If you school year round...

[Janie Grace]

can you tell me about your yearly schedule? It is just dawning on me that I am OVER the long summer break. I don't enjoy 2.5 months of zero structure, zero learning, etc. I actually struggle with depression/anxiety in the summer, and I think this is why! Also, I'm sick of having my break be during my least favorite season. I just don't love sitting by the pool all day. However, a week in the fall to go hiking and enjoy the leaves?!? To bake and organize and rest and make bonfires and read? Now you're talking. And a break in Feb.? Just a week of unapologetic rest instead of trying to press through the winter blahs without reprieve? What have I been thinking all this time? Not to mention the learning that gets lost over that long summer.

 

Anyway, now that I've had this epiphany, I want to know how you do it. Someone mentioned 6 weeks on, one week off. Is that your pattern? How long do you take off at Christmas (longer than a week, I'd think)? Do you take any longer than a week in summer? When do you assess how the school year went, what curriculum to change, buy curriculum, etc? Is it an all-at-once thing (like it is for me now, in June/July) or do you do it incrementally as you finish things? Do you feel the ebb and flow of beginning and ending a "grade" or do the grade levels sort of bleed together?

 

Sorry I know that's a lot of questions. Anything you want to tell me would be great. I'd esp. like particulars of how many weeks on/off you take at different times of the year, and how you plan.

[K&Rs Mom]

After about 8 weeks, I'm done, so we usually take a week off every 8 or so, plus more around a holiday or big event. It's not a consistent schedule, though - if it works out better with dh's work schedule to be off the 7th or 10th week, then I do that. We do 4-day weeks, too, and that extra day is a great bonus (I don't have to count days for the state).

 

We start the next thing as we finish, instead of all at once. I "promote" them around the time the public schools get out in the spring, just reminding them they're in the next grade now. It's nice to spread out the budget throughout the year, not buy a whole "year" worth in the summer to be ready in the fall. I do reward them with a prize when they finish a level of something (like a Miquon workbook), and they like to have that as a milestone.

 

We took a major road trip this summer, so were off (except math) for an entire month, and it seems like getting back into it afterward has been a rough transition. I expect it would be worse if we were off the entire summer. I also like that I don't have to review the skill subjects because they don't have all that time to forget.

[BMW]

Back in the day.... I really loved homeschooling year round! I did this a couple of ways...

 

One way I did this, I schooled for 4 days because with our family it seemed someone ended up with an appointment for something and that one day we took completely off for the more fun activities. If no one had an appointment, we used Fridays for a quick review, tests for olders and then science days... when we took on experiments (I am not a mom who loves science, so, I needed to give myself those days and commit to them... it worked out good!).

 

I also used long weekends for the holidays and schooled a few days those weeks so that I kept us all on schedule. My kids behaved their best in a routine.

This also kept my personal stress levels down because I knew that I wouldn't be taking longer breaks, so if I got behind in a subject, I didn't worry about it. I would prioritize that subject to work on catching up on...

 

Another way I worked through this was to roll over one day to the next... so, if we were carried away with language arts, followed by math, the next day I started with science or history. I continuously looped through subjects. The only way I felt good about that flexibility was schooling year round.

 

For the most part, I did not "end" a school year dissatisfied. I felt proud of what we had covered and accomplished.

 

If we had a full school year that I felt was finished, I did a summer study... on year we did a Konos horse unit and hosted a big cowboy party! Another year we did a rain forest unit and decorated the living room with all sorts of art and huge paper trees on the wall. Another year we did a medieval study, hosting a medieval feast with costumes.

[Dmmetler]

That's too structured for me, I guess. We take breaks when we're going to be out of town or when someone is visiting, and otherwise we do school. But, if something is going on, whether it's the once a week co-op we have in the school year, or a doctor's appointment, or Summer camp, we do a minimum school day, basically a little bit of math practice, a little bit of grammar and handwriting practice, read-alouds, and some quiet reading time-and everything else gets pushed aside. Doing just a little bit of school seems to fit both my DD and my need for order a little more than taking a day off, and it's easy to go back to the full day when the schedule allows, and doing this year round helps me to relax and be willing to take advantage of options like a week-long "Spring Break Zoo Camp"-even when MY plan for Spring break involves going with DH on a work-related trip and spending a week hanging out at the hotel swimming pool :).

[Pretty in Pink]

I school year-round so that I *don't* have to follow a set schedule. I have daily schedules for the boys, sure, but no yearly schedule beyond the vague 'We have to finish each of these programs by the end of the year'.

[TheApprentice]

We have a schedule of 3 weeks on 1 week off. We started this year the second week of July and will finish the first week of Dec. on this schedule. We take 3 weeks for Christmas/New Years, and start right back up on January 2. We will finish about the second week of June. I spend the middle of June to the middle of July organizing and planning, then off we begin the following year. This is our fourth year homeschooling and our 2nd year with this schedule and the boys really like it. They can stay extremely focused for three weeks, and then they are ready for a break.:001_smile:

[Tigger]

I school year-round so that I *don't* have to follow a set schedule. I have daily schedules for the boys, sure, but no yearly schedule beyond the vague 'We have to finish each of these programs by the end of the year'.

 

Same here.

[pageta]

At the beginning of the year, I map out my curriculum in a 36-week schedule. Then each month we have to complete 3 weeks of school. Rarely do we do school five days a week. We have two days where we spend half the day in town, but we could do a full day of school on those days if we have to. I know how many days each "week" of school takes me, and right now we have 3 days of school left for September. My parents are here through the end of the week so next week we'll have to get 3 days of school done next week in order to finish.

 

I work from home so whether or not we do school depends on my work load at the moment as well as energy level. At the beginning of the week I can tell you what I WANT to get done for the week, but that doesn't mean we'll accomplish it.

 

Flexibility is a big deal to me - I don't know how people do school every week for 9 months of the year. I would burn out so fast it wouldn't even be funny. Then again, I fix my family food three times a day every day so I guess one might just get used to it.

[curlylocks]

:bigear: -- bumping up for you.

 

I *love* the idea of year-round school -- wondering if my kids would think I had gone off the deep end.

[Ellie]

We didn't have a pattern, exactly (as in x weeks on and off).

 

We took off Thanksgiving to about the middle of January; a couple of weeks in the spring around Easter; a couple of weeks in late August/early September; and any other random days as needed for mental health :D or grandparents visiting or Disneyland in the middle of the week in March. :D

 

Otherwise, we just kept working on things until dc finished or we got tired of them.

 

For the sake of Sunday school or other activities grouped by grade level, and for grandparents or others who couldn't relate to children without knowing their grade levels, we "promoted" in the fall. :D

[Janie Grace]

Thanks, all. I'm loving these responses. I don't think I'd do as well with the more spontaneous mental health days/weeks. I need to know such-and-such week is set apart as a break and it's okay for me to rest and relax that week. I think that will serve as motivation for us to push through solid weeks of hard work, knowing a "fun week" is coming). I esp. like the idea of breaks that don't involve holidays or visiting relatives. That's all we get during the school year right now -- not exactly restful for me (since holidays and guests = cooking, cleaning, entertaining, etc). And I wonder why I'm always feeling burned out!!! I'm ready for breaks to feel rejuvenating for ME as well as the kids. The never-endingly hot sticky days of "there's nothing to do" aren't cutting it.

 

My kids might not like it at first, but I'm really seriously considering taking the plunge.

[justamouse]

I'm like you, two to three months of no school an we get yucky.

 

I take my big breaks during Advent and Lent and we do six weeks on, one off.

 

During those six weeks, we plow ahead, and the house stuff is at a minimum, during the week off, I pound out the house stuff so that we go back to schoolwork organized.

 

During the dog days of summer we do schoolwork till @ 12, then hit the pool and read in the evenings.

Edited September 21, 2011 by justamouse

[abacus2]

Our schedule is approximately 6 weeks on, 1 week off, starting in July, and taking off from Thanksgiving to January and the month of June.

[The Girls' Mom]

We don't have a set schedule really. We school 4 days a week, taking off whenever we need or want to. So school is the default, breaks are added in. I do usually take off the month of December. It just gets too busy that time of year.

[MeghanL]

We take off one week per month. That week is when I schedule dr's appointments, field trips, and anything else fun that we don't necessarily get to do during the morning when we are schooling. I also use these weeks to look over my lesson plans & curricula and make any changes if needed.

[hsmamainva]

We started school this year the 2nd week of June and schooled all summer.

 

Starting in September, we do school 4 days a week the 2nd and 4th weeks of the month (because those are co-op Fridays) and we do school 5 days a week the 1st and 3rd weeks of the month.

 

We're taking a week off next week for vacation in Myrtle Beach (yay!) and will then school until Thanksgiving, take a week off, school until Christmas, take a week off, and then continue to school 4 or 5 days a week (depending on the co-op schedule) until we wrap up the school year, which should be some time in late February or early March.

 

I work for an accountant during tax season and March & April are the busiest months for me. I spend May purchasing curriculum and writing lesson plans and will start another new school year around mid-June.

[canadianmomtofour]

This is the first year we are trying out schooling year-round. I really thought the kids would balk at it, especially since I started a full month earlier than usual. To my surprise the first day of school, while they complained about it, was one of our best days this summer. They were really happy! My kids do better with structure and so do I. We are doing a 4 weeks on, 1 week off, 4 days/week schedule and so far it's going well. I find burn-out starts to set in around here about week 3 so knowing that we have a break coming helps us push through. I am also planning to take 3 weeks at Christmas and I have 3 weeks scheduled for sometime in the spring when we move. On this schedule we should finish around about the end of July, (we started in August), and I plan to start up again in September.

[veggiegal]

We're trying year-round schooling for the first time this year. Here's my blogpost about my planning process and our schedule. So far, it is working very well. Next week is our first 'holiday' week, and we've got 2 playdates and a trip to the natural history museum planned already.

[Janie Grace]

We're trying year-round schooling for the first time this year. Here's my blogpost about my planning process and our schedule. So far, it is working very well. Next week is our first 'holiday' week, and we've got 2 playdates and a trip to the natural history museum planned already.

 

Great blogpost, thanks. So it sounds like you are planning for 30 weeks, is that right? How did you decide on that? Is it based on your curriculum, or something else? I know public schools do 36 weeks of school... not that I really care to match them exactly, but I am trying to get a feel for what is a legit goal.

[PeacefulChaos]

can you tell me about your yearly schedule?

Someone mentioned 6 weeks on, one week off. Is that your pattern? How long do you take off at Christmas (longer than a week, I'd think)? Do you take any longer than a week in summer? When do you assess how the school year went, what curriculum to change, buy curriculum, etc? Is it an all-at-once thing (like it is for me now, in June/July) or do you do it incrementally as you finish things? Do you feel the ebb and flow of beginning and ending a "grade" or do the grade levels sort of bleed together?

 

Sorry I know that's a lot of questions. Anything you want to tell me would be great. I'd esp. like particulars of how many weeks on/off you take at different times of the year, and how you plan.

 

Well, we aren't 'year round', exactly. But we're a lot more like year round than like a 'normal' school year.

We started on July 18. The original plan was to do school for 9 weeks and then take off for 3. I figured things would change as the year progressed - and they did! :lol: First we decided to take a trip to GA to visit family in October - so we'll be taking about 4-5 days off then. So I took the last week off of fall break. Then I got an eye infection that knocked us out of school (couldn't do much of anything- reading, etc) for a week - so I moved fall break one week later. Then we took 3 days off last week for the beach/ hs day at a museum. So now, we'll have 2 days of fall break, next Thursday and Friday! (we don't have school tomorrow, either, because I have my final followup with the optometrist - otherwise we would finish on Tuesday). But that's ok, it isn't like we've been doing school nonstop - we've still had our breaks, just not when they were originally 'planned'! :D

Aside from the trip to GA in October, we'll do school from Oct 3-the Friday before Thanksgiving. We'll probably also have some days to make up that week as we'll have family coming in early November for about a week. We're taking off the first week of December for our Christmas musical - dress rehearsals every night + school = not fun. The kids are tired. We'll go back the following week and have 3 weeks of school before Christmas - we're going up until Dec 23/24, depending on DH's work schedule. Then we're taking 2 weeks off for Christmas.

We'll start back on January 9 and go for 9 weeks again (at least that's the 'plan' - we'll see how things actually go!), followed by 1 week of Spring break and 1 week of break for Easter musical dress rehearsal. We'll go a couple of weeks again and then break for a week to travel to MO to see family in mid/late April. Then we'll come back and finish up, going until June 1. We'll take 6 weeks off for summer.

Because we do still have a longer time off for summer, we have clear breaks between grades.

As far as curriculum and all that, I have already started working on the curriculum list for next year, as well as a basic budget. During Christmas break I will finalize the list/budget, and I'll make my orders sometime in March. That way everything should be here by Spring break, and I can take that time to begin working on lesson plans for next year.

[brehon]

We've schooled year round since the beginning (so, 5 years). We basically follow a quarter system of 9 weeks on and 1 week off. We also follow the RC Liturgical calender, so take off a few more days than just those 4 weeks.

 

Like Justamouse we hit lessons hard and heavy during the quarter and use the week off for catch-up house/garden/yard/etc work. Not that anything doesn't get done during the quarter, but we've found that we can't work on very involved projects.

 

I'd be happy to answer any more specific questions you may have.

[veggiegal]

It's 30 weeks fulltime, but my kids do better on a half-time schedule in summer (6 weeks) and another roughly 6 weeks of 4-day a week school in fall to ease in (which we're just finishing up now. It ended up being only 5 weeks, and mornings only for structured stuff, but that's fine). All these extra bits give us time to adjust the routine as things come up (illness, travel, etc.) or we find rabbit trails to pursue. I based this on there being 30 lessons in MUS, which we use as a math spine, and for all my other curriculum I looked at where I wanted us to be by year's end, and figured out how many pages we'd need to cover each lesson if we did book twice per week, one a week, etc. And at the ages my kids are at, I am really only concerned that we cover math, LA, and logic at the pace I want. We do science and social and all the rest, but if we end up 'behind' in science and cover a topic I planned for this year, next year (or over the summer, or whatever)--no biggie. But I want my kids to progress at a certain rate in math and LA because I consider them more fundamental, and also you never know what life will throw at you; they may end up in school. A kid who hasn't yet learned about magnets can quickly pick it up. A kid still struggling to write decent sentences when the rest of the class is on essays...oy.

 

BTW, I really identified with your original post. Summers are so NOT the enjoyable experience I was expecting--but this summer, doing half-time homeschool (mornings only, leaving our afternoons free) was excellent.