When I was a kid, I was terrified at the prospects of switching to a year round school year.
For those that aren’t familiar, the concept is pretty easy.
Basically, school is all year long. For example, your child would go to school throughout the entire calendar year. They would get smaller breaks throughout the year instead of one huge break for the summer.
The setup may be different in different areas but it would be something like your kids go to school for 2 months and than get a week or so off.
As a parent with at least one child that loses a great deal during the summer, I would love to see the year round school in my area. 
My kids would get more frequent breaks but they would be much shorter and this would help them to retain more of what they have learned.
Removing the obvious headaches or road blocks like teachers unions, having to take off of work etc. What do you think about this idea? Personally, I would love to see this happen.
What are your thoughts?
This was posted via WordPress for Android, courtesy of Samsungs Galaxy S III. Please forgive any typos. I do know how to spell but auto-correct hate me.
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I would love, love, love to see my 2 asd kids be able to go to school year round. They thrive best on routine and summertime is a nightmare for us because I cannot provide routine to them that they get at school.
@Brianne Lynn amen to that…
This was my life for grades 1-6. I thought everyone did that when I was younger – we were in 9 weeks and off three all year. My children are NT, but I think I would like it for younger kids.
We have extended school year if my oldest son with autism qualifies, which he always does. Because strep season is right around the last quarter of the school year, his autoimmune disease always kicks up and he regresses, inevitably (we'll see if we can beat it this year!). I would welcome year round school, but the longer breaks would be a challenge, since I work and have to find someone to watch him.
I have four sons, ages 16, 13, 10, and 4. My oldest has Asperger's, my two middle sons have classic autism, and my youngest is NT. I don't think my oldest would benefit from it, he hates school in any amount: if it were up to him he wouldn't go to school at all. (The ironic thing is he does well–he's in advanced classes, and averages a 3.5-3.9 GPA) My 13 year old would probably have an issue with it, but I think my ten year old would do well with it. Last year on the first day of school, my 10 year old's bus comes to the house, and he had a look of RELIEF on his face when he saw it. My 10 year old needs routine the most out of all my ASD sons, and year round schooling would do that, but I'd be shocked if Wisconsin schools ever adopted such a schedule.
I was fortunate enough to be able to homeschool my son for several years, and we did it year round because the transition between "school" and "no school" were super hard on him otherwise. We then budgeted a certain number of days he could have no school, which allowed him to plan his "vacations" around things he wanted to do, so the breaks were not arbitrary and made sense in his world. It made all of the difference to his school experience.
@ShawnStendevad Oh….if only I had the ability to provide that type of consistency.
When my son was younger, he was able to take some "summer school" classes so that he wouldn't lose what he had learned. I think there were 3 separate weeks in the summer, maybe one week each month, that he went. I thought that was nice, although I think it might be nicer to have 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off in the summer. Now that Zeke is in jr. high, I think he really needs a nice long break from school, although 2 and a half months might be too long. I do think some type of year round option would be great for him. And truthfully, my youngest daughter, who is a senior this year, probably would have preferred to have some type of modified year round school too since she gets so bored in the summer and misses her school friends. On the other hand, it might interfere with her church camp, etc. But I do think it is important to have something available, especially for the special kids. FYI, I would have loved a year round school since I attended ACE schools where we worked at our own pace. I loved that type of program, and since my mom was one of my teachers, I would work on my schoolwork over breaks and she would take me in to test and grade stuff. I probably would have graduated at 13 or 14 instead of 16 though! (Actually, I had enough credits to graduate at 15, but the school didn't think I was ready, so they had me work half days in the kindergarten classroom as an aide.)
@DeborahWigginSnyder There should be some type of movement to help bring year round school to kids with autism.
My daughter just finished an early intervention program where they go year round with the exception of a week at te end of August, and the usual 2 weeks over Christmas and week at Easter. She starts a mainstream school on Tuesday with summers off. This past week was the week off, and I'm a wreck. Michaela NEEDS the constant structure, routine, and activity of school, or she gets manic, hyper and angry. She doesn't sleep properly, and becomes destructive. We are going to have to scrape up the money to put her in some kind of day camp with an aide for a lot of next summer, because the thought of having her at the mercy of my feeble attempts to keep her busy for an entire summer makes me want to curl up in a fetal position.
@Jenn50 I understand. I WISH the kids had the constant structure as well.
My son's school is not totally "year round," but they have adjusted the schedule so that it extends throughout more of the year and are calling it a "balanced school calendar." He seems to like this better, as the breaks are more uniform both in spacing and duration. Plus, although he personally does not have as much difficulty with "losing" skills or knowledge over extended time periods, I know this is an issue for many kids, especially those with ASD. So, I personally do support this idea for the majority of our children as a general rule.
@vivacerc I want this in Ohio.
Here on Long Island, New York many school districts offer 12 month programs to families of autistic & developmentally delayed individuals. Personally, as a parent of 2 DD/ASD kids & a SPED teacher, I believe that these kids benefit from being busy and continuing to reinforce skills. The summer session is more recreational & social, but it's still learning. How do other families feel a out this?
@Marlene0657 I would LOVE to see this option in Ohio
@lostandtired I wish they had it in Ohio, too. Your kids would definetly benefit from this type of service. I read your blogs all summer. Your 2 younger ones belong in a full day, 12 month program. They would benefit and so would you & your wife.
Here on Long Island many school districts offer 12 month programs for autistic & developmentally delayed individuals. These kids need the consistency. I think it's a great idea. How do others feel about this?
@Marlene0657 I'm totally on board. I think it's a smart move, especially since NT kids would benefit as well.
We have a modified year round schedule. We have 7 weeks for summer, 2 weeks for fall, 3 weeks for winter, and 2 weeks for spring. I like it and so do the kids.They have just enough time off during the summer to make it feel like a break and I can manage them and plan some fun stuff.The other breaks are great and since my kids go to 2 different schools their weeks don't quite match up but overlap so I get some one on one time with each of them. I also think that a year round schedule can be helpful in some ways for working parents since the breaks are shorter. I do wish that since the heat is so bad during the summer that they would switch the largest break from summer to winter. This way the kids could get outside and there would be more opportunities for family fun time being active. But then again, it would be difficult for the kids to have recess because of heat advisory's.
@JenniferWhynott thats really cool.
@JenniferWhynott This sounds a lot like Scottish School breaks – 6 weeks for summer, 2 weeks in October, 2 weeks for Christmas and 2 weeks for Easter 🙂
@shelluk @JenniferWhynott so do you support the idea or prefer the traditional school year?
Our school year runs February-december. The year is broken into 4 terms of about 10 weeks with a 2 week break in between and 5-6 weeks off over Christmas/new years (being our summer).
@julh How does that work for your kids and where abouts are you located?
@lostandtired I'm in Sydney Australia Rob, the holidays differ slightly state to state but that's pretty much the structure for all schools down here. In terms of how it works for the kids, I've never really thought about it being any different. Some kids still find even a 2 week break disruptive