When does your homeschool year start? And why?

[TinyMama]

Everyone starts their homeschool at different times of the year. When do you prefer to start and end? Do you prefer all year round or traditional? How do you like to schedule breaks? Do you find it hard for your kids to remain friends with their public school friends if you have a different schedule? 

I'm leaning towards following the public schooling schedule mostly because I'm new to homeschooling and have no clue what I'm doing but I am concerned about summer slide. 

[HomeAgain]

Our official first day was always around the beginning of the public school year.  That's when we'd break out the new curriculum, try out the new games, and so on.

We always took December off from most curriculum (history, science, English, art, music) and substituted a winter/holiday unit study.

We took 2 weeks off in Feb/March for vacation, and then follow it immediately with a small spring unit.

The remainder of the school year would be a "drop one-add one" mentality.  As we'd finish the regular books we'd either add a second lesson from another subject to finish it OR add something fun for that subject time slot.

Summer is for relaxed learning: camps, reading aloud outside in the hammock, museum programs, kitchen math...nothing that felt like work but touched on what became easy to do during the traditional school year.

[8filltheheart]

We typically start late July/early August and end fairly early in May (Friday was our last day for this yr.)  I need breaks as much as the kids do. I look forward to my long summers with no school time.

I create a school calendar with our days off.  I always take a full week off at Thanksgiving and 3 around Christmas. When my kids were little, I took a full week off every 6-8 weeks so that I could catch up on life and create our next set of plans. Now that I am down to only 2 older kids, I have been incorporating 4 day weekends instead.

[ScoutTN]

We loosely followed the school year, mid August- mid May here. The rhythm worked for us. We enjoyed a beach vacation in September and a very light late spring with lots of outdoor time in the perfect weather. We read year-round and played lots of math games in the summer.  We did “Christmas school” in December.

With elementary grades and even middle school, there is loads of flexibility. As kids get older and have more significant extra curriculars and possibly outsourced classes, big differences from the traditional school year become trickier. 
 

My kids’ main friend groups were church and homeschoolers. Church friends include children on a various educational paths. They also made friends in extra curriculars- especially scouting, theater, and summer camp.

Edited May 16 by ScoutTN

[Slache]

We school year around. The school year begins and ends in May so my kids will graduate in May.

[freesia]

We have always roughly followed the schedule of the school systems we lived in. Sometimes I would add a week or two to each end so we could take more breaks in the school year. I need the break, they need the break and youth groups and other activities tend to assume the break. It is also hard to do full days when the kids know everyone else is off. We always had review work over the summer, but so do the school kids. We would do 15 minutes of math review—“when it made sense.” So, not weeks we traveled or had camp or had a full day activity planned. My kids would also have books “going” all summer. As they got older, they had summer jobs. 

[maize]

We do year-round.

I asked my kids just this week if they wanted to take some time off this summer and got a vehement chorus of "no"s  for an answer. My kids like predictable routine. They also like to keep the day-to-day workload fairly light, and schooling year-round helps with that.

[Zoo Keeper]

I refuse to start before Labor Day.  It just feels wrong. Summer is too short to start school in August.  We start day after Labor Day. 

Public schools in my neck of the woods used to start day after Labor Day for years and years-- now some start last week in Aug or just before Labor Day. 

We take 3 days off at Thanksgiving, a week off at Christmas, and that's it.  Doing this gets us out in the third week of May.  My older ones who do some out of house classes still have to finish up those classes, but we are done with homeschool classes this Friday. 

We take all summer off.  No review sheets, no reading logs, nada.  We all need the break.  My older kids need the hours free to work jobs, and the younger ones get to do whatever while I get to clean closets (and other household projects that get pushed aside during the school year),  do school paperwork and planning, and also have some days when I do nothing. 🙂

[SilverMoon]

We start august-ish and end whenever we're finished. Subjects will keep falling off until we're down to reading and math for most of the summer. Right now they have about two weeks of science left and then we'll drop that subject until the new grades begin. 

I used to schedule regular breaks when everyone was little but breaks just follow the patterns of our life now. 🤷‍♀️ When one of the big kids come home for a visit the schooling is instantly shelved. If competition season is grueling we'll go light or just break for a week. 

Their closest friends are from their extracurriculars. School choice doesn't matter. The local schools don't even break at same time anyway. Half of the kids at our dance studio have spring break one week and the other half is the following week. 

[Clarita]

We start in early August and "end" at the end of May. Technically we go to a charter school so we follow their schedule. Even if I didn't do the charter school though I would probably still fall into a similar schedule. Activities and things around here are scheduled public swimming pools, park splash pads, and summer camps. However, during weeks over the summer when there isn't something more fun to do we do lighter version of our school time. The lighter version means I may move away from our main math curriculum and do Facts that Stick series. I go slower on reading, phonics, and language arts curriculum. I make no plans to do anything else other than the math and language arts, because I need a break from lesson planning things too. 

[Lori D.]

Mid August (start) through mid-May (end), roughly following the brick & mortar school schedule.

Initially, it was because when we started homeschooling, DSs' friends were still in a school, and that gave us the best chance of keeping up contact. Then when we joined the big homeschool support group, they followed a Sept-May schedule, and took the summer off, so we just kept going with roughly following the traditional school schedule. And when DSs were in high school, they were doing activities that overlapped with the public high school and community college (varsity sports, Youth & Gov't, dual enrollment), so it just continued to work more smoothly to roughly follow the traditional school schedule.

We did take longer vacations during the school year to meet our needs and interests, and still completed our work for the year. Twice in high school we took 3 weeks out during the school year (one year in the fall and one year in the spring) to do these super extended West Coast and then an East Coast trip, so we could do it off-season. Because it was high school, and we did have to complete credits, both of those years we did have to go a few weeks into June to complete work. Best decision ever! 😄 

I also found that taking a longer break in summer helped to refresh/restore ME, and also gave me time to research resources, create lesson plans (elementary/middle school), and create credit courses (high school).

Also, we don't do a "hard" full-on start or stop. The first day of the new school year we took "first day of ____ grade photos" and got out all our supplies, looked at all the cool books and art and science kits and projects we were going to do, and then went and enjoyed a fun field trip or went swimming and got ice cream. The first week was usually just starting with Math and LA, plus fun read-alouds; the second week we added in a few more subjects; and by the third week, we had our full schedule/routine in place.

Then at the end of the year, things wound up at different times, so the last week of school usually just had a few subjects to finish up. On the last day, I would print out a certificate of completion for each DS, and set up a crate, and call each DS "to the stage" (lol) where I awarded them their certificate for completing ____ grade. Then we'd go out for a dessert treat. 😄 

Edited May 14 by Lori D.

[Dmmetler]

Before we got to lots of outsourced classes, a week or so after public school starts,and, where possible, do a trip or something fun that first week. That first week, the new hasn't worn off the school year yet,so getting out of town or doing stuff like the pizza and video games place, zoo, shopping, etc helped a lot to feel like nothing was being missed by  homeschooling. 

 

As we finished stuff in Spring, we dropped subjects to allow time for fun stuff, and did document school stuff over the summer-we often did a lot of science because the active period for Herps here is March to October. 

Edited May 14 by Dmmetler

[daijobu]

Like @maize and @Slache we also school year round, except for vacations and camps.  I can relax about spontaneous field trips or other events that might take away from instruction time, knowing I'll more than make up for it over the summer.  Working ahead at the same pace during the summer prevents summer brain drain, and buys you time in case of emergency during the school year.  

(This is also informed by my own history of summer boredom.  I couldn't wait for school to start again so I'd have something to do all day.)

Schooling year round gradually ended as my dd entered high school and started taking online classes with their own schedule.  

[Kezia]

We like a year round schedule with all of December off. Mostly we have done 6 weeks on and 1 week off with a lighter schedule during June -July. Taking a family vacation whenever we feel like taking one (not often). This comes out to 41-42 weeks of school a year, giving leeway for a “lighter” day per week if desired and a few random days off.  Plenty of time for any 32-36 week planned curriculum. 

[LauraClark]

We usually start early July and end mid-May. We do a 6 week on, 1 week off type of schedule. Long summer breaks are too much for me and for my kids. It's hot here and they don't want to be outside. Starting early gives us a lot of flexibility to take days off if the weather is beautiful in fall/spring. I also find that I'm starting to feel burned out right around the 6 week mark. My dh is a public school teacher so it's also nice that he can help out just a little during the summer (he needs a break and has a million tasks to catch up on so he doesn't do a ton).

[smfmommy]

We usually start the first full week of August.  It's still hot at this point in the summer and camps are done so we might as well be starting school.  We usually take a week in September when the weather is nicer and sometimes a family vacation.  We take a full week for Thanksgiving, 2-3 weeks for Christmas, and a spring break that purposefully doesn't match the school system's.  We'll take random days off whenever we need as well.  We end the last week of May.  June and July is busy with outdoor activities and day camps so schooling would be so sporadic even if we did school year round it wouldn't be worth it.

[Eos]

September 1st to June 10th, both dates have meaning for our family. In high school I called the official year September 1st - August 31st so they had a full year to finish classes that weren't tied to DE. Sept 1 was always the start and they all graduated on June 10th, the birthday of our baby who didn't get a chance to homeschool.

[AnneGG]

Our academic year runs July-June because our last day to turn in paperwork for the previous school year is June 30. We can start filing paperwork for the upcoming year July 1. That’s really the only reason I do it that way. 

We celebrate the first day of school in August and that is when we begin our new history and science cycle. Math and Language Arts curriculum just keep going. Sometimes my children are ready to level up in the middle of winter, sometimes we’re in the same book for 18 months. It just depends. 

We school year round, 15 days a month. December is always Christmas school, June & July are always summer school months. 

[Clarita]

Another thing to note is unless there is some sort of regulatory thing that you have to deal with you don't even have to commit one way or another. You can decide year-round but then you hit summer and realize there are too many social things to do over the summer that every one does need the break. Or you can decide we break for summer but then realize all the public school friends go to daycare or vacation all summer so there's nothing to do and continue to do school through the summer. 

I thought when I first started homeschooling that I had to have all these things mapped out before I started and it turns out I didn't have to.

[Likaly]

We never finish and never start - like parents are working every day, or mom cooking every day, I do not see the difference. The online courses start in August and are done in May. Kids read a lot during the year, love crafts and museums, and they do sports 3-5 times a week each. I think every family chooses the path that fits them best. 

[73349]

We've historically done year-round to have shorter school days and stay in the routine. This year, DS has a summer job, so we will be easing in until August 12, when we return to school being the main thing we do on weekdays.

[2ndGenHomeschooler]

We’ve done a variety of things over the years. When the DC were little we schooled year round, 3-4 days a week, with a longer break from Thanksgiving through New Year’s and a couple of weeks in the summer. One year we did roughly six weeks on, one off. Another year we took a cross country trip in September and October so we did school November through August. Now that DC are older and one has graduated it makes more sense with their activities to keep closer to a traditional school schedule. I’ll be down to two next year and I’m thinking of shaking it up again. My younger two didn’t have the laid back beginning to school that my older two did due to tagging a long with the older ones. So I’m looking for ways to give them that at the end. I’m going to bring them in on the brainstorming though because both of them really like a predictable schedule and may not want anything too flexible. 

[Garga]

I’m done homeschooling (the boys are in college now), and I live in a state that required 180 days of school. My DH works at a college and gets off for 3 weeks in December, so I knew we also wanted those weeks off, plus his time off at spring break. I knew we’d also want some random days off in the school year just because (about 10 days off).

I also wanted the boys to somewhat follow the public school schedule, once they got old enough to realize that all their friends were on vacation and they were in school. I was able to homechool somewhat year round until they discovered “summer vacation” was a thing, right around when the oldest was in 2nd grade.

So, with all that, I’d have to do some calculations and try to match the start/end time as close to the schools as possible, but also account for 3 weeks off at Christmas and 3 days off at spring break and another 10 or so days throughout the school year “just because.” 

 

Edited May 19 by Garga

[Alison42]

I taught college for years and learned just how much all teachers need their summers off, as a homeschool teacher I'm no different!  So we are pretty close to the local school calendars but since we have activities in three counties that follow three different school calendars it's really a blend of those and the calendar for the college my husband teaches at so we can take family vacations.  After throwing all those in a blender we end up starting in early August but finishing the first week of May.  I always consider taking more time off in December/January and extending the year but come April I remember why I don't, especially since by June it's already stinking hot outside.

As for the summer slide there is little doubt that people forget things, that is after all the role of short term memory in part, but the evidence that year round school helps improve student outcomes is mixed at best.   The larger studies done on public schools have actually shown no increase in students, no conclusive idea why yet but lots of theories.  Personally I fall in the camp that if you manage to forget it over two months you never really learned it in the first place and would probably forget it no matter what.  The summer break for us is a good time to judge what was really learned and what was only crammed into short term memory and forgotten.  If it was forgotten we take the time to really learn it the next year.

[Garga]

1 hour ago, Alison42 said:

I taught college for years and learned just how much all teachers need their summers off, as a homeschool teacher I'm no different!  So we are pretty close to the local school calendars but since we have activities in three counties that follow three different school calendars it's really a blend of those and the calendar for the college my husband teaches at so we can take family vacations.  After throwing all those in a blender we end up starting in early August but finishing the first week of May.  I always consider taking more time off in December/January and extending the year but come April I remember why I don't, especially since by June it's already stinking hot outside.

As for the summer slide there is little doubt that people forget things, that is after all the role of short term memory in part, but the evidence that year round school helps improve student outcomes is mixed at best.   The larger studies done on public schools have actually shown no increase in students, no conclusive idea why yet but lots of theories.  Personally I fall in the camp that if you manage to forget it over two months you never really learned it in the first place and would probably forget it no matter what.  The summer break for us is a good time to judge what was really learned and what was only crammed into short term memory and forgotten.  If it was forgotten we take the time to really learn it the next year.

Good point about teacher needing the summer off. I used to do a ton of planning and prep work in the summer that I wouldn’t have had the time for while I was also schooling during the day.

[Jhwk21]

We start July 1 and end in April. This works mostly because of our weather. It's way too hot to do anything outside in July/August, so we figure since we are stuck inside, it makes sense to do schoolwork. April/May/June are our best weather months, so this way, we have that time to be free to spend all the time we want outside. We don't take many breaks during the year because we do best with a routine and have decided we don't find short breaks very satisfying. We take time off in fall when the weather cools off and a week or so over Christmas.

April is also an insane month schedule-wise for us with 3 household birthdays and a few other events for extracurriculars. We love being done with schoolwork just when this time ramps up. We decided to start in mid August one year to try aligning with their public/private school friends' schedules and we all agreed that our July-April is much preferred

Edited May 20 by Jhwk21

[alysee]

We loosely follow the public schools except we start a week earlier and end about 2 weeks earlier. Our hottest days are in July & August and we want to visit with family who are in public school so we stick fairly close to the same schedule. We do half of June so we can do field trips and things when kids are still in school. 

 

[Shraddha]

We homeschool year-round but take a lighter approach during the summer (just Bible, Math and Language Arts). I work part-time outside the home, so we are not able to do a 5-day school week. My children appreciate having a more relaxed schedule year-round rather than a five-day school week for 9 months, followed by 3 months of boredom.

[Shoes+Ships+SealingWax]

Early on we schooled year-round with a one month “summer break” that delineated one school year from the next. Our month off was when we’d return Stateside to visit family & purchase curriculum / supplies. At the time we were living overseas in an area full of international schools with differing schedules, so someone was always starting while others stopped & it was no big deal to be on our own schedule. 

We moved back during early elementary & continued year-round because… Covid. Nowhere to go anyway.

Moved again when we bought our house, after which it became easier to follow the traditional school year. Extracurriculars & outsourced classes follow the school year. Neighborhood kids play outside our classroom windows in summer. Just easier to more or less follow suit. 

So now we begin in early August & run through the end of May. Extracurriculars typically don’t kick off until Labor Day week, so we have some time to get our bearings with new materials before our schedule is strained. Extra days at the beginning & end of the year mean we get a week-long fall break & a longer winter break, in addition to spring break. Over summer he participates in a series of camps & works on Rank Requirements / Merit Badges for Scouts. 

[MaryCrawley]

We generally start very end of July/beginning of August---we have to get 180 days between July 1 and June 30 and this gives us tons of buffer room if necessary. Plus it's super hot here at that time of year, so if we're inside anyway, we might as well be getting stuff done. We do always schedule a "not back to school"  day on the first day the local government school goes back where we take the day off, grab donuts from the local bakery and visit as many playgrounds as possible while enjoying how not crowded everything is. 

[ScoutTN]

NOT back to school day was a highlight of my kids’ younger years too! We watched the big yellow bus go by while we ate pancakes in our jammies. We went to the zoo or somewhere else fun that would usually be busy in the summer. 

[Soror]

We've always started in July because it is hot and we'd rather get off early in the spring when the weather is so nice.

[Ananda]

When I was a full time homeschooler we schooled year round and didn't have starts or ends to the school years.  I was also really opposed to assigning my children grade levels.  From a legal paperwork perspective our school year begins July 1 and ends June 30, I am also required to assign the children to grade levels.  

For the past two years my children have attended public school part time.  For the most part, we do follow the public school year Aug. to May.  I let them take off fall & spring break, and we only did a little homeschool over Christmas break (and the ensuing 5 snow days in early January).  My older children were so burned out that I just let them take the time.  

During the summer, we homeschool.  I gave them a week and a half off and they are already complaining about being bored.  We are slowly easing into our summer routine this week.  I will give them another week off before the public school year starts.  

[Clemsondana]

We start the first full week of August. The first year it was because we were starting a cross-country move with so many cool educational things that we were doing that I wanted to count those days (kid did a bit of school in the car, mostly because kid needed something to do in the car!).  After that, we just kept on, and our co-op starts by mid August so it's good to have a few weeks already done.  Co-op is 16 weeks so if we start a little early then the last week of co-op is usually around when we finish.  We don't take single-day holidays because I find that we've usually done better with a consistent weekly routine (it matters less with high school kids).  We take a week at Thanksgiving and around 3 at Christmas.  We start back shortly after New Year's.  We usually end early-mid May.  We had thought we'd have a more flexible schedule with travel, but both kids are involved in sports and other activities that follow the school calendar.  

[OakParkOwlets]

We usually start back around at the start of July after ending mid-May.  This year we ended mid-May and are starting this week with a very abbreviated schedule, mainly just reading, until July because my son really needs to just keep going and not take that time off.  Then our typical summer semester which is three weeks in July and three weeks in August.  We prefer to end early May because of distractions like birthdays, dance recitals and testing and go all year round because we take one day a week off anyway for Co-Op and it lets us spread out the work at a reasonable pace, or not get behind due to illness or impromptu activities.

[Tanager]

We school year round so we can take random times off or go lighter as needed. Garden season we are outside a ton, though I still have work so midday we come in and get to it all (and I work once kids are in bed). We trade weekdays for weekends. Nothing stays the same season to season, but each season has its rhythm as it’s so much easier when the kids know what to expect. Classes we take are the exception, so those things must be done no matter what else is happening. During the winter we really get things done. It doesn’t quite sound like it, but we do take schooling seriously. Balance is everything.

[happypamama]

Our state requires 180 days, and they let you count from July 1st to June 30th. I used to do more of a year-round school, with several weeks at Christmas and breaks throughout the year, several weeks at summer time but not the whole summer. One year I was expecting a baby at the end of July, and I thought that I would like to have the ability to take six full weeks off if I needed it, so I decided we would go ahead and start school work the second week of July so we could get a few weeks in and then not feel rushed if we decided to take six weeks off. So we got our first day in on Monday. Tuesday morning at 9:30, after three previous babies who all came well after 40 weeks, I was holding baby number four who decided to make a surprise appearance at 38 weeks. So, make the plans, but be flexible. 

 

However, that whole thing did show us that when it gets stupidly hot here in August, that's a really good time to start bookwork, but I also want/need a long solid block of time, especially since I ended up with six kids in the end. And, it's really nice to have the nice weather free in May and June. So we now start in early August, take a couple of weeks at Christmas, and finish in May. It's been glorious!

[medawyn]

We start the first full week of August and go through the last full week in June.  July is all the way off - I don't even want to think about school.  (Lies, I usually plan stuff).

My husband has every other Friday off, so we schedule field trips and days off to coincide with Daddy being home.  I schedule a break every 6-8 weeks to catch up with the house, restock the freezer, visit grandparents, and plan the next chunk of school.  

It works out to 190-200 "planned" days per year, just enough extra that unexpected surprises don't derail us.

[OakParkOwlets]

duplicate post *sorry*

Edited July 16 by OakParkOwlets
duplicate post..lol

[Brittany1116]

Initially, we started in August and ended in May but only took breaks when I needed them. One year we started in July because it was just so stupidly hot. 

Then, we schooled year-round, 4 days a week for a few years. 

Now we are in a co-op that starts early September and ends early May so we are back to a normal school schedule, 5 days a week. I will start the new year mid-August because I have something else going on the first few days of the month. 

[knitgrl]

We generally start Aug. 1, unless it's a Friday. When dd13 was little, we followed the ps school calendar the first year. The summer slide she experienced with spelling was ridiculous. I decided we were never going to do that again. We always take all of July off. During the year, we do a 6 or 7 weeks on, and one week off. We take the week before Christmas off, and the week after. It allows us flexibility to take days off without having to stress about it.

[happypamama]

Also, I want to add: we like to start on a Wednesday or Thursday. That way our first week is not quite so arduous.

[Xahm]

We're planning to start the first full week of August, but I'm thinking of starting August 1 instead, or even the beginning of that week. The kids are pretty bored, but it's so hot that we don't want to go out and do much.

I did some year-round when the older kids were little, but now they have outside activities and friends and want more of an official break. We ended early this year due to a trip, so we've had plenty of vacation at this point.

[Gil]

On 5/14/2024 at 7:31 AM, TinyMama said:

Everyone starts their homeschool at different times of the year. When do you prefer to start and end? Do you prefer all year round or traditional? How do you like to schedule breaks? Do you find it hard for your kids to remain friends with their public school friends if you have a different schedule? 

I'm leaning towards following the public schooling schedule mostly because I'm new to homeschooling and have no clue what I'm doing but I am concerned about summer slide. 

For the early grades, we start whenever I've got enough material to begin consistently teaching that skill/content/material to the child where they are and in the early stages especially, we do some work 7 days a week and I try very hard to never miss a day. You'll be impressed with what your student can master in 100 continuous days of lessons, careful practice, revision and skill building.

If you want your kid to participate in group activities with other kids, sign her up for some group activities in your area. At least the kids in those activities will more likely have a shared interest/passion. If you want to make a play date with someone your daughter is close to, reach out to the family to try and make a play date. If she's only "friends" with someone because they were in the same class, then I wouldn't worry about that.

While they're young, protect and prioritize their learning time. If you have something special going on, do a lesson first thing in the AM so it doesn't get lost in the day, then do the special thing during it's allotted time. Or do a short review session as a part of your winding down activities.

Family Events are not literally every minute of the whole day.
Medical appointments have waiting rooms (and loads of down time).
Flip-books, flashcards, print outs, laminated charts or magnetic kits can be utilized anywhere and everywhere.
Vacation Destinations allow pencil and paper.

A single notebook and crayola or sharpie marker can be extremely useful.

[Ellie]

I saw no reason to model our home calendar after the public school, so we followed...the actual calendar, so January 1 to December 31. We took off a couple of weeks in the spring around Easter; a couple of weeks in late August/early September; Thanksgiving through about the middle of January; and random times as needed for whatever reason I felt like it. I "promoted" in the fall, and on paper the dc were *always* the grade they would have been in if they'd gone to school, based on their birthday/age; this made Sunday school teachers happy, and other activities which grouped children based on "grade level." We worked on stuff, however, based on their abilities, not grade level; and worked on stuff until they finished or got tired of it, and then we moved on to the next thing, regardless of when that happened.

[Resilient]

My best schedule was 6 weeks on, one week OFF. The 6th week was for catching up on unintended setbacks so I really planned 5 weeks of “instruction.”

To plan the start date I backdated two 6+1 blocks from Thanksgiving week, and also recognized that the two weeks off at Christmas meant that the 6 weeks was split in two parts.   
     We also took 2 weeks in the break that occurred in late March or early April.  It was a way of keeping me out of jail.  
   All told—36 weeks of school which worked with most curriculum, my sanity, having a real summer, and the flex of life.  

[luuknam]

We started on Monday. The schools here start on Aug 1st (today). State law says we have to do at least the same number of days of school as our local school district, which when I checked last year is 187 for us (37.4 weeks, blegh). We also like to schedule roughly 6 weeks of school, 1 week break (break partially as make-up time as-needed though), so if we were to start any later there'd be little summer break left next summer.