Does anyone still wait for Sept?

[Carrie12345]

We start "official" school in September. I have one who started in ps (and is back) so my kids are hyper aware of "normal" vacations. But I also really need the time to rest, regroup, and plan in order to feel school-ready.

 

Official is in quotes b/c my dds attended a very educational camp this summer, and I say they've earned 10 reporting days for our 180 state requirement.

[DawnM]

We NEVER take a summer vacation, or never until this year. This summer has just been far busier than any other summer yet.

 

We school year round. Our school year officially starts July 1 and ends June 30th. We just do between 170-190 days within that time period somewhere.

 

I worked in year round schools for almost 17 years and we always started our official school year July 1st and ended June 30th, so it is what I am used to. Then various tracks are off different times throughout the year in a multi track system school.

 

It works for us. We take frequent breaks, vacations, trips, etc.....

 

I see no reason to have the summer off. We don't vacation (typically) in the summer, it is too hot and muggy to spend much time outdoors, and we don't like the crowds.

 

Dawn

[MotherOfBoys]

We will start August 26th, two weeks before PS starts, to get 2 sets if 6 weeks on 1 week off done before thanksgiving. We finish the first week of may.

 

I am ready to start today though because I feel like we are bored zombies these last two weeks. We do math five days a week in the summer. Next year, depending on camps, we will full school July four days a week because its too hot to do anything else.

[Parrothead]

We generally wait until the last few days of August or the first full week of September.

[Matryoshka]

we will full school July four days a week because its too hot to do anything else.

 

You guys with the air conditioning just crack me up.  When it's too hot to do anything else here, it's too hot to think or do school even more!  We just lie around like puddles, or find a place with air conditioning (where we're not going to drag school books).

 

I think that's why the schools start later here in the northeast - the schools typically don't have air conditioning, so it's nuts to have school when it's hot - have to wait for fall and cooler weather to kick in.

 

[PollyOR]

ETA: Part of the reason for this has nothing to do with the school schedule and everything to do with weather. Oregon has gorgeous weather June-September. I can't imagine beginning school in August. It's too beautiful outside! We want to be hiking and swimming and gardening and playing outside.

 

This.  :)

[MinivanMom]

I like to start in August, because it gives us more breathing room during the year to take breaks.  I've started in July in years where I was expecting a baby, so that we could take a long maternity break.  Mostly we do whatever is convenient for that year.  We don't really have a standard schedule here to align to, though.  Some of the public schools start the end of August, but the rest are on a year-round schedule.    Some private schools align to the end of August start, but the older, pricier ones wait until after Labor Day to begin. 

[strange_girl]

I see lots of posts from people who have already started, or will soon start, a new school year. Does  anyone still do a full summer vacation and wait until after Labor Day to start?  If you start in August, are you lining your dates up (more or less) with the PS schedule?

 

In the past, we've hs'd through a charter, so we had to start mid-August.  This is our first Freedom Year, and we're waiting until after Labor Day.  I guess I just never noticed how unusual a September start date has  become.

 

We could wait, I guess...but why bother? :001_smile:  Here, when we finish something up, we start right up with the next thing. Keeps us busy. Our family seems to thrive on routine. Also, throughout the school year, if I want to take a few days off, I always have that leeway. Because we never take much time off, we always have the option without getting behind. Because my kids are so young but so excited about school, it also gives us wiggle room down the road if they get stuck and slow down.

 

That said, I can see us in several years beginning to take the summer off. When the kids are older and can manage to go more than 5 minutes without whining, arguing, and taking each other's toys. Whenever that happens :glare:  For now, we keep ouselves busy.

[mamatohaleybug]

I start in Aug because I like to get 18-19 weeks in before Christmas break (dividing our year in half with Christmas break). I'm just anal retentive/OCD like that.  :)

[funschooler5]

We are this year. I'm not even close to being ready yet.

[Rhonda in TX]

As others have said, it can often depend on your weather. It's brutally hot here in August, so I would rather do school now, then get out mid-May when it's nice. Schools start in a couple of weeks (we started today), but they don't get out until early June.

 

If I lived somewhere where August was cooler than 100s, I would absolutely wait until after Labor Day. :)

[Mandy in TN]

The metro school system started 8/1. The local schools started 8/7. We started 7/29- 3 days before the metro schools and a week and a couple of days before the school down the street. However, the schools start dates had nothing to do with determining when we started. We counted back 90 days from when we wanted to begin our mid-term break skipping any days that we were going to take off. Doing this we arrived at 7/29. It was just coincidence that the metro schools started the same week!

 

:D Mandy

[Dustybug]

We school year round, but in the past our new year started in Sept.  This year we started this month because I'm having a baby any time now and we'll likely be off for all of Sept. 

[sagira]

We are starting in September. We finish at the end of July, the day before dd's birthday, and start back up again on the day after ds' birthday.

[MotherOfBoys]

We don't have air conditioning. We live in the north too. Michigan. We have a basement to hibernate in in July. I would rather take May or June and then Aug or Sept off then July.

[boscopup]

Local schools here were starting the first week of August, but the state pushed it back to mid-August to give more tourism to the beach areas (thus taking away fall break - the kids used to have a week, and now they have something like 2 days :tongue_smilie:). They still end the Friday before Memorial Day.

 

I align my school END date with the local schools. I'm usually feeling "done" by then. And actually, we really did nothing academic the last 2 weeks of our school year last year, as the weather was nice, and I was feeling done. So we put the books away and were done. We took a good month off, then started back up mid-June. Why? Because by that time, it was starting to get too hot to play outside past 9am. Everyone here has A/C in their home, so we stay inside during the summer. I'd rather take a long break in October or November, when it gets cool. We don't have a pool or a membership to a pool, there are no school aged kids living near us (the girls across the street are both preschool aged, and my boys have a GREAT time playing with them when the weather is nice out). There is just nothing special for us to do in summer, once cub scout camp is over, and that's in early-mid June (we start school after camp).

 

We also do our big family vacation in September, when most kids have just started school, so people aren't traveling as much. We don't want to travel during the summer when EVERYONE else is also. :) I usually have at least 6 weeks or so under our belt by time we break for that September vacation, and while the vacation is 1 week, I take the following week off also, to give us a break from doing anything and to recover from the trip (or come back to the "real world" - especially necessary last year when we went to Disney for the first time).

 

So basically, I just have no good reason to start in September. I could see September being a good start date for people in colder regions though. That totally makes sense, especially if you don't have A/C in your house. :) Some people start in January, so you could consider them later than you! :lol:

[Blueridge]

We wait until the day after Labor Day...it's a tradition!  :hurray:  And it takes me that long to get my act together lol.

[Madeline05]

We wait until the day after Labor Day...it's a tradition!  :hurray:  And it takes me that long to get my act together lol.

 

Me too!! I wish there was a *high five* smiley lol

[pitterpatter]

We started September 24 last year due to DH having vacation time early September. Never again will we start that late. We school year around, but I like to do fun electives during the summer instead of our traditional science and history. We got way behind (not really behind, but there just wasn't any wiggle-room in our schedule) and just finished this past year three weeks ago. So, no fun stuff for us this summer, which bummed me out. We're starting this year this coming Monday.

[Hwin]

We wait until September. Public schools start in September and there are some really cool summer programs still going on in August - my son has a summer camp next week so it would make no sense to start until that is finished, anyway.

[lea_lpz]

I've debated it and all but it'd mean we would only get 4 weeks off during the school year. I like to be able to break more than that during the school year, and the flex room in case we get behind or need sick days. We like to do school 4 days a week and take a long winter break.

[vonfirmath]

You guys with the air conditioning just crack me up.  When it's too hot to do anything else here, it's too hot to think or do school even more!  We just lie around like puddles, or find a place with air conditioning (where we're not going to drag school books).

 

I think that's why the schools start later here in the northeast - the schools typically don't have air conditioning, so it's nuts to have school when it's hot - have to wait for fall and cooler weather to kick in.

 

 

Without air conditioning here, they'd have to get all their schooling done October-March. Or maybe April if they could do class outside.

[Nscribe]

For various reasons we have not been able to wait till September to start, but we have sworn that for the 2014-15 school year we will start the day after Labor Day and no earlier.  What usually happens is some outside class starts at some point in the last two weeks of August and we figure we might as well get it going for everything.  We may be foiled again, but it is a goal.

[angelmama1209]

we school year round, but our "official" start date for a new year is the day after labor day.

[Homeschooling6]

We start in Sept. too but do some summer school as well. We mainly stick with math, reading, phonics, etc. type stuff.

[amyrobynne]

We follow my teacher husband's schedule for the most part, which starts here Aug 28th and continues through June 6th or so. He actually returns for workshops next Monday (8/19) and I'd prefer to ramp up starting then, but the only 1-week option for our boys' YMCA camp is Aug 18-23, so I can't start until they get back. And I want to give them a few days to adjust to being home, so I don't want to start on Monday the 26th. I'll end up starting on the 28th when my husband starts but since it's a 3 day week followed by Labor Day's 4 day week, I cut back at the beginning and then call the combined two short weeks my first full week. (We do 5 days' work over those 7 school days.)

 

Next year, they'll probably go to 2 week camp earlier in August and I'll get to rethink it.

[Lolly]

We have always gone to the beach the first two weeks of ps. When we get home, we take about a week to get laundry done...and do a gradual rolling start/one subject added every couple of days. That has us starting around early Sept. This year, I am waiting to move the girls into their dorms/apt. No beach, it is just too crazy getting ready for college, and they all seem to have become employed! I think ds and I will start after Labor Day now.