Year round scheduling for more than 36 weeks...

[Colleen in NS]

I posted this at the curriculum board, but would like to know if/how you high school Moms do this, too. Thanks!

 

Hi all,

 

I currently do a 36 week school year, year round. I am thinking of trying to spread the work in those 36 weeks out to anywhere between 42 and 48 weeks or so, so that our days are not so jam packed, and we have more relaxed time in the afternoons, instead of having to wait until a "break week" to have a chunk of time to do crafts, play games, puzzles, play for extended times outside, cooking skills, etc.. I guess I'm just trying to set a more evenly paced way of life.

 

I started playing around with this last night. For example, with LC1, there are 30 lessons which have been equalling 30 weeks. But I broke it down into a number of activities to complete for each lesson, which will take longer than a week, but spread it out in smaller chunks. And I figured that R&S math, with 170 lessons per year, will take 42.5 weeks with 4 lessons per week instead of 34 weeks at 5/week. We can also cut R&S English back to 3/week instead of the 4/week that we normally have to do to complete in 36 weeks. KWIM? I'll keep playing around with this in other subjects, too. With a 36 week year, I find that we spend all morning on the skill areas, and have to do science and history in the afternoons/evenings (when I'm tired and the kids are tired). If I can spread out the skill work, I might be able to fit the content areas (which include the skill area of writing) into the mornings. AND be able to take days off occasionally (as well as our normal vacation times, holidays, etc.) to do something else (that's why I said 42-48 weeks - I figure it's lots of flex time for sickness, or whatever).

 

So, I am wondering (cuz I like to look at how other people do things to get new ideas), if you spread your school work out over more than 36 weeks, how does your schedule look? Over a week and over a year? How do you like doing it this way? Do you ever feel like you miss out on the 'ole 16 "break weeks" or do you find you are more relaxed from having the work spread out? Any insight you can offer would be helpful.

 

Thanks!

[Colleen in NS]

bump

[Beth in TN]

I wish someone had answered your question because I'm considering this option for 9th grade next year. We have been homeschooling year round for the last 4 years, but since it was middle school I didn't really worry about this. Next year I would like to have a few subjects on a traditional 36 weeks schedule (like Apologia Science), but others stretched to 45 weeks. Hopefully someone will answer.

[Colleen in NS]

I wish someone had answered your question because I'm considering this option for 9th grade next year. We have been homeschooling year round for the last 4 years, but since it was middle school I didn't really worry about this. Next year I would like to have a few subjects on a traditional 36 weeks schedule (like Apologia Science), but others stretched to 45 weeks. Hopefully someone will answer.

 

Thank you for re-raising my thread. I hope to hear, too!! I really want to hear if and how the high school Moms do it.

[Karen in CO]

I would have a rebellion if I did this for my hs ds. I do give him a stack of books to read during the summer, but I don't schedule any lessons. My ds has mostly ps friends, and he visits his grandparents during the summer. This summer he will be working in addition to two trips abroad (Mexico and Japan) that he is paying for himself.

 

My elementary girls have no problem with lessons during the summer - they don't know any better. But my high school son is too busy. It would not be worth the grief he would give me.

 

The stack of books is okay and it is something that his ps friends have to do also - many AP classes have required summer reading before the class. I generally chose books that will either reinforce something he has learned or will help give him background for something he will be doing in the fall.

 

Maybe someone with more compliant kids will be able to give you some advice. :rolleyes:

[Kelli in TN]

We go year round with highschoolers except for the senior year. We turn grades in twice a year, I just turn in the grades for wherever we are. I guess I don't give it much thought. We just take a comfortable pace and know that it all has to be done by about May of the student's senior year.

[Colleen in NS]

We go year round with highschoolers except for the senior year. We turn grades in twice a year, I just turn in the grades for wherever we are. I guess I don't give it much thought. We just take a comfortable pace and know that it all has to be done by about May of the student's senior year.

 

Can you tell me what a day/week/month looks like in the years before senior year? I'm very detail oriented in case you couldn't tell by my original post. :p The more detail you can give, the better I can understand how to do this. Do you schedule a certain amount of weeks off through the year? How many days per week/hours per day do the high schoolers work? How do you divide out the lessons? Do you set out at the beginning of a new year to finish, say, the math or grammar book by the end of the year?

[Kelli in TN]

Can you tell me what a day/week/month looks like in the years before senior year? I'm very detail oriented in case you couldn't tell by my original post. :p The more detail you can give, the better I can understand how to do this. Do you schedule a certain amount of weeks off through the year? How many days per week/hours per day do the high schoolers work? How do you divide out the lessons? Do you set out at the beginning of a new year to finish, say, the math or grammar book by the end of the year?

 

I don't know. I make it up as I go along! Isn't that scandalous? I am probably ruining my kids. I am very laid back.

 

About once a month I sit down with her books and think "Hmm, what she we accomplish this month?", write it up and make her do it. Then the next month I do it all over again. I don't count hours or days because I am going to far exceed what is required for my state.

 

My method will make some people pull their hair out, I am just too laid back.

 

The senior year has to be more structured so that she can have her diploma in time for graduation and her transcript in time for the college apps.

[Colleen in NS]

I don't know. I make it up as I go along! Isn't that scandalous? I am probably ruining my kids. I am very laid back.

 

About once a month I sit down with her books and think "Hmm, what she we accomplish this month?", write it up and make her do it. Then the next month I do it all over again. I don't count hours or days because I am going to far exceed what is required for my state.

 

My method will make some people pull their hair out, I am just too laid back.

 

The senior year has to be more structured so that she can have her diploma in time for graduation and her transcript in time for the college apps.

 

LOL, totally scandalous! :) My sister is very laid back, too, and I told her yesterday in an e-mail that I sometimes wish I was more like her.

 

Although, to give myself SOME credit, I am like that with cooking - I don't go by recipes - I make it up as I go along. hehehehe I just haven't learned yet how to do that with homeschooling. I figure, if I can put a *plan* in place, then I can get all relaxed afterwards and leave stuff off when I realize it's not needed.

 

My thinking is, I know what I want to accomplish each year. I just wonder how others plan out their years if they don't get all hung up on 36 weeks, like I have been (and am slowly transitioning out of).

 

Thanks, Kelli!

[RebeccaC]

We hs 4 days a week Wednesday - Saturday. We start our day around noon and go until 6 or 7 PM. We do it this way because dh's days off are Monday Tuesday and he works second shift into third if he gets over time. Monday is scout day so merit badge work is done on Monday and their troop meets on Monday night.

 

I school 176 days a year when we hit 176 thats it. I don't do weeks because the state I live in asks for days and that is what I keep track of. I track our days on my kitchen calender so I always know where I am in the school year. I plan each week a week in advance but I have a general plan for the year. Dh takes 4 or 5 weeks of vacation through out the year and those are our scheduled off weeks. Our boys go to at least one BSA camp every summer and that is also a scheduled off week. When I know I am getting close to 176 then I plan if we will take any time off before we start the next year. Some years we get a month off and others we get a couple of weeks off. I prefer just a couple of weeks off because that seems to work best for our family.

 

I know this is probably not what you wanted but this is how we do year round schooling.

 

Blessings,

Rebecca

[Bev in B'ville]

previously for our school (July - June). We did 10 weeks of school, followed by 3 weeks of break, and I scheduled those breaks whenever we needed them. If the kids needed a few days at the 5 week mark, we took a few days. If we had appointments that took the day, I scheduled a day off. Basically, I took our 15 school days of break and put them where they were needed/wanted.

 

That schedule worked beautifully for us, that is up until this year. This is the first year I've outsourced a couple of dd's classes. While she has enjoyed the classes she's been taking, the school, of course, schedules traditional breaks. This totally screwed up our year. Dd had breaks with her online subjects, but not her at home subjects. Then, when we had breaks/vacations/field trips her online classes were going strong (thank God for laptop computers and wireless connections). Still, I don't think dd has had a real break from school this whole year. I don't like this aspect of outsourcing, although dd has learned a lot this year and I don't think I could have done as good a job with those subjects. I lucked out for spring break in a couple of weeks. We scheduled a family break (next week ends week 30 of our school year) and then dd's online school announced their sping break and it's the same week!

 

What I decided to do for the next school year (probably), when both dd and ds will be taking classes online, is schedule a more traditional (36 weeks) school year. However, what I told my dc is that they will still be required to do summer reading and probably some math during the break (they'll still have real breaks, just not 3 months of continuous break).

 

I, too, am still struggling with the school year schedule. I really liked our 40 week school year/12 week break schedule. It allowed my dc to stretch out difficult subjects and accelerate their learning in other subjects, sometimes doing two curriculums in one year.

 

Good luck with whatever you decide.

[Moira in MA]

I try to schedule basic school subjects for 36-38 weeks but there are always things that fall through the gaps or for which there just aren't enough hours in the day so those become focused summer courses, often online.

 

So far we've used this approach for focused writing classes: espository essay (Bravewriter) and Mold Your Prose (Scholars Online), reading Shakespeare (Scholars Online), math for science (Beginnings Publishing's Bridge Math). Some of the classes are my pick, others are my daughters'.

 

The girls' piano teacher requires 4 hours of instruction over the summer which we take as 6 x 45 minute lessons during the same time.

 

Courses I'm planning for this summer: Practical Grammar and Bridge Math (rising 9th grader); Theoretical Grammar and Summer Shakespeare III (rising 11th grader)

 

HTH

[Colleen in NS]

I would have a rebellion if I did this for my hs ds. I do give him a stack of books to read during the summer, but I don't schedule any lessons. My ds has mostly ps friends, and he visits his grandparents during the summer. This summer he will be working in addition to two trips abroad (Mexico and Japan) that he is paying for himself.

 

My elementary girls have no problem with lessons during the summer - they don't know any better. But my high school son is too busy. It would not be worth the grief he would give me.

 

The stack of books is okay and it is something that his ps friends have to do also - many AP classes have required summer reading before the class. I generally chose books that will either reinforce something he has learned or will help give him background for something he will be doing in the fall.

 

Maybe someone with more compliant kids will be able to give you some advice. :rolleyes:

 

Yes, I understand that somewhat about your son - my son is only in 4th, but we've only been doing 36 week years (year round, but 36 longer-day weeks) and he is resisting this change. I'm going to keep gently nudging him, though. I'm pretty sure it will be better for all of us.

[Colleen in NS]

We hs 4 days a week Wednesday - Saturday. We start our day around noon and go until 6 or 7 PM. We do it this way because dh's days off are Monday Tuesday and he works second shift into third if he gets over time. Monday is scout day so merit badge work is done on Monday and their troop meets on Monday night.

 

I school 176 days a year when we hit 176 thats it. I don't do weeks because the state I live in asks for days and that is what I keep track of. I track our days on my kitchen calender so I always know where I am in the school year. I plan each week a week in advance but I have a general plan for the year. Dh takes 4 or 5 weeks of vacation through out the year and those are our scheduled off weeks. Our boys go to at least one BSA camp every summer and that is also a scheduled off week. When I know I am getting close to 176 then I plan if we will take any time off before we start the next year. Some years we get a month off and others we get a couple of weeks off. I prefer just a couple of weeks off because that seems to work best for our family.

 

I know this is probably not what you wanted but this is how we do year round schooling.

 

Blessings,

Rebecca

 

No, this IS very helpful, thank you for replying! This is what I need - I want to see exactly how others plan the time, because it gives me more ideas to think about.

[Colleen in NS]

previously for our school (July - June). We did 10 weeks of school' date=' followed by 3 weeks of break, and I scheduled those breaks whenever we needed them. If the kids needed a few days at the 5 week mark, we took a few days. If we had appointments that took the day, I scheduled a day off. Basically, I took our 15 school days of break and put them where they were needed/wanted.[/quote']

 

Now, I find this idea very helpful, too! I never thought about taking big chunks of time and spreading out the break days into the chunk. What a great idea!

 

Thanks.

[Nan in Mass]

We do lots of our reading in the summer. That lets the summers still be summers, but eases up the rest of the year tremendously. I also usually pick an art or music project to do. That gives us some of the extras. And my older one travels during the year, so he usually winds up finishing his math book over the summer. We hate that, though, and I don't recommend it :).

[Colleen in NS]

I try to schedule basic school subjects for 36-38 weeks but there are always things that fall through the gaps or for which there just aren't enough hours in the day so those become focused summer courses, often online.

 

So far we've used this approach for focused writing classes: espository essay (Bravewriter) and Mold Your Prose (Scholars Online), reading Shakespeare (Scholars Online), math for science (Beginnings Publishing's Bridge Math). Some of the classes are my pick, others are my daughters'.

 

The girls' piano teacher requires 4 hours of instruction over the summer which we take as 6 x 45 minute lessons during the same time.

 

Courses I'm planning for this summer: Practical Grammar and Bridge Math (rising 9th grader); Theoretical Grammar and Summer Shakespeare III (rising 11th grader)

 

HTH

 

Yes, this does help, too. Yet another approach, of focusing some subjects in the summer break times. Hmmmm.....all sorts of good ideas here.

[Tammyla]

We're still moving towards high school. I've been able to squeeze in a few extra weeks by not taking a big fall, Christmas or Spring break. This allows us to finish up in May or June and have the summer off. I push hard during the winter. Spring break here is still...well it's still well below freezing this morning.

 

I'd love to see more schedules from high school families too.

 

My dd has become more productive and self driven to finish her work in shorter amount of time. She's set a goal to be done around 2 and works hard to make it happen daily. (There is often more reading to be done later.)

[NCMom]

Oct-Dec - 13 weeks w/10 on and 3 off

Jan-March - the same

April-June - same

July-Sept - same

 

All that = 40 weeks although sometimes we run over or do more in the 3 month term. This year we have to skip our three weeks off in the 3rd term and take off 6 weeks in the summer which I am not looking forward to.

 

I think that is kind of what Bev said she did. Anyway it is usually too hot here to do much in July/August anyway...so we might was well do school and swim practice. :)

 

hth,

Georgia

[Colleen in NS]

Hi everyone,

 

Thanks so much for sharing your various ideas on scheduling over the year. I've gotten several ideas to mull over - ideas I hadn't thought of on my own. And I think I also see, scheduling can from year to year, depending on what is going on - some of you stick to 36 or so weeks, and others of you spread it out for various reasons. But it sooooo helps me, to "hear" your thoughts on why you do what you do.

 

Thank you!