depth in Cook & Cook (2010). The two examples of my virtual child and I are similar because the both of us were in the process of developing autonomy. Autonomy is the ability to think and do things on your own, control actions, and take responsibility for your own behavior (Cook & Cook 2010). Teens typically argue with their parents over things that occur every day. This is normal and teens feel that they have the choice and option to do anything that they want. This is when conflicts occur because the development of autonomy is not fully developed. Arguing with a parent about rules depends on how the teen view the problem especially if the teen see it as being personal (Cook & Cook 2010). My child and I both saw it as a problem when rules were enforced about chores, bedtime, and clothing choices. These things are seen as personal to teens because it involves them. I wanted to wear what I chose to wear and not what my mom chose for me and this is related to my development of autonomy and the same goes for my virtual child. Dealing with teen-parent conflict is not as bad that it may seem. Parents and teens having conflict with one another have positive outcomes such as development in identity, understanding others views, and improved reasoning (Cook & Cook 2010). Although parents and teens have conflict does not mean they hate each other. They actually have close relationships depending on the parenting style, like my mom and I and my child and I. These conflicts usually end when someone gives in or drops the situation. My child and I relate in many ways when it comes to this topic about teens developing autonomy.

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