School Sabbaticals For Young Students Analyzed

Jay Mathews writes in a column for the Washington Post (5/10) that the DC area "has the highest concentration of ambitious and challenging schools in the country," yet schools "that demand so much don't work for some kids. ... When it gets too bad, a family may pull a child out of school to let everyone calm down and see whether another approach can be found." Mathews calls the practice a "kiddie sabbatical." A student on sabbatical "reads on his or her own for a while -- something he or she likes to do -- until the parents find a different school or a new year begins with new teachers better tuned to different rhythms." These sabbaticals, Matthews says, differ from "long-term home schooling," because they may last only a few months.