If you school year-round...

[SereneHome]

This was our first official year and I am still trying to find out rhythm.  We started early August, and I really liked the idea of doing 6 wks on, 1 week off, with some longer breaks here and there.  But it didn't happen.  There was too much sickness and then there was too much snow, so anytime weather and health permitting, I wanted the kids to be outside and have field trips, etc.

 

I am happy with how we moved with math and reading and spelling, but we hardly did any science or history or art or music and that makes me sad.

 

I am trying to decide what to do NOW, come June 1st.  Should we take a break and start again in August?  Should I continue and do what we can?

 

I am finding out that my oldest doesn't do well with very long breaks.  He needs continuity, I think.  But obviously, I don't want to do school non-stop all year long.

 

I would love to hear how you do it and what are you reasons for doing it that way.  

 

If you school year-round, when do you stop a grade and start the next?  Or do you just move along onto the next level whenever one level is finished?

 

I am trying to think this through and kind of talk it out with the hive, so any and all info/suggestions/stories would be very appreciated!!

[maize]

We just move along as needed, and take breaks as needed. I've played with the idea of taking scheduled breaks every few weeks but so far have not implemented it.

[Ellie]

This was our first official year and I am still trying to find out rhythm.  We started early August, and I really liked the idea of doing 6 wks on, 1 week off, with some longer breaks here and there.  But it didn't happen.  There was too much sickness and then there was too much snow, so anytime weather and health permitting, I wanted the kids to be outside and have field trips, etc.

 

I am happy with how we moved with math and reading and spelling, but we hardly did any science or history or art or music and that makes me sad.

 

I am trying to decide what to do NOW, come June 1st.  Should we take a break and start again in August?  Should I continue and do what we can?

 

I am finding out that my oldest doesn't do well with very long breaks.  He needs continuity, I think.  But obviously, I don't want to do school non-stop all year long.

 

I would love to hear how you do it and what are you reasons for doing it that way.  

 

If you school year-round, when do you stop a grade and start the next?  Or do you just move along onto the next level whenever one level is finished?

 

I am trying to think this through and kind of talk it out with the hive, so any and all info/suggestions/stories would be very appreciated!!

 

We didn't do a schedule like 6 weeks on/1 week off.

 

We did a field trip every Thursday, year-round.

 

We took off a couple of weeks at Easter, a couple of weeks in late August/early September (when the schools were starting), and Thanksgiving through about the middle of January. We also took off randomly for mental health days, or visits from grandparents, and so on.

 

I always "promoted" dc in the fall, regardless of what we were doing with Official School Stuff.  Otherwise, we just continued doing what we were doing until we finished or got tired of it, regardless of any "grade level."

[SereneHome]

Oooh, I like the idea of "promoting" them.  Sounds really important!

[Holly]

We take it one summer at a time.  Last summer, I had one in gymnastics (which they move to daytime hours since the others are public schooled).  We also had 3 in swimming lessons.  Add in two weeks of vacation and I knew it wasn't going to work!  We did continue with math and read alouds on the days we were home...I have one child who struggles in math and it seems she is always "behind".  For her, year round math has been our solution.   

 

This year, we had a move and are way behind...with everything!  I made a chart for 12 weeks (I generally plan 12 wks at a time).  I plugged in all the materials I hoped to cover over the summer and divided them up among the 12 weeks.  We should have just enough time to get through what I planned and still be able to take off a day here and there.  

 

Since you are just behind on "the extras" and your DC are so young, I wouldn't be too worried.  Maybe plan a few fun things to do with them.  Does your library have a summer reading program?  Are there subject areas they'd like to explore?  Gardening projects? 

[Ellie]

Oooh, I like the idea of "promoting" them.  Sounds really important!

 

Oh, it is! :D

 

See, as long as we live in a world where children are placed in groups according to their "grade" (Sunday school, for example), our homeschooled children need to be able to play that game. So, I knew the cut-off in my state (California; at that time, it was 6yo by the cut-off of December 2 to start 1st grade) and I relentlessly used the grade level my dc would have been in if they'd been in school (first grade the fall of their sixth bdays, second grade the following year, third grade after that, and so on). Dc had no idea what that meant, of course; in September, I'd say, "Dear, you are now IN THIRD GRADE! Go forth and prosper!" :D  And then we'd go on with whatever we were doing, lol.

[eternallytired]

We're still on the early end, but we've just been taking breaks as-needed.  Last year we had fairly regular interruptions which seemed to be timed about right for breaks.  Then last fall we moved away from Grandma and she came to visit about every 6-8 weeks, so we'd take off whenever she was here.  This spring she moved here, so I'm trying to plug until I'm starting to feel worn out and then taking a week off, figuring the kids probably feel the same.  This summer I will do "school lite" (just math/reading) during June because we have daily swimming lessons; then we'll have 2 weeks of vacation in July, after which we'll probably start our regular work again.

 

I just move the kids to the next level/material when they finish one thing, but I tell them their grade level based on what they would be in PS, so that "officially" changes in the fall when everyone else heads back to school.

 

If the "extras" have fallen through the cracks, you could consider making those a focus for summer to change up your pace and just do maintenance learning/review with your core subjects.  You could either do school only a few days a week or only a few subjects a day, or take off on the weeks you have summer camps/vacations. 

 

I find that if I stop for more than a couple weeks, the kids forget so much that it's disheartening.

[Jennay]

I consider my children "promoted"' to the next grade after my county portfolio review in the spring. That starts the "new" school year. It varies from year to year what we do over the summer - sometimes we focus on art or nature studies or world geography. I usually stop spelling, grammar, Latin, and formal math for the summer. My 1st grader will continue phonics and math over the summer because at her age she needs the continuity.

[Dramorellis]

We school through the end of July, take all of August off and then they move up to the next grade the day after Labor Day regardless of what we are actually doing. Mid-June through July it gets pretty light though. Last year we did end up starting up again before September after only 3 weeks off because they just needed to and I felt like it would give us more flexibility. Math and reading get done every day but then it's lots of life learning, playing, the beach etc. I was reading something (wish I could remember where) but it was basically that in the fall they are classical, Charlotte Mason in the winter and unschoolers in the spring and summer. That pretty much sums up how it goes. 

[Runningmom80]

I'm struggling with this too!  We are doing swim lessons in June and July (3 week sessions) so I think we will be schooling very little during that time.

[KBadd]

Your year sounds just like ours! I like the idea of schooling all year long with shorter breaks, but this year with all the illness we had it didn't work. We worked through the year when we could, taking a good amount of time off for the holidays. We've been working consistently through May but I feel we all need a decent break. We're going to the beach next week and dh's work schedule is lighter in June, plus we love the pool, so we're taking June off. By "off" I mean less expectations on my part lol. My son loves math so we'll probably work on that, maybe using Miquon when he finishes his Singapore book which will be soon. I LOVE the library during the summer!! We log our reading and go to story time and science club and other events. We're going to focus on reading - both read-alouds and readers. I'll also work on planning out books for next year. When we get antsy, we can add in science or Spanish, both of which my boys are asking for. If this are going well, I'm thinking we'll add the rest and officially start in August. If we have a more relaxed summer with just reading and math, maybe we'll jump back in in late July.

 

I don't know if this will work, but that is what I'm thinking ;)

[SereneHome]

Hmmm, may be doing science and history over the next few months with short math drills and daily reading would work.

 

I am not too worried about spelling.  He might do an art camp.  I do want to do something about music, I feel like such a slacker on that.

 

But I also keep coming back to the beauty of homeschooling that you can tailor the schedule to certain things and I hate for kids to be stuck inside when the weather is good.   Which is mostly spring and fall around here.  

 

Thank you for allowing me to think this through.....this is really helping!

[Farrar]

We school all year with breaks. When my kids were younger, we took fewer long breaks. They needed more regular structure and school was very short every day. As they've gotten older, I've realized we need longer sustained breaks to refuel. We have not had exactly the same schedule any year. Basically, I think what you decide now can change. Especially when your kids are homeschooled from the start, I think it's easy to say, we'll do it this way and then change that the next year and still have buy in for it.

[Farrar]

Hmmm, may be doing science and history over the next few months with short math drills and daily reading would work.

 

I am not too worried about spelling.  He might do an art camp.  I do want to do something about music, I feel like such a slacker on that.

 

But I also keep coming back to the beauty of homeschooling that you can tailor the schedule to certain things and I hate for kids to be stuck inside when the weather is good.   Which is mostly spring and fall around here.  

 

Thank you for allowing me to think this through.....this is really helping!

 

This is when we *try* to take our longer breaks. It's weird because we have a lot of activities, but the weather is so good, it's what I aim for.

[Tranquility7]

Our school year, according to what we have to report to the state, is July 1 – June 30.  That has no bearing on what we actually do though (I have a DS9, DD5, and DD1).

 

We do piano practice and memory work review pretty relentlessly year-round. Our memory work is done via Anki, so each day we log in and review that day’s cards (it is a spaced-repetition system so it is really efficient). I put tons of stuff into Anki (Latin vocab and grammar, Chinese vocab and grammar, English grammar, poetry, Bible verses, catechism, music theory, art appreciation, math, science… so far pretty much everything but history, which I am woefully behind on putting into Anki!). Basically, if we do that review, that keeps every “fresh†even if we aren’t doing any new material in that subject. Anki takes us less than an hour a day and the payoff is huge for us.

 

As we finish one level in a subject, we start the next regardless of when it is during the year. Sometimes we will take a little breaks from a subject, but we never take a break from Anki on that subject. For instance, we have had a crazy busy May, so we have not done any new Latin or new Chinese learning, but we have reviewed our L & C vocab and grammar in Anki regularly, so next week when we start up again in both of those, it will still all be fresh in our minds. Also, DS finished his math book in May and I gave him a two week break before starting the next level.

 

Different times during the year I emphasize different “extra†subjects. I don’t really plan this, I just go with the flow and see what we feel like doing, or what we need to do based on outside opportunities. Right now we are doing a lot of art because we have a Meet the Masters membership that is about to expire and we need to finish it up before we lose access :) Whenever we are planning camping trips or trips to cabins, I always take along our Botany or other Nature Study currics/books so that we can work on that when we are there, surrounded by nature. I also always bring art supplies on those trips so the kids can sketch or watercolor outside or do an art project or what have you. Technically it is doing “school†on vacation, but it is fun for them and helps me ensure we don’t overlook art (which is very easy for me to do).

 

If we ever feel burnt out on something, we can take a short break on that subject and work on something else for a little while instead. Sometimes we take a break on a curriculum but not the subject itself – for instance, we might take a break on Singapore Math by doing LOF for a month instead. I usually have multiple options for most subjects so that we can have some variety when we need it.

[73349]

We school year-round and keep school short, so there's time for "table work" *and* the field trip, park time, etc. DS does much better without big changes. (E.g., today is our second day back from a trip, and we are apparently spending the morning on Total Drama Island.)

 

Instead of 6 on / 1 off for school as a whole, I build in certain weeks for review/catch-up for each subject, and stagger them.

 

I run each grade through the end of June, have a July/August session (which is legally part of the new school year but includes things that are fun/different) and promote him on Labor Day and officially start the new grade.

[rebcoola]

We school year round but with no scheduled breaks just whenever we need it, something fun is going on, are busy, travel or have visitors.  We go lighter in the summer and drop everything but L.A. and Math.  So they do school and chores, swim lessons and lunch than free play the rest of the day.  

[Arcadia]

We just move along to the next level of whatever my boys have finished. While we school year round, we take breaks in late fall for trips when it is cooler but not to cold for me. We also go slower in January and April as my boys and I are all affected by hay fever.

Like yesterday we spent two hours playing at the park from late afternoon but we have to put up with mild runny nose after.

 

We are doing lots of hands on science in summer at home as it is too hot outside. So just nice to get some chemistry and indoor physics stuff done.

[ChocolateMomster]

We school year round and take breaks when the weather is good (Ireland is wet) and when we need one. We move to the next grade when they're there, but we're all over the place with grades, they're not just in 3rd grade or 4th grade but for each subject just wherever they are.

[SereneHome]

Our state is very laid back so I don't have to log in any particular number of hours.

 

Farrar, yeah, my kid also can't handle longer breaks, it seems that information leaks out of his head if it's not reinforced semi-regularly!

[fdrinca]

I work so hard to teach these kiddos, that to take the summer off and watch them forget what they've learned....too much to bear! We school all year, typically 3 days a week (the other days we have co-op and field trips). The ease of the schedule makes us feel that we don't *need* time off, and working through the summer means we keep moving forward.

 

I don't assess "grade level," except that the kids know what grade their peers are, and their math text has a grade level on the cover. 

 

I have a hard time planning several subjects for the kids at once, so we tend to do block learning. By keeping the planning portion simple, we get it done! 

[sbgrace]

I school year round with breaks when we need/want it.

I just continued with what we did through the year curriculum wise. When we finished x book, say math, we went on to the next grade. That hasn't been an issue at all.

 

We're upcoming 6th, and this is the first summer I feel the need to switch things up. I think we need a bit of a break in terms of burn out. We're still schooling, but I've significantly cut back content day in and out in certain areas. It's been nice.

[Melissa in Australia]

we school year round.

 

When one text book is finished they get one week off that subject and then start right into the next level.

[Guest iroanyikey]

 I've played with the idea of taking scheduled breaks every few weeks but so far have not implemented it

[DawnM]

When I worked in PS, I worked in a year round school.  Or final day of the school year was June 30th and the first day of the new school year was July 1st.  I have pretty much followed that as my delineating between years.

 

June we take off the entire month.  We have so much going on with boy scout camp, church camp, etc.....

 

I told the kids we are starting in earnest with our next school  year on July 1st.

[Ellie]

 

I don't assess "grade level," except that the kids know what grade their peers are, and their math text has a grade level on the cover. 

 

 

I didn't assess "grade level," either. It was just a label I used to make Sunday school teachers and grandparents happy. :-) Also, knowing the "grade level" my children were "in" helped me place them in the appropriate age-peer groups, and sometimes whether a textbook or trade book would be close to their age-interests. Oh, and also, I could talk to people who could only refer to their children by their grade levels and not ages.

[SereneHome]

I like telling them what "grade" they are in so when they asked by strangers they can give them short and sweet answer.

 

That being said, my DS2 decided that he was in K last year, even though he was 4.  There is  no way he is ready for 1st grade, so I am not sure what I will be telling him this year.    I am thinking something like "second level K".....  or something....

[stm4him]

I also tell mine what "grade" they are in, but of course they are all in different grade levels in their materials at home.  Also, I use end of year testing (required in my state) to give us an idea of where they are academically in different areas (for instance, sometimes they are in a textbook that is lower than the grade level they are testing in).  Whenever they finish a textbook or workbook or whatever they just move right into the next one.  

 

We school year round in theory and 6 days a week in theory, but of course that is not reality.  When it is a good day for the beach with hubby we go!  When I am overwhelmed and need to declutter the house or am not feeling well, we take off.  We go on any trips we want during the year (usually only one or two as a family, but my older ones often have at least one other opportunity for travel during the year).  We just go with the flow.  If nothing more pressing or interesting is going on that day we do school, no matter what month or day of the week it is (not including Sunday).  However, we only spend about 4 1/2 hours of time doing schoolwork per day and they read for 1 1/2 hours each night silently unless we decide to do something else as a family.  This gives them plenty of time outside during the spring and summer months when there is lots of daylight because I don't make them start reading until it is dark.  They also have play time in the morning before school if they have done all of their chores because we don't start our schoolwork until 12:00.

 

This gives us maximum flexibility, and that is one of the main beauties of homeschooling :-)