What do you consider as a "finished" school year ?

[Momma2Many66]

From reading another thread I was wondering if each year your children completes all his workbooks/textbooks before you call it a finished school year ?

 

I know for us, we school year round. We never typically finish a whole book in a given school year, we just keep going until we finish the book whether that is April, May or August. But we do end the school year every June 30th and start the new school year every first Monday in July.

 

For example, if my child is still working on Saxon Math 5/4 at the end of 4th grade (June 30th), I will continue to have him work on Saxon 5/4 until the book is complete but consider him in 5th grade on July 1st of that same year. Then once Saxon 5/4 is complete, we will just continue onto the next book Saxon 6/5 and onwards.

 

If my child has a problem in a certain subject or needs extra time to cover the subject because of some learning difficulties, we just slow down and take our time and do not rush. I am working towards excellence in their school work, not a goal of finishing in a specific time frame.

 

How do other homeschoolers see a "completed school year" ? When do you consider your school year complete ? When the book is complete or by a certain date ?

 

We are from Pennsylvania, so we have to hand in yearly portfolios, recieve a yearly evaluation by a qualified evaulator and do standardized testing in grades 3, 5 and 8. That is why I complete a school year in a specific time frame, even though the school books have not been completed at that time.

 

How does it work in your family ?

[Catwoman]

May 31st is what I consider to be a finished school year. ;)

 

I'm trying to be less anal this year, and I want to just set a date and stick with it for once.

[Onceuponatime]

I arrange my kids work so that what I want them to do is completed by May 30. That usually includes finishing yearly testing, some workbooks and textbooks, plus certain goals for completing other subjects. Sometimes they will double up on work as they see the date approaching. If they my requirements before the 30th that is free time. I like having the summer off.

[Ellie]

If I had hsed in a state like PA, I probably would have had an official end of school year, as well. :-)

 

But I hsed in California, where the only requirement...well, there aren't any worth mentioning. :D So the end of our school year was December 31, However, I did "promote" dc in the fall, just to keep grandparents, Sunday school teachers, and sports coaches happy. :-) Like you, we continued working on stuff until we finished and then moved on, regardless of "grade level."

[Another Lynn]

36 weeks or the end of May. After that we try to do a few pages of math each week, but that's summer work.

[Dandelion]

I don't require all textbooks/workbooks to be completed in order to wrap up the school year.

 

Our year is done when we reach the point where we've met the required number of school days/hours for the year (per our state's homeschooling statute), DC's skill/knowledge/proficiency level is generally on track for the end of that grade level, and I can tell that we're at the "point of diminishing returns" if we continue on. I have an end date in mind (usually towards the end of May) and we generally don't go too far past that.

[PentecostalMom]

Finished? What is that? I feel like I have been homeschooling for 100 years! My two older dc graduated in 2010, and my next dd started that fall. I did take that summer off, but other than that, we go, go, go. Not full days all the time, but I am going to have to work out a different schedule for us. I think I would like six weeks on/one off or nine weeks on/one off. We take a big break from Thanksgiving week to New Year's, and other breaks as needed, but I am beginning to think a planned break is in order. We all need it!

[prairiewindmomma]

Either all completed books for a level &/or 186 school days. We grade jumped one kid when he blew through books in a semester. The school year got messy that year.... Usually it's end of april or mid-May and we start the new schoolyear June 1. We school year-round.

[happymomofboys]

Our school year is finished on June 30th. We are required to have 180 days of school each year, but we school year-round and always exceed the minimum. If we don't finish the curriculum for a subject before the end of the year I evaluate whether to continue using it into the next year, skip it and move on, or scrap it entirely. Some things, like spelling, are easy to just carry over into the next year. Other things, like novels we haven't read or writing assignments we didn't get to, can easily be revisited in subsequent years so I just skip them. I also gauge what is working and what isn't based on how much of a curriculum we've finished by the end of the year. If it's not working for us, sometimes it's just better to put it aside and start fresh with something else next year.

 

 

Edit: Changed "often exceed the minimum" to "always exceed the minimum" since in all our years of homeschooling we've yet to fail to do so.

Edited March 29, 2013 by happymomofboys

[Lara in Colo]

I school year round. Summer is a time of catch-up, get ahead or "special stuff".

So I have a squishy end date of June 1--ish and an official start date of September 1st --ish.

What usually happens is we finish the grammar and history by mid June and start new stuff, finish math sometime in early August, and manage a special outdoor project in the meantime.

[Joyofsixreboot]

180 days = done. We don't stop learning but that is my gauge.

[Heart_Mom]

180 Days :)

[elegantlion]

36 weeks is generally our done point. This year it will be 38. We have to count hours for the state, but those can be totaled year round. We generally try to do math and one other subject in the summer anyway.

[BakersDozen]

When the book is complete and a grade of B or better is earned, our year is complete. We've used many summers to complete work and probably will do so this year as well. Thankfully, not all subjects continue into the summer; spelling, grammar, writing are usually finished end of May. Science we aim for mid-June at the latest.

[KathyBC]

We take July and August for our summer break. Usually it's a gradual shut-down throughout June, as each book gets put away when it's done or we reach a natural stopping point. School is considered done when the math books are done. (Which has sometimes meant a bit of math is still happening in July, which is not an entirely bad thing.)

[Mommy22alyns]

May 31. We should be done with LA and math by that point. Due to Rebecca's practices, we can't school over the summer, and I think they'd mutiny anyway. It's all I can do to get them to do Summer Bridge!

[Wabi Sabi]

I say that we officially start school at the same time as the local public schools and that we end at the same time as well, but in reality we school year round but take lots of breaks as needed. I'll use the summer to finish up the rest of our math and writing plus any fun or special things that we didn't get to during the school year, but once they're done we don't start up with the next level until fall.

[LisaKinVA]

We just keep going. We're still trying to make up time we lost due to the house-building and move...

[Elinor Everywhere]

In grade school we went year-round, taking vacations as they came up, so we just kept on going. Finished a book in Feb? Start the next one. Taking longer than 36 weeks to finish a course? No worries, year-round school gives us plenty of time.

 

Middle school/junior high: we started staying on our sailboat all summer, so we used a 36-week year (based on TOG). My year was done at 36 weeks. Sometimes curricula was still finished early, and the next one was started right away.

 

High school - one child is in full-time, the other one is part-time, but either way we are now tied to the public school schedule. So, I adjusted accordingly, and now this year will finish on May 23, just like the high school. I scheduled my lesson plans to match, so we'll be done with everything by then. Which is convenient, because we head to France 6 days later. Gotta have time to pack and unwind. :tongue_smilie:

 

Next year, both kids will be in school full-time for their Sophomore year. Boo.

[texasmama]

We follow a typical public/private school year, schooling for 36 weeks from Aug - May. Then we take off a week and start our light summer session, which is a different set of subjects. This runs for 10 weeks, then we will take about two weeks off and start the regular school year. I have offered year round school to my kids, but they always decline. :)

[inmyopinion]

When the weather turns nice :) On a serious note, once we reach our 180 days, we are done. We never stop learning though.

[Dory]

When we finish the material that was set out for the year. This year that meant that we started in September and finished last week. Once they are done their years work though, we head into some other stuff that they wanted to do, like a course on survival skills, or some extra art classes. I make them go over flash cards throughout the summer to keep them sharp and we read A LOT.

[Jilly]

Our year is over when I feel burned out and need a long break. :) We move on in curriculum when the kids have learned all they can from it and are ready for something new.

[Supertechmom]

I officially end it on paper at 180 days. Then we go until we finish the books or what I had planned . :). Since I concentrate on mastery,sometimes we have to stay on the same topic longer than planned. I usually start up in August, run through the year with mini breaks till may and then use June to "finish up" if we are close to finishing or the highschool kid needs to complete the work for credit. The good thing is that if they finish a book or the coursework say in April, then they are done with that! I don't start another subject. ( now if they finish in dec, oh yeah but at the end, take a break). If we really struggled, then we will stop it in may and start back up in aug with it. But I don't get hung up on making sure every page is done and every item checked.

 

[Maela]

April 30th, but we'll be doing some things all year round. In May, June, and July we'll still be doing one page of Math Mammoth a day, math facts flashcards, and Spanish. And lots of reading (independent and read-alouds). On August 1st we'll start back up with everything else.

[lea_lpz]

June 7th. We plan to school year round and finish up all curriculum by that date but if not the last day of school for the grade would be the day our school district let out.

[thebacabunch]

We finish during the 3rd week of may. We use an umbrella charter and start a little sooner than ps take a few shorter breaks and have alonger summer. My kids are welcome to use art supplies, books, educational games, etc all summer and often do. I make them do a little math every weekday because they were losing so much over the summer when I didn't. My dd12 lives with a nose in a book all summer and my dd8 loves to do art every day. It's their time to pursue their interests.

[Laura Corin]

40 weeks. We didn't necessarily change over books at year end.

 

Laura

[Melissa in Australia]

the only subject that goes from the start of the year to the end is History, which also includes the reading lists. Everything else just continues. when they finish one book they get a week off that subject, then start right on with the next book.

[ChristusG]

Wow, I've heard of this "finishing the school year" thing, but I always thought it was a myth lol!

[Pamela H in Texas]

Goodness, we're just crazy people here.

 

With my first kids, when they were young (under double digit ages for sure), I don't think we really had any way of figuring it. We were so weird and relaxed with schooling that it couldn't be based on books. And I was weird about "Grades" so it couldn't be based on that. Being in Texas, I didn't have to worry about the gov't's opinion. I doubt we ever started OR finished a grade level then.

 

As they got older, it was when they finished the materials then we did schooling-light. Start in July/August, finish between Feb and April. The days in late winter/early spring got lighter and lighter as we enjoyed more time outside, following interests, etc. Spring was about having a life before it got too hot.

 

Well, this year was a bust in terms of many of my curriculum ideas. We really needed to focus on other things. So schooling has been much lighter than I planned. I may try to ramp it up in July, knocking out a good portion of work in the summer, when it is too miserable to think straight. Then fall will be a little lighter and winter a little heavier, hopefully finishing most of our goals about this time next spring.

 

I guess what will mostly end one school year is nice weather. And what will start the next will be heat so bad that getting from the house to the van takes it out of ya.

[Donna]

The end of our "school year" is when summer activities get so busy they take over everything and we can only do schoolwork a couple days a week for a few hours.

 

Our homeschooling is part of our life.

 

I don't go by grade levels...unless someone asks then I tell them, "She'd be in ___ grade if in school."

 

I don't go by curriculum or finishing a book because we finish some books within 6 months and others might take 18 months or a couple years (as is the case with dd's history book because it covers pre-history through modern times (and we put it aside for 6 months this year so dd could take a course on Civil War with other homeschooling kids).

 

I don't go by the public school year, because I think dd should do at least math and Spanish fairly regularly through the summer even though I would not consider us "year round" schoolers anymore.

[JessReplanted]

We started Hschooling in PA, so to me, a completed school year will probably always mean "180 Days".

 

I have no problem rolling over curriculum into the next school year though.

[musicianmom]

Previously it's been sometime in May when I'm tired of it.

 

This year our school year ends when our Ambleside reading schedule for the year is finished, which will be the week of May 13.

[MissKNG]

180 Days :)

 

 

Here too...per my state requirements.

[Down_the_Rabbit_Hole]

We are technically finished our school year, the required days are done. But our personal view of the year is not done. My 2 need to finish their math books. They also have to finish reading any science reading...but at this point no written work is required. The same for my ds and doing MOH, just read, do some research, but no writing. When they finish those things then their official summer break starts.

[Night Elf]

We have always schooled year round and take vacation whenever we want to. This week is spring break! We were really ready for a break. Before high school, we called the new grade level on the day that public school started. That way they were on par with their peers. But it didn't have anything to do with finishing books. We were all over the place in subjects. We couldn't have possibly ended everything for one date. Now that we're in high school, I count grade level based on the number of subjects done. My ds16 has completed 11 classes so I call him a Junior. In his school, he needs 21 credits to graduate so I just see each grade level as having 5 subjects with his senior year having 6. I'll say it was much easier before high school.

 

Oh, our state requires 180 days. I submit the attendance records until we hit 180 and then stop until the new school year (first day of public school) begins again.

[Mommyfaithe]

May 31st is what I consider to be a finished school year. ;)

 

I'm trying to be less anal this year, and I want to just set a date and stick with it for once.

 

Usually end of May is it for us. We pick up our books again mid-August. Where ever we left off is where we pick up. If we are really close to the end of a book, I may either have them finish it over break time or just chuck it and start with the next level. Most texts have so much overlap, it has never been a real issue.

 

[Dmmetler]

We homeschool through an umbrella school, and I report a May 1-April 30 school year to them. They don't care what we do as long as she has at least 180 days of recorded attendance OR excused absences in a year. It's not based on completion because we just move on. In practice, this is the time of year when, as DD finishes the more formal curriculum, we start to move to more fun/review type stuff, while I research and order the next step.

[chepyl]

We go Aug 1-April 30. Or close to that. If we are close to finishing a book, I might double up lessons for a couple of days, or add a couple of days on, if we finish a book a week or two early, we are done. We did finish math in February this year so we started the next book. We will just stop in a month where ever we are.

[lynn]

We will technically be finished when I record day 180 but I do want to finish all books to call it a year. DD is in first grade but is using abeka second grade there are somethings I don't push her on because of this. We will be doing school a couples days a week throughout the summer so we can take more travel time 2013/2014 and I am hoping to complete all of her second grade books before the end of August. My ds is going good and will right on schedule.