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Homeschooling Year-Round
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With summer approaching, I’ve been mulling over our schedule, and how many months to take off. In the past, we’ve usually taken the traditional 3 months off, but I’m not sure that’s the best fit for us, as summers are long and hot here in Texas, so outside activities decrease. Have any of you had success with a 3 month on/1 month off year-round schedule? I’m thinking, start the year in September, then take December, April, and August off. My son seems to get spring fever as soon as the weather starts warming in March/April and I’ve noticed we struggle with schooling around that time. Also, it would be nice to have December off for the advent season. Thanks in advance for your input and suggestions.
It never hurts to try! We are moving to a 2 month summer break (8 weeks off, during which there are things like Cub Scout and Boy Scout camp, as well as a young women’s camp for girls, and lots of free days.). Then our school year will run 6 weeks on, 1 week off(resting every 7th week, similar to how we rest every 7th day on Sunday), with about 2 weeks off at Christmas.
The 6 week on, 1 week off schedule appeals to me too, and it seems like a popular one, so lots of families must do well with it. We actually did that when we were in CC to some extent, but I hadn’t thought of continuing it through the whole year. Thanks, Tristan, for giving me some good ideas to ponder!
You’ll never know until you try. We do year round homeschooling, but we do school 4 days a week and enjoy a 3 day weekend. This was our first year trying it and it is a great fit for us. We take about a month off during the Summer. We live in Mobile, AL so I understand summers being hot. So we take June off and start back after July 4th. By that time, the heat is too much. We like being able to take breaks throughout the year when it is pleasant. We also like being able to take trips throughout the school year! I have heard many mother say they like doing 6 weeks of school and taking 1 week off. I am less familiar with doing school for 3 months and then taking a month off. I do feel like I need to work in a short break every other month to catch up as a mom/teacher on other things. I need to work those in more regularly or I just get so behind.
I like the idea of year round school but I can’t figure out how to make it work with summer activities and friends 🙂
I like to school in the morning, but the morning has the best weather (not too hot). The challenge is if we spend the morning outside, we are all exhausted in the afternoon and not in good shape to do school. Summer also fills up with activities with friends who are on school break, Vacation Bible School, Summer Church Camp… I also like working hard towards a goal (finishing school) and then enjoying a break when the goal has been met.
We school August through April and take off May, June, and July. During our break we continue with math & reading aloud (independent and family) which adds up to about an hour of school things/day even in the summer. May and June are some of my favorite months to be outside and by the time the end of July rolls around we are all ready to get back into a routine and August is hot so not nearly as much fun to be outside.
Hope you can find a schedule that works for you, I think each of us has our own schedule that just fits each family but it takes trial and error to find it sometimes 🙂
We have always schooled yr. around, 4 days a week. We just keep moving and take breaks when we need to. This next week we will be moving onto our new 3 acre plot of land. There will probably be too much excitement to do much school work. Things like this always happen in our life. For a few years we have been moving around (living in our rv) for my husbands job. The unexpected is to be expected in for us. I don’t bother scheduling breaks because life seems to take care of it for us. I love schooling year around. Somehow everything seems to work out, and my two oldest are actually quite a bit ahead, not because they are geniuses, but because we keep moving. It also gives me the time I need to spend with my dyslexic son.
Thank you, ladies, for your advice and input! I think I am leaning towards trying the 6 week on/1 week off schedule. I also stumbled across this website solisortus.com. It’s the website of a homeschooling family that bases their schedule on the church calendar. Their year is broken into seven terms each comprised of seven weeks, with the first week of each term and the first term of each year being a “sabbath” time of rest, with an additional 3 free weeks of vacation to take when you need to.
Glad you asked this question! I just came here to ask the same thing. 🙂 Looks like year ’round homeschooling is more popular than I thought!!!
His,
Shari
We have to do year-round school because if my son doesn’t have something to do to keep his hands and mind occupied, he just either paces around the house all day or gets in trouble for picking on his little brother. Idle hands are the Devil’s playground with him! You’d think we don’t have 4 packed book shelves, a piano, puzzles, games, toys, bikes/trikes, a garden, and a backyard!
I have a son just like that, happykratzers!
I’ve decided to stick with my original idea to try a 3 month on, one month off schedule. If a month proves to be too much time off, then I’ll try a 6 weeks on, 1 week off.
August is so hot here in Texas it will be nice to have a lazy month off before starting a new year. December we can keep busy with present making and advent activities. April has such nice weather we can travel and do outdoor field trips.
Sounds good on paper, anyway!😉
Ladies, I have one like that also except that it’s the younger who starts to annoy the older, lol. We’re going to try 6 on and 1 off with Tristan and her family, if that doesn’t work we’ll keep trying until we find something that does. I’m in TX also and it is indeed hot here in August. I do plan to buy more Snap circuit kits and some more paint so that they have something to do other than screens. My older one will try to be on a screen all day long. I want us to spend time really being a family and enjoying each other.
For those doing six weeks on and one off schedules, how do you divide up terms? Do you have 6 six week terms or three 12 week terms with a break in the middle? How often do you switch things like artist or composer study? Also- does Christmas break come in the middle of a term? And do you do exams after each term (6 or 12)? Thanks for sharing what works for you!
We also school year-round. Coralloyd said it as well as I could, “The unexpected is to be expected in for us. I don’t bother scheduling breaks because life seems to take care of it for us. I love schooling year around. Somehow everything seems to work out, and my two oldest are actually quite a bit ahead, not because they are geniuses, but because we keep moving.” It’s so important for our family to keep moving. We have two with more significant special needs that affect their learning so moving forward consistantly is a tremendous help. They do a good deal of playing and exploring everyday so it seems well rounded to me.
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