Poll: The end of the year

[Entropymama]

I just looked at the calendar and realized we have 31 actual school days to go!

 

The bummer is that I'm not sure if we're going to finish everything. We're not going to make it through the last chapter of SOTW and there are a couple other subjects for which we'll have a couple lessons left unfinished.

 

Do you always finish your books? Do you pick up next year where you left off? Extend the year until it's all done?

[Susan in TN]

I try to get our books finished, but sometimes it just depends on how important that particular subject is. I'm much more particular that my high school students finish up. Elementary science would be the first to go for me :tongue_smilie:.

 

I'm much more likely to take inventory mid-year and see what I want to skip and what I really want to cover. When we used SOTW exclusively, I'd often do just reading weeks where we'd cover through 2 or 3 chapters without doing much, if any, extra activities.

 

Art has been waylaid for a few weeks, so once we're done with most of our "heavier" subjects, I may take a couple weeks and do an art lesson each day to make up for it. (We use God and the History of Art.)

[Paisley Hedgehog]

nm

[MrsBear]

We'll actually wrap up everything I'd planned for in mid-May, but our school year officially ends June 30th. We'll go to a lighter schedule mid-May, continue with just reading and math, then start with the new school year's plan July 1, but a light load until mid-August. We just keep going, on to the next thing, once we finish up something, since we do school year round.

[MerryAtHope]

Depends here too! Some we finish, some we skip things in order to finish, some we skip the end, some we pick up next school year.

 

I always try to remember: I am teaching children, not curriculum. It doesn't matter what the curriculum says. What matters is what my children need. Use what you want or need, even if that means discarding some of the curriculum.

 

Merry :-)

[Colleen]

We finish everything as planned, but have never had to add extra days to do so. In your case, I wouldn't set aside an actual book (like SOTW) for an entire summer. It's not as if reading that last chapter requires a great deal of effort, right?:) And if you only have a few lessons left in other subjects, cover those here & there once you're "done" with school. It's a good means of keeping the brain well-oiled. Don't think in terms of a faucet turned entirely on and then off.

[Testimony]

People may think that I am crazy, but I try to complete every single page in the book. I usually finish by the end of May, but I take no breaks except for Easter and Christmas and if they are sick. Our summer consists of reading books and math. I have once or twice had to go past May, but in general, I try to get it done.

 

By the way, I calculated that at the rate my son is going we will not finish reading SOTW by the end of May. So, I have decided to double up on some readings during the Easter break and the week after music is finished. We can concentrate more and that will get us to the end of May. We are almost done with math and grammar.:)

 

Blessings in your homeschooling journey!

 

Sincerely,

Karen

[jewellsmommy]

We go light in the summer, but mostly school year round. We always finish the math and grammar books. We continue with fun math games and will review concepts. We keep going with history and will read books for science, fun and literature. This year we will keep going with Latin because dd is enjoying it so much.

[Walking-Iris]

I'm going to admit it---I like a finished book. I don't have any particular end date in mind for school and we do still work some in the summer---especially math. Somewhere about mid-July we start naturally slowing down.

 

Some books I have planned to be done before Xmas so we can pick up something new to do in spring.

 

But it depends on subject---spelling, math, grammar---some things I like to see finished, especially if I'm using a graded leveled course.

 

Other things---SOTW and science---I'm okay with that taking as little time or as long a time as it naturally happens---there are times we're really going with the SOTW and times when it's sort of ho-hum. I'm okay with us not being "done" with that because I see that stuff cycling around each year and being covered in different ways through out the year anyway.

 

The only time it bothers me when we won't be done with a book by the next fall is when I have something picked out that I really want to use and finishing the other thing---which is also something we really wanted to use---is taking time from starting the other. Clear as mud??? :)

[amyrjoy]

Not sure if we'll finish everything by the end of the year. I seem to use things "not" by the book and become very eclectic soooo...we'd have lots of books to finish! LOL! I will say: NO! CLOSE, but NO! And if no, then we will continue it on in the summer as "fun school" somehow!

[freesia]

You don't have an "it depends." In my house it depends on subject, age of child, and probably others.

 

I have not finished math books when the rest was review. I have added time and finished math books when there was new info to be learned. I have not finished grammar books bc the child was young and I knew the info would spiral round again. I have doubled up lessons when I felt the end was important.

 

I doubled up on SOTW in your situation. I just didn't do activity pages, etc. I wanted to finish bc I knew the subject wouldn't come round again for awhile. However, I never would have done that with a first grader if doing so would have caused any stress. I did it bc we love history around here. If it would have caused stress I would have either carried it over to the next year or dropped it and moved on.

 

In general my last "week" of school is really a spill over week to tie up loose ends and we drop what we are done with and use that time to work harder in subjects with which we struggle.

[Ellie]

We just kept going; since California doesn't have any required # of school days, I rarely even looked at a calendar to count school days. :)

[oraetstudia]

I would love to finish all the books.

 

In actual practice though, I think we have always finished math. Everything else maybe, maybe not. Last year was the first year with detailed, carefully written out by me plans. I knew we could finish all the books and we were on schedule to do so. Then three of my kids got pneumonia. They were sick from mid-June until the beginning of August. We start our new school year in August. When they got sick, I gave up. We'll try to finish the books again this year, where appropriate, although this year we're also doing some books that will carry over to next year. In those, we'll just find an appropriate stopping place.

[Meriwether]

Other. We finish all the "important" things like math and history. I owe my 8 yo about three years of art and science.;)

[Princess Peach]

I was just looking at our end goal and ascertaining where we were at. We will finish everything on time except DS12's math. I've given him the option of doing it Saturday's and thru Spring Break, which will allow him to finish on time, or to extend math for a couple weeks into the summer. Other than that, we are good. They will continue to read thru summer, of course.

[KAM]

Previous years, we have stopped everything by the end of June and picked up where we left off in mid-August or early Sept.

 

Now the kids are getting a bit older, and I want them to at least finish the math book! So this year we will continue with a bit of math over the summer to try to get my 11 y.o. through her current math level, however long that takes. We will continue with our Sonlight readings too, a few mornings a week until the middle of July. Then we will break for a month (except for math if needed) and pick up everything where we left off in mid-August.

[Shellers]

We are schooling year round. My son finished his math in February so we had a little pizza party, and he moved up to the next level.

[fraidycat]

I plan to school year-round. The kids need some structure to their days, or they drive each other (and me) nuts.

 

It's a double-edged sword, though. Sometimes I find myself being a little too lax about "getting stuff done" because I don't have a clear end date goal in mind.

 

I do kind of have a start date (in the fall) for when I plan to add in more work. Right now it's 3Rs and little other stuff here and there when we (*I*) feel like it. In the fall it will be more scheduled to include history, science, art, foreign language, etc.

[Mommyfaithe]

We do not take extended breaks except 6 weeks of summer swim team....then, we pick up where we left off. I don't worry too much about grade levels other than signing kids up for stuff....we finish our books, or toss them as is appropriate for each kid...

[nukeswife]

Depends here too! Some we finish, some we skip things in order to finish, some we skip the end, some we pick up next school year.

 

I always try to remember: I am teaching children, not curriculum. It doesn't matter what the curriculum says. What matters is what my children need. Use what you want or need, even if that means discarding some of the curriculum.

 

Merry :-)

:iagree: This is me.

[Karenciavo]

I put down we just pick up where we left off but usually it's because we finish a book and immediately start the next thing, e.g. ds9 finished a year of Latin two weeks ago so we moved on.

[NittanyJen]

We school year round, but my kds have only been out of PS for 13 months, so they still want some kind of "leveling up" feeling.

 

However, due to a variety of issues, we are at different spots fr each kid in each subject, so here is what I did:

 

* I set a list of milestones in each subject to mark year end completion (ie, finish last exam in Lively Latin 1 with a score of at least 90%) for each kid.

* I posted the list on the fridge, after discussing with each child

* I pointed out to each child that he controls his own destiny to some extent: I set a schedule every two weeks with daily assignments, but these assignments meet my expectations. If you wish to work ahead because you get super excited about something, that is just fine. If we get super excited about something not on the schedule and take a detour for a few days or someone gets sick, that's okay too.

*No matter the timing, checking off is like earning a belt in a quality karate dojo-- you check off for meeting or exceeding expectations for all requirements, not for fulfilling a time requirement.

*Each subject/kd checks off independently. You can start 4th year math and still have 3 weeks to go in medieval history and 4 weeks to go in chem. that's okay with me. Early modern and biology will each wait until you are ready.

** when you finish all milestones for your year, we'll celebrate somehow. Pizza? Free day off? Movies? We'll make you feel special in some way.

[Therese]

I clicked that we finish all, but what we actually do is a mix of the options given. We finish certain subjects, but not all. Math and Latin get finished. History, we finish all the readings, but may skip a paper or two at the end. Science, we come close, but might not do the last few weeks, depending on the student's interest and the subject. My children don't take AP tests, so we don't have to worry about missing something. They'll study all the science again in college anyway.

 

FWIW, I was more lenient before my children started high school.:)

[TheAutumnOak]

I try to get our books finished, but sometimes it just depends on how important that particular subject is. I'm much more particular that my high school students finish up. Elementary science would be the first to go for me :tongue_smilie:.

 

I'm much more likely to take inventory mid-year and see what I want to skip and what I really want to cover.

 

:iagree:

 

You don't have an "it depends." In my house it depends on subject, age of child, and probably others.

 

 

 

:iagree:

[Halcyon]

We school year round, but we are lighter in the summer, and the boys get about 2-3 weeks off (except for reading and math) in July/August for summer camp. I use that time to prepare for the coming year, clean the school area, get new binders, etc. etc. We generally finish things at odd times throughout the year. For example, we are going to finish MM5B in about 2 weeks for older; we'll just start MM6/Dolciani. Older will also finish the typical Henle 1 course in a couple of weeks. Again, we'll just keep going. Some things, like WWS, were begun at "off" times during the school year. We began WWS in February, so we'll just take a break come July and pick up where we left off in September.

[2_girls_mommy]

Where is the other? We do a little of each of yours depending on the needs of the student and the particular curriculum.

 

With SOTW, yes, we finish each volume, even if means we finish it at the beginning of the next year (which we always do!) I just pick up whereever we left off.

 

With some curric, I figured we covered the bulk of it, and we just stop and start the next level.

 

With some things I look through it and decide we need to finish it or finish more than we have, so we work through the summer off and on in that particular subject, so that we can start the next level at the start of the new year (math for my older will be this way this year. R&S has a LONG 17 chapters, 170 lessons a year.. There is new material for her through at least chp. 15 that I want her to cover. We just finished chp 12. We can get through chp 13 this month, 14 and part of 15 in May. So we will work in June where we can to finish 15)

 

And yes, we sort of school year round, but lightly. We take the full month of July off, and only do light in June what needs to be finished. We start full time back up in Aug. Around here the P.S, is on the same schedule and they are called a year round school.

[Tracy]

I voted that we skip the end stuff and then start up in the fall, but that is not true for every subject. Math has to get done. The program we use continues to introduce new stuff all the way to the end. And although it is reviewed at the beginning of the next year, I want it to be just that--review.

 

But for spelling, SWR is not divided into levels. I just do as much as a can this year, and then do a diagnostic test at the beginning of the next year and start where dd tests.

 

 

With WWE, I am confident that dd has mastered the skill that it focuses on, so I don't care if we finish.

 

 

For history, we use TOG, and we always do a week-plan in a week, even if I have to cut stuff out. At this stage, I would just assume get a broad overview of history and not worry about the details until later.

 

 

Formal science is kind of an extra right now. Dh is a science teacher and does a ton of informal science with the kids, so I am not dragging on the school year for science, either. Because dh has the summer off, it is really important to not be doing a lot of formal work during his break. He is very much an unschooly sort of personality, so formal school doesn't work so well when he is around. :tongue_smilie:

[kristinannie]

My plan is to school year round at least until high school. Then things will get more formal. We still might school year round, but won't take all the random days off! We are ahead in some subjects and behind in others so it isn't a big deal to me. I would say that if you are that close to finishing, I would just do a little here and there until you finish. Or the kids could vote to do one extra week of school and be completely done. Talk about motivation!

[Amira]

We don't finish till the books are finished, but I don't think we've ever gone longer than I've planned. However, I don't have to keep track of days, so I have no idea if we usually go over 180 or not.

 

I start doubling up on lessons if something looks like it might stretch into July at the rate we're going. By May, that isn't a problem because there's usually other subjects we've finished for the year so there's extra time to concentrate on getting the history book done, or whatever.

 

I really hate homeschooling when it's hot and we have no A/C, or if my kids have lots of friends around. That's the way it's been for the last 3 or 4 years, so we always make sure to have a good summer break.

[ALB]

We just keep going with a subject until it's finished, but most of work is not done at grade level anyways. That's the beauty of homeschooling to me: I don't have to try to figure out how to do exactly 130 lessons of math in 180 days, we just do what we can do every day and progress when we're ready to move on. We often start a new workbook or curriculum mid-year, and there is no way we could finish it by summer. That doesn't matter to me, though, we just do what needs to be done according to the skill level of my dc.

[nono]

I start doubling up on lessons if something looks like it might stretch into July at the rate we're going. By May, that isn't a problem because there's usually other subjects we've finished for the year so there's extra time to concentrate on getting the history book done, or whatever.

 

 

:iagree: That's been my experience so far. :)

[Jen+4dc]

Depends here too! Some we finish, some we skip things in order to finish, some we skip the end, some we pick up next school year.

 

I always try to remember: I am teaching children, not curriculum. It doesn't matter what the curriculum says. What matters is what my children need. Use what you want or need, even if that means discarding some of the curriculum.

 

Merry :-)

Brilliance from Merry, as usual.:)

 

We do math twice a week through the summer so it's just a do-the-next-thing anyway. I have always tried to finish up the history, so we can start fresh the next year. I'm a box checker by nature, but I have learned (painfully!) to let some things go and let others pause until next year. I have to remind myself constantly that I'm teaching kids, not curriculum!:D

[kolamum]

We school year round, we also finish all our curriculum between school years.

 

We school from Feb-Dec. We do school in Jan, but not our curriculum stuff. :)

[Mommy22alyns]

Adventures is only 34 weeks and we're on week 30 right now. But the girls will still have grammar/LA and math to finish up, and we will finish those books.