The idea of sending children at a formal school to spend most of their day away from

[ambitious-girl]

Original Sentence: The idea of sending children to spend most of their day away from home at a formal school is a relatively new custom.

Is the following version correct as well?

The idea of sending children at a formal school to spend most of their day away from home is a relatively new custom.

 

[tzfujimino]

No, it isn't correct, unfortunately.
Where will/do the children spend most of their day?

 

[GoesStation]

The original sentence would be correct if the author removed "the idea of". It's not correct as written.

 

[tedmc]

A new custom seems to me like an oxymoron.
A custom is an accepted way of doing things in a society, which is from a practice that is followed over a long period of time. Thus, it would not be something new.

 

[probus]

Original Sentence: The idea of sending children to spend most of their day away from home at a formal school is a relatively new custom.

Is the following version correct as well?

The idea of sending children at a formal school to spend most of their day away from home is a relatively new custom.

No. It is grammatically correct, but it does not express the same idea. In the original, the idea of sending children away is what's novel. In your version the children are already in a formal school, and one is left scratching one's head about why they are being sent away.

 

[andrewg927]

I always thought that children were sent to any school in order to give them a chance to learn something, not so they can spend most of their day away from home. In this case it's a relatively old custom.

Perhaps the writer meant "daycare".

 

[teechar]

The idea of sending children to [STRIKE]at[/STRIKE] a formal school to spend most of their day away from home is a relatively new custom.

See above.