How do YOU school year round?

[dakarimom5]

I think I want to school year round. I'm not sure of the best way to do it since I'm bringing 2 home from PS. I was thinking about taking off June and then starting in July but just review and remediation. So how do you school year round?

[zookeeperof3]

We start our new year the Monday after July 4th. Then, we take vacations throughout the year, usually a week in the spring and a week in the fall. We take the whole month of December off, a week for Thanksgiving, a week for Easter. Occasionally a Mom sanity break for a day or two.

[GoVanGogh]

We start our new school year in January, then just fall into a natural routine. Four to six weeks on, one to two weeks off, just whatever fits the schedule and my mood. I do try to take four weeks off in December, so I can plan the new school year and enjoy the holidays without the pressure of also doing school.

[Kerrie in VA]

We have always schooled year round for five years. Our best balance is following a school schedule for two months and then off for two weeks plus additional vacation around holidays and special vacations. One month on was too short to really get into the subjects, focus, and accept the school schedule. Since we take a month off during the winter extended family holidays, I try to finish up before Thanksgiving and start the new curriculum with the new year when things are less hectic in the winter with other activities.

Edited March 19, 2011 by Kerrie in VA

[sparrow]

We've always done it, so for us, it's just finish something, move on to the next thing. We school M-F, usually 9am-1 or 2pm. We take about 10 days off for a trip in the winter and a day, or two, at a time when we need it.

 

It's such a part of our day, we feel a little lost without the structure, despite it being a very loose structure!

[iwjeanie]

We do 15 days a month. At the beginning of the month I sit down with the kids and go over activities and decide what days we are doing "school". I've been doing it this way since last fall and so far it's going good. When we finish something, we just move on to the next level. I do keep track of long term goals (what I what to accomplish every 6 months or so) to make sure we stay on track.

Edited March 19, 2011 by iwjeanie

[Samiam]

We start in mid-July, and usually end by June of the next year for our "school year".

 

I also stagger subjects though, meaning start a few the first week of school, add a few more the next week, a few more the following week, so by mid-August, when the PS kids are back to school too, we are on a full schedule.

 

The benefit to this staggering start is that we also have a staggered end. Meaning all subjects are not ended on the same day. But those subjects that we started in mid-July are ending by mid-Aprilish, and so as the weather warms up and we are ready to get out of the house to enjoy it, our school schedule is getting lighter and lighter.

 

Besides a week or two as Christmas, and the first two weeks of July, we do not normally take scheduled breaks. We take time off when we need it, when family visits, family birthdays, when I need a mental break, when we are going on all-day field trip, etc.

[NittanyJen]

One way to do it is to school for 3 or 4 weeks, then take one week off. I'd suggest being a little flexible in that schedule so you don't sweat natural breaks such as holiday weeks-- sit down with a calendar and map it out a bit so you can total up your weeks to see how the math works out for school attendance purposes if your state requires you to report attendance. (Or . . . 6-8 weeks, then take 2 weeks off; you get the idea).

 

(you don't want to have to put in an emergency 16-week marathon at the end of the year because you goofed it up).

 

That's what we're doing too-- for the district purposes anyway-- though I tell my kids not to worry too much about what "year" we're in any more. In terms of subjects, I tell them we'll progress in terms of their mastery and abilities, not in terms of "grade level" from here on out. Year only has meaning for purposes of reporting attendance to the school district.

 

We aren't "unschoolers;" but even (or particularly) in a classical education it makes no sense to move forward in the skill subjects (math, science, spelling, grammar) until the student masters it at their current developmental level (ie, if the kid gets an 80% on a spelling quiz, he's going to see those words again, or else what was the point?). I think year-round schooling assists this process, because it eliminates the need for excessive review-- just keep on truckin'! :D Also, my husband goes to a lot of conferences for his job, and we love the flexibility to pick up and go with him!

 

Good luck!

 

Jen

[TammyinTN]

We basically school February - November. We are moving back to the states in December and will use December and January to get settled. Then back to school from Feb-Nov with lots of field trip break and long weekends in between.

[Mom2J112903]

We don't follow a schedule, just taking breaks when need be.

 

Most likely we will take a week at Easter since family will be in from out of town and that will be the first extended break since the beginning of the year.

 

I do like all my core subjects to start and end together, so we will finish all of those late May. We will take a week or so off and then start back up :)

[prairiegirl]

Every year has been different for us. This year we started in Aug. We took a week off here and there when we needed it then we took a month off in Dec. We started in Jan. took a week off in mid Feb and we now have to go full steam until June. We will take off the month of July and then start up again in Aug.

[katemary63]

I start our new year July 1. I schedule several weeks as our "vacation" weeks for the year. They are grouped in the fall and spring because that's when we do more outdoor stuff here. Summer is too hot. We might as well be doing school.

 

Our weeks off are

1 in Sept.

2 in Oct.

2 in Nov.

1 in Dec.

2 in April

2 in May

Maybe 1 in June if we're on schedule.

 

 

But I build in extra days so we can take off spontaneously if we want to. Then we just do school everyday that is scheduled unless we can't or unless something great to do comes along. On our scheduled weeks off, if it's bad weather, we do school. Nothing is written in stone. The point for us is to be able to go out and ride horses on good fall and spring days. If we can't ride, we'll do school that day so we can ride another day. As spring approaches, if we are not on schedule we'll do half days on "vaccation" days or double days on scheduled days to catch up or even school on Saturday. No matter what, we finish at the end of June so we can start the new year July 1. I do have specific goals that constitute "finishing" the current school year. We're very motivated to work hard during the wet winter and hot summer so that we can have our glorious fall and spring days off.

[Frontier Mom]

We participate in a co-op so when it ends in April we tackle other subjects that haven't received the time they deserve....like math! We really got behind this year so we are using the summer to catch up. This will be more like a block schedule but should work OK. What with the extra time our co-op has taken this year and the death of my father, we haven't kept up in all subjects. However, since my dcs know we school year round, it takes some of the pressure off.

[Joyofsixreboot]

We go year round with breaks like this

Year begins 2nd week of June~math and grammar and finish /continue history

Take first 2 weeks of July off for holiday and camp

2nd summer session 3rd week of July through 3rd week Aug~math, grammar, science

Labor day through Halloween, We take Halloween and Nov. 1 off

Take off Wed, Thu and Fri at Thanksgiving

2 weeks at Christmas

1 week Spring break

Finish 3rd week of May

 

We've got lots more than the req 180 days so I don't mind an occasional light day or field trip, the kids have time off but never so long we have to back up and review much.

[CalicoKat]

I think I want to school year round. I'm not sure of the best way to do it since I'm bringing 2 home from PS. I was thinking about taking off June and then starting in July but just review and remediation. So how do you school year round?

 

We've been doing this and I've never been more burned out.

Edited March 19, 2011 by CalicoKat

[OLG]

We did it a variety of ways starting with just math during the summer three days a week. BUt then found that schooling for six weeks followed by a week off was a delightful schedule. We got lots of breaks!!

[Quad Shot Academy]

We only plan to take 2 weeks off for certain. We take Christmas (usually 1.5 weeks) and spring break (when the PS does). For spring break the kids clean all morning with me and have the afternoon off for playing with the neighborhood kids. I deep clean the school areas and plan the next year. Other than that, we take off for any field trip or play date that we want, with no guilt. If I need a mental health day, get sick or am busy with something unusual, the kids get a do what you want school day. They spend our typical school hours keeping busy with any independent subjects they want. We also have outside days when the weather is just perfect. The kids can play outside for as long as they want, but do school when they get bored and come back in.

[Ellie]

The year begins January 1 and ends December 31. Why should learning be any different? How could it be different, anyway? :001_smile: Even back in the day of some children needing to be off during harvest times (and how many children really needed to do that, anyway?) there were *terms*: a fall term, a winter term, a summer term. Children attended when they could. Their placement was based on which level of reader they were in; when they finished with the last reader, they were graduated. They didn't necessarily "start first grade" in the fall. When they started attending school, they were in the first reader, regardless of how old they were.

 

And as far as I can tell, there were lots of permutations on this, anyway.

 

In short, why our current schools feel the need to have a September-through-June school year is not how it has been done historically nor the way homeschoolers have to do it.

 

In our home, we took Thanksgiving through about the middle of January; a couple of weeks in the spring around Easter (I always get spring fever); and a couple of weeks in late August/early September. We also took off any other random times of the year (Disneyland in the middle of the week in March, grandparents visiting from out of town, and so on). Otherwise we just kept working on stuff until we finished, then we moved on to the next stuff.

 

For the sake of grandparents and Sunday school teachers, I "promoted" dc in the fall ("DC, you are now a 5th grader; go forth and prosper." :D), but moved dc to the next level of any Official School Stuff when they finished the current one.

[TxMama]

I break up our year into quarters. I plan on doing 9 weeks of school each quarter which gives us 4 weeks break.

 

Our quarters are July/Aug/Sept; Oct/Nov/Dec; Jan/Feb/March;Apr/May/June.

 

At the beginning of each quarter I preplan a couple of weeks break...ie.older brother is coming into town...and leave a couple of flex weeks for illnesses or when mama needs a break.

 

I "promote" in the summer but we start curriculum when we finish the old and do not wait until the next school year.

 

hth

[bluemongoose]

Our new school year starts the first week of Sep and the year ends the last week of August. This is only for giving a "new grade level" for the kids. They requested to know what grade they are in due to others asking.

 

As far as vacation time, we take it whenever we need to. We always take some time around holidays and usually have some play-dates and things we call school off for. Mainly we like year round schooling because we get more done in a year, but we can take off time when we burn out, want to play with friends, or go on a trip. It is very flexible, and when we do take off for any reason, we do not feel like we have to "make up" a day that we missed. There is also the advantage of not having a long break and then having to review everything to remember what we did "last year". When we complete a book, we just move on to the next. :)

[laughing lioness]

We do "school lite" in the summer.

We continue with some math, memory work and reading. This summer I am putting together a scavenger hunt so that school can have built in rewards and FUN! (i'm going to include lots of bike rides, walks, swimming, games, etc).

Our "official" year starts and stops with co-op and class day.

[In2why]

We start in mid-July, and usually end by June of the next year for our "school year".

 

I also stagger subjects though, meaning start a few the first week of school, add a few more the next week, a few more the following week, so by mid-August, when the PS kids are back to school too, we are on a full schedule.

 

The benefit to this staggering start is that we also have a staggered end. Meaning all subjects are not ended on the same day. But those subjects that we started in mid-July are ending by mid-Aprilish, and so as the weather warms up and we are ready to get out of the house to enjoy it, our school schedule is getting lighter and lighter.

 

Besides a week or two as Christmas, and the first two weeks of July, we do not normally take scheduled breaks. We take time off when we need it, when family visits, family birthdays, when I need a mental break, when we are going on all-day field trip, etc.

 

 

Yep this is how we do it as well. We even stagger subjects the same way. We also have one child in Public school so we do vacation, but I also like for him to have some homeschooling during summer. His school experience is a good one, but I feel that their writing instruction could be better. So we work on writing, critical thinking/logic, and he reads over the summer, while the others are doing their subjects.

[Crimson Wife]

We do shorter days (usually done by lunch), year round. We usually take a bit of time off around the holidays and when we go back East to visit our relatives in the summer.

[elfgivas]

fwiw....

 

we aim to be done at the end of may. the next two weeks are wiggle room to finish up anything that took us a bit longer. if they are all done, then we have a holiday.

 

starting mid-June, younger does a two week 1/2 day theatre camp + music (piano, violin, voice) + dance + math. choir is on break. elder does full school (minus history and writing, which we do online and which are on break until september).

 

starting july, elder does a month long theatre camp, full days, + music (violin and voice) + dance. choir is on break. younger does full school (minus history and writing, which we do online and which are on break until september).

 

august we do full school, and take two weeks off, one week for ballet performance, and a week's worth of camping. that is the end of our first quarter.

 

second quarter: september-november

full school. often there is a one week trip with dh wherever he happens to be working.

 

december: math, reading, writing, history + the arts. we perform (dance and sing and play the violin) all the way through december, pretty much.

 

we take two weeks off over christmas/new years.

 

january, february: full school

end of third quarter.

 

we take at least one week, sometimes two, in march to travel with dh wherever he is working.

 

fourth quarter: march, april, may

 

we do full school march and april. in may, we perform and compete (dance, violin, choir), so they do history, math, writing, individual reading.

 

and then its june, and we start again ; ).

 

every other year, we go somewhere for a whole month, wherever dh is working. some years its australia, some years, its other places. depending on where it is, and whether we are staying in one place or moving around, we take school books or not. mostly, it works well to do a unit study on wherever we are. sometimes we just embrace the experience fully....

 

if they didn't do so much artsy stuff, we could be way more flexible, but this way we get in all our days + a few, they don't forget much because they are not off for more than 2-3 weeks at a time.

 

i would burn out if i did four days a week every week forever and ever amen, but working really hard and then having time off works for us all really well.

 

i think its like any aspect of homeschooling - you try it one way, and then tweak it until it works well for most of you most of the time ; )

 

fwiw,

ann

[ecj98]

We follow a fairly normal school schedule during the school year (DH is a teacher, so we loosely follow his schedule) and the school "lite" during the summer. 2 summers ago we picked a theme a week and read books and did activities related to it (things like camping, jungle, beach, etc.). Last summer we picked an author a week and did the same.

[Koerarmoca]

We are brining dd's home from pvt next year. They have an "extended school year" They start the year the first week of Aug, they get out mid June (longer this year with so many snow days) They have longer smaller breaks through the year. The take a week off between semesters, and other breaks around holidays and such. It's a good fit for them. I am entertaining the idea of 6 weeks on 1 week off. I plan to lightly school over the summer and to officially start early Aug and go from their.

[kalanamak]

I think I want to school year round. I'm not sure of the best way to do it since I'm bringing 2 home from PS. I was thinking about taking off June and then starting in July but just review and remediation. So how do you school year round?

 

 

Technically, I start 1 Aug, right after kiddo's B-day, but that is getting more blurred as time goes on.

I take the years work (which is time required plus minimum allowable progress), divide it into 12, and get a 12th of it done each month. The last week of the month I leave for catch-up or for extra fun, depending on how we did. Usually, after something comes up, or illness, there is either art, history or science to catch up on, and we might do a few days of just math review, grammar and that errant subject. I plan ahead for travel and try to make up as much of the time as I can before going, but something have to make up some after.

 

I got my "time" requirements by reading WTM. If she says to do X subject 20 minutes a day 4 days a week, I do 20x4x36/60 (hours per year) and then divide that by 12. That is what I reach for each month as a minimum time requirement. I then look at the curriculum. I take a "reasonable" amount (2 books of SM or one year of GWG or WWE, e.g.) and divide that up into 12. That is my "double-check". Thus far we have gotten through each of such things in less than a year. If it we get through a year of grammar, e.g. in only 6 months, using the advised time method, I beef up what I expect from kiddo a bit. Add extras or skip some drill and move to the next level.

So far math and writing are the only two subjects we're doing "extra" on, and even those are staying near the time requirements, if you subtract the "daydreaming minutes" kiddo intercalates in math class :001_smile:.

 

I picked this method of planning and "double checking my reasonableness" because I've never taught anybody anything before, had very little to do with kids (and therefore what can be expected of them), have no time to waste, and have a very wiggly boy. WTM, the advice, the curriculum, the sense of sanity and hope it gives, made this all possible to my generally-orderly mind being faced with the anarchic phenomenon known as "a kid".

 

HTH!

[alpidarkomama]

I divide our various curricula and/or goals into 10 parts. Then we count June/July as one month and August/September as a second month. Each of the other months are counted as a full month. We take off all the Jewish holidays, and on days that papa is home we don't have learning time. Then I just keep tabs on whether we're a little ahead or a little behind and adjust as we go. Sometimes we change our goals if needed... it works pretty well for us!

[MelissaMinNC]

I break up our year into quarters. I plan on doing 9 weeks of school each quarter which gives us 4 weeks break.

 

Our quarters are July/Aug/Sept; Oct/Nov/Dec; Jan/Feb/March;Apr/May/June.

 

At the beginning of each quarter I preplan a couple of weeks break...ie.older brother is coming into town...and leave a couple of flex weeks for illnesses or when mama needs a break.

 

I "promote" in the summer but we start curriculum when we finish the old and do not wait until the next school year.

 

hth

 

 

I think Wendy told me about her system on another board; I fully intend to steal it for this coming school year. :D We will finish this year at the end of May, take off June and start the 1st quarter of the new year in July. We'll probably school a couple of weeks in July, 2 or 3 weeks in August and then all of September - just trying to get in 9 weeks out of every 13 week quarter.

 

I realized this year that I cannot go from January to April without a break built in - my brain is fried and my house is a mess and...I just need a little time off built into the plan. So, we'll give it a try and see how we go.

 

:)

Melissa

[delaney]

Since this is our first full year I am not entirely sure but this is the plan. We will go until PS lets out and take the end of June off since we have a dance competition in Myrtle Beach for a week. Then we will do 3 days of math(just like 30 minutes) and finish up Prima Latina, do 2 days of history since I am waaaaay behind, and we will work on Trail guide world or US geography as well. I refuse to let them sit idle all summer b/c Christmas break nearly killed us! Oh and reading of course.

[Haiku]

We start the Monday after July 4th. We go four weeks on, one week off, year round, except we take two weeks at Christmas and two weeks at the end of June. We also school four days per week, taking Fridays off.

 

Tara

[Jenn in Mo]

No real schedule here. We "start" at the beginning of August, just because the school supplies and back-to-school fever start here. But our books start and end throughout the year and we just go on to the next thing. Science and History are the only items that define our school year, but they always end at the end of June. Even if they ended in May, we end them in June by filling in with more reading assignments. For example, we're studying Ancients this year, and if we finish history with time to spare, I'll give them fun fiction like "Percy Jackson" or "Detectives in Togas" to fill in and call it history.

 

We take off the entire month of December, but all other breaks are unscheduled. It's so nice to be able to run off and visit or whatever and not worry that it is going to throw our entire schedule off-kilter.

[tammyw]

Well we've never had a start or stop point. But we're pretty eclectic and don't follow a specific routine. I say, since you're just starting out on this path, to just start doing what feels right and it will evolve into what works for you. You will probably have to switch things up a good bit here and there, but just remember, now that they are home, you don't have to follow anyone else's schedule but your own. If you want to do Science on Saturday night at 8pm, so be it (us last night). If you want to spend all of July just studying one subject, you can (depending of course on your state's regulations).

[Jen in PA]

We take June off, plus take days off as needed throughout the year. In July and August we do light school, with a heavy emphasis on enjoying the summer reading program and outdoor activities.

[ScoutTN]

Helpful thread, thanks! :)

 

This is our first year, so I'm a total beginner, but here's what seems best for us right now:

 

We began mid-August and have taken the traditional school breaks, doing school 4 days a week. I can tell from Christmas that we will do better to keep on with reading/phonics, math and handwriting steadily without huge breaks. We would do that with Bible and read-alouds anyway.

 

So our plan for the coming year is to finish K in late May, break for Memorial day weekend and early June. In later June and July we'll keep on as we have been doing all year, except that we'll be able to go 5 days. With lots of swimming, picnics, catching fireflies, gardening etc. Since my kids are so little and only one doing formal schoolwork we have plenty of time for both school and recreation. I will do our umbrella school registration so that our school year will officially begin mid-June.

 

In August we will stagger start (as several pp have mentioned) spelling, history and science. Ballet and choir and mid-week church activities will resume in late August or early Sept.

 

We'll take the traditional school breaks at Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring Break and take additional days off and vacations as needed. I love having the freedom to play outside for most of the day on glorious spring and fall days! And get our required 180 days without a problem.

[JessMcG]

School is our default schedule. We take off as needed. Last year we got in 190 days of school and we're about 2 weeks of ahead of that this year.

[sheryl]

Full schedule mid Aug to mid June. From mid June to end of July we'll focus on math and language. 2 weeks off then start up again mid Aug.

 

The ONLY reason I do this is b/c my dd is s.n. and often times it's hard for her to finish her work. We really don't have a choice. :glare:

 

I should say there is another reason and that is so that my dd will not forget her core subject skills of math and language.

[tex-mex]

Then, we take vacations throughout the year, usually a week in the spring and a week in the fall. We take the whole month of December off, a week for Thanksgiving, a week for Easter. Occasionally a Mom sanity break for a day or two.

We do the similar thing too.

 

I homeschool year round math and science -- as it usually takes a bit longer for my special needs child (i.e. ADHD/Dysgraphia/Rare Liver Disease) to do the work. And I am a stickler for not moving on to the next lesson if he misses problems. I like to do a day of review, for example. Or I will pull out the online tutorials from Khan Academy or Keys to (Series) and go over the concept til he masters it. And often we have lots of doctors appointments so going year round with math and science really helps.

 

I begin the "new" year in early August -- take a week off for Thanksgiving. I used to take the whole month of Dec off when son was in lower grades, but now he is in High School and we do 2 weeks in early Dec of schooling. Then a 3 week break mid-Dec to Jan. If it is a holiday, we take a break. Sick days, obviously. Or mom needs a "mental health day". ;) One week off for Spring Break. Keep plugging away 'til late June. The month of July is our vacation with a trip up to Grandma's home on the lake with ds and his friend. Then first week of August, math and science begins ASAP.

 

I find it is very easy to do Language Arts/English/Reading in the 8-9 months and usually is not year round. But every child is different and it depends on the rigor or curriculum you choose. HTH

[ItsJustMe]

We document 15 days a month. We learn things 365 days a year, but my children are responsible for documenting only 180 days of that. They can choose whatever 15 days each month they want. :)

[Jennifer3141]

We don't follow a schedule at all. Our goals are to comeplete all our work in a year's time and take time off when we need it. :001_smile:

[Desert Strawberry]

We stagger the school year. Each child starts his new year around his birthday (depending on how quickly he finishes his work, and how prompt I am at ordering his new stuff). I don't schedule breaks. We take them as needed. I was sick for a few months this year, so we took some time off. We take time off to travel. In the summer they will have classes (sports, art, etc) for 6 weeks instead of school.

[lllll]

...

[happyWImom]

We haven't done year-round, but I have finally figured out that having the whole summer off actually causes more anxiety here. We need some sort of structure.

 

So, we are going to continue with our normal schedule until June, and then June-August, I will do math & spelling (AAS) lessons once a week, and we will do science & nature studies daily. I have 3 different science curriculums that I'm planning on using, so they will have plenty to work with. And, they will have daily reading time.

[RahRah]

Our school year, in our state, runs July 1 to June 30, so I started DS with first grade the day after the 4th of July holiday....we did basic stuff, no formal schedule during the summer months, then ramped up as we headed into fall.

 

We have an hours basis for record keeping, so based on that, we'll finish meeting the requirements around the end of April - but we'll keep going and just exceed hours for the year.

 

This summer, when we officially start second grade on July 5th, I do have a bit more of a routine planned since we've gotten into one in the last few months.....we'll just do shorter days, with the focus on math, reading and writing, and all other subjects will be based on interest and time available. We'll break for a couple of camps, vacation and days here and there through the summer months and then get into a more structured day starting in September.

[Rivka]

Well we've never had a start or stop point. But we're pretty eclectic and don't follow a specific routine. I say, since you're just starting out on this path, to just start doing what feels right and it will evolve into what works for you. You will probably have to switch things up a good bit here and there, but just remember, now that they are home, you don't have to follow anyone else's schedule but your own. If you want to do Science on Saturday night at 8pm, so be it (us last night). If you want to spend all of July just studying one subject, you can (depending of course on your state's regulations).

 

:iagree:

 

We have an official grade roll-over date of June 1st, because my daughter finished nursery school at the end of May and we began homeschooling June 1st. So this June 1st she'll have finished an entire year, and will become a 1st grader. But we don't necessarily start or stop things at a particular point. She'll finish MEP 1b in March or April, and we'll begin 2a the next day. We began SOTW 1 in January, and we'll probably finish sometime in the late fall and go on to SOTW 2. We start and stop things when they work for us, and our schedule is mostly "do the next thing" rather than "do X on Y date."

 

Similarly, we take vacations when we want to take vacations. I decided that my daughter's April birthday will kick off a week of spring break, because that will be a fun birthday present. :D I took a week off in October because I had some things I wanted to get done. Again, we do what works for us. Everyone is happy and relaxed that way.

[Pretty in Pink]

We don't take schedules breaks; rather, we take a week off here or there if I begin feeling burnt out, if we take an unexpected trip, or if dh has time off from work.

 

Sometimes we take two or three weeks off of formal academics -- when we welcome a new baby or move, for instance.

 

Sometimes we just take an unexpected day or three here and there -- the first few days of warm weather each spring or out of town guests, perhaps.

 

This generally works out to each child being ahead in mathematics by the time they approach 3rd and 4th grade. We generally tend to linger in science and historoy, as we use living books and those subjects can be so interesting and varied. English generally takes the entire calendar year because I break it up with lots of writing assignments (for older children) or lots of copywork/dictation (younger children).

 

I find that schooling year-round really takes the pressure off of me as educator. I have never worried about the children falling behind in any area, nor do I feel the need to double up lessons or plan catch-up days, etc.