Are we the only ones who dont start school until the end of August/ September??

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

Everybody seems to be starting so early! I live in Wyoming, we are lucky to have 4 nice months out of the year. I might even post pone starting until sometime in September if the weather stays nice! (meaning no snow, hmmm September around here, good chance of snow!:001_huh:)

[m0mmaBuck]

I don't start until September. We get 2, maybe 3 months without drizzle and I'm taking them all!

[HappyCrazyMama]

Not doing much here until Sept. When I was in school (long ago, lol) we always started in Sept. starting before then just doesn't seem right. :tongue_smilie: I did start MFW K but that's just like putting your toe in the water.

[SonshineLearner]

I'm trying to get a bit in now, but it's been hard...

:)

[Dinsfamily]

Summer is the worst part about TX. We start in June so that we can take liberal breaks in the spring and fall when the weather's nice. We do have a lot of summer activities (pool, swim lessons, golf lessons, vacation) but we get a lot done I'm between. If we still lived in the PNW, we take summer off to stock up on vitamin D.

[jazzyfizzle]

Here too! We are not starting until the day after Labor Day. We have fair the end of August, and we also want to savor every bit of sunshine we can.

 

:thumbup:

[Capt_Uhura]

I generally follow the PS calendar. Here we start 9/2 although we continue w/ stuff over the summer just different stuff. :001_smile:

[mazakaal]

I usually start in the last week of August, but now that oldest is in school, we'll start Sept 6th when school starts up again.

 

What's really weird for me is that we finish our school year in mid-late July, like the British schools, and I always find it funny that many here are starting their new school year before I've even finished my old one.

[Spock]

Everybody seems to be starting so early! I live in Wyoming, we are lucky to have 4 nice months out of the year. I might even post pone starting until sometime in September if the weather stays nice! (meaning no snow, hmmm September around here, good chance of snow!:001_huh:)

 

Around here (NC) the summer is hot and humid, so we have school now so we can be off at the time of year we have our nice weather. So, we start school in July for the same reason you start in September--to enjoy free time in nice weather (here, October/November and April-June are really nice, though we do have severe pollen allergies in April).

 

Right now the temperature is in the high 90's almost every day, with high humidity. My kids don't want to go outside anyway.

[Caitilin]

When my dc were younger we did this, and it was WONDERFUL. But...I have to be more organized now, both b/c my olders are, well, older:D, and b/c I have 5 kids schooling, so things need to be under control and planned, or they just don't happen. So, since I divide my year in quarters, and since I want to be done with 2nd quarter by Christmas, I have to start my year on August 23 this year. :scared: But, actually, life is easier around here when we have the routine of school, so I don't mind too much; even though I agree that, living here in the frozen north as I do, I really ought to be enjoying the weather when it's nice, not when the calendar says to. ;)

[Guest Cindie2dds]

We are starting August 23rd. I would start later, but we are taking a vacation in September, so the last week of August it is! :)

[LunaLee]

We won't be "officially" starting back until the day after Labor Day. Most of the ps's here start next week, but a.) its just too hot here b.) it's my busy time at work and c.) I'm not usually ready until then and d.) dd's b-day is towards the end of Aug and dh usually takes a week of vacation then.

 

However, I have slowly started trying to get the kids back into the swing of things. Pulling out the new curriculum and showing it to them, free reading is now reading with narration, daily math drills...that kind of thing. I just hate how it always takes about 3 weeks for us to find our groove again, so I'm hoping this will help that a bit.

[Luckymama]

We're following her older siblings' school calendars, so we're going to start Aug 31.

[Crimson Wife]

We HS year-round but count whatever day the local schools start as the beginning of the new grade. I think this year it's the 30th of August.

[FO4UR]

We school year round, generally speaking...but I started our official new year early b/c we are certainly moving this year, but we don't know when.:confused: So....starting early means more flexibility for real life...whenever it happens.

 

I think one of the perks of HSing is taking breaks for nice weather! By all means, do it!:001_smile:

[Tess in the Burbs]

we started mid Sept last year but I felt so far behind all year! When I tested this spring they were only halfway through their math!!!

 

We are starting some next week and the rest the week after. It's not a full day and no one can ever play that early in the day anyway :D

[Cranberry]

we are starting Aug. 23. I start whenever I can get 180 days in by Memorial weekend the next spring. That allows us to take Holy week off, a week at Thanksgiving, week at Christmas and a week in February. By the end of Summer, my guys are ready for the structure that school gives us. But when spring hits, we lose all focus so it's nice to be done by memorial day.

 

But when the weather is nice, we often take our school outside. math facts with driveway chalk, read-alouds under the oak tree, copywork at the picnic table, etc. We can even still hit the pool in the afternoon and take some things to listen to in the car.

[NanceXToo]

Last year, we started the day after Labor Day and finished in early May.

 

We'll be doing the same thing this year.

[Dolphin]

We are "officially" starting on Monday the 13th of September. We have been do school lite over the summer. One or 2 days a week. A little of his Spanish and math so that he doesn't forget it all. Math though is Rainbow Rock the computer games from Singapore Math. He thinks that it is a game. We are also doing some work on explorers that were before 1600 in preparation for Story 3. It is a heavy history year, and doing that before we really start makes it lighter for me.

[lejardin]

We begin school the day after Labor Day. It's in-born in me to keep summer to myself LOL and besides living in the north we want to savor the warm weather - we get such precious little of it over a year. I would like to finish by end of May...need to work on that this year!

[MissKNG]

We home school year round keeping summers light. We do follow the PS schedule for grade levels.

[Amy loves Bud]

No, you aren't!

 

We will spend some time the week of the 23rd organizing bookshelves and notebooks and supplies. I plan on having the kids organize their own materials this year because I'm trying to hand off more responsibilities to them.

 

Then, the week of the 30th, we'll do some fun stuff - history and science mainly, along with our family read alouds. Then after Labor Day we'll go full bore.

[skueppers]

We're starting August 23, because that's the day my younger child's preschool starts up again for the year.

[Amy in KS]

I would wait if the weather were nice! We started this week because actual temps are 100+ (yesterday 103) with heat indexes of around 110. The kids are only happy outside for about 10 minutes...

 

I live in KS and August is brutal! May, on the other hand, is very nice. So if we start early we can be done by the end of April/very beginning of May.

[BatmansWife]

We begin after Labor Day too.....in fact, we don't begin until January (well, it's *after* Labor Day......or is it before??) . :lol: Doesn't seem that too many people do that. We school year round so that the summer is much more light. So......we are either behind everyone else or ahead....depends on how you look at it. :tongue_smilie:

[ourjourneys]

We will start sept 19. I like to start then because we can enjoy the pool and other things for a month while public school kids are already in school :lol:

We also can take advantage of Target's school supply clearance just in time for our school to start!

[RootAnn]

Here too! We are not starting until the day after Labor Day.

 

:iagree: We did "summer school light" and are planning to enjoy August - including some trips - and not start our "school year" schedule until after Labor Day.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

I would wait if the weather were nice! We started this week because actual temps are 100+ (yesterday 103) with heat indexes of around 110. The kids are only happy outside for about 10 minutes...

 

I live in KS and August is brutal! May, on the other hand, is very nice. So if we start early we can be done by the end of April/very beginning of May.

 

 

*sigh* we get blizards in May. Oh well- thats why we are still in school then LOL. We have not even had a 100* day yet. (we usually get atleast a few) Maybe they are yet to come. The weather changes QUICK here though. So if we do end up with 100* days this month (thats a big if) we could still very easily get snow in September LOL

[MariannNOVA]

Last year we started early (middle of July I think) and that was good b/c LIFE INTERRUPTED and it was a good thing we had that head start.

This year, I had wanted to start middle of July again, but, frankly, I am burned out from last year and everything that went on, so I am waiting till after Labor Day.

When it gets cold and snowy here, the kids and I are content to sit and do school for hours every day. Right now, they are enjoying playing, painting, Lincoln Logs and Lego and other stuff.......I am sitting here trying to get the neurons to fire.:glare:

[Quiver0f10]

Nope. We are starting Aug 30th.

[ThelmaLou]

We will start sept 19. I like to start then because we can enjoy the pool and other things for a month while public school kids are already in school :lol:

We also can take advantage of Target's school supply clearance just in time for our school to start!

 

When does Taget clearance their supplies anyhow? I just hit the massive toy clearance last week and I'm hooked!

 

We'll be starting the day after Labor Day. I usually start early to mid-August, but I'm way behind where I want to be in planning. I'm trying the file/crate organization method, along with one more old college try with HST, and I don't know if I'll be able to complete my planning before September. But I'd rather be very well prepared and start later than jump in too soon and hobble along. A stitch in time, you know? I think I'll ultimately get more done this year with a little later start. We'll see. Besides, this is our first full Texas summer in a home with a pool, and my guys are swimming several hours a day.If we were schooling full time right now, they'd be missing out on all the water play.

 

One clarification: we do have some online and co-op classes starting before September. Ds 15 and ds 13 will begin begin Chemistry and Physical Science August 19th. Ds 15 will also begin an online GB class mid-August, and all 4 older boys will begin early Monday a.m. art classes some time in August. But math, grammar, vocab, spelling, etc... will all wait until Sept.

Lisa

Edited August 4, 2010 by ThelmaLou

[Sahamamama]

... we HS year-round, LOL. :D Then, when we're going stir-crazy -- in any season -- we can take time off and never be "behind."

 

What is that? Something to sit on, I think.

[Adrienne_in_TX]

We'll start the day after Labor Day here. Son's bday is Sept. 1 and he thinks that school can't start before then!!

[KrissiK]

We started today. It's hot here in the summer, so we might as well do school. We're going to be in the house with the AC on anyway. Also, I like to do 8-9 weeks on and 1 week off scheduling. I can't do any more than 9 weeks at a time or I go batty and the kids like the break. We do take 2 weeks off at Christmas, though. We took 6 weeks for summer vacation and they're already forgetting things, their reading is rusty (even though we did quite a bit of practicing over summer vacation), math is rusty, as are their study skills. This schedule just really works well for us!

[AlaskaGrownFamily]

I plan to start by the end of September. We're just waiting and seeing when the weather turns bad... Hee!

[momto2Cs]

I was planning on starting August 9th! But, we've decided to wait until the first week of September instead, enjoy the rest of our summer. I'll eventually be working on the ps schedule, so we might as well follow it now, for the most part.

[Bayt ul-Hikmah]

We started August 2 because Ramadan will be starting next week. I wanted to get in a solid week before the fasting starts. We'll take some time off at the end of Ramadan (mid September) and the Eid (holiday) that follows it.

[BigMamaBird]

We're starting September 7th, the day after Labor Day.

[AngieW in Texas]

We start our new schoolyear the same time our local ps starts. That will be August 23rd this year.

[curlygirlzx2]

We will be starting at the end of the month. I'm still waiting for curriculum I just ordered.

[kewb]

School starts the Wed. after Labor Day. Well, except this year. We are starting the Wed. before Labor Day so I can get some stuff covered before we head out to Colonial Williamsburg for their homeschool days.

[Food4Thought]

We start late here, also due to the weather. Our school system starts the day after labor day and ends a few weeks into June. I thought about starting in mid-August, but decided I'll start with PS in September and take advantage of what little summer we get.

[DarlaS]

I didn't start until September last year, but this year it will be Aug. 23. My oldest will start college classes then and we want to have breaks when he does this year.

[homeschooltoone]

We home school year round keeping summers light. We're starting the day after Labor Day.

[Homeschooling6]

We are taking a month off and starting in Sept. I'm tired :sleep:

[Mrs Mungo]

We're starting on September 6th.

[Matryoshka]

We follow the ps schedule - no school till after labor day! - so we'll be starting Sept 7th. Our activities don't start up this year till the week of the 13th!

 

This is pretty standard for this area of the country - no one I know IRL starts any earlier - okay I know one person who starts the last week of August to get a running start, but she's not from around here. :) I find all this starting mid-summer perplexing.

 

(we do "school-lite" in July and Aug, but it's mostly math and foreign language reinforcement, using different materials than the rest of the year.)

[5knights3maidens]

We are starting by the end of Aug/Sept. I wanted to start in July but it didn't happen. That's ok, though. I'm going to have everything copied, in binders, everything bought (hopefully), and we can just move on to schooling smoothly without having to worry that I need to find a craft or worksheet etc. :001_smile:

[Lily of the Valley]

We will start August 24 since my oldest starts PS that day. We'll also be taking a week off in September, so I want us to have a bit of a cushion.

[Paintedlady]

Because of dd's dyslexia we do "school light" in the summer but won't be back to a full schedule until after Labor Day.