Please share your school year schedule & breaks.

[Ambrosia]

I did an 11 month schedule but my husband doesn't agree.

[Ellie]

Well, so, is Mr. 4boysmum doing any of the teaching? Because the one who is doing most of the teaching should get to make the schedule.

 

Anyway. :D

 

When we were homeschooling, our schedule was roughly this:

 

A couple of weeks off at Easter; a couple of weeks off in late August/early September (so we could enjoy outings while everyone else was Back to School); off from Thanksgiving to about the middle of January, which was the beginning of our school year. We continued doing our regular Official School Stuff, and moved on to the next thing when we finished something or were tired of it. :-) I "promoted" the children in September, to make Sunday school teachers and grandparents happy. :-)

[happypamama]

Pick what works for you.

 

Our state allows us to start counting July 1, so I base things on that. In July, we start light summer work. (Well, this year, we got derailed by a home construction project.)

 

Early August, we will start our regular work. We school four days a week because we take one day off for a martial arts class and errands. We take off birthdays and any day DH is off of work for a holiday. We will take a full week off at Thanksgiving and two weeks around Christmas and New Year's. We will also take a week off at Easter, and a week sometime in the spring, to be determined later. It'll be whenever the first really nice spring weather appears. We should still be done right around Memorial Day and should be able to take all of June off. Working through the hottest and coldest months gives us that flexibility to take off when it's nice.

 

Other people like six weeks on, one week off. Others do nine weeks and three weeks. I found that life is unpredictable sometimes, especially with little ones, so I don't schedule those set breaks like that, but we will take off whatever days during the year that we need to.

[Butter]

If 11 months works for you, go with it.  I have a friend who does 6 weeks on 1 week off.  We follow the public school schedule more or less.  Between swim team at the end of the school year and taekwondo camps that are during school breaks, it makes sense for us.  We start back the day after the local public schools (which means we will be starting back up 8/25).  We take off all federal holidays (husband is off work those days) and birthdays.  We have off one week at Thanksgiving, two weeks at Christmas, and a week in March.  I plan in 4 day weeks at least every other week.  We finish a week or two before the local public schools (we will finish May 27th next year).

[Carol in Cal.]

Start in September with two classes.  Add 1-2 more per week until a full complement is running.  

School 4 days per week, attend one full day class per week (nature awareness or an ongoing multidisciplinary group such as Build Your Own Country).  One math lesson most Saturdays to keep on a 5 day per week schedule for math (hey, school kids get HOMEWORK.)  Many, many field trips, usually 1/2 day to 1 day, for science museums, art performances, etc.

 

Lighter schedule between Thanksgiving and Christmas due to other stuff--more music, more drama, more field trips, more socializing, lego robotics, opera, less core academics.  Full on again in January.

 

Some kind of focus work in the spring, with attendant reduction in other stuff.  Examples include a Brave Writer class, a spring break science camp, presidential fitness in addition to normal PE, etc.  Other stuff is not eliminated, but maybe there would be 4 days of math and grammar instead of 5.

 

Summer:  light schedule.  Math, grammar, reading, maybe 4 days per week.  None at all on vacations or during summer camps.  Intentional looking for good science and fun summer camps for enrichment and vacation.

[Ethel Mertz]

Our school year is from June 16 to June 15 the following year.

 

Summer is light work (we do math, writing, Spanish, Latin, and this year are trying to do a bit of History and Science as well). From June 16-28, we start our summer light schedule. We take a break from June 29 until the first Tuesday after July 4th (though, if July 4 were to fall on a Tuesday, we'd start back on July 5th, etc.). We continue our summer light schedule until August 10th and take off from then through the end of the month.

 

We start back Sept 1 (that is when DS will officially be a 7th grader). First day is an introduction to the year, 2nd day is Morning Time, 3rd day is Morning Time and add in two subects, 4th day is Morning Time and 3 subjects, 5th day is Morning Time and 4 subjects. The following Tuesday, we do our full schedule.

 

We have a week off in October, a long weekend for US Thanksgiving, and a somewhat lighter schedule in December. From approximately Dec 18 until Jan 2 or so, we take a Christmas break and then are back to our full schedule. We often take a week off in February, though that may be adjusted depending on what other interruptions to our schedule we've had (DS does not know about this possible break, so he isn't expecting it). We have a week off sometime in April. Come the beginning of June, we're slacking a bit schedule-wise and seizing opportunities to be out and about before tourist season begins.

 

One other note: we have snow days if my spouse can't get to work. 

[Hobbes]

Well, so, is Mr. 4boysmum doing any of the teaching? Because the one who is doing most of the teaching should get to make the schedule.

In my opinion, anyone who is involved in supporting the family and has a vested interest in planning family holidays, vacations, free time, etc, should get a say in the schedule. :)

[Alte Veste Academy]

I started following the local PS schedule because my kids' friends go to school and I wanted them to be free for play when their friends are off. We do lots of enrichment in the summer though.

 

What is your husband's objection to your schedule? I do feel that my DH, as my kids' other parent, deserves input on school issues, at least the big ones.

[Ambrosia]

My husband doesn't teach. It bothers me that I am bothered by his disapproval.

 

He wants two months vacation off and no light schooling ( that's what I am doing right now).

 

But, if I do 4 days a week or more weeks off on top of thanksgiving and Christamas breaks, we won't finish the books in a 34 week schedule if I plan a two months summer vacation.

[Slache]

Can you rotate between 4 and 5 day weeks? That should help. Or drive you crazy.

[purpleowl]

Are there particular reasons why he doesn't like the schedule you planned?

[Excelsior! Academy]

We've always just plugged on through, taking breaks when appropriate.  This year it will be a 6 week on, one week off schedule with longer breaks during the holidays and next summer.

 

 

[Ambrosia]

He was not homeschooled and he thinks his school schedule was normal.

 

I'll try to make my schedule again and try the suggestions.

 

Thank you all.

[Carol in Cal.]

You might point out the homework thing.  

 

Or school on Saturdays during the school year.

[73349]

I go for short school days but a long school year. School is our weekday default: there's school unless there's a reason not to have school. Our afternoons are free, and we never lose ground. NB I don't claim this would work for teenagers, although it may.

 

2014-2015: 249 days

Weekdays off: July 4 (made up on the 5th), 3 days in October (Disney with my dad), Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, one day in January (sick), four days in May (travel), June 8 (family visit).

 

 

2015-2016 plan

School nearly every weekday. Days off: July 15 (kid not feeling well/grumpy; work made up the next two days), Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day. One week in May left open for travel; if we don't go anywhere, I'll use it for spring cleaning. Light weeks: the week in Nov. when grandparents visit, week of Thanksgiving, week before Christmas and the week of; testing week in April; last week in June.

[Excelsior! Academy]

He was not homeschooled and he thinks his school schedule was normal.

 

I'll try to make my schedule again and try the suggestions.

 

Thank you all.

 

I'm not sure where you live, but we've broken from the public school mold due to weather and field trips.  In the summer it is brutally hot where I live and in the winter it can get icy, usually not snowy mind you, but icy.  Field trips are so much nicer when there aren't 50 billion children sharing the same space with you at the same time.  Have you asked him why he prefers an agrarian schedule?

[FriedClams]

We school daily starting in July with math, and everything else in August. We are VERY consistent when we're home. VERY. Then we take breaks to travel - but only take schooling off completely for big trips. For example, we're headed to the beach soon. For us, that doesn't qualify for "big trip" status and no schoolwork, so, it'll come with us. We're usually completely done by the beginning of May and take off until mid July.

[Ellie]

In my opinion, anyone who is involved in supporting the family and has a vested interest in planning family holidays, vacations, free time, etc, should get a say in the schedule. :)

 

If by "anyone who is involved in supporting the family" you mean "the person who brings in the most income," then, no. That does not give him voting rights on practical day-to-day activities.

 

Vacations and holidays, yes; how many months/weeks/days that actual instruction is going on, no.

[MinivanMom]

We plan 37 weeks of school: 36 weeks of instruction and 1 week of required standardized testing. We generally start in mid-August, take a week off at Thanksgiving, two weeks off at Christmas, and a week off at some point in the spring for a family vacation. We don't take many days off unless everyone is deathly sick or the schools are shut down for snow days. If daddy is at work, we are doing school. That leaves us about 11 weeks for a summer vacation. We really like being off in the summer when our public school friends are out, because it gives us a chance to do lots of play dates and summer camps.

 

I personally don't like the idea of year-round school. My kids need downtime in the summer to decompress and pursue their own academic interests. We work hard for most of the year, and then we enjoy our break.

[FO4UR]

He was not homeschooled and he thinks his school schedule was normal.

 

I'll try to make my schedule again and try the suggestions.

 

Thank you all.

 

 

While I do think a dh's opinion matters, I do not think this is a good enough reason to change plans.  There are many things about homeschooling that will not seem "normal" compared to a PS.  We are just going to have to get over that.

 

Now, if you told me that his job allowed him to spend more time with him in the summer, or he noticed the child was burned out, or there was the opportunity to make friends with neighborhood children, then I might encourage you to think further about how to meet those needs as well as fit in time to complete the school year.

 

 

Personally, I prefer 6 weeks on/1 week off.  I like the frequent breaks.  However, we live in a small town where children still ride their bikes all around town in noisy packs all summer long.  I think it's a very healthy thing to play with the neighborhood kids, so I have relented my summer schooling greatly (not completely).  We will have 5-day school weeks, though Friday will be lighter and one afternoon will be a co-op.  

 

You can drop formal school for the summer, but keep things fresh with special books chosen for summer reading (a summer of survival stories or a summer of Narnia, etc...) and games that reinforce math (Muggins, etc...).

[SilverMoon]

Full days, five days a week; 6-9 weeks on, 1 week off; lather, rinse, repeat

 

Less breaks around the beginning of the year, usually a month of very light or no schooling at all around mid-December to mid-January (annual Grandma visit), more sporadic/as needed after that

[happypamama]

He was not homeschooled and he thinks his school schedule was normal.

 

I'll try to make my schedule again and try the suggestions.

 

Thank you all.

I agree with another poster who said that things are just different, and you have to deal with that. If the schedule you've proposed works for you, then he needs to come up with something other than "this is what I always knew" as his argument for the agrarian schedule. Different doesn't mean bad; it means different. My mom homeschooled my two younger siblings, and she kept to the public school calendar -- because my dad was a public school teacher and had a different summer schedule, and the other brother and I had the same public school schedule. It made sense for her (and I'd probably have done the same); it doesn't make sense for my family. We manage to swim and do martial arts camp during the summer, and go on a little vacation, but we don't have a lot of neighborhood kids around, and the ones that we do have aren't home during the day in the summer anyway. July and August are too hot to play outside for a good portion of the day, so we stay inside, in the room with the AC unit, and we do schoolwork and head outside in the late afternoon and evening when it's nicer. Last school year, our area had a ton of snow days, for extreme cold and ice, mainly; the public schools had off, but we worked through them. The kids complained a little, but I reminded them to keep their eye on the end of the year (we did allow some outside time, but it's also quite cold, icy, and windy here, so they don't go outside for long when it's that bad). When they were sitting on the beach the day after Memorial Day, completely done for the year, enjoying the nicest summer days, not too hot, not too cold, they thanked me for making them work when the public schools had off. I'd ask DH what he thinks the kids will be missing out on by not having a traditional summer break, and I'd explain that not taking that big break allows more flexibility, especially if you need to count a certain number of days. He might have some very good points, and if so, I'd consider honoring those, but he needs something concrete.

[...................]

You know I think 2 months is better, for a summer break; but you need to do what works for you.

 

Back in FL we schooled through the hot miserable summer and took a lot more time off I the cooler months.

 

Here in Ca we follow a traditional calendar and after all the sickness in the winter we find its good to spend 2 months relaxing and soaking in the sunshine!! Throughout the school year we just take off when we feel we need it, but always at least 2 weeks before Christmas. :)

[...................]

Meet in the middle. Do a 6 week break :)

[purpleowl]

Is he supportive of homeschooling in general?  Is he wanting your homeschool to look as close to "normal school" as possible?  Because, yeah, the traditional school schedule is...traditional. ;)  But that doesn't necessarily dictate that your homeschool should follow it as well.  Have you mentioned the benefits of following the schedule you devised?  

 

Ellie, I'm not the person to whom you were responded, but from my perspective, no, "anyone who is involved in supporting the family" is not simply another way of saying "the person who brings in the most income."  In my house, my DH does bring in the most income while I'm the one who does the teaching, but my DH also listens to my thoughts on curriculum and helps me think through what might work best for the kids; he helps me work through problems when I'm having difficulty keeping things balanced or one of the kids is struggling in a particular area; he follows up with the kids and asks them to recount what they've learned, providing essential review for them; and many other things, too.  So yes, if my DH had an opinion contrary to mine on the schedule I wanted to try out, I would talk it through with him and not discount his opinion just because he's not the one directing school time.

[Moonhawk]

We do year round, but we probably take ~6 weeks off overall, mostly around Thanksgiving, Christmas, 1-2 in the summer, then random vacations; some of these weeks are more light-work than no-work.  I figure since we have doctor's appointments, sick days, days that the engine light turns on, etc, that will interrupt my regular schedule, I'd just make my regular schedule year round to make up for it.  We also do a daily routine for school, so 7 days a week unless we have a family outing or something like that.  The more-structured learning time rarely last longer than 4 hours unless we have a big art project.  Maybe the short hours make the 7 days/year round more doable. (Note: my husband teaches as well, and he is on board with the schedule we have.)

[Carol in Cal.]

Teachers always complain that kids fall back in their knowledge and skills during the summer breaks.  In Japan there are no really long school breaks.  Those are two arguments you could make to him about schooling year round.  

 

Additionally, some curricula have several weeks of review at the beginning of each school year, to compensate for the summer slump.  You can skip those weeks if you don't take long summer breaks, so your efficiency can skyrocket.

[Targhee]

Second week of August school year begins - we start lite and bring things up to full speed by second week of September. We go strong until end of May, and lite again until the end of June, more or less.

 

Planned breaks:

1st week of September family vacation

Thanksgiving week W-F

Two weeks over Christmas and New Years

Spring Break at the beginning of April (we usually do early March but this year we are going somewhere with public school family over their Spring Break)

 

I plan our year this way (longer than most) because we take spontaneous breaks for out of town guests, seizing good weather breaks for outdoor recreation, visits to family, emergencies/events that arise (last year we had two funerals and a wedding all out of state), etc.

 

We school all week days, though Th is co-op.

[...................]

Also, agreeing with purple owl that husband should be able to give thoughts now and then.

 

Keep in mind that daddy has his own ideas and plans and dreams for what he wants to do with his kids and family. An outdoorsy guy might especially feel depressed about kids doing school all of August. Maybe he likes to fish, boat, or just be available to play backyard games; maybe he senses the stress every evening and maybe he needs a few months to just come home to a happy house where kids played, swam, and caught bugs all day. Or maybe he had a hard childhood and had to work from the time he was 10 and would like something different for his kids. Marginalizing this man who is their daddy and your husband is not only not going to work it's kinda mean. Mommies have hopes and dreams a s desires for and with their kids and family and so do daddies. :)

[BooksandBoys]

Last year, we started July 1, took all of August off, schooled all of September and October, took most of November off to recover from a move, schooled most of December (yes, even Christmas Eve), schooled all of January and February, and took about a week and a half off each in March, April, and May. We finished at the end of May. I really liked that.

 

I had planned to start again July 1, but that didn't work out, so we'll start August 1 this year and take a few weeks off in October, take a week at Thanksgiving, a week in January when the grandparents visit, and two weeks in February for a vacation. I'm sure I'll want at least a week here and there in these spring like we did last year. We all get itchy as the weather improves. I generally school 5 days a week plus a day for co-op during the traditional school year (so, 6 days a week). I do this because my kid really struggles to come back to lessons after more than two consecutive days off, and, to his brain, co-op is a day off. I count days, aiming for fulfilling the state's attendance requirement at home, not including co-op. Co-op certainly counts toward the required days, legally, but not counting it makes it easy for me to fit all of our curricula in without stress. If I counted it, I'd have to change a lot of my goals. I'm sure I will someday, but in this season of not taking more than two days off at a time (except when we take at least a full week), it's easy to count the way I do and still finish by the end of May. I am Done at that point. Ski season has ended, so my husband is around more, and I Need To Have Time for Me after a long, long winter. I'll plan to return to full school in July again next year, but we'll see. I consider us year-round schoolers, so not taking more than a few full weeks off at a time fits with that.

 

I like not scheduling the other breaks because I still have little kids who get sick often, and give their illnesses to me. :-)

[Arcadia]

He wants two months vacation off and no light schooling ( that's what I am doing right now).

 

Public school kids do have summer homework packets from 3rd grade up. I have seen plenty of parents nagging their kids at the library to do school homework because school is reopening in mid August.

 

I don't have an issue with two months off if my hubby is clearing annual leave or taking his sabbatical. If my hubby has to work as usual, my kids finish light summer work long before he gets home.

 

What worked for me was to plan for mid August to mid April. If we have more sick (allergy) days we would end up finishing in end May. June to mid August is school lite. We go for week long family vacations when it is off peak season.

 

For example my kids schedule today is

- apple camp at Apple Store

- library for leisure reading

- aops online class

- play until bedtime

 

So very relaxed for summer.

 

When kids were with the online public charter, we double up on lessons on light days. That was how we finish by early April every year.

[Loowit]

My DH doesn't give much input into the school schedule.  If he did we would talk it out and I would give serious thought to his opinion, but in the end I am the final say since I am the one at home doing the teaching and planning.

 

Our current schedule is 34 weeks a year for elementary/middle school years, and 36 weeks in high school.  We take a summer break, because around here that is the best chance of great weather, that is when kids are gone doing summer activities and camps, that is when it works for our family.  When my kids were little following the school calendar made little sense to us because we did our own thing are weren't involved in a lot of outside activities.  Now that the kids are older and doing more things with a public school calendar mindset as far as schedule then we do have to keep that in mind.  We don't keep perfectly to the school calendar, for instance, we take a mid-fall break in October that the public school doesn't.  We skip a lot of one day off here and there things that schools get for inservice, holidays DH doesn't have off, and so on. 

 

A typical year for us is starting end of August/early September.  This year will be early September because DD will be gone on a horse trek the last week of August.  We take a week sometime in October, a week for Thanksgiving, two or three weeks for Christmas, a week in the spring sometime, and end at the end of May or early June. 

[Ambrosia]

I personally don't like the idea of year-round school. My kids need downtime in the summer to decompress and pursue their own academic interests. We work hard for most of the year, and then we enjoy our break.

That's my husband's reason. â˜ðŸ¼ï¸

 

 

I think homeschool kids have a denser or more concentrated daily schedule. They don't share class readings or discussion with classmates like in a brick school; and work is done now and not as "homework." That's why I think we need more breaks (during the school year) than a brick school.

 

I just finished redoing my schedule and I ended up with 7 weeks summer vacation. That should be a lot, especially for a family who has no budget for out of town vacations. 😀. I'll show it to him tonight.

 

We are in Texas, we have to wake up early to enjoy the nice summer weather. At noon time, the heat is already painful and not fun. We go to the library a lot for storytime and it's our indoor fun getaway.

 

Thanks again for sharing.

[Ellie]

What about four weeks of summer (during the "coolest" part of the season...I'm in Texas, as well, so IKWYM!) plus the weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas? 

[SparrowsNest]

We are doing something like 5-6 weeks on, 1 week off, year round.  Except summer is definitely lighter, though not by design!  I had grand plans of summer being full-on school, but the various camps and activities simply aren't permitting it.  We're moving forward in the basics, but all our glorious memory work and composer study and all that jazz just haven't happened. 

 

 

[kirstenhill]

Like everyone else said, you have to do what works for your family/lifestyle/climate/curriculum choices/activities/etc.   We follow a relatively traditional schedule, getting 34 weeks in between late August and late May.  This year we are doing something a bit different by starting earlier in August, then taking off the first two weeks of September for a big road trip vacation (it was what worked best for DH schedule and we beat the crowds by going off-peak), then continuing on with our school year.  We take 2 or sometimes 3 weeks of at Christmas, usually a whole week at Thanksgiving, and sometimes a spring break.  I like to be on break from Memorial day weekend through sometime in August.    I plan for 4 "full" school days every week plus one half day.  Sometimes that half day gets lost if we have an all day field trip, but most weeks we get a half day before co-op or before/after a field trip on non-co-op weeks.

 

But - we live in a climate with beautiful summers and terrible winters.  No one really wants to do much outside in the winter, so we get a lot of school work done.  School-going friends aren't very available during the school year, but they are very available to play during the summer.  Most of our homeschool friends take the summer off too.  Since the pool is only open less than 3 months of the year, we go to the pool a lot.  The summer is filled with swimming lessons, camps, tennis, soccer, outdoor field trips, playing at the park, bike rides etc.  We have to make the most of the nice weather we do have.  That's probably very different for people living in other climates, so we do what works for us.

 

In order to make sure I can get everything done in 34 weeks, 4.5 days per week, I just divide it out.  Sometimes that means fitting in a weird number of lessons.  Like one year we had to get done 5 lessons per week of something in order to finish.  That meant that I had to do it every day including the half days, and if we missed the half day to double up another day.  Some years I have purposefully doubled up and planned to read 2 history lessons 2 or 3 days per week, and do two science lessons 2 days per week.  It was easier to get done a longer block on one day than one lesson of one and one lesson of the other. 

[happypamama]

Oh, and as a side note, one of the coolest things about homeschooling is the flexibility to have special holidays. When our family birthday (aka our wedding anniversary) is not on a weekend, like it is this year, it's a school holiday. But also, I've scheduled one full day off a couple of days before Halloween and a full day off the first week in May. Because my children are costume nuts (and that's putting it mildly), they wanted a full day to devote to creating their Halloween and May the Fourth (Star Wars Day) costumes, without pressure. So I am planning for the days off on about Wednesday of those weeks. So do discuss with your DH the joy of being able to let the kids have off for their birthdays or other special days as their interests dictate, if they don't use up all their breaks in summer.

[Hobbes]

If by "anyone who is involved in supporting the family" you mean "the person who brings in the most income," then, no. That does not give him voting rights on practical day-to-day activities.

 

Vacations and holidays, yes; how many months/weeks/days that actual instruction is going on, no.

No Ellie, actually, I meant "anyone who is involved in supporting the family", as I wrote.

 

If the roles were switched and I was working full time while my husband homeschooled, I would want to know that my parental opinion mattered in decisions like schedule and anything else regarding our children's education, etc.

 

The OP is talking about how many school days in the year and when they are, correct? This is not an unreasonable thing for any parent to have an opinion about.

 

I was homeschooled and yet I see many good reasons for wanting a 'regular' break. We now school mostly in connection with the public calendar, though we finish earlier. This makes it easier for us to maintain connections with the kids' PS friends, gives everyone (including me) a total break, and allows us to sign up for more summer activities. I appreciate that there are also good reasons for other school schedules.

 

I have found that it is not good policy for either parent to just go ahead with something about which the other parent has concerns.

[RKWAcademy]

I schedule a lot more days than are necessary for our state but we're finished after a few hours max.  We took the entire month of June off and are back at it in July.  They'll have a week in August, a few days for Thanksgiving, a few weeks at Christmas, a week around their birthday in the spring, and all of June.  That is more than a public school.  But, if there are random days we feel like not schooling, we just don't.  Too long in the summer lets my kids forget too much.  Even all of June was too much for mine but we had to schedule vacation and camp and swimming lessons.

 

I can understand the OP's husband thinking public school schedules are normal.  However, 6-7 hours at school and bus time, too, is "normal".  That doesn't mean I homeschool for that long.   We're playing and relaxing while those in a school finish their school hours.  I think it's all a trade-off.  I much prefer year round schooling.  

[Ellie]

No Ellie, actually, I meant "anyone who is involved in supporting the family", as I wrote.

 

If the roles were switched and I was working full time while my husband homeschooled, I would want to know that my parental opinion mattered in decisions like schedule and anything else regarding our children's education, etc.

 

The OP is talking about how many school days in the year and when they are, correct? This is not an unreasonable thing for any parent to have an opinion about.

 

I was homeschooled and yet I see many good reasons for wanting a 'regular' break. We now school mostly in connection with the public calendar, though we finish earlier. This makes it easier for us to maintain connections with the kids' PS friends, gives everyone (including me) a total break, and allows us to sign up for more summer activities. I appreciate that there are also good reasons for other school schedules.

 

I have found that it is not good policy for either parent to just go ahead with something about which the other parent has concerns.

 

We can agree to disagree, because IMO, the person who is actually with the children on a daily basis, doing the primary instruction, is the one who gets to make the major decisions about scheduling (other than which dates will work best for vacations and whatnot). If I were working, I would not tell Mr. Ellie how to homeschool. I would trust him, the way he trusted me. I would not feel the need to micromanage him.

 

:seeya:

[Mystie]

We school for 36 weeks, 5 days a week. I break up the year into six week terms and we take a break week in between each six week set. We take off 3 weeks (between term 3 & 4, halfway through) for Christmas and we take off 6ish weeks in May/June. We begin in July the week after the 4th. 

 

I'm sure you'll be able to get creative and come to a compromise agreement!

[Hobbes]

We can agree to disagree, because IMO, the person who is actually with the children on a daily basis, doing the primary instruction, is the one who gets to make the major decisions about scheduling (other than which dates will work best for vacations and whatnot). If I were working, I would not tell Mr. Ellie how to homeschool. I would trust him, the way he trusted me. I would not feel the need to micromanage him.

 

:seeya:

Agreed to disagree. Though I think 'micromanaging' is a strong word for the larger scale family schedule decision being discussed.

 

If the public school system decided to school through the summer and there were parents who objected because they felt that a summer break is healthy and good for kids, those parents wouldn't be accused of micromanaging. This topic can have more to do with a parenting philosophy (long free summers are healthy for kids, for example) than with micromanagement of the homeschool day.

 

:)

[abacus2]

Also, agreeing with purple owl that husband should be able to give thoughts now and then.

 

Keep in mind that daddy has his own ideas and plans and dreams for what he wants to do with his kids and family. An outdoorsy guy might especially feel depressed about kids doing school all of August. Maybe he likes to fish, boat, or just be available to play backyard games; maybe he senses the stress every evening and maybe he needs a few months to just come home to a happy house where kids played, swam, and caught bugs all day. Or maybe he had a hard childhood and had to work from the time he was 10 and would like something different for his kids. Marginalizing this man who is their daddy and your husband is not only not going to work it's kinda mean. Mommies have hopes and dreams a s desires for and with their kids and family and so do daddies. :)

 

This. It is easy for homeschooling moms to decide how much they want to do and then schedule as much time as is necessary to complete it. I try instead to plan a schedule and then be realistic about how many of the great things I want to do fit within that timeframe and prioritize. If I dictate all of my kids time, they miss out on time to relax and explore their own ideas, and Daddy doesn't have time to do things he wants to do with his kids.

 

If schooling year-round works for your family and everyone is happy, that's fine. But if an intense school schedule causes stress for anyone, I think re-evaluating is a good idea.

[shernandez]

I go for short school days but a long school year. School is our weekday default: there's school unless there's a reason not to have school. Our afternoons are free, and we never lose ground. NB I don't claim this would work for teenagers, although it may.

 

2014-2015: 249 days

Weekdays off: July 4 (made up on the 5th), 3 days in October (Disney with my dad), Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day, one day in January (sick), four days in May (travel), June 8 (family visit).

 

 

2015-2016 plan

School nearly every weekday. Days off: July 15 (kid not feeling well/grumpy; work made up the next two days), Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve and Day. One week in May left open for travel; if we don't go anywhere, I'll use it for spring cleaning. Light weeks: the week in Nov. when grandparents visit, week of Thanksgiving, week before Christmas and the week of; testing week in April; last week in June.

Glad I'm not the only one that does this. I find if we just spend a solid 3-4 hrs every morning on school and wrap up by lunch, we still have plenty of day left to play, run errands, etc. we rarely take off for anything that isn't a holiday or birthday (unless sick). My kids just know do get up and start with school. And the dates in my planner are blank and I just fill in the date when we start lessons for the day. Every now and then, we decide on an impromptu trip or decide not to do school on a Monday because daddy is off.

[Reefgazer]

In past years we kept to the public school schedule, starting the day after Labor Day. This year we will start a couple weeks before Labor Day and school regularly until Thanksgiving. At Thanksgiving, we will take a week off and then come back to school for two weeks until mid-December. We take off mid December until the day after New Year's. Then we school regularly until sometime in March and April, when we take a one week break. After that, we pick up and finish the school year, hopefully by the end of May; if we have any straggling work that still needs to be done, we will go a week or so into June. We also take off random days here and there, when their father is off work, and for their birthday. All in all we wanted to working about 34 to 36 solid weeks. My kids and I desperately need those two or three months off in the summer to recharge, but if year around around schooling works for you, I don't see why he would care, other than to go on vacation in summer. Perhaps you can use the summer for field trips, enrichment reading, art,and other fun stuff.

[...................]

We can agree to disagree, because IMO, the person who is actually with the children on a daily basis, doing the primary instruction, is the one who gets to make the major decisions about scheduling (other than which dates will work best for vacations and whatnot). If I were working, I would not tell Mr. Ellie how to homeschool. I would trust him, the way he trusted me. I would not feel the need to micromanage him.

 

:seeya:

Well I agree with your statement, that the one not homeschooling, should not micromanage.

 

BUT making specific requests about the schedule is not micromanaging.  That's one thing.  Putting one's oar in on one thing is not micromanaging, especially when that one thing does, in fact, affect him!  Read my post above for creative ways to consider how it does/could in fact affect the dad.  I could think of many more legitimate ones too.

 

NOw I agree with you...if dad wants to put his oar in over the curriculum, the schedule, the schedule of the day, and what to do for every facet of it that is not trust..thats micromanaging.  But this is just ONE area, which happens to, for whatever reason, mean something to this guy.

[J&JMom]

[MerryAtHope]

We generally start near the end of July (like, next week!) and end at the end of May. We school 4.5 days per week (Friday afternoons are friend days), take off several days at Thanksgiving, a couple of weeks at Christmas, and a few days around Easter...whatever works to get our full days in. I don't schedule it exactly, I include wiggle room for sick days or impulse vacations :-). Sometimes we go away for a long weekend in September, or a week...depends on the year.

[Peaceful Isle]

We do traditional Sep through the end of May, the way it was when I was growing up. :)

 

We have lots of friends who visit us throughout the school year ( other homeschool familites), so our days off vary from year to year. We always take time off for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and maybe Easter. 

[Twinmommy]

If we take the summer off my teenagers brain leaks out his ear. We literally lost about 20 lessons worth of algebra by not doing anything between 9th and 10th grade summer!!! So now, we take three weeks off in July/August, and work three day weeks (making four day weekends) in the summer until public school starts, then we go back to mon-thurs full school days. We take vacations over holidays, birthday weeks, etc. but always end up with around 200 days of school in!