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<ul class="summary-list"><li>Most American schools operate for 180 days a year.</li><li>That leaves kids out of school for more than half the year.</li></ul>"Why do we have to go to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/school-start-times-in-conflict-dont-mesh-with-work-2023-9">school every day</a>?" my fourth grader whined as she climbed into bed. I chuckled at how differently we were viewing things. My kids were about a month into the school year but had just completed their first full five-day week thanks to scheduled days off in our district and <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/holidays-dark-history-2018-10">national holidays</a>. "You're definitely not there every day," I said. "You have more days with no school than <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/my-twins-started-kindergarten-a-year-late-2023-8">days with school</a>." I paused to consider whether what I was saying was the truth, but simple math confirmed it was. Our district requires 180 days of school; that leaves 185 when schools are closed. As I tucked my daughter in, I felt validated — it's no wonder it's challenging to keep up with work when my kids are home more days than they're in class. While going to <a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/school-spirit-days-are-out-of-control-2023-9">school most days</a> between September and May can feel like a lot for kids, 180 days can feel woefully inadequate for parents who struggle to find and pay for childcare when schools are closed. Having no school for more than half the year can lead to learning loss — also known as the "<a target="_blank" href="https://www.insider.com/teacher-and-mom-shares-how-to-prevent-summer-slide-kids-2023-6">summer slide</a>" — and missed social opportunities for kids, some experts say. "While some time off is essential for mental and physical rejuvenation, an excessive amount can disrupt the rhythm of learning and potentially lead to academic setbacks," said <keyword id="19022453" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="alex-anderson-kahl" source="Orion">Alex Anderson-Kahl</keyword>, a school psychologist in Missouri. <h2>Too many days off can limit parents' career opportunities</h2>American kids go to school more than in the past. One hundred years ago, kids were in school for about<a target="_blank" href="https://education-reimagined.org/why-180-days/"> 120 days</a>, but by the turn of the 21st century, most schools were in session for about 180 days. Kansas has the longest required school year, at<a target="_blank" href="https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2023/09/07/in-the-u-s-180-days-of-school-is-most-common-but-length-of-school-day-varies-by-state/"> 186 days</a>, while Colorado has the shortest required year, at 160 days. No matter their schedules, many working parents feel overwhelmed by their kids' schedules. <keyword id="19022452" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="briana-meade" source="Orion">Briana Meade</keyword>, a North Carolina mother of two, said she's passed up more challenging career opportunities because she knows she needs to care for her kids during their frequent days off. She acknowledged that she's lucky to work from home but said that caring for her kids, who are 10 and 12, during their time off keeps her from achieving more professionally. "It's super challenging to meet project deadlines when I am constantly being interrupted every 20 minutes by a kid who needs their rollerblades put on," she said. "There are very few dedicated time blocks for uninterrupted work. For someone who does deep-dive work that requires 'flow,' this means I rarely get much accomplished beyond admin, emails, and meetings." Parents who can't work from home are often left paying for expensive childcare, leaving kids unattended, or taking free babysitting from sometimes questionable friends and family. Children "may be left on that day with someone who will ultimately have a negative impact on their lives," said clinical psychologist<a target="_blank" href="https://nchc.org/author/auradelossantos/"></a>Aura <keyword id="18989607" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="de-los-santos" source="Orion">De Los Santos</keyword>. <h2>American kids have less school and more breaks than students in other countries</h2>Compared to other developed nations, the US has a shorter school year and longer summer break. In Germany, Canada, and Australia, for example, pupils are in school for 190 to 200 days each year. South Korea has one of the longest school years, at<a target="_blank" href="https://affiliate.insider.com?h=2c6493cf932794494ef9455b725aa35b79cf20307f5593a713c3c88e6891a274&amp;postID=651ad1f6e40dc22aa93c8dd1&amp;postSlug=too-many-days-off-school-student-learning-loss-parent-stress-2023-10&amp;site=in&amp;u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.apple.com"> 220 days</a>. "It's a long break, isn't it?" my Australian in-laws remarked time and time again when they visited last summer. In Australia, summer break typically lasts about six weeks, roughly half the length of summer vacation in the US. Having a more consistent school schedule throughout the year — with fewer consecutive weeks off — can be important for children, who thrive on routine, said<a target="_blank" href="https://bayareacbtcenter.com/dr-avigail-lev/"></a>Avigail <keyword id="5372702" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="lev" source="Orion">Lev</keyword>, a clinical psychologist. "To have a daily routine where you wake up at the same time, and you have the same classes, and there's a schedule is very good for kids," she said. While kids must have time off school, shorter breaks are better for everyone, Lev said. A shorter summer vacation could also help address learning loss — currently, students<a target="_blank" href="https://edworkingpapers.com/sites/default/files/SchoolsOut_AtteberryMcEachin_2020_0520.pdf"> lose up to 34%</a> of their academic progress from the previous year during summer break. "Ideally, a week off of school or two weeks at the most would be good," Lev said. "More than two weeks is too much for the kids and too much for the parents." <h2>Kids need time to relax, but working parents need support</h2>There are benefits to days off from school, experts say. Kids can relax, focus on extracurriculars, and, ideally, spend quality time with their families. However, too many days off school is difficult for parents and children. "In theory, I like it because kids should have breaks from school," said <keyword id="19022451" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="erin-heger" source="Orion">Erin Heger</keyword>, a Kansas mom of three. "But in a society with no support for parents, it's really disruptive and nearly impossible to give the kids what they need and also get work done and make an income." The time out of the classroom can be especially difficult for students who need school as a reprieve, said Anderson-Kahl. "Not every child's home life is amazing," he said. "For some students, school is the safest place they will be during the day. It can provide food, structure, and support for kids who may otherwise not receive it outside. Creating long breaks can impact these students in a more profound way."

Kids have too many days off from school. It's affecting their learning and your career.

<div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image">Courtesy Erin HegerErin Heger and her father.</div></div></div><ul class="summary-list"><li>After my dad was diagnosed with cancer, he began <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/money-advice-spending-tips-experiences-boost-happiness-jean-chatzky-2019-3">spending more money on experiences</a> than ever before.</li><li>I started spending more time with friends and going on trips, too, as a way to cope with my dad's illness.</li><li>After dipping into my family's savings to pay for my increased social spending, I realized I needed to find a balance between living in the moment and planning for the future.</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/yourmoney?utm_source=bullet">Read more personal finance coverage</a>.</li></ul>Laughter erupts from everyone at the table as my dad chuckles to himself, pleased his joke has played well with the crowd. "If I keep living like this," he says, "my money will run out before I die!" I laugh, almost spitting out my drink. "That's so true, Dad," I say, gasping for air. "You better be careful."Beneath the laughter and light banter of the evening is the unbearable truth none of us dare mention. It's too painful to say out loud - that my dad's stage 4 prostate cancer will take his life before any of us is ready. But he is here now. We are having dinner together now, and so we laugh instead. When he was diagnosed three years ago, I braced myself for the worst. I knew the road would be long and heavy. I knew the treatments would make him ill. I expected my mental health to suffer, and that I would need my support network more than ever before.What I didn't anticipate is how <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ways-my-husband-and-i-manage-our-spending-and-saving-2019-9">spending money</a> would be part of how I coped, and that my dad's illness would have such a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/signs-of-spending-too-much-money-2019-8">profound impact on my bank account</a>.<h2>Living more intentionally </h2>The side effects from my dad's radiation, hormone treatments, and surgeries diminished his quality of life, turning him into a shell of his former self. When we learned his cancer was too advanced for any hope of remission, it felt like a punch in the gut. Our family was reeling and each of us dealt with the news in our own way.Yet, as my dad emerged from the dark cloud of treatments, he embraced life with a new enthusiasm I hadn't seen from him before.He started diligently checking items off his bucket list, which of course required spending money. He took up piano and tap dance lessons, bought a sports car, and started reconnecting with old friends, traveling all over the country to spend time with people he had lost touch with over the years.He and my mom planned trips together and traveled to Hawaii, then Alaska. Whenever I called to say hi, one of my parents would shout over music and chatter on the other end of the phone, explaining that they were trying out a new restaurant and would call me back when they got home.All of this was in stark contrast to the way I had grown up, which was solidly middle class. My family didn't take lavish vacations and we only dined out for special occasions. I always had everything I needed, but knew there were financial limits to fulfilling my wants.Money wasn't something we lacked, but it also wasn't something we had in abundance, so seeing my parents seek out new and expensive experiences was a definite shift in the more practical ways I had always known them to handle money.In many ways this was inspiring. My parents were spending much more money than they had before my dad's cancer, but for the most part they were doing so in pursuit of experiences, not things.My dad made a choice - he could wallow in despair, waiting for the worst, or he could embrace the moment and live in the now.His intentional shift toward reconnecting with old friends and seeking out new adventures inspired me to do the same.<h2>Balancing wants and needs</h2>I have always loved to travel, but after my dad got sick, it was all I could think about. I craved a change in scenery, a new place to distract me as I wandered for miles in the mountains or woods, hours away from my home in Kansas.I knew that I also had a choice in how I would cope with my dad's diagnosis. As I saw my dad living more exuberantly, I decided to embrace "living in the now" in a big way.I, too, started planning more trips and spending more time with friends, which resulted in a noticeable spike in my social spending.For a while, this was okay; we had some wiggle room in our budget and my husband understood why weekend getaways or grabbing drinks with friends were suddenly so important to me. But after a few months, it became clear that my insatiable thirst for adventure was chipping away at our savings.A good deal of self-reflection and therapy helped me understand my travels weren't just about living my life to the fullest, but also an attempt to run away instead of dealing with my reality at home.Once I acknowledged that, I could look at my spending more objectively, with the understanding that if I continued this way, I would be jeopardizing my family's financial future.The ability to spend more frivolously under the guise of embracing the moment is also a reflection of my financial privilege, shielding me from the harsh reality experienced by those with lower incomes who don't have the luxury of traveling as a way to cope with a sick loved one. Today I try to balance my social spending with a little more planning and foresight, honoring my dad's example of living out your dreams, but doing so within my budget.No one knows what the future holds. If I'm lucky, my life includes several more decades and a retirement I need to be saving for now. Balancing my immediate financial wants with my future financial needs takes discipline, but my dad has also shown me that while money can be a tool for embracing life more fully, it's the people in life that matter most.<ul class="read-more-links"><li>More <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/category/savings">savings and retirement</a> coverage</li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-retire-early-steps-for-early-retirement">How to retire early</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-save-more-money-2017-8">How to save more money</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/are-cds-a-good-investment">Are CDs a good investment?</a></li><li><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/when-to-save-money-in-high-yield-savings">When to save money in high-yield savings</a></li></ul> <div class="margin-top"> <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/real-map-louisiana-should-scare-you-2017-6">Most maps of Louisiana aren't entirely right. Here's what the state really looks like.</a></h3> <div> </div> </div>

I coped with my dad's terminal cancer diagnosis by traveling and "living in the now." But I almost ruined my financial future in the process.

You Searched For "erin heger" and got 2 results

Kids have too many days off from school. It's affecting their learning and your career.

Kelly Burch

I coped with my dad's terminal cancer diagnosis by traveling and "living in the now." But I almost ruined my financial future in the process.

Erin Heger

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