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May 27, 2004 Summer should stretch between the last day of one school and the first day of the next like a shining sea, giving students an opportunity to unwind. During my childhood, summer did. Summer school was designed for remedial and make-up work for students who needed it. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of summer - days spent outside playing hide-and-go- seek in the backyards and alleyways of my home city. Always an avid reader, we visited the branch library at least once each week for books to savor in the heat of the slow afternoons. My children's school year ended yesterday. They are among the minority who will not return to the classroom the day after the Memorial Day holiday. For most working parents, summer school is salvation from day care dilemnas. I work from my home, however, and so I resisted the not-so- subtle suggestions from school to send my daughters. Both are fine students with good grades and a reading level more than double their grade level. I don't expect them to let their minds idle during the summer months but I grant them the freedom to explore their interests, rather than sit in a classroom. I expect that someday year round school will become the status quo. I will resist it as long as I live for my children and for my grandchildren. The freedom of summer vacation, the break from school should be an untouchable right of childhood for all. I support the No Child Left Behind Program but I would like to add: No Child Coooped Up In The Classroom During Summer! ------------ About the author Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy: My fiction has appeared in many online and traditional magazines. Check out my current short story, "Texas Street Bridge" at www.DeadMule.com. As a freelance writer I live and work in the Missouri Ozarks, just east of Oklahoma and a little north of Arkansas. My book length fiction, including my novel "Rich Mountain" is handled by my agent, Lantz Powell of the Literary Agency for Southern Writers. Visit my website at http://www.mblog.com/lee_ann_sontheimer_murphy or email: riverroadannie@joplin.com Tell a friend about this site! ------------ |
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