Summer School
There are a lot of summer memories from my childhood. One is summer school. There were two years where I did poorly in math and I had to go to summer school. As I’ve mentioned I went to a Catholic grammar school, yet I attended summer school at the local high school, with kids my age from other private and public schools.
One thing I remember clearly was that I went into the sessions knowing more than most students. Summer school was a breeze. It was like they were covering things I had learned years earlier. It was then that I realized that we Catholic School kids were learning more advanced things than the public school kids.
I never took my education all that seriously. I hated studying, and I’ve always done well without it except for the two math classes I had to attend summer school for, and yet there I was ahead of the other kids.
Though I maintained a 3.86 GPA, these poor study habits stuck with me all through college where I never studied. I think I only purchased three text books in my entire academic career. I still have two of them. Text books never did it for me and I found better resources for course information elsewhere; no matter what the subject was.
The point I was trying to get to here was how cool summer school was. Every June when school got out there was a certain joy that everyone felt. Yet under the joy there was some sorrow that our routine would be broken. We would not see some friends for a couple months. There was the nagging reality that we all would be returning to enter a higher grade with new instructors and material. Summer school added a buffer to this transition. We could extend our school experience another six weeks. We could remain social and engaged. We could get out of the house yet the classes were always done by 1:00PM so we could still have a lot of time for summer activities.
Out of all the time I’ve spent in school, I will say that summer school was the best and most memorable of it all. It was relaxed and the classes were smaller. It seemed more like a review of the things I already knew. School was easier in the summer.
posted by The Guy Who Writes This at 5:33 AM
9 Comments:
I'll show this to my oldest who has to go back to his dad's early to go to summer school for geometry. I don't think he'd agree with you right now.
I don't think our district had summer school. I don't recall anyone having to take it, but I do recall a bunch of kids who got held back.
Except for the time actually spent on vacations with my family, I hated summer vacation. Mainly, because it disrupted my schedule and I didn't know what to do with myself most of the time. But there was also the knowledge that next year, half the school year would be spent listening to teachers recite things we were already taught ... because of the kids who forgot it all over the summer. And if we didn't have that break, then that time wouldn't have to be wasted.
Growing up on a large farm in the 50s I had no time to contemplate having excess time. It was a wonderful time in my life, but looking back I realize just how hard we did work and how long the hours were:)
Lori, He'll get into it after the first few days.
Walt, I came from a really rich school district. I'm surprised we didn't have gold leaf diplomas.
Mike, that's why schools were closed for the summers so kids could work on the farm.
WOW I couldn't agree more Guy!! I took some coursed one summer while doing my undergrad and it was so amazing that I did it again the next summer!! Very relaxed and laid back with fewer students per class and the profs also had that easy breezy summer attitude...it was great!!!!
My one summer of undergrad pre-ed classes (for my minor or "option" as they're known now) was HELL. The professors didn't care what they said or what you said, but you still had to be there to listen to them all day long. The second class was good, and the professor was incredibly passionate about the subject, but the class was only an hour or so long.
Most people get depressed in the winter when there is less sunlight. I actually become depressed as the days get longer because I know it means summer is coming and my friends are all going to be gone. I dread summer. I can't stand being out in the sun, and I get lonely when my friends go--such is my predicament this weekend. :(
At least I work full-time now... and there is dancing! :D
I loved summer school! Do they even have it anymore, is that cut along with music and art?
Boo, it helped me to already know what they were going to teach. I still don't know why I was there since I knew the material.
Jaggy, Summer gets me down quite a bit, too. I actually moved here for the gloom, and it isn't gloomy here in the summer.
Mo3 you were from the OC and I was from NJ, both wealthy communities. They can't afford that sort of stuff here. Do you have the option to teach homeschool all summer?
We go through Connections Academy, which cuts off the lesson plans on the last day of school. But, I know that we need to work on learning typing and memorizing our multiplication facts this summer, so we'll be fitting that in. But in general, they've been playing in the nice weather with a gaggle of friends.
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