The superintendent's secretary at the Moreland School District told me last Friday that their total district school days of instruction for students for the 2011-12 year is 176 days! So, that is down from the required 180 days. BUT, she didn't calculate all the shortened days in the calendar. That's the one day per WEEK when students in the public system go home half day basically. Summer school has been continually cut each year, and now teacher furlough days have been added to the reason for cutting school days. What is the message to our young people?  How do they justify this as education? Most of Asia goes to school longer each day, and even on Saturdays. A shorter school year simply means less academic learning is happening. How will this country prosper and stay strong without educated citizens? At PILA, our students go to school for 190 days AND in addition to the 190 days, they have 20 days of review with their teachers if the parents choose to do so. At PILA, we offer a year-round schedule. That means our students are in school for 11 months. Research has shown that year-round schools are effective and positive for students on many levels. The long summer break is an out-dated, and quaint notion that is not serving our children well. What do you think is the answer to shorter school days? What is your district or school doing about it? 

In today's news (San Jose Mercury Newspaper, Wed. July 27, 2011) there's an article titled, "U.S. must reverse lagging performance in science classes." The article, written by Muhammed Chaudhry, CEO of Silicon Valley Education Foundation, and Don Macleod, President , Chairman and CEO of National Semiconductor, report that California ranks "49th in the United States in science according to some international measures."  This is really unacceptable! How can this be? One of the problems is less time spent in school. Each year, the public school year gets cut. But, that's a topic for another day!

From my many years of observation while working with young children, I noticed that children are very intrigued by science, ask lots of science questions, and want to participate in science projects. We start science in our preschool classes and give them science questions and projects every week. This is done in Mandarin, of course. We teach a minimum of 3 hours of science in grades 1-3. This summer, the science camps have been well attended and enjoyed by the kids. This week the Chang Lao Shi is teaching them physics in Mandarin. I heard one of the kids say they have a test this Friday!  In English, our students read science texts for vocabulary development, expository reading and writing. 

Tell us what you think!  What kind of science topics are appealing to your child and why? How can we help you engage your child in science thinking? Would you attend a workshop on Science and Your Child? We are planning on parent workshop on this topic. Let us know what your needs are!