How do you "start school"? Slowly or jump right in 100%

[Halcyon]

Just curious. Generally, we "jump right in", doing a full day from the start. But this year, due to various factors (garage conversion to school room not complete, some boxes to unpack from our move still), we are going to start more slowly, lightly, doing just 3 hours a day to start.

 

How do you "start school"?

[sassenach]

We usually ease in, but because of a late summer vacation, we will be jumping in full force. The easing in is more for me than them. I'm not looking forward to the pace of out start this year.

[KAM]

We have been easing in for a couple weeks, gradually increasing the time spent. By next week I hope to be up to full speed.

[Holly]

We generally ease in...I'm usually trying to teach them how do everything (and trying to figure it out myself) so it takes a bit longer at first.

[ByGrace3]

We usually jump right in, but this year adding in a second student made me nervous so we had a soft start. We did Bible, math, LA, and Spanish this week and next week we add in history and science.

[Delirium]

First day is a fun day but the rest of the week is full load.

[Jpoy85]

we start semi slow and then go at full pace.

[boscopup]

We did basics for a couple weeks, then added Sonlight core for younger kid and science for older, then at week 7 I added sonlight core for older (history, reading, read-aloud). I would have started older son's core earlier, but we did 4 weeks of it at the end of last school year, and I wanted our two cores to be in the same week.

[craftyerin]

We have been easing in over the last few weeks, and are calling next Monday (the 20th) our "official" start, when we'll add our last component.

[NancyNellen]

We always just started 100% when the kids were younger, but now that I have 2 high schoolers and a middle schooler, we have found easing in to be more manageable. Since they do so much more independently, it is much less overwhelming to figure out a new subject or two each week.

[WeeBeaks]

We school year round pretty much but much lighter in the summer. We slowly start ramping up from mid August until after Labor Day, where we are then at 100%. So one week I'll add Explode the Code back in, next week spelling, next week math, etc. Beginning about mid May we slow down until we reach our summer light schooling mid June again. As we finish workbooks I don't replace them until we are light at end of the year.

[missmoe]

Our first day is the second day of the public school year. And we mostly look at our new books, organize our spaces, and go do something fun. Then we gradually ease into things for a week or two. This year, my husband and I are going on a ten day trip three weeks into the school year, so I feel that we have to jump into things pretty quickly. But I am actually waiting to start our online math class and our logic class till after we get back from our trip and I've had time to recover.

[Embassy]

We jump in 100% the second day. Our first day of school is a party day.

[cmp3400]

Easy first day and then 100%. I have found when we try to ease in they complain each increase so it is just easier (=less whining) to jump right in!!

[angelmama1209]

We school year round, but not a whole lot gets done when Daddy's home and he's home for 2 weeks at the end of the summer. So we basically take a break then and start easing back in when he goes back to work. It takes a good week for them readjust to him being gone every day again so we focus on attitudes and behavior while starting things up again. Our first "official" day is the day after Labor Day where everything will be on full force.

[RootAnn]

It all depends on what other things are going on in our lives. New babies, trips planned, huge dh work commitments, etc. cause the schedule to be different.

 

Because of a crazy summer, a recent death in the family, wanting to get through a couple subjects that are meant for more school weeks than we generally do, and me not being ready for the year to start, we are "easing in" this year. We'll start math & science next week. We may add one or two more subjects the following week. The goal is to go "full bore" after Labor Day.

 

My kids do better with some structure, but our school days will be a bit crammed this year. I'm hoping with an early & easier start, we'll be able to 'slack off' near the end of the school year.

[fourcatmom]

We are going to start on Wed. and have Wed through Fri to just ease into it. I will spend the first day going over rules and books and getting extra things ready. We will have a few days to do slow introductions into new curriculum and then start Monday in full swing. :001_smile:

[Gentlemommy]

We didn't really stop...as soon as she finished one part of her 1st grade work, we just moved straight into the 2nd grade work for that subject. My dd has had some vision issues, and has been doing VT all summer. We have to take things slower than normal, doing less work per day than what I would consider 'average'. To accommodate her needs, I spread things out over a full year as opposed to 180 days. This summer, we only took two weeks completely off of school-both for farm/horse camp.

I'm not sure she would do well with a few months completely off...she really needs to do school consistently in order to retain. It's exhausting. :tongue_smilie:

[nono]

Other. We do a full load, but start mid- to late-week the first week.

 

I used to do the same thing when hiring new folks -- always started them on a Wednesday. Gives the person a feel of the rhythm and intensity of the workday, but then he/she gets a weekend to recover pretty quickly.

[tuzor]

For some reason I can't remember what we did the two previous years. This year we are easing into things.

[Mom22ns]

We jump right in. I find the kids are very willing and productive at the beginning of a new year. I don't want to wast a moment of that time!

[melmichigan]

I voted take 2-3 weeks because we never stop some subjects over the summer, and ease back into a full routine by the end of August. We are at a full load before the PS starts here.

[Tracy]

We start with some fun stuff for 2-3 weeks before the 3 R's plus the extracurriculars crowd them out.

[QuirkyKidAcademy]

We had to go late into summer to finish the last school year, so "summer vacation" has been pretty short. We will begin on 20 August with just reading and math. The next week, we'll add in a couple more subjects. After Labor Day we will start with a full schedule.

[WTMCassandra]

We jump in now, but I eased in when the children were younger. Also, we never really totally quit for the summer. We've still been doing math, Latin, and Greek every day we are home (not traveling). So jumping in is not that drastic.

[Dolphin]

We school year round, so we never really stop. We do different things at different paces, so when we finish one level we just move onto the next.

 

I did pick a day in June to say, ok, 4th grade is done! Good Job you are a 5th grader, we took a week off and the next Monday picked up where we had left off.

[Aurelia]

We do year-round, so normally we just pick up when one level finishes, but this year it looks like almost everything will end at the same time, so we'll be jumping in with both feet in October! (Gah, I just realized, that's only, like, 6 weeks away. Where does the time go? )

[MeganW]

We kept reading, handwriting, math, and Explode the Code going throughout the summer, along with random unit studies (ie Olympics). We started history last week, and co-ops (CC, fine arts, world cultures) start back in the next few weeks. I'm not sure when science will start back up - I need to prompt DH about that...

[Kathryn]

We jump right in.

[wy_kid_wrangler04]

We jump in full steam.

[SilverMoon]

We ease in over a few weeks. We start with a few subjects for the first week, then a couple/few more the next week, and generally everything by week three.

 

I ease into some of the new subjects, too. This year even the middle school aged kids will spend their first week on copywork for writing (Declaration of Independence), and the following week will be writing with the vocabulary from it. On week three they'll actually begin their writing curricula. The grammar stage kids will start with a review of cursive, and move into just copywork from there. Math will start with some basic review and drill for warming them up. Science, history and Latin will start off slowly, too.

[fraidycat]

I didn't vote, because this will be our first full year, full load so I can't answer how we "do" it (or have in the past). We started in February, with just the 3 R's.

 

I will most likely ease in. I have to figure out how I'm going to teach all of our core subjects to two - all teacher intensive, or so it seems. So, I'll probably just muck around with that for the first week, or so with maybe one content subject per day, if we can get to it.

 

I was planning to start on Labor Day, but I think I might start a week earlier.

[Dmmetler]

We jump in, in large part because we school lightly over the summer, so Jumping in makes it more an obvious "first day", which, at age 7, is still a big deal to DD.

[Deniseibase]

Jump in 100%, because it works best for my kids to set the expectations right away to avoid the 'What? You didn't make me do this last week!' conversations :D

 

Although, and this works extremely well for us, they don't both start at the same time. DS6 has already started and DD12 will start next week. That lets me get a good routine with him before turning my focus to her. She won't need a lot to get her going, but this being his first 'big' year, I knew I wanted to have several days of undivided attention for him at the beginning.

[Hedgehogs4]

We have always just jumped in, but this year are easing over the course of about 3-4 weeks. I would like to just get going early, but none of our friends are, so they are still calling for play dates and trips to the pool, etc, which I have a hard time saying no to as long as it is still officially "summer."

[MissKNG]

I voted other. We "go with the flow". I let my aggressive learner set the pace for the most part.

[cmp3400]

Jump in 100%, because it works best for my kids to set the expectations right away to avoid the 'What? You didn't make me do this last week!' conversations :D

 

.

 

This is exactly what happened here last year:D

[WiseOwlKnits]

We jump right in, BUT we do a light school in the summer so the first day for us is really more just gearing back up to our normal. Since we're already doing math, LA, and reading, it's not much to add the rest in. :)

[Jess4879]

We typically just jump right in, but this year we are going to spend the first week doing some review of LA and math and ease in to it at a bit slower pace.

[Mom2OandE]

This is my first year so I may regret what I'm doing but my plan is to have the first full day be a fun day and then the second day jump right in. We have been doing some light projects the past couple of weeks but it's not everyday.

[2squared]

When I only had 1-2 schooling, we jumped in. Schooling was a part of our day. Now that I have 4 kids aged PreK - 5th grade, we are easing in. We have new curriculum to get used to as well as scheduling kinks to iron out.

 

School will take all day, so we are working on fine tuning our morning schedule. Last week we did math, LoE, and literature reading for my oldest two; phonics and math for Ker; and picture books for K and PreK. This week we are adding in writing and religion. Next week we'll add in handwriting, history, and science (maybe).

[luvnlattes]

We ease in the first week simply because our co-op hasn't started yet. We do all the subjects that I do at home. If we didn't participate in co-op I would jump in full force from the start.

[Tenaj]

We are easing into much more slowly than I planned. Last week we did school lite for the first week and then my Dad decided to invite two of my boys to a fishing vacation at his house this week. I love them spending time Grandpa so I granted permission and then found out that on the other side of the family, a dear Aunt is arriving for a week-long visit on Wednesday. Sigh - my school year is not going to take off the way I planned . .. such is life . . . I'm sure we'll eventually be doing full-time school and wishing for a break.

[rlestina]

We do school year 'round. So much easier for everyone that way, and then we can take a week off here or there as the need arises.

[MinivanMom]

We jump right in in order to establish a routine. I try to plan each individual subject to be a little light that first week, so that it's easy to get through our routine.

[ereks mom]

We ease in over a few weeks. We start with a few subjects for the first week, then a couple/few more the next week, and generally everything by week three.

 

This is us too.

[curlylocks]

We ease in over a few weeks. We start with a few subjects for the first week, then a couple/few more the next week, and generally everything by week three.

 

 

:iagree: -- We started last week w/ two subjects. This week we are doing four. Next week we will do six. By Labor Day, we will be up to a "full load".

[Homemama2]

Usually we start 100% first day. This year we are starting on a Weds. b/c we decided to actually follow our ps's schedule. Those first 3 days we will do math, grammar and reading. But I also bought a ton of fun educational things at the Children's museum gift shop while we were on vacation this summer. So I wrapped it up in a big box and the kids get to open it the first day of school and those first 3 days we'll use what's in the box. I put in everything from science stuff (make your own rootbeer and bubble gum kits, etc.) to art things, and even threw in some candy. ;) The kids are really excited to open it and I think they'll love what I bought. :hurray: Then the next Monday we'll start in full swing.

 

I had also told them if they each read a certain book from the time the summer reading program ended and school started, then we'd go and get DQ on the first day. I'm really excited to start this week!

[heritagelearningacademy]

We ease in over the first month. We start with history, bible and math. Then I add in a new subject each week. We have had some starts and stops this summer with soccer camps and a week at Grandmas. We are doing a minimal week here because we have house guests. Then, next week we are full force with everything. And, we will be able to keep that pace up.

 

For us, easing in was a huge help with attitude of oldest. LOL

[amydavis]

We do school most of the year, so it's just kind of different. We were running with just the basics until a couple of weeks ago, when we shifted away into some household decluttering, organizing, deep cleaning work instead.

 

This week we're resuming with just some math, history, and reading. We'll be on vacation next week, which is a little later than normal. I'll have them bring a book (they usually would anyway) and we'll probably do a small scale study on the ocean, something mostly for fun. So, I guess I consider this our soft start, or just upkeep and dusting away the mental cobwebs!

 

The next week will be our "official" start, which means I'll introduce the new curriculum, we'll go over our new schedule (including extracurriculars) for the fall, and I'll pull out all the boxes of new books and games that have been arriving almost daily for them to open. So, the official first day will be a lot of just getting acquainted with the new subjects and materials, as well as getting to look at all of the new items. The next day will be business as usual.