question for those who do NOT school year round

[ProudGrandma]

When you finish a book (Math or science) before the "official" end of the year, do you go on to the next year's books...or do you just call it quits until next year in those subjects? My daughter just finished her MUS book and we are one lesson away from finishing up in Science. I dont' know what to do next.

[kewb]

It depends on the subject. Math I usually carry on forward. Science I usually stop or just explore a topic they were interested in in more depth.

[Parrothead]

I just call it quits for the year.

 

This week we finished more books. We are down to math, Latin and CW. We will focus intensely on those subjects for the next 5 weeks to see if we can get them done. Since we have more time we will do at least 2 weeks work in one week.

[momofkhm]

For us, it depends on how much of the school year is left. DS finished his math book with 10 weeks of the school year left. We started a new one. BUT he finished grammar with only 3 weeks of school left so hes done with grammar for the year.

[joannqn]

Most of the time, we call it quits. We have less and less to do as the school year goes on, giving us more time to enjoy nice weather when we have it.

 

My son, though, typically did two or three levels of math a year until we started AoPS. He finished way too quickly and wanted to continue. Some years, he chose to do math during the summer too...for fun.

[Kelly1730]

We typically stop when we finish a book. Except for math, we will continue that in some fashion over the summer.

[Trish]

When you finish a book (Math or science) before the "official" end of the year, do you go on to the next year's books...or do you just call it quits until next year in those subjects? My daughter just finished her MUS book and we are one lesson away from finishing up in Science. I dont' know what to do next.

 

With math we are usually doing more than one thing. So if I finish up, say, Grade 5 math, then we can continue Life of Fred Fractions or Key to Decimals. We will finish science early, so they asked me for a unit study on cats! So we're going to do that, and maybe read about a Great Scientist or two. When we finished vocabulary, I switched to "fun vocabulary" -- vocabulary cartoons. That way things aren't as intense, but we're still doing something.

[Amy loves Bud]

For math we keep moving forward, but I also require 15-30 minutes of math per day during the summer so we don't regress in that area.

 

For the other subjects we are done when the book is done. :)

[ktgrok]

When you finish a book (Math or science) before the "official" end of the year, do you go on to the next year's books...or do you just call it quits until next year in those subjects? My daughter just finished her MUS book and we are one lesson away from finishing up in Science. I dont' know what to do next.

 

We move on to something different or more fun. So we might just check out science books on topics of interest, or do a lap book, or watch documentaries the rest of the year. For math I'd schedule math games on the computer to keep facts up, but wouldn't start a new book.

[trishalinn]

For us it depends on the subject and how close to the end of our school year it is. We will be done may 18th this year and are leaving on vacation the next day. My son finished his math the end of February and we went ahead and started the next level. I don't think I'd start a new science though for sure.

[Susan in TN]

When a child finishes a book, they're done with that subject for the year.

[Angel]

You are supposed to finish those books in one year!?! :tongue_smilie:

 

Just kidding!

 

Heck no, we don't start another book!! Where's the reward for a job finished and well done? When we finish a book, we are done until we begin school again. Depending on when your last day of school is, I might do math games and science dvd's, but I would not start another book.

[nono]

I take each subject and divide up the assignments so that they will be done in 160 days or less. When my dd wants to do so, she may work ahead in the schedule (and we slow down for anything that's not sinking in). The bonus for her working ahead is to have lighter and lighter school days as the year comes to a close. :) So no, I don't move onto the next book.

[Pamela H in Texas]

We always wound down our year. So in February, you have a full course load; but by may1st we were down to just a course or two... Maybe. The idea is to have more time to play in April and may when the weather is decent. However, math is one of those thing that is differnrt in a number of ways. First, we have multiple programs so didn't likely finish them all and it is one we don't want too big of a break on so I'd be more likely to move on or find a ssupplement.

Edited April 27, 2012 by 2J5M9K

[Ali in OR]

We're finishing a lot of things in April and May, and for the most part when we're done, we're done. Math and history are the two things that usually go until Memorial Day weekend when we begin our summer break. My 6th grader finishes up her math this week, but we're trying out several different options for next year's math over the next few weeks. I'm glad we have the time to do this as it will help me make a decision about which one we want to use as our main program. But typically *I'm* the one with the worst case of spring fever, so I'm happy to get things done and lighten our load so we have a little more time to enjoy nice weather (which still isn't often enough), field trips, extra activities like ballet recitals, etc.

[Mommy22alyns]

It depends on how close to the end of the year we are. If we're close, then I call it quits.

[edelweiss]

We call it quits for everything but math. We do math all summer long (at least a couple of times a week unless we are on a trip or something), so we just start the next year whenever we finish the previous one.

[clementine]

When we finished a math early, I would print out practice sheets/problems - word problems, brainteasers, etc. to keep their brains working. ;)

 

If we finished reading, I would print out a grade level book list (with fun/interesting choices) and let them choose which book to read next. I'd have them give me a little oral report or do an art project related to the book when they finished.

 

For social studies/geography they could play map games on the computer or do our GeoSafari.

 

Just little ideas if you need/want to keep them busy. :)

[Clear Creek]

We typically stop when we finish a book. Except for math, we will continue that in some fashion over the summer.

 

:iagree: When a book is complete, that usually means my goals for their learning in that subject have been met for that year, so we are done with that subject until the following fall (except for math, of course).

[Georgiana Daniels]

For math we keep going--everything else we stop. In fact, math is probably the only thing we do year round.

[NanceXToo]

We quit for the year, regardless of subject. Like someone else said, I like that we finish more things the closer to the end of the year we get, so as the nice spring weather comes and we're all fed up with winter, we can have less work to do and get outside more, do more field trips and so on.

[MinivanMom]

For us it depends on the subject and how much time we have left in the school year. I will almost always go on to the next level book if it is math, reading, or language arts. If it is science, history, or art then we would just be done for the year. For French it would probably depend on how much time is left in the school year.

[beezus]

For most subjects we are done when the book is finished. However, we do continue on with math and reading during the summer, although with a much lighter load. I don't designate the reading material for summer. I just let my dd pick what she wants to read. She's a pretty enthusiastic reader, so I don't have to encourage her much there. For math we mainly do review over the summer, so I wouldn't start a new book until the fall, but we might do Khan Academy or some worksheets during the summer. Not every day during the summer, but 2-3 times a week.

[Dmmetler]

Depends on the time of year. If it's earlier than about March or early April, we'll go ahead and start the next book. If it's getting into Spring, we'll simply drop the subject (possibly adding other materials for enrichment) and go from there. We never completely stop math, copywork, or independent reading (which often includes a lot of history and science topics) and I keep a car-schooling playlist going all year round.

[ProudGrandma]

thank you for all of your responses!!!!

[ThisIsTheDay]

For us, it depends on how much of the school year is left. DS finished his math book with 10 weeks of the school year left. We started a new one. BUT he finished grammar with only 3 weeks of school left so hes done with grammar for the year.

 

This, but it also has changed as my kids have grown older. Dd is now 17. When she's done with the book/course, she's done for the year. Alternatively, if she's not done, she doesn't get the credit until she is.

 

Ds is finishing up 8th grade. As he's completing his work, I'm having him begin his high school work since we still have another month of so of school. Science, though, I'm filling in to refresh (mostly because I haven't settled on his science for next year!). As it gets closer to the end of the school year, he'll just be done until next year.

 

When they were younger, we would always move into the new book, unless we were in the last month or so of school. It worked. It never mattered if they started something in December, or in September (when we begin our school year).

 

We don't school over the summer, but I usually have something planned for them to do (reading or memory work, etc.).

[StephanieZ]

It depends on what subject it is. If it is math, I don't like to have more than a month or so off, so I'd either move on with the next level, or use another curriculum that I thought would be helpful for review and/or enrichment. For other subjects, I am generally happy to be done with them, and I'd just enjoy the extra free time to either catch up on things we'd neglected or relax or do some fun projects.

[Laura Corin]

Depending on how things were going, we either moved on to the next book or filled in with something else. Sometimes that was something related, sometimes we took the opportunity to do a little of a subject that we often missed, like nature study or music theory. I never left serious maths study for long though - mine used to forget it too fast.

 

Laura