School's Out for Summer

Aiden's fifth grade graduation, June 2025

Tra-la! Joy abounds in the Seyfried household! Aiden and Peter are sprung from Sandy Run Middle School and Jarrettown Elementary until Labor Day. Almost three whole months to sleep in, to play, to swim, and to forget 90% of what they learned during the past school year! 

 

Or maybe that was just my experience as a kid.

 

I recall my grim return to the hallowed halls of whatever fine institute of learning I was attending (there were seven between first and twelfth grades, in three different states—we moved whenever my dad took a new job). Oh, the longing to daydream and lollygag and fritter away the days again! The first several weeks back at school were always recaps, and I’m sure I wasn’t the only one who needed the reminders BADLY. Gerunds? Linear coefficients? Sumerian cuneiforms? None of it rang any bell anymore—it was all too, too far in the past! In place of memorizing state capitals and creating baking soda volcanos, my summer brain busily amassed (and retained) the entire plot of Arthur Hailey’s blockbuster, (very inappropriate for 12-year-olds) novel Hotel; exactly how many hours I could stay on the beach without any sunscreen before my skin began to blister; and ALL of the songs, EVERY week, on Cousin Brucie’s All American Music Countdown on WABC.

 

It took until at least mid-October before I kicked into “education” gear again. 

 

Over the decades, I’ve heard arguments for shorter, but more frequent, breaks from school. I know it works well in many other countries, and I think it makes a lot of sense—always something to look forward to, not enough time for total academic amnesia. Parents wouldn’t have to shell out big bucks for various camps and swim clubs and other ways to keep the little darlings occupied during the endless hot days. Children could spend more time enjoying the outdoors in every season, not just the sweltering one. 

 

But, like other common-sense changes (such as an earlier school start time for the littles, a later for the bigs), this idea isn’t getting much traction here in the USA. We’re a loyal country all right, never abandoning our current, totally screwed up healthcare system for the evils of universal coverage! We LIKE paying thousands for one small hospital bandaid, and we enjoy fighting with insurance reps over the phone to get ANYTHING covered! And don’t get us started on the metric system either! Inches and quarts forever! Stubborn Americans? Not us!!

 

Climbing down from my soapbox, I grant that it does take time to fully decompress after the ever-increasing demands of school. Incoming kindergarteners these days are expected to be already reading independently, and not Goodnight Moon, either-weighty tomes, such as Arthur Hailey’s blockbuster, (even more inappropriate for 6-year-olds) novel Hotel. Too much, too soon!

 

Anyway, Aiden and Peter truly love the long summer breaks. They never seem bored, and they always find something fun to do. 

 

Like it or not, Elise, school’s out for the summer.