A lot of homeschoolers start their school year in September and end in May, so they can have the summer off, same as the public schools. One of the big reasons I love homeschooling is the freedom to vacation when everyone else is in school. We like to take our vacations in September or April. Right after school starts and after all the Spring Breaks have ended.We school year-round. I don't really know when it will end. The school year is over when we've finished everything, whenever that happens to be. So some school years are longer than others. We do the majority of our work in the summer and winter, so that we can relax and really enjoy the spring and fall.
I'm curious: If you homeschool according to the public school schedule, please tell me why.
13 comments:
Initially, I was taking my son out of school, so I wanted to aid the transition. Then, I decided about May of that first year that "I" needed a long break!
I find that the corporate world (my husband and my father and others) have adjusted to the "norm" and are more lenient with time off and flex time during the summer. For instance, my father would take the kids one week in the summer so I could "plan". (Boy, did I miss that this year!!)
I also enjoy the "season" of back-to-school time, the sales, the transition to fall, the transition to more serious book study...
After the first year, I scheduled the school year that way, so much so, that I would look up the local school calendar to schedule things such as lunches (I didn't have to plan it), breakfast with the principal (and other special days so my kids wouldn't be "missing out"), and half-days/days off (so I would know when to expect kids knocking on the door to play)!
However, this is the first year that I saw such a drastic dichotomy between summer and school--the kids wanted more structure in the summer, but I was too tired to plan anything--I was literally crying about the disobedience, defiance, hubbub, and screaming on the last day of "summer", and my kids magically transformed to their hitherto normal selves the first day of "school". It was a relief to all of us!!! So, there's something to that...! I'm considering the whole-year thing for next summer!
I love this freedom! :)
Angela
Hi Ginger,
We school year-round as well, but we do take some time off alongside our public school friends once in awhile. The reason we do this is simply to be able to spend time with them, and that's easier to do if we're both off. We also usually start our "next year's worth of curriculum" around Labor Day - this year it was on Labor Day. But starting a new year about the same time our public school neighbors start gives our kids a little connection with them, where there are other things (more important things) where we do not connect. So we connect where we can, if that makes sense. Blessings!
No we do year round,meaning we may get a wild hair and take off on a trip at anytime,go to the pool,the park etc.So schooling year round gives us the most relaxed schedule.When people hear we school year round,they think I am cracking the whip,what they don't understand is this allows for tons of breaks,and funtime,way more than if we only had summer off.
I gave the girls a "July off" summer this year, just because they had so many church outings and camps and missions trips...plus I needed time to plan. I am doing a 4 day school year this year so that we can do more of a "year round" school. And we also usually take off days when the public school kids are out, just because my girls want to have sleepovers and our youth group offers a lot of activities.
I will be honest. I have kind of been oblivious to what the world thinks about us homeschoolers and have done things to my whim. But I had a state child advocate in my home last week for my foster son who was asking why we were not doing school work. A couple of days later, a friend of mine whose son cannot gain weight was in the hospital and they handed her literature on Failure to Thrive and indicated that her being a homeschool parent makes them more suspicious of her than if her older children were in public school (as if she is hiding them to cover for her neglect). That same day, I found out that the six month old who was supposed to be joining us ANY MINUTE as our adoptable daughter, suddenly was not coming. Because when the CPS worker looked through the homestudy a second time, she noticed that we homeschool. Which she thinks is neglectful. So she went out and found another family for the girl, coincidentally, a family of the baby's race. So! Suddenly, I am thinking more about documentation, raising my standards even more, and making sure I get in 180 days of school. Heck! We'll do 400! LOL
This is a great question!
Heather
Let me know how you figure out a way to get in 400 days of school into a 365 day year. ;)
Those are the very reasons we adopted internationally instead of domestically.
I love taking the spring off! The children begged to take off summer last year, so we did, but I didn't like it as much as taking the spring off.
We'll be back to 6 weeks on, 1 week off with several weeks off in the spring this year.
While we were fostering and adopting (just over five years), our many social workers, with the exception of one, supported homeschooling for the foster kids. None of them looked down on us for hsing our birth children. It was a non issue, or a plus, to all the workers involved while we were adopting our three Lambies.
I do know that our experience is an exception to the rule :) .
Things change on a dime.
So someone up the CPS chain heard my speaking about changing foster care for the better at a training session Friday. Someone who has decision making power over the baby girl's case was there. Apparently I made a good impression on that CPS office and they called to tell me I just had a baby girl! They changed their minds. So we are expecting her tonight.
If only decisions were made in this world based on getting to hear one another's hearts instead of just what we look like on paper.
I am trying to figure out how to how to balance what I want to make out of my home and what the STATE wants to make out of my home. Sigh. It is one of those thorns piercing my side constantly. I hate to carry on as if I have to prove myself. Sigh.
Heather
We start our school year in August and try to stick to it pretty well in order to finish before church camp, scout camp, and trips to grandmas. But since we always have life interuptions such as: morning sickness, birth of babies, sickness, and just beautiful days we always finish up our year during the summer.
I do try to end our school work by 10:30 during the summer because there is always someone knocking on the door to play when public school is not in session.
I figure if we have two full weeks before the next "year" starts, we are doing really good!
Every year I say I am going to school year round, however, we end up taking the summer off. No rhyme or reason. We school from September to end of June with plenty of breaks to enjoy warm winter days on the sledding hill.
Well, this is my first year homeschooling my two littles. My older ones are in public school. So I decided my sanity in keeping track of everything, to mostly go along with the pb schools calendar.
Of course, it is flexible though. For instance, we are going on a field trip to the butterfly house instead of doing school Friday. The littles are so excited! I am to. Homeschooling is fun!
Shell
www.shellsgang.blogspot.com
We tend to take July off since there are so many Church activites that we attend. I am think of planning a big break during the spring to get some majr garden planting done. We don't live in the city so I don't have any trouble with PS kids wanting to come over and play. A good break in the fall would be nice too but we take 3 weeks off in December to spend time making Christmas goodies. Works for us. :-)
When we first started homeschooling, we used a schedule similar to the school systems only modified a bit. Meaning, we would start in September instead of August and we would go until the end of June or early July. We have never taken more than 6 weeks off for "summer" break. My children are much more content with the structure that comes with schooling.
This past year and current year we are working more towards a year-round approach, both because I just had a baby, and because of life demands. For instance, starting this weekend we will be making trips back and forth from Indiana to St. Louis every week for a minimum of 6-8 weeks, maybe longer, for doctor-related needs.
So, I am hoping to get things started back up on either the 16th or the 23rd of this month and just keep on going until we are done. I know that with a year-round schedule I can take off a day or two here and there for family needs, field-trips etc., without feeling too much stress or pressure.
I don't hs according to the public schools. I did my first year & it was really hard to get back on track :( I took so sage advice from a more seasoned hs'er & started year round school. It works out much better for us that way :)
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