Year round homeschooling!

[simka2]

• How does this look in your home?
  
• What to you do to avoid burnout?
  
• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?
  
• What does your planner look like?
  
• When do you find the time to plan?
  

I know, a lot of questions. I have hit a burn out phase. I was trying to plan out our next year, while maintaining our core subjects. We have had some recent family issues develop...and I finally decided to take a week or so off. I am feeling better, but now I am putting serious thought into how I go about year round schooling. I still feel this is the best route for our famly, but I am looking for more concrete ways to implement it.

 

I also noticed that my kids have started to play well together again. Almost as if they weren't getting enough down time together. I want to maintain academic rigor, but I also feel the need to plan in down time.

 

Not sure if this makes sense to anyone.

[bluemongoose]

How does this look in your home? Our school year starts the first full week of September and ends the last full week of August. We school 5 days a week during the PS year and a 3 day school week during the summer. We also do a lighter schedule in the summer. We continue with math and practice our PR vowel and consonant teams, but we drop PR work. We also continue with history reading at half speed.

 

What to you do to avoid burnout? We take a break whenever we need one.

 

How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids? They are the next grade level (by title) the first week of September. As far as the actual curriculum, they just move on to the next level when they complete one. I dont have a lot of experience with multiple children as one of mine is going into 2nd this year and the other is in preschool.

 

What does your planner look like? I use HST+. I plan out the whole year and enter it into the program. When we decide to take a break I simply use the reschedule feature. This works well because we do end up schooling more days a year than PS anyway, so we are always ahead. I never feel stressed about rescheduling for a break because I know we can take one, it doesnt mess up the planner and we will not be behind in reality.

 

When do you find the time to plan? Sporadically through the year. I do a big planning during June for TOG and put the whole TOG year plan in HST+. With other subjects I enter the next level in HST as I notice DC is about to complete a level.

 

please exuse any grammar mistakes-I have not had breakfast yet and I am pregnant-so a little foggy in the morning:).

[black_midori]

We school year-round, but take periodic week-long (or so) breaks. Since I do taxes, our main vacation time is during tax season - my plan for the upcoming year to implement this is to take 3 weeks off in March/April and start our new grade in late April when we begin school again. We also only do school 4 days a week throughout the year (since I work 2 days and need 1 day of down time!!).

 

So - school year April to March with 3 week break between, schooling 4 days a week year-long, and taking an additional 4 weeks during the school year is how ours looks! Those 4 weeks are usually 1 for Christmas, 1 or 2 for Summer camps, and 1 or 2 random "extras"!!

[Ellie]

I figured since in the real world, the year began January 1 and ended December 31, it didn't make sense to have a school year that started in August or September. :confused:

 

Our general routine/schedule was this:

 

We started around the middle of January; took off a couple of weeks in the spring around Easter; took off a couple of weeks in late August/early September; took off Thanksgiving through about the middle of January.

 

I went through any Official School Stuff to see what would need to happen in which order, then did the next thing. We continued with any Official School Stuff until we were finished (or tired of it!), then went on to the next thing, whenever that was.

 

We also took random days off as needed--grandparents visiting, Disneyland in the middle of the week in April, parent mental health day, whatever.

 

For the sake of grandparents and Sunday school (or any other outside group that asked for "grade level"), we "promoted" in the fall ("My child, you are now IN THIRD GRADE!! Go forth and prosper!"); otherwise we just moved on to the next level, whenever that needed to be done.

 

Our weekly routine, year round, was this: Monday and Tuesday: Official School Days; Wednesday: library; Thursday: field trip; Friday: clean house (once-a-month park day). The only days that really changed would have been Monday and Tuesday, as we put away Official School Stuff at Thanksgiving. Keeping library, field trip, and house cleaning added just enough controlled outside adventure for burn-out management.

[RahRah]

How does this look in your home?

 

During the 'traditional' school year we do a normal, full schedule with planned breaks around holidays and vacations.

 

Basically from early-August until late-April we're doing school work M-F for a couple of hours a day. Reading is the only 7-day a week subject, with M-F doing lessons and Sat-Sun read aloud or us reading to DS.

 

Once DS finishes up the plans for the year and we've hit the state requirement for hours (all subjects aren't completed at the same time I've learned) - then we take a break (couple of weeks) then modify to a lighter schedule until the new school year starts for the "hours" clock again, which is July 1st. For us, this year, that has meant that we do reading Sun-Sat still (about a half hour a day), some math (two-three times a week, about 15-minutes each time), and science as it comes (which lately is a couple of hours a week, DS loves science stuff). With no much in the way of formal lessons, DS does a lot of activities and sports, as well as work on some of his cub scout loops and pins he wants to do over the summer months.

 

Come July 1st, we'll start the clock again to record and meet the state requirement for hours and slowly get back into the swing of things with a bit more formal schedule, still lighter than during the school year, but with some structure and definite lesson plans to get through before we start up with more to do each day in early-August. During the six weeks before we get into the full schedule, we'll do about an hour a day of reading, LA, math and also history-science (depending on what day it is), with reading still continuing Sun-Sat as a daily thing no matter what.

 

What to you do to avoid burnout?

 

We have multiple breaks throughout the year for family visiting, our going on vacation and/or holidays. I don't have a particular number of weeks we do school before breaks, we just do the schedule and break when we have something planned and continuing school work wouldn't work into whatever it is. That said, we also do a lot of "stealthy" learning even when we're on vacation - it's not formal schoolwork, but it is educational nonetheless (like visits to science centers, etc.).

 

How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

 

I'm only HSing one at the moment, but transitioning subjects to the next level, for us, is simply moving on with the material if it's math, science or reading. If we managed to finish something like history early, I think I'd find something more to do within what we'd finished (projects, additional books to read, unit study, biography, etc.) or just end for the year and pick up something else that DS is interested in.

 

What does your planner look like?

 

I no longer try to plan by the day, or even the week, well in advance. Instead I have a plan for each subject - outlined, projects, pages to get done, etc. - in progression over the course of the year. With a plan for each subject, I can then more easily plug-in what's next into the monthly and weekly plans I do along the way - doing more where needed, less if we're getting too far ahead and "between-subject" alignment is getting off for subjects where I try to align things to flow together (ie. history and some science areas).

 

When do you find the time to plan?

 

During the late spring early summer when DS has pretty much finished up the year's work and we're just doing a light schedule - right now I'm almost done with each subject for next year with an outline, flow-chart to progress through the subject and what I *think* we'll do each month....next week I'll set up our first two weeks of plans and start with that and see how it goes doing it that way, and mid-way through week two, I'll lay out the next two weeks and so on and so on!

[FloAla1975]

How does this look in your home?

We start the school year around the middle of January (after a long winter/Christmas break). I live in the south, so we take longer breaks in the cooler months, and do more school in the summer when we are avoiding the heat anyway.

What to you do to avoid burnout?

I break up all of the material into 4-6 week units. After each unit we take a 1-4 week break, then start back up.

How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

We begin new graded material in January. I only have one though.;)

What does your planner look like?

Hectic-but that's how I like it!

When do you find the time to plan?

I've found that planning in spurts works best for me. I will work out a yearly calendar first, then plan out the units one at a time. It prevents mommy burnout that way.

[justamouse]

We've just implemented year round schooling ourselves. I tried to last year but we were still moving in and getting it all done every day was just too much.

 

What I've been doing is school lite, in a way.

 

Maths, copywork, reading, Latin. We get it all done in about 2 hours, then spend the rest of the day by the pool or watching movies, crafting, playing instruments, gardening. The older (going to be 12) is really making a break away from the youngers so he's off doing independant work most of the time. I just tell him what to do. :D

 

You know, it's weird, but over the last year I realized I was schooling 6 kids at once and I almost fell over. NO WONDER I didn't get everything done in my day! I'm surprised we got as much done as we did! And, the past year was a tough nuts and bolts year, too. This year it will be 5 schooling, and no breakup in the day so things *should* go easier.

 

I don't schedule. Mostly ever. It sounds horrible, I know, but what I've found is that I will write it all out--and never look at it, but still get it done. So I've come to call that the schedule of *do the next thing*. It really is easy. What did we do yesterday? Last time? Do the next thing. The next lesson, the next page, whatever. Eating the elephant one bite at a time. That way also reduces the stress. That planner mocks you. It tells you how much you didn't do, how far you are off, it stresses you out. If you just keep swimming, it still gets done, but with no stress. When the book is done, you go up a level. And you do the next thing. :001_smile: I take off when I see burnout coming (a week or two). I take off when we need to for anything special like a visit or holiday.

 

I DO read ahead and notate in the book a project I would like the lesson to correspond to.

 

I avoid burnout by not planning it all out, and by taking breaks. Plus, leaving 3/4 of the day to play in the summer still is a great summer break. ;) Time by the pool goes by snail slow.

 

For the sake of grandparents and Sunday school (or any other outside group that asked for "grade level"), we "promoted" in the fall ("My child, you are now IN THIRD GRADE!! Go forth and prosper!"); otherwise we just moved on to the next level, whenever that needed to be done.

:lol::lol: that's awesome! I'm gonna steal that one if it's ok with you.

 

I've found that I put away school work at Thanksgiving, too. This year, because it's the first settled year in the house, I'm going to try a few new scheduling things, like starting to prepare for Christmas in summer so it's not insanity of crafting presents at the last minute. Decorating all through Nov so it's not a last minute rush. I'm hoping the liturgical year will help me find a new schedule that's a bit more harmonious for school/holiday. Like because of the liturgical year, Easter this year was amazing. It was smooth, it flowed, I wasn't stressed. That's what I'm hoping will happen for advent/Christmas.

Edited June 25, 2011 by justamouse

[zenjenn]

I really wanted to do this in theory, but in reality, I find it very difficult. Between all the opportunities for camps and summer activities and all the neighbor kids wanting to play, I just haven't been able to make it happen.

 

I admit though, I do LOVE camps, and I think it may be worth the sacrifice. My kids are enrolled in six weeks this summer. :blink: But, I think it is good for my kids to have the experience of daily time away from me since it doesn't happen during the school year, especially for my youngest who is too clingy.

 

So I have made a huge compromise. We read and discuss (shh - I don't call it school!), and I am having my rising 3rd grader work on times table memorization so we are not burdened with that next year. And, I do try to remember they are learning a lot at camp, too - even if it is not traditional academics. They just completed two weeks of religious camp which was huge fun and probably they learned more about Judaism in those 2 weeks than they did in a year of Sunday School, and that is important to us.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

 

• How does this look in your home?

 

We started homeschooling year round after a year of major family issues. That year, if we had not schooled through the summer we never would have finished. We take a 1 week break after every 3 weeks of school, then that leaves us an additional 5 weeks off during the year to take when we need/want them. We take an extra week at Christmas for sure so we usually only have 4 extra weeks to play with (I say only, but it seems like a LOT of time off. The first year we did this I looked at the numbers about 50 times because it didn't seem like we were schooling enough)

 

 

• What to you do to avoid burnout?

 

Like I said above, it seems like a LOT of time off. There does not seem to be enough time during each school session for burn out to happen. If you do for some reason get burned out then take a week from your 4-5 weeks that you have available to take off. We usually take any unused weeks off in August, added to our normal week off in August to give them that stretch of time off (although we still do math in August ;))

 

 

• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

 

Except for math, we do not start our next level until the first day of our new school year. If we get done REALLY early in the year then I will find some sort of review type workbook or something from the teachers store or rainbow resource to keep skills up. Or I do living books on whatever subject. Eventually we do a form of unschooling until the end of the year when we are nearly done with everything and need to do something for the remainder of the year (taking the WTM example of getting 1 biography, 1 mystery, 1 science, 1 history, 1 additional non-fiction, 1 poetry and 1 living math book from the library) We do this until the beginning of the next school year. My kids are history and science buffs so we always do a TON of history and science! Dd 3rd is on her 2nd full science curriculum this year. Some kids do get done with their curriculum before the others (younger kids always finish before oldest because there is not as much to do) but that is just the way it is. Some will be on our "unschooling" schedule while another is still doing schoolwork. Doesn't bother them at all. Makes it a bit easier because they decide what books they get from the library so they enjoy reading them.

 

• What does your planner look like?

 

I am really going to get it for this but I don't plan to much. That kinda limits us if there is a rabbit trail we want to follow so I limit my planning to the current 3 weeks of school :001_smile: For memorization, I would have them memorize 1 Bible passage in the 3 weeks (so it was a longer passage, not just a verse or two) and whatever else I wanted them to memorize I would break into 3 weeks chunks to make it manageable

 

 

• When do you find the time to plan?

 

I plan on our week off. During the summer I take time and get some basic outlines going of what I expect to get done so I have those to refer back to but its nothing big.

 

 

 

This works so well! There is no burn out, it leaves plenty of time for fields trips and extras. I love it. Kids love it. THEY get the breaks when they need it and I get breaks when I need it! It works really well. Our first year was a bit rocky but now we are in a GREAT rhythm! :001_smile:

Edited June 25, 2011 by wy_kid_wrangler04

[brehon]

 

• How does this look in your home?

Physically, 4 desks my dh made in our den cum schoolroom. One desk is only sporadically used (by the 4yo). Practically we work on 9 week terms: 9 weeks on (5 days/week generally, occasionally a 3 or 4 day week) and 1-2 weeks off depending on everyone's level of burnout and/or the number of big projects which have accumulated. We do try to revolve our school days around the liturgical season/feast day/etc; but, that's not a hard and fast rule. I just like the ebb and flow of the liturgical calender.

 

• What to you do to avoid burnout?

Well, truthfully, I don't think we do. We try to recognize it before it gets too bad. We also feel no guilt about taking a day or three off as needed.

 

• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

We finish up one level and begin with the next level. Everyone works at his/her own pace (within reason) and there is no pressure to finish a specific level of a given subject within a certain timeframe. I have 3 kids actively schooling (ages 10, 8, & 6) and 2 littles (4 & 1).

 

• What does your planner look like?

Hmmm...each kid has his/her own weekly schedule. We don't generally have specific plans beyond a week at a time. We do have a general idea written about where we'd like to see each child by 1 Jan (the "beginning" of our cycle).

 

• When do you find the time to plan?

Sunday nights after Poirot. It takes 30-40 minutes total to plan 3 kids' weeks.

 

 

I know, a lot of questions. I have hit a burn out phase. I was trying to plan out our next year, while maintaining our core subjects. We have had some recent family issues develop...and I finally decided to take a week or so off. I am feeling better, but now I am putting serious thought into how I go about year round schooling. I still feel this is the best route for our famly, but I am looking for more concrete ways to implement it.

 

We've had 2 big family funerals in the past 6 months (my fil and my grandfather). I think year round school gives us the most flexibility with regard to taking off the needed time knowing we don't have an artificial timeframe we're working under.

 

I also noticed that my kids have started to play well together again. Almost as if they weren't getting enough down time together. I want to maintain academic rigor, but I also feel the need to plan in down time.

 

If I recall correctly you live in/near the Houston area, right? We live in Central TX aka one of the circles of Hell lately. We generally transition lessons from morning to after lunch during the summer. This way the kids can burn off some energy during the morning hours before it gets too hot. The point of this is that this also gives them down time together. "Not Summer" - oops will come back soon! Duty calls! -- OK "Not Summer" - kids work in the morning through early afternoon (depending on age) and this leaves them time together before TKD in the evenings.

 

Not sure if this makes sense to anyone.

 

I hope I've made some sense here. Let me know if I can clarify anything.

Edited June 25, 2011 by brehon
911 interruptus...

[Katiebug_1976]

This last year was the first year we have gone year round and it was great! We school 4 weeks on, 1 week off with some extra time off during the holidays, then a several weeks off for a "summer break." Summers here have to be flexible since there seems to be either TONS of stuff going on, or nothing at all. Anyway, we have finished up almost all of our work for "this year" (just some science & math left). I'm hoping that it will run even more smoothly (especially for the transition from year to year) this next year. My plan is to have my 2 highschoolers officially start their new year on August 1st. Then the younger kids will start the next week (Aug. 8th). We will do the 4 weeks on, 1 week off thing again for the most part (just a few adjustments to allow for breaks to line up with Thanksgiving & Christmas) this year because it works sell for us and the frequent breaks keep us from burning out. Then by the end of May/1st of June we will have our 36 weeks in (not counting the extra learning that we do on break weeks). My plan for transitioning is when one subject is finished, we just move directly to the next level. I don't expect my dc to transition together because they all move a different speeds. The only exception to this is History/Bible/Science since we do these subjects together (MFW). We really enjoy this type of schedule because it allows us to go year round, but take breaks pretty much whenever we need/want to without falling behind. Good luck, I can totally sympathize with you about the burning out. I don't want to go back there again!

[Mrs. A]

:bigear:

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

• How does this look in your home?

  We school for 6 weeks then take a week off. I also take some time off for Thanksgiving and then for Christmas/New Years. That still leaves us 3 or 4 weeks off in the summer to enjoy the outdoors. On the schedule that I just made up for next year, beginning August 1st, we have 42 weeks scheduled for school, which ends up being 208 days. So we will still get some nice breaks.

• What to you do to avoid burnout?

  Burnout usually starts creeping in around 5 weeks or so, so then we just have to make it through one more week before we get a week off. It works beautifully in our house. :)

• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

  We just move onto the next level as soon as the one we're on is completed. My oldest is all over the board in her ability, so that works out well. She just started a new grammar this week, and we should have the first 10-15 lessons complete before our four-week break coming up. The nice thing about that is if the first so many lessons are review, you can just skip them, since you didn't take a three-month break from schoolwork.

• What does your planner look like?

  We usually just do the next thing. This year, however, I am going to jot down which lessons they cover each day once they are completed with them. Going through planning ahead of time actually turns me into a procrastinator when it comes time to actually sit down and follow the plan. It's a subconscious thing. I can't verbally state goals, or my subconscious does everything in its power to keep them from being reached! :D

• When do you find the time to plan?

  See above! :D

 

I know, a lot of questions. I have hit a burn out phase. I was trying to plan out our next year, while maintaining our core subjects. We have had some recent family issues develop...and I finally decided to take a week or so off. I am feeling better, but now I am putting serious thought into how I go about year round schooling. I still feel this is the best route for our famly, but I am looking for more concrete ways to implement it.

 

I also noticed that my kids have started to play well together again. Almost as if they weren't getting enough down time together. I want to maintain academic rigor, but I also feel the need to plan in down time.

 

Not sure if this makes sense to anyone.

 

Hope this helps!!!

[2_girls_mommy]

How does this look in your home? We start each year the first week of Aug. with new material, new schedule, and the moving up a grade. We school 4 days a week, 1 day at co-op throughout the year. We usually end up taking a week off for fall and a week off for spring break. We go on field trips often, and work when we are home. Often we will work when others are on Christmas break if we don't have other plans. That helps us to be able to take advantage of field trips and days off throughout the year. Doing school 3-4 days a week means we finish most things by the end of May or mid June. But we keep up what wasn't finished over the summer. We keep up SOTW all year as it is not possible for us to do in a "school year." We keep up science once a week during summer. We do several reading programs at bookstores and library for our reading. We do units on musicians or artists and things that come up with SOTW. But the kids have mostly finished their English and spelling and things like that. So school is lighter during June and July. We just call it summer school. This summer are working on SOTW3. dd6 is still working in R&S phonics, the last unit. DD8 has 2 chapters left of math. And we are learning about Beethoven and doing the occasional science project.

We also take our vacations in July, and the girls do VBS and camps in June and July. So obviously we don't do school work much on those days.

 

What to you do to avoid burnout? By taking those field trips and vacations when they are available. Summer is also much lighter and more finishing up than anything heavy duty. It is mostly routine as we have been working in the programs all year.

 

How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? We start the new year in Aug. If dds finish their spelling in May, they don't have to start a new workbook until fall. For over the summer we will work on skills naturally in their writing. Especially, with multiple kids?

 

What does your planner look like? I use a paper planner from R&S. When it fills up and I have not finished the year, I do one of two things... If I am near the end of a year, say a couple more weeks, then I will just make a paper page and stick it in the back showing what was finished. Or I just don't worry about it. I have filled up the 40 weeks. I have more than 180 days of school accomplished to satisfy anyone should the need arise. Then I start a new one the next year in Aug.

 

When do you find the time to plan Trickier... But using WTM I have a guideline. So I just need to figure out which materials to purchase when the time comes. Most core subjects we just move up a level. I read the newer books whenever I get the chance to get ready for a new year, at night, etc. I will take a day or two off, doing no school, to just plan.

[southcarolinamom]

We school 4 days a week, and are off every Friday (or Monday, depending on which day we choose). I do medical transcription at home, and it's a really nice mental break to have 3 days "off school" in a row.

 

This type of schedule still gives us a week off at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks off at Christmas, a "long Easter weekend", and 3-4 weeks off during the summer, sprinkled around wherever we want to use it.

[simka2]

I hope I've made some sense here. Let me know if I can clarify anything.

 

Brehon, wonderful post. Can I ask another question? How do you structure around the liturgical year? We are just becoming more aware of this cycle so I am curious what it looks like in your home. :001_smile:

[sbgrace]

I don't have anything much to add but I'm curious about the liturgical year too. I'll bump!

 

I think you might find that year round schooling actually helps you avoid burn-out. I take a break when needed without stress because I know year round schooling means we'll end up with more than enough time.

[rafiki]

.

[tuzor]

 

• How does this look in your home?

• What to you do to avoid burnout?

• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

• What does your planner look like?

• When do you find the time to plan?

Not sure if this makes sense to anyone.

How does this look in your home?

We started in June this year and will end in May. Last year we began in May and ended in May.

 

What do you do to avoid burnout?

A summer break is nice but it can't be too long. Two to three weeks is sufficient for us. In addition to our brief summer break we take a week for Thanksgiving, two weeks for Christmas, a week for spring break and all the holidays that hubby has off from work. In addition this year I am implementing a six week on one week off time. But if that off time falls close to Christmas, Thanksgiving or spring break we will not take the week off. We also take birthdays off.

 

How do you transition from one grade level subject to another?

I give certificate of completion for the grade and we take a standardized exam.

 

What does your planner look like?

Here I am a little OCD. I use www.homeschoolskedtrack.com I use it as a log. I only type in what we accomplished that day. Last year I input everything that was to be done for that specific grade for the entire year but it was too difficult to make changes. In addition I use Weekly homeschool planner in pdf format. This is typed up with a brief description for each week for each topic. Lastly for the topics that require more planning I use an editable word document from www.donnayoung.org site under science planning forms. I keep the paper planners with each childs year of work along with their report cards for that year.

 

When do you find time to plan?

This year I did not begin the year with each subject planned for the year. I only planned six weeks of each subject. So on the weekends I plan two or so additional weeks.

 

Especially with multiple kids?

The weekly homeschool planner is editable so you can plan for mulitple children. It also has a preschool planning section. homeschoolskedtrack.com allows you to put in every child and their schedule. For my preschool son I use the planner and I plan a theme for the week. My original plan for him did not pan out so well. I try not to stress about him. I give him assesments and the areas he is weak in then that is my focus.

[boscopup]

 

• How does this look in your home?
  

 

We school 6 weeks on, 1 week off, with some extra breaks here and there. At the beginning of June, we took off 2 weeks. One of those weeks was Cub Scout Day Camp, and the other week was a freebie week where the boys just got to play all day. We actually function better when we're doing school, but we DO need a week off now and then, so every 6 weeks seems to do the trick for us.

 

 

• What to you do to avoid burnout?
  

 

If we need a break, we take one. :) I also try to keep the big picture in mind, looking at what is truly important. If we're having a frazzled day, I'm going to let some subjects slide, like art, or even history or science. There is also no such thing as being "behind" in those subjects, so we can go at whatever pace we need. The skills subjects are the important ones, and those get done everyday no matter what is going on.

 

 

• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?
  

 

Our school year ends at the end of May when it does for the local schools here. That way, my kids can graduate in May eventually. We worked up to the end of May, then said "You completed first grade!" and we took our 2 week break. Funny thing is, we'd started most of our "second grade" curriculum a few weeks earlier. ;) When we finish a grade level in a particular subject, we move on to the next one. I don't use a boxed curriculum, as my son moves at a different pace in various subjects. I'm also completely fine with him being "ahead" in subjects, as there is always more to learn. We'll have plenty of math to do, books to read, etc. So we just keep going. If we didn't, my son would be bored to tears. :tongue_smilie: It's one of the main reasons we pulled him out of school.

 

 

• What does your planner look like?
  

 

I use HST+. I have lesson plans for each subject and/or curriculum. No dates are attached. I assign them on a weekly basis.

 

 

• When do you find the time to plan?
  

 

I plan during our weeks off. So during our 1 week break, I print out everything we need for the next 6 weeks, make sure everything is planned out to the letter, and then all I have to do is submit assignments from my lesson plans every Sunday afternoon. Easy peasy. During my 2 week break after the end of the "school year", I did more extensive long term planning for the coming year. And of course I chose curriculum for the coming year during the last few months. I'm always researching. :glare:

[kolamum]

• How does this look in your home?

 

 

In our home we choose to school year round and usually follow a 6-8 weeks of school followed by 1-2 weeks of "time off". This year will be a wee bit different because we've chosen to use WP AA1, so we'll do a unit and then take a break. Some units last 6 weeks, some only last 3. If we hit the end of 3, and I don't think we need a break, we'll do a second unit.

 

• What to you do to avoid burnout?

 

 

Three months ago I'm not sure I could have properly answered this. Then again I've never really suffered from burnout until this year. I found that not only was our 6 year old curriculum not working for us at this point {at least not for my eldest} I was also burnt out in general.

 

My best advice is not only to take those guilt free breaks listed in #1, but also to enjoy conferences! I don't have that later ability here so I created my own and spent 3 days becoming refreshed and it was so very awesome! It would have been better to have had friends with me so we could chat about what we'd learned, but I did fully enjoy it and have my next one planned all ready. ;)

 

[list[*]How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another? Especially, with multiple kids?

 

 

We do have an official start and stop time. Generally we work hard from February until December. In December we either do a Christmas study or we take the month off to do Christ centered things for the holiday. Either way I consider it school and we officially stop come Christmas and don't resume anything until a week after New Year. Then we tend to do a big summer study. Last year it was ocean and we had gobs of fun with it. It was a 4 week Unit Study and we only did 2 weeks over a course of 3 or 4 weeks. We just had so much fun with it. Then we resume normal studies in full come February. I make a deal of telling the children they are in a new grade, but haven't done anything more official.

 

I know people who give their children a sign to hold for a photo that says, "First day of ..." I think it's a lovely idea. I know a lady who puts a little flag in her child's food. One side says, Good Bye .. Hello ... I like that too.

 

I usually mark the start of our new school time by purchasing new pencils, markers, crayons and restocking. I present the children with a new outfit or two, a few "all their own" special supplies, and of course our new books {if needed} This year I also made a back to school cake. :lol:

 

• What does your planner look like

 

 

I use this planner most of the time & this homeschool journal. I was recently introduced to planbook and really like that too, but haven't purchased it. You really must watch the videos in order to get the most from it. I'll also share that because we're using WP I don't have a lot of planning to fuss with, but I find the homeschool journal the key to keeping track of all the stuff we do.

 

I simply use a fresh set each week and at the end of the year I bind them all up and keep them for record keeping purposes. :)

 

I suspect you mean "all year planner". The one I mentioned above is made by an all year homeschooler. The difference? Basically the pages are not dated. You fill in what you want and what you need. When I used other planners I just didn't fuss with their month{ly} pages because they weren't what I needed.

 

 

• When do you find the time to plan?

 

 

 

This can be trickier, but not impossible. I found that using my "down time" in December & January the perfect time for it. For instance, in December we only tend to be schooling in the mornings so I can use the afternoons to prepare myself for the new school year.

 

I often know well in advanced what I want to do so it's only a matter of pulling ideas from that. However, this year due to my burnout feeling I decided I wanted to go with a preplanned curriculum. I felt that I needed the brake from the planning before I went crazy. It meant a few big changes for us, but so far so good. :D

[brehon]

Brehon, wonderful post. Can I ask another question? How do you structure around the liturgical year? We are just becoming more aware of this cycle so I am curious what it looks like in your home. :001_smile:

 

 

Thank you! I knew you'd "call me out" on that. :tongue_smilie: Let's see: we're RCC (I believe your family is exploring Orthodoxy, right?) so there might be some similarity. I'm unfamiliar with the Orthodox liturgical year (at least how it differs from RCC) and, as long as we're -- OK I'm "outing" I have to let you know that I'm not RCC, though dh would love it if I converted. He's a cradle Catholic and the kids are being raised Catholic. Fr. Albert jokes that I'm the best non-Catholic Catholic he knows. :001_huh: I think he means that as a compliment. :lol:

 

So, <tangent over> liturgical year:

Daily: prayers, Rosary, and we've recently been toying with saying the Angelus at noon. (The Cathedral we attend finally had the bells fixed and the Rector instituted ringing the bells for the Angelus -- I'm probably not explaining it correctly.) We don't currently observe the Liturgy of the Hours mainly because I haven't figured out how to incorporate it and still have time for school work. The kids have Memory as part of their core work and we incorporate the prayers and Catechism from CFF.

 

Feast days: we try to study about the saint or celebration during the week of said day. Check books out of the library, look online for age appropriate activites, cook a special meal. Generally nothing too elaborate.

 

Seasonal: we try to have various activities throughout the season. We also try to attend more Masses and spend more intentional time in prayer, etc, especially during the Penitential seasons of Advent and Lent.

 

You'll notice a lot "try" and "toying with" type words. We're hardly the poster child for the perfect Catholic family -- kinda hard to be when one of the parental units isn't Catholic. We're a work in progress. Ironically, I'm the one pushing the more intentional observing of feast days and High Holy Days. The kids really enjoy it when we tangibly bring the Faith home - most of them are young enough to appreciate the special coloring pages, stories, and meals.

 

Hopefully, I actually answered your questions and didn't just ramble on too much.

[TXMary2]

• How does this look in your home?
  

We begin our "new" school year every August. I don't follow any set pattern of 3 on, 1 off or anything like that. I just take a day off when we need one. We take a week off for Spring Break, 2 weeks at Christmas and birthdays off if they fall on a school day- including mine!

• What to you do to avoid burnout?
  

I take a mental health day when needed. I try to avoid cramming too much work in to one day because overscheduled days are sure to leave me cranky. Several in a row will definitely lead to burn out.

• How do you transition from one grade leveled subject to another?
  

It depends on when we finish one level. If we finish a level in the summertime, I hold off until August to start the next level. If we finish something in the fall or spring we go right on to the next. Math is the exception.

• What does your planner look like?
  

I have a binder for each student and I used numbered tabs 1-36. I put my lesson plan sheet behind each tab, my TOG pages and any handouts or notes we will need.

• When do you find the time to plan?
  

Whenever I can! I tend to be a late owl so it happens late in the evening. But I have been known to work on future lessons while kids are quietly working in the middle of the day. It's simple for me because my youngest is 7 so I am not chasing toddlers or anything.

[MiztrezzLyn]

We school from the 2nd week in July (week after 4th of July) to about the 3rd week of June (ds6's birthday is in the last week of June).

 

We roughly have 1 week off every month, sometimes its after 4 weeks, sometimes 5 weeks. It depends on how other things are affecting our schedule. My husband ends up taking about 4 weeks off a year so we take those off. I take week of Thanksgiving, 2 weeks around Christmas, 1 week spring break, 1 week off for children's birthdays, and about 2 or 3 weeks off between "years".

 

We school 4 days a week with the 5th day being for "fun" things or catch up. Usually art, music, geography/history projects, logic, puzzles and games, that sort of stuff.

 

I do my planning on our "off" weeks for the next chunk of school. So if we're off for a week and then there will be 4 weeks "on" for school, I will plan for those 4 weeks. After those 4 weeks, on our "off" week, I plan for the next section of school. I have a general idea where we will be for the entire year but these planning weeks are where I submit from HST+ and then record it into my planner.

 

Since we're having 1 week off every 4 or 5 weeks, we don't ever seem to experience any kind of burn out. I actually sort of dread the times where we end up having more than 1 week (Christmas and between our years in late June) because it just seems like too long and we have to get back into the swing of things.