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Those who homeschool year round and/or short weeks
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I have been debating the idea of schooling year round for a couple of reasons — fear of losing math and printing gains comes to mind in particular, but also because I like a four day school week, leaving Friday for the library, grocery shopping, etc. I would certainly prefer a much more relaxed schedule in the summer. Fill it with nature study, life skills, handicrafts and good literature and other things it’s hard to squeeze into a shortered school week year long.
In my province there are no restrictions as to how many days or hours we are required to spend on school. I like saying that we are only going to do math and copy work this week because we have company. I like being able to take extra time at Christmas and March Break. I like being able to say “no school on birthdays! Or starting a week later in September that the PS kids and ending a week earlier.
I also like to get things done and see real progress.
It’s been out first year hsing, and we have one term left. I’ve not expected a whole lot from any of us because it’s new and we are feeling our way around, learning what works, but I’ve been making sure skills subjects are covered at least 4 out of 5 weekdays (all 5 for math usually). It hasn’t been as easy keeping up with science, history and Worldview, but we are going to try to finish these three subjects to the point where I intended to leave off in our last 12 weeks of this school year. If we don’t get to all the read alouds I’d planned for lit, not a big deal — we always have something on the go year round as just a part of our regular family routine. We’ll just continue them into the summer or even next fall, or drop them as something else comes across our path that interests us more.
SO, for those of you who school year round, how do you make it work without your kids rebelling that all their PS friends are off all summer? What alternate schedule do you use to break up your year and how do you line it up with holidays?
Thanks in advance!
Okay, everyone will do this differently. For us we school year round out of necessity. I have had a baby every single school year since my oldest turned 3.5 (she’s 10 now). So if I’m not currently dealing with a newborn then I’m in the 16 week throes of morning sickness. Now we’ve got baby Mason and spend at least several days a month (if not several days a week) at doctor’s appointments for him. I have to be able to take days off, or half days off, at a moment’s notice. So we school year round. When we’re needing a break we just take it. When a holiday comes we take a break if we want to.
In summer we typically keep plugging away at basics (math reading writing gospel) and then we choose a subject to focus on for a few weeks at a time or even all summer. So we may hit science really regularly all summer, which frees us up to have months during the regular school year with no science.
Specific to your question – my kids don’t rebel because this is life at our house. In summer we often spend our mornings outdoors and the hot afternoons do school in the air conditioned house. Or take the work outside in the morning. There aren’t neighborhood kids where we live (even though we’re in town). We also aren’t a ‘running around’ family, going places every day, and we don’t send the kids off to play at someone’s house, we go as a family or invite a family over to our house. With 7 kids there are plenty of playmates right here at home! LOL. We don’t do sports either – except as a family and inviting friends over.
We school year-round, with 4 day weeks. The 4 day weeks just “happened” because our co-op is every other Friday, and we use the other Fridays to do the weekly housecleaning. We don’t even bother trying anymore to do that on the weekends. When Daddy is home, we never clean. 😛 We take off when life happens or we feel we need to. Sometimes a day here or there, sometimes a whole week (or 2!) at a time.
My kids never rebel, either. In fact, they are happy when they get snow days and all the neighborhood kids are waiting for the bus. They are also happy when it’s absolutely gorgeous in March and feels like summer, and all the neighborhood kids are waiting for the bus. They are also happy that they get to start school later than them, plus get done way earlier, so they’ve been outside most of the day before they are out of school. In the summertime, their load is so light, they barely notice that it’s summer. By the time they’re done with school, the other kids are just starting to get up &/or come outside anyway. 🙂
Thanks, Tristan. I think when you’ve homeschooled from the beginning it’s probably a little easier to say this is just the way we roll.
Our neighbourhood is full of kids and they are knocking on the door all summer. We have a small above ground pool, trampoline and the swing set as well as the driveway for ball hockey, so it’s very rare that there isn’t some other person hanging around all summer.
Sara B., that’s kind of what I’m hoping.
They have to come to the office with me most weekdays anyway just like they do now, so I don’t see why the independant work couldn’t just be lightened a bit — daily devotionals, math and copy-work 2-3 days a week, reading, drawing, board games and of course out door play (we usually take their bikes, sidewalk chalk, ball hockey stuff or whatever else can keep them busy in the summer). Dad’s usually off more so we can go hiking, camping or spend a day by the ocean or canoing — great opportunities for nature study. It’s also easier to take a field trip and I have many planned for this summer. While visitiing grandparents in Cape Breton we will travel the Cabot trail, visit the Fortress at Louisburg, check out a coal mine in Glace Bay, go fossil hunting in Sydney Mines. I am hoping to get to Halifax and check out some of the atractions there as well, though it’s closer and we can go there almost any time of the year (except that I won’t drive in Halifax!) We may have to make a trip to Ontario this summer as well, so there would be lots of opportunities in the Toronto and Niagra area — as well as showing my boys where I grew up.
I was thinking I could get a head start on Mod 1 by starting the Bible reading over the summer as well as a period novel or two without it really feeling like school…
We go year round too and our neighbors know not to come over until we’re done with school (lunchtime – unless they see the kids out earlier) – it helps when you have a regular schedule. But to keep those math facts going all year is SO important around here – one year I spent a month relearning math facts with my oldest dd and ever since we’ve gone year round – WAY easier. In the summer we also just to the very basics, so really they are only do “academic” subjects for an hour and a half and then we do fun projects and field trips so I can count those hours.
This will be the first year we school year-round…. or at least I hope we will!
This year has been a very “off” year for us. I haven’t been able to get a rhythym going or anything this year – it just hasn’t worked well at all.
Anyway – my dh has generally been against us doing school when PS is out… it has been ok for the little PD days (unless it is a Friday and our grandson is here) – but I couldn’t start before PS, couldn’t school during spring break, etc.
With how bad this year has been going with health issues (his/mine) etc – and switching programs, various errand days, and just other days with not much getting done – I had to sit my dh down and tell him that if he wanted us to be able to be flexible with our homeschool schedule, that we would need to be doing school year-round and not be slave to the PS schedule… and he agreed. We will see what happens this summer!
Last year, my kids got a to-do list each day of what was to be done. Friday was a very light day. If they had all their work done for the week, we would have a “wild day” on Friday (often nature study – occasionally swimming at the Y or going to the museum.) But it seems this year there are always a million errands that end up needing to be done on Friday now. But that was a great way to HS with a 4 day week… (oh, if their work wasn’t all done, it would get finished on Friday.)
Thanks Ladies,
I agree. In order to be flexible when we want to be, I agree that we can’t be slaves to the PS schedule. My dh also disagrees with school starting before or running longer than PS and wanted the boys to have no school on any day that PS was cancelled (snow days, etc.) for me those are catch-up days if the weather is bad enough I can’t go to the office. The PS had their March break this week and he didn’t want me to school then, but I told him that we’d just had a light week when my mom visited and we were taking the last week in March and first week of April, so we couldn’t take another week off and hope to finish everything. He got the message. It worked out fine because most of the neighbourhood kids parents still had to work so they were at grandparents or sitters, or if their parents were off they were gone doing stuff of their own. We didn’t have a conflict at all.
We do 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off year round except we take all of June off. That allows us to do half a term and then take a break. It allows me to regroup, plan, and give the house a good cleaning, not to mention have some fun and work on projects regularly. We do 4 days a week some weeks. Every other Friday we have a 2 hour co op so no other school that day. On our off Friday we usually do Bible and then we sing silly songs, read kids picks for books, and usually paint or some project. We also plan trips like the zoo or park.
This schedule is very flexible. Friday can be a make up day if we had to skip a day during the week. We took a week for vacation that was last minute and I just knocked a week from our next break.
In nice weather we school in the afternoon so that the children can play outside in the morning and during the hottest times we are inside in the air conditioning. My children do not complain. Last year my son started to whine about the summer thing and I pointed out we had taken of May and June because we were moving. I think pointing out the fact that our school days end at noon usually and that we take so much time off during the year quells the resistance pretty easy.
Llast year was our first year schooling year round (it was sort of an accident due to the above mentioned move) and I did not have to do any math or handwriting review at all in the fall. I also think it fosters an environment of always learning. My children would get so unmotivated and be constantly bored with so much time off. We do go lighter in the summer though, and it’s much more interest led.
Tara
All summer my public school friends are complaining about their kids fighting and being bored. Since we school all summer my kids are happy and focused! We lived in TX the last 3 years and summers were so scorching hot my kids LOVED being in the house. We told all the friends and neighbors that they could play either in the morning before 10 or after 4 or so. They all respected that and my boys didn’t have a problem with it at all. We did take time off if someone invited us over for a birthday or swim party or some other event.
We love to be able to be out and about more during the spring and fall, when weather is better. To take trips when lines aren’t long or hit the zoo when there are only 10 other people in the whole place! My boys are very aware that there are many, many days they get to be in the snow when their friends are in school, or outside playing when friends are in school, etc. They appreciate the flexibility and understand that with that comes a responsibility to get work done at other times.
We do a “full” day four days and a “short” day for the fifth. It’s usually Friday but we move it around based on appointments or field trips. I don’t have a set schedule for time off around holidays or what have you. My husband is in the military so we often take time off before and after deployments, when he can get time off (there are some months where he can’t at all) or when we’re moving. Basically we school until we need to take a break, take one, then get back into it.
We do alot of what Tristan and the others do. We do a 4 day a week with a make up and library day on Friday.
Anything that was suppose to be done during the week chores, homework, ect… must be done before we can go to the library. I am now doing two 15 week schedules. When we are done with those them I plan on finishing up anything that I wanted to get done this year but didn’t. This may continue my summer. I believe we will be done with our work before June but I plan on carrying it till the end.
Then for summer I plan on doing lots of games, lapbooks, nature studies and walks. science projects and life skills. I will take some breaks to do a few things like hiking, fishing, boating, ect…
I also let the kids out in the morning and evening and we usually do the fun things during the hot afternoon. It doesn’t get dark here until 11:00 at night so we usually have a full day.
In the fall during canning time I take more time when the PS is usually going.
I don’t feel guilty about taking a few days off here and there because we don’t usually take off for the holidays like most people. We are a little more relaxed. I feel we don’t need 2 weeks off. We usually take off if we go out of town for a vacation. So we don’t have to take off for PS holidays. It makes it a little easier if we just keep going all the time. This way we get more done and they just keep learning. I use to have to explain why we don’t take off for PS holidays but then I remind them when we are on vacations or we are doing something fun that they wouldn’t be able to do this if they were in school. It took about6 months of this and then I started hereing back. I would say look the neighbors are just getting off of the bus. You were able to play in the snow all day. I wonder if they were able to do something fun…. Now they say… “Mom, we got to do this today. I am so glad we are not in school.” My social butterfly sometimes misses his friends but that passes. Each year we have something different going on in the summer so it is interesting how G-d uses us to be creative at teaching our children. They ae learning all the time… If they are cooking they are learning Home Ec. skills. If they go to the lake they can learn about bugs, sea weed, boating, ect… they can us this as a learning lesson. They have life skills in life that most kids at PS don’t get. Ours get it on a daily basis! 🙂
Blessings on your summer schools everyone! 🙂
I only read the main questions so sorry if repeated information.
We school year round. We do not school on Fridays as that’s for grocery shopping, getting milk, going to the libary, and getting animal food at the local mill. But that all is ‘educational’. If done right.
In the summer we continue math, copywork at least once a week, bible/religion studies, and pick up something new be it a study I’d like to do but not during the school year or more handicrafts. We also have gardening and dealing with out spring hatching (which is happening here already).
then in the school year we deal with a more structured schedule, but if dh is home we go back to math, religion and bible. Then skip the rest. So sometimes we have to finish up history/science in the summer for a week or two.
There are so many ways to make it work. If you just sit and try and decided what and where you want to do it all. Good luck we love it and it works really well for our family.
My post is going to echo alot of the others. We school year round, 4 days a week. We do not do “formal” school on Fridays. We use that day for grocery shopping, appointments, house cleaning or anything we generally need to catch up on. Though, as someone else pointed out, we technically could count many things we do on Fridays, and even Saturdays and Sundays, as educational! Last year was the first year we did this and we absolutely love it and decided this is what works for us. Our favorite thing about it is being able to take small trips here and there without getting behind in the main subjects. We went to the Creation Museum back in February and stayed up that way for 3 days going to the zoos, etc. We don’t have to worry about being behind when Daddy gets a day off and we just want to hang out with him. Plus, I agree that school for us is just part of our life. Doing school in the summer is a non-issue around here because we are always learning and “doing school”. Now we do go a little lighter in the summer. We keep on with the core subjects but we do alot of nature studies and projects. We want our kids’ education to be a part of life and not a seperate time block. Does that make sense? So, year round schooling just naturally seemed to fit that philosophy for us. I know it does not work for everyone. In fact, in my homeschool group I may be maybe one of two. But, it works great for us!
I should confess first I’m not a super schedule lover but having said that …
We school year round here too. I like the more relaxed nature of a year round schedule. I don’t feel bad when we take off to the beach all day and do nature studies and have great discussions instead of a more regular school day. I never mentioned summer break when we started two years ago and no one asked about it! My children had been in school for several years when we started to homeschool but still it hasn’t been an issue. I think the fact that we’re so blessed to take advantage of good weather, opportunities that come up and whatever else it curbs any resentment for a total break from schooling. I’ve also always chanted, sung and declared – Life is learning. Learning is life. So maybe they’ve taken that attitude to heart too?!
We do 3 weeks on, 1 week off yearround. It works out then to get about a month to 6 weeks off in July or August, then we start the next year on the Tuesday after Labor Day. I really like this schedule because of the frequent breaks. I don’t feel the pressure from myself or dh to be off when PS is out. We drive by a PS every time we leave our house, and our kids know that they’ve been playing, resting, or whatever while those kids are still chained to desks, so they realize how much better off they are.
We had a picnic every day last week at lunch because the weather was so beautiful. I love having freedom to do small things like that which end up being really special. Our kids don’t know the concept of “summer break”, “Christmas break”, etc. This last week was PS Spring Break, and I had to explain what that was. Oddly enough a break was scheduled for us last week, and that was just the way it fell in our rotation. But we had sickness running through the house the week before, so we took off that week and did school during PS Spring Break instead. I LOVE the flexibility!!! We have tried 12 weeks on, 3 weeks off and 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off. Both were too long. This schedule is just right for us.
We had a picnic every day last week at lunch because the weather was so beautiful. I love having freedom to do small things like that which end up being really special. Our kids don’t know the concept of “summer break”, “Christmas break”, etc. This last week was PS Spring Break, and I had to explain what that was. Oddly enough a break was scheduled for us last week, and that was just the way it fell in our rotation. But we had sickness running through the house the week before, so we took off that week and did school during PS Spring Break instead. I LOVE the flexibility!!! We have tried 12 weeks on, 3 weeks off and 6 weeks on, 6 weeks off. Both were too long. This schedule is just right for us.- The topic ‘Those who homeschool year round and/or short weeks’ is closed to new replies.