School Cancels Valentines Day!!??

[CedarCreek]

Kids being left out happens with Valentines. It happens in life too. At some point they need to learn that.

I'm not one of those "everyone gets a trophy" kind of gals though.

[CedarCreek]

I will say though that when I was a kid, you got to eat one piece of candy from the Valentines you got and the rest you put in your bag to go home. I think that was a good way of handling it.

[Blackcat31]

Kids being left out happens with Valentines. It happens in life too. At some point they need to learn that.

I'm not one of those "everyone gets a trophy" kind of gals though.

Me either. But I am one of those, "let's celebrate holidays with family and NOT make everything part of a lesson the kids should have to learn in school" kind of gals.

I celebrate NO holidays in my child care. NONE of my daycare kids are deprived or have any type of emotional baggage because of it.

I can see both sides to this argument and don't really care either way but as a business owner I am glad that I have the choice.

[countrymom]

our parties are at the end of the day and all food goes home (but we are not allowed to send home made stuff anymore anyways and it all has to be nut free) no one opens their stuff in school, and really its about a half hour for the party. My own children love to hand candy out to their friends, they enjoy it and love making kids happy.

[daycarediva]

Ds's school is doing valentines party at the very end of the day, it should last 30 minutes. The kids are making bags in the morning. They can walk around, hand out their valentines and then sit and eat their cupcakes and drink a cup of juice & then have free play until it's time to leave. Then they go home, well played, teachers. Well played.

Which is PRECISELY when we are having dessert snack at daycare, right before they leave.

[Country Kids]

"I disagree with this as fara s MY experience goes. The way parties and such are handled and dealt with now days is NOTHING like it was when I was a kid or when my own were kids.

None of the parties are at the end of the day but rather are part of the whole day. Kids opened Valentine's during the day. My kids brought ALL theirs home opened and eaten already (if there was food attached)."

No, ours where throughout the entire day also when I was young and my older kids but now its at the very end of the day, rushed through it, and out the door. Also, some teachers really don't even want parents involvement! Its a shame.

Also, for schools they can have an assemblies/parties for everything but holidays. Also, this is once in a lifetime thing for these kids. If adults can't take an hour or two out of the day to do something special with the kids (showing some enthusiasm) thats sad. What a way to show some "love" and make the kids a good memory and one that will last with them.

Anyway I think this principal will receive some feedback as they named him, the school.

[youretooloud]

WOw.. those valentines cards were a big deal when I was in school. I loved them. I loved looking at them later, and buying them.

[CedarCreek]

If that's what floats your boat BC, awesome.

I think it should be acknowledged at school though as well as with family, kids do spend their day at school. It is a place for learning after all. And they can learn a lot from holidays.

[Country Kids]

If that's what floats your boat BC, awesome.

I think it should be acknowledged at school though as well as with family, kids do spend their day at school. It is a place for learning after all. And they can learn a lot from holidays.

Second paragraph-

[Blackcat31]

It is a place for learning after all. And they can learn a lot from holidays.

Disclaimer: I have NO personal stake in this. I do have my own personal feelings about it but also love a good discussion about BOTH sides of a topic.

I agree that kids can definitely learn a lot from holidays but where do we draw the line?

• Jan 1 New Year’s Day
• Jan 6 Epiphany
• Jan 13 Stephen Foster Memorial Day
• Jan 21 Martin Luther King Day
• Feb 1 National Freedom Day
• Feb 2 Groundhog Day
• Feb 10 Chinese New Year
• Feb 12 Shrove Tuesday/Mardi Gras
• Feb 13 Ash Wednesday
• Feb 14 Valentine’s Day
• Feb 18 Presidents’ Day
• Mar 1 St. David’s Day
• Mar 2 Read Across America Day
• Mar 10 Daylight Saving Time starts
• Mar 17 St. Patrick’s Day
• Mar 20 Vernal equinox
• Mar 24 Palm Sunday
• Mar 28 Maundy Thursday
• Mar 29 Good Friday (Many regions)
• Mar 30 Holy Saturday
• Mar 31 Easter Sunday
• Apr 1 Easter Monday
• Apr 15 Tax Day
• Apr 24 Administrative Professionals Day
• May 1 Loyalty Day
• May 1 Law Day
• May 2 National Day of Prayer
• May 5 Cinco de Mayo
• May 9 Ascension Day
• May 12 Mother’s Day
• May 15 Peace Officers Memorial Day
• May 17 National Defense Transportation Day
• May 18 Armed Forces Day
• May 19 Pentecost
• May 20 Whit Monday
• May 22 National Maritime Day
• May 26 Trinity Sunday
• May 27 Memorial Day
• May 30 Corpus Christi
• Jun 14 Flag Day
• Jun 16 Father’s Day
• Jun 21 June Solstice
• Jul 4 Independence Day
• Jul 28 Parents’ Day
• Aug 15 Assumption of Mary
• Aug 19 National Aviation Day
• Sep 2 Labor Day
• Sep 7 Carl Garner Federal Lands Cleanup Day
• Sep 8 National Grandparents Day
• Sep 11 Patriot Day
• Sep 17 Constitution Day and Citizenship Day
• Sep 20 National POW/MIA Recognition Day
• Sep 22 Autumnal equinox
• Sep 29 Gold Star Mother’s Day
• Oct 4 Feast of St Francis of Assisi
• Oct 7 Child Health Day
• Oct 9 Leif Erikson Day
• Oct 14 Columbus Day (Most regions)
• Oct 15 White Cane Safety Day
• Oct 16 Boss’s Day
• Oct 31 Halloween
• Nov 1 All Saints’ Day
• Nov 2 All Souls’ Day
• Nov 3 Daylight Saving Time ends
• Nov 11 Veterans Day
• Nov 28 Thanksgiving Day
• Nov 29 Black Friday
• Dec 1 First Sunday Advent
• Dec 7 Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
• Dec 8 Feast of the Immaculate Conception
• Dec 17 Wright Brothers Day
• Dec 17 Pan American Aviation Day
• Dec 21 December Solstice
• Dec 24 Christmas Eve
• Dec 25 Christmas Day
• Dec 26 Kwanzaa (until Jan 1)
• Dec 31 New Year’s Eve

[Evansmom]

I can see both sides of it, I've been a teacher in elementary school classrooms. I know it's a distraction from curriculum to have a holiday party. But I just haven't seen an improvement in academic performance in the schools I have been in after the PE, Art and holiday parties were limited or taken out of the day. So I'm only talking from my personal experience.

[bunnyslippers]

Our school is doing a Friendship Jam, and it is being performed tomorrow morning. The kids in grades K-2 are singing all sorts of fun songs, and the families get to go watch. I can't wait!

[jessrlee]

Let the kids be kids! Holiday parties are fun! Our kids need all of the social experience they can get now days!

[Oneluckymom]

These same holidays are celebrated at my kids school. However, for birthdays, valentines day, etc the candy passed out stays in the cubby until the end of the day. Its eaten at home. The only thing eaten in class are cupcakes, cookies.

In my DD Kindy class they celebrate birthdays by lumping four months of birthdays and celebrate them on a single day...for example the birthdays in NOV, DEC, Jan, and Feb will be celebrated together and the parents who's kids have birthdays at that time will all bring in goodies for the class to share.

I like this idea...otherwise you have so many birthdays a month that it takes away from class time.

[mamac]

I completely understand the schools on this. It is a horrible time to add yet another distraction to the curriculum. The kids are JUST getting into a good focus after winter break, practice for standardized tests is just gearing up (which for us is the first week in March). Spring Break is end of March...It is a funk time of year anyway, you would think a little party would liven things up, but it isn't worth the fallout at a critical time of year.

...for being such a harmless holiday, it sure causes a crap-ton of social issues, too. There is the candy, the someone who gets left out, the kids who can't afford to give any valentines, or forget them at home...cue the drama tears in elementary school.

Wow. My son's school must have a much different schedule. This is their last week before winter break. It seems since they've been back from Christmas break they've already had so many days off with teacher appreciation, holidays and snow days. Then spring break is mid-April! I never realized how much time off schools had until mine started this year.