The kids at our public school where DS7 goes, and DD5 will start next year, are not tightly wound after school, but they do have a very hard time focusing on homework after spending 7 hours stuck inside an overly hot school with only 20 minutes of recess, and gym only twice a week for four weeks on a 12 week rotation. Our 1st grade teacher gives too much homework and underestimates the time it takes the kids to do it. We have about 45 minutes a night, which is too much for 1st grade - the standard is supposed to be 10 minutes per grade. She's gotten a lot of pushback from parents, and has backed off a bit in the past month.
I think back to my elementary school days, and we had at least two recesses plus gym daily, but the rest of the school day was pretty similar to DS's in terms of being inside classrooms at desks learning. I thought it was fine as a kid. The difference is that we got science, social studies, and foreign language daily, and spent only an hour on reading/writing and an hour on math. DS's school spends 3 hours every day on reading and writing, and they get very little science or social studies. They are definitely teaching to the test, as are all other public schools in our area. It's why they have no recess time anymore.
I think the children I know at our school and other public schools are happy. One little boy in DS's grade (the one other giftie I know about) told me after winter break that he was lying awake the previous night so excited about coming back to school, he just couldn't wait to be there. I think my kids would be happier in a less traditional school environment, or one that challenged their smarts better, but I could say the same thing about my generation as well. Those options just weren't available then and we didn't have those models to compare to. On the subject of over-scheduling kids, yes it creates problems as children need that unstructured play time. I can see that homeschooling allows for activities like piano lessons and physical activity during the regular day, while traditional school kids have to do those after school. But overscheduling kids is the parents' choice, not the schools'.
