Year-round Homeschool
Having a Schedule Gives Us Something to Aim for...
Lane and Nathan loving a science experiment.
Over the last 22 years of homeschooling, we have had to develop daily schedules each year that fit our family. Having a schedule gave us a flexible structure that helped us in reaching our goals though we rarely had days that fit the schedule without adjustments.
Year-round Homeschool
Besides having a daily schedule, we roughly followed the public school's schedule...starting in August and ending in May with the flexibility to take trips with Dad during the school year. However, we found a better way, when we decided to homeschool year round.
I have found that even with my best intentions, it is hard to have school in the summer as thoroughly as during the rest of the year. It may be just me, but I believe I am conditioned to feel the need to be off the school routine more during the summer. Also, since we have friends or family that follow the traditional school calendar, a summer school schedule cuts into some of the activities our children might be invited to do. So…we take about 4 weeks together off during the summer or maybe even 6 weeks.
The beauty of it is you can plan your 36 weeks of school and fit them in however you want to. If you want to do more than 36 weeks, that is fine, too. My preference is to try to keep the children reading, at least for pleasure. Even in their weeks off, and sometimes I have them do a ½ lesson of math, just so they don’t forget what they have been learning. We don’t do writing requirements when we are off, and if the reading of math doesn’t get done, it’s OK. It is encouraged though if we are not too busy.
The week off every 4 or 5 weeks is for my rejuvenation, too. I get to catch up on things and even tackle some projects that I don’t normally have time to do. This helps me not to feel burned out. It also gives our family a chance to concentrate on practical living skills and learning in other ways, including following interests to a greater degree.
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Tags: homeschool, homeschool burnout, homeschool schedule, practical living skills, year-round homeschool
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