1. Four day school weeks have almost a forty year history in the US
2. Teachers are forced to be prepared because the classes are longer and they have the extra time to accomplish this
2.1. This elminates teachers giving students busy work. Lesson and activities must be purposeful, meaningful and engaging. More exciting hands-on activities can be done with this extra time.
2.2. Integration of material is more likely to occur with the longer school days and the increased time for teacher preparation.
3. More professional development and training
3.1. Teachers are required to use the fifth day as a time of reflection and education. Collaborative meetings and professional conferences are able to increase teacher effectiveness.
4. The money that is saved can be used to save music and art programs
4.1. We know that students enjoy school and perform better when they are involved in art and music programs. With the money saved, we can once again offer these programs or worst case, give students the opportunity to participate in the activities outside of school
5. Pros of 4 days
6. To implement Developmentally Appropriate Practice, teachers need to spend extra time with children as the school curriculum is only able to focus on the academic knowledge. To implement DAP, teachers need to consider their relationships with students, experiences the students are having in the classroom, space and security of the environment setting provided, method of play, set teacher's expectation on students appropriately, provide caring and most important manage and utilize class time effectively. All of these work require tremendous time spent with students in order to get to know them as every child is built differently. With 5 days school week, teachers have the flexibility in working out their schedule and be able to arrange the activities on a daily basis in a less rush format.
7. Started in rural areas as a form of budget reduction
8. Most parents have 5 days workweek, this helps parents with their work schedule and minimize the cost of baby sitting.
8.1. The proposal of 4 days may reduce cost for school to better align with federal budget, however it is in turn adding the cost to the parents to find additional childcare services.
8.2. knowing the children are in school would be a better choice than having baby sitters or other childcare services looking after their children because it is safer.
9. Allow time for teachers to put Developmental Appropriate Practice in teaching
9.1. It is currently tough for teachers to apply DAP in school in addition to the teaching curriculum, it will make it even more difficult to do so with only 4 days of school week.
10. Establish a routine for children's life that matches with majority of the people in society
10.1. help with their future adjustment for school and life in general
10.2. Children may need to struggle to readjust to school after 3 day weekend if school week changed to 4 days.
10.3. There is a positive correlation between effective instructive hours and academic performance in Math, Science and Reading. As we all know, children are not yet developed in their early age to be able to physically focus their attention for a long time. Long hours of sitting in school could compromise their achievement and progress in learning.
11. More time for students to interact with peers
11.1. learn how to "be with" others socially takes time
12. Pro of 5 days in pink below:
13. Today, talk of implementing more four day school weeks has been a response to the current economic situation
