When is your "school year"?

[babysparkler]

Do you follow the PS school year, do year-round, etc? I'm just curious what everyone's yearly schedule looks like and how many weeks or days you consider "in-class time"...

 

Please share :)

[babysparkler]

Here is mine... We plan 30 weeks in unit blocks similar to the PS schedule but with week breaks for Grandparent visits and traveling. (We also have 2 weeks of testing scheduled in addition to that.) We don't "do school" in May, June & July because we have those packed with activity: church & boyscout camps, swimming lessons, vacations, etc... but what the kids don't know is that they are learning just as much during that time- just in a different style.:lol:

Edited July 15, 2009 by babysparkler

[tedearly]

Howdy,

Labor Day to Memorial Weekend. Then dc learn in other ways- Critical Thinking Problems, camps, visiting family, family vacations, Reading Enrichment, certification courses, sewing, etc...

[NancyNellen]

We school 6 weeks on, 1 week off all year, taking most of December and 2 weeks in July off.

[2_girls_mommy]

We start first week of Aug to last week of May, officially. We do not take an official Spring Break, Christmas Break or Fall Break. But we do go easier around those times as things come up. Last year, we took 4 days off in mid Sept. for a family visit (but did field trip things, read, and did math and Science while there.) We took off 2 days before Christmas, Christmas Day and started right up the first weekday after, including New Year's Day. My dh works that day. We did not do a Spring Break. We take a day off as needed during any given week for field trips, extra projects, etc.. avging 4 days of work, although we could usually count the 5th day as it was a field trip day, or extra project day.

 

Our local elem. is a year round school. They start the same time we do, and we end the same time. The difference is we don't take near as many breaks as they do. They get 3 weeks off at Christmas, 3 weeks for Spring Break and 1 or 2 for fall break.

 

We also do work during the summer if needed. Obviously we keep up reading and do many reading programs at the different stores and libraries offering, do P.E. stuff, and this summer we are doing a chapter of Science and History a week still as there is so much to learn and we love it.

[Orthodox6]

I schedule all of the work within the common 36-week framework.

 

We then take whatever time is necessary, within a 12-month maximum, to complete the work.

[momto2Cs]

September to June. Basically the ps calendar. Since I will be teaching eventually, it seems a good plan to keep us on a similar academic schedule now.

[athena1277]

I start in July (this year we are starting the 20th) and go until we finish in April or May. I like to start early so we can take days off when we need/want to. We had lots of 4 day weeks last year. I just kept going until we got our required 165 days.

[patchfire]

We're required to report 180 days/36 weeks to the state. Yes, I could just turn it in, but it does provide some framework.

 

In general, we start when the public schools in our county do, but we don't necessarily take the same days off throughout the year. Unless something crazy happens, we usually get done a week or so ahead of the public school. On paper, I have 36 weeks' worth of work planned for subjects that are on a weekly basis (history, science, reading, and writing), but only 165-170 days of work for the rest (grammar, spelling, math, and so on) giving us flexibility for field trips, testing, etc.

[nukeswife]

We school for 36 week which I fit in however it works out between the last week of July and the 2nd week of May. I like to be done before my oldests birthday in May. When we take breaks varies because I try to fit things in around my dh's deployment and work up schedules.

[hsmamainva]

We also school for 36 weeks (mainly because that's the way Sonlight is set up).

 

We're starting the 3rd of August and hope to finish by the 2nd week in June. I like having a few extra weeks available during the school year in case someone gets the flu...or we decide to take a mini-vacation...or it snows and the kids want to play outside, etc.

[melmichigan]

We school all year round. We let up a lot in sumer for other programs but still move forward with math and one elective for my DD9. My younger two just ease up for summer and continue with math and reading. We tend to focus on interests in science and history in the summer, more in themes than following their curriculum. This leaves more time throughout the year for things like the YMCA homeschool gym and swim days and time when we want to go places or take a break during the holidays. It also helps us work around my husbands schedule for family days and field trips. My DD9 takes ELA on the public school schedule.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

Our schedule isn't set in stone. We start around the beginning of August and try to finish most subjects by mid-May at the latest. That gives me part of May to unwind, and June and July to plan for the following year when I'm not canning something from the garden. During the year we take off a week in the fall to go to the beach, some time around the holidays, and some time around the girls' birthdays when we do our yearly testing.

[LivingHope]

We school year round and lighten the load when a project needs our attention. This month we put new flooring in, and not having bookshelves and tables made school non existent. My dh reminded me of The Swiss Family Robinson...winters for study, summers for work.

 

I prefer to keep our days consistent and adjust as needed.

 

Janell

[Laura Corin]

We do about 39 weeks, roughly following the Scottish school year, but we usually take our Easter break late and go on holiday.

 

Laura

[dcjlkplus3]

We start after Labor Day because my oldest is a labor Day baby and she was ready to start "kindergarten" (math,reading a dn handwriting) when she was 5. It is easier for use to start after her birthday, so we aren't taking days off right away. This is a "late start". Schools here start in mid-August or so.

 

In CO, we have to have 172 days of school. Once we get those days done - we switch to school-lite (reading, finish up math book, finish up SOTW). We are just now finishing up the school year (today and 2 more days). We take days off for sickness, birthdays, holidays (sometimes), snow days and sometimes just because.

 

I am planning on a more 36 week/180 day year next year, but like I said we only HAVE to have 172 days, so we will see.

[HSMom2One]

It kind of flows along with ps schedule in a way, but instead of taking three full months off in summer we take 6 wks off, and another 1-2 wks off at the end of August before the new school year begins. Then instead of taking 2 wks off in December/January, we take off 3. We do like to take a spring break, and since I teach part-time at a private school, we like to take the same week off from our homeschool.

 

We really appreciate the flexibility and slower pace that year round schooling allows.

 

Blessings,

Lucinda

[elegantlion]

We schedule 36 weeks, starting 1 week before public school and ending at the same time. We try to do a light summer schedule but this summer has been super light.

 

We take a week off in September, major holidays, and starting next year a week off at the end of February.

[LivingUnderGrace]

We are in the process of switching our school year around so that our breaks are the months of: May, September, and October

 

We have much more fun having our 'vacation time' in cooler months. :)

[Paula in PA]

We just started our new year yesterday. We do 7 weeks on / 1 week off, with 2 weeks at the end of the calendar year for winter holidays & New Year's and 4 weeks from June to July. This makes for a 42 week year. We are thinking of changing it some after this year, for the logic stage. But we'll continue to go year round.

[8filltheheart]

If I weren't pregnant, this is what my calendar would look like for this yr:

 

July 27-Sept 4 (6 weeks)

week of Labor Day off

Sept14-Oct 23 (6 weeks)

week of 26-30 off

Nov 2-Nov 20 (3 weeks)

week of Thanksgiving off

Nov 30-Dec 18 (3 weeks)

2 weeks off for Christmas

Jan 4-Feb 12 (6 weeks)

week of Ash Wed off

Feb 22-Mar 31 ( 5 weeks 3 days)

Holy Thurs-Easter Wed off

April 8-May 21 (6 weeks 2 days)

 

That is 36 weeks, though it normally only takes us 34 to complete most subjects. This yr b/c I am expecting and have lots of complications with 2x/wk dr appts my 3rd trimester, we started back this week so that dr appt days can be 1/2 days and we won't get behind.

 

I love this schedule b/c it gives us structured time off for catching up on life/house stuff and a long summer break.

[Stacy in NJ]

We begin with half days in August, slowly building to full days by Labor Day. We also school half days in June.

 

We take three one week long vacations throughout the year; one in October, one in December and one in March. Of course, we take holidays like Thanksgiving and Christamas off.

[TxMama]

We school year-round and do 9 weeks of school each season. So for each 13 week season we will do 9 weeks of school with 4 flex weeks to break as needed.

[Ellie]

We used to take off a couple of weeks around Easter, a couple of weeks in late August/early September, and Thanksgiving through about the middle of January. Otherwise we just kept doing stuff, with random days off if we needed them (such as time for Disneyland in March in the middle of the week).

 

For the sake of grandparents and Sunday school teachers, we "promoted" in September, but since "grade level" has little real meaning, we kept doing what we were doing until we finished, then went to the next thing.

[mom31257]

We follow the school calendar because my dh is a school teacher. We normally start during his pre-planning week, take all of his breaks (6 full weeks during the year), plus have 10 extra days to play with.

 

We are starting this year when his students do. Our dd will be in Ohio with grandparents the week we normally start. We begin August 3rd this year and should be done by the end of May.

[neesek]

This year we will start Aug. 10 and school for 9 weeks, then take 1 wk off. Then we will do another 9 weeks, and take 2 weeks off for Christmas. My goal is to be halfway done by Christmas. After Christmas, 18 or 19 weeks, with a week long spring break somewhere in the middle. We should be done by the 2nd or 3rd week of May.

 

We used this schedule for the first time this year, and it worked great for us.

[Truscifi]

We start our official school year the first Monday in August, and do a regular weekly schedule til November, when we take a 2-3 week break due to birthdays and travel as well as Thanksgiving. Then we take another break in December for Christmas. We take 2-4 weeks in the spring for vacation and travelling, then let out official school sometime in June depending on how much we have left to do - this year we finished early the 3rd week in May. During 'summer break' we do snuggle school. This means we only do 1-2 subjects a day, whenever we get around to it, 3-4 days a week, and we do it while snuggling on the couch instead of sitting up at the table. Despite the fact that we do the same work, and in fact ds has started on next year's text books, he insists it isn't real school if we snuggle while we do it! :tongue_smilie:

[kimmyandgracie]

Three weeks on, one week off year round.

[dangermom]

We pretty much follow the local public school, so that our girls feel like they're doing it with their friends. I take different days off of course, but we take similar vacation time and start/end times.

[AudreyTN]

August to July. We have to school 180 days. As I was planning the 09/10 School Year I used this Balanced Calendar to schedule our days off.

[SheWillFly]

Beginning of August to the end of May. We vacation in June, and volunteer in July.

[stephanie78]

We school year round. We start our new year in May, we school for twelve weeks on and then take a month off. I work it out where we finish our twelve week break in mid-November, and then take the whole month of December off. We also only do four days of actual school work, and the fifth day is for field trips or meeting up with our other hs friends.

[Willow]

Our school year normally starts mid to late January, then a week off at easter, another in July (ds birthday week) another in September (dds birthdays) and we stop in December at some point! It depends on the weather how long we take for the summer break. If it is a rainy Jan we may go back to school and have an extra summer holiday in February when the weather is usually more settled and everyone else is in school!

 

 

Note...we are in the southern hemisphere!

[phathui5]

We school year round, with Sundays off, taking other days off as needed. I take a week or two off during the year for planning and "mom's break."

 

Ds1 gets a week off in the summer for overnight camp.

 

I'd guess that we homeschool 45/52 weeks.

[Rainbows]

we pretty much follow the public school, since I have 3 in public school. But we are still doing a light homeschooling curic. over the summer just to keep him from forgetting what he's learned

[mcconnellboys]

I do 36 weeks (sometimes sneak in a week 37), from about the same time as public schools start until done (usually a week or two before them because I don't take all their breaks, snow days, etc.) School is school, whether it's a field trip or time spent writing, etc. So I count as school all our days, whether home or not.

[keptwoman]

I aim for 40 weeks which is standard for Australia. We start Early Feb-ish and finish Mid December-ish. We take breaks when we feel like it or have something on.

[Mama2Three]

For DD mid-Aug to June, roughly following the ps schedule since my DS in is ps. But we school year round for DS with occasional week long breaks.

[Chloe]

but I aim for 180 days. I plan 36 weeks, starting the first full week in August. We usually take off a week in September for a beach vacation, the week of Thanksgiving, 2 weeks at Christmas, a week in late Feb for cabin-fever, and a week in April for Easter. That gets us finished by Memorial Day (with a couple weeks to spare). We take off June and July ONLY because me dc are on the swim team and have practices for a couple of hours every morning, with 4-hour swim meets on Wed nights and Saturdays. Plus, they want some free swimming time as well. It's just too much to try to fit school in. If my dc were not on the swim team, we would continue school through the summer with 1/2 days every day. I'd really like that, but they love doing the swim team, and I don't want to discourage them.

[Snickerdoodle]

July 1- June 30.

[Mom22ns]

We will start back August 19th, that is the same as the ps. I take their calendar and modify it to fit us - a few more days off at Thanksgiving and Christmas, we don't take off for "teacher work days" etc. I try to have about the same number of days and start and end about the same time. My kids don't want to be in school when the ps kids are out.

[lauracolumbus]

Wow, I feel so lame compared to all of you. We're still trying to find a schedule that works for us, but mostly we're on par w/the public school schedule. My dreams of summer school get quashed quickly by both the kids and demands on my own time.

 

We do a little math and Latin over the summer, but not near as much as I'd like. Of course, reading is a given, but still....

 

Laura

[beezus]

My plan was to school year around, taking longer breaks in the winter and spring, but my kiddo has lots of friends in public school and grouches about having to do school when other kids are not. (Having time off when they are in school though doesn't seem to be a problem for her.) I just decided to go with approximately what the public schools do around here, which is start right after Labor Day and finish in early June. My daughter does lots of reading on her own all the time. I am instituting a small math review program for during the summer. We usually have most of our heavier classes from Monday through Thursday, then Friday is art and some lighter things, and catch-up day if we need it.

[LanaTron]

I tried loop-scheduling, but didn't get enough done in the year, so now we're playing catch up this summer. :sad:

 

Here's what I've planned starting this fall:

 

First term: September 20th-November 20th

Second term: January 4th-March 5th

Third term: March 22nd-May 21st

Fourth term: June 21st-August 20th

 

I'm also going to make weekly lesson plans for each child for each subject, on a term-by-term basis (so I won't do second term until 1st term has ended and I see where we acutally are in our materials). I'm trying that for the first time this summer, and I'm really digging it in ways I never thought I would.

 

Some of this may change, like we may start second term in December, and take a longer break somewhere else, or shorten our summer term. I have a plan, but have to be flexible because of Scouting stuff like camps, etc.

 

I am considering eventually moving to a September-May type calendar, taking the summer off, so we get a real break--the problem with breaking during the year, is that the activities are still going on, so it's not a break for me from everything. But I like being able to go on family trips when the majority of the world is not doing so because of school, so we'll see.

[melis108]

I like the idea of year round school, but after 8 years of homeschooling, we still take the summer off!

[sweetbaby]

We are year rounders too. We start our new year in September which is a bit earlier than usual but my oldest will start college in August so I will have school with 4 (two 6th, one 5th and one preschool) this year.

[Granny_Weatherwax]

We stick to the public school schedule. My DD is attending public high school and it's much easier to follow her schedule for vacations and breaks.

 

Also - DS will be returning to ps for high school and I believe it will be make for an easier transition if we follow the ps calendar.

[Guest sarathan]

I follow a traditional public school schedule because dh is a ps teacher and it's nice to not have to worry about school when he is home. But if he had a "normal" year-round job, I would probably do school year round with frequent breaks. :)

[crl]

Here in PA, we have to have 180 days so I try to sit down with a calendar and mark at least 180 throughout the year. We run our school year from July 1 to May 31 and take off the month of June plus lots of other breaks.

[SandKsmama]

We start first of August, usually take a week at Thanksgiving, 3 or 4 weeks at Christmas, a week at Easter, and are done the week of Memorial Day. There might be a few random days taken off here and there for "mental health" :-) as well.