One of the best things about homeschooling is the ability to make your own school schedule. You get to decide how you spend your time each day, how you want to schedule your week, and even how you want to break up your school year.
I've read so many great posts from other homeschool moms on why they choose to do a year-round homeschool schedule. Usually a year-round schedule is broken up into terms, such as taking six week on/one week off (or whatever break schedule works for your family). There are a lot of great reasons I've heard for managing your homeschool year this way, but our family has chosen to stick with a tradtional school schedule for our homeschool. By traditional schedule, I mean that we do school from (approximately) September through May, and then take the summer months off. I've written a little about this before, but today I wanted to give you a few of my reasons in favor of keeping a traditional school schedule.
1. The weather is nice in the summer.
Where I live, the winter drags on for quite a while, and the most beautiful months we have are...you guessed it...June through August. During those summer months, we want to be outside, enjoying the mountains and our nice weather after a long season of being cooped up indoors. I think this would be a different consideration if we lived in a state where the summer months were unbearably hot - it makes sense to take advantage of whatever time of year the weather is best.
2. I don't want the traditional schools to have a perceived advantage to my kids.
For me as a homeschooling mom, it's important to me not only that my kids know our reasons for homeschooling, but it's also important to convince them that it's better for us (because I really think it is). Because of that, I don't want my kids to look at what their public/private school peers are doing and feel like they are missing out on anything. In our situation, if our family did school in the summer, my kids may end looking longingly at all the kids who have the summers off, wishing they could also be outside enjoying the weather while it's nice (see the first point).
Now, the validity of this point is going to depend on where you live, what your family habits are like, and how you communicate your choices to your kids. I know families who do school all year so they can take off for outdoor adventures in warmer states anytime they'd like, and because they explained those advantages to their kids I don't think they mind at all doing some schoolwork in the summer! There are worthy trade-offs to year-round schooling as well, and I think the important part is communicating the advantages to your family's choice to your kids. For our family, because we don't do multiple trips each year, doing schoolwork during the one time of the year when the weather is comfortable would be burdensome. Its more advantageous for us to leave the summers open to enjoy the nice weather while we have it.
3. Looking forward to the break of summer is motivating for me.
Sometimes when I'm feeling a little worn-down with homeschooling, just knowing that summer is coming and that I'll have all kinds of time to rest is a motivation for me. If there was no summer break to look forward to, I think it would make difficult weeks even harder for me because there would be no real end in sight. Reaching the end of the year gives me a clear point to work toward and keeps us on track.
Some moms can find just as much motivation in doing school for a couple months and then having a couple weeks off, but I find that just having one or two weeks off school doesn't do a lot for my refreshment. This is one of the reasons we don't take a spring break at this time - I'd rather just power through and be done with the school year sooner.
Having the extended time off in the summer allows for deeper refreshment for me as a homeschool mom. I have a big chunk of time to rest from the pressure and work of the school year. Sometimes getting away from the routine allows you to come back to it later with a better attitude. This is the same reason why we take vacations - getting away from regular life allows you to be ready to come back to it with a fresh perspective.
Again, some moms can get both of these advantages with a year-round break schedule, so this is really about knowing yourself and what would be most refreshing to you. For myself, a longer break in the summer is more refreshing than shorter, more frequent breaks year-round.
4. Having the summer off allows more time to pursue interests and be bored.
I love giving my kids (and myself) a long enough stretch of open days for them to deeply pursue their own interests without the distraction of schoolwork. Sometimes it's beneficial to dig deeper into an area of study, and while you can certainly do that during the school year, the internal pressure of finishing a curriculum always keeps me from enjoying those rabbit trails. In the summer, we don't have to worry about regular schoolwork and can rabbit-trail to our heart's content without worrying.
I also think it's good for kids (and adults) to have enough time to be bored. Boredom can foster new levels of creativity or allow your brain time to refresh and make connections. When my kids are bored, I've been surprised to find them inventing new games or building forts outside, things they may or may not have enough free time to do during the school year.
5. Summers off give me space to reflect on the bigger picture and make a plan for the next year.
Having time away from our normal schedule in the summer also lets me take a step back from the "trenches" and evaluate the situation more objectively. I do most of my reflecting and planning for the next homeschool year in the summer months. Because the summer is so long it lets me clear my mind and do my planning at a leisurely pace, which is something I personally need to keep my ultimate goals for homeschooling in perspective. Without this time to reset my perspective, I know I would be much more likely to experience homeschool burn out. Usually by the end of the summer, I feel organized and motivated to tackle the new school year.
I know homeschool moms who do year-round school, and others who take a break for the summer as I do. I know moms who start school sooner so they can finish earlier in the spring, and I know moms who start early and end later so they have time for days off in between. One of the greatest thing about homeschooling is being able to think about the needs of your own family and plan your school year for the best advantage to your own lifestyle.
If you homeschool, what does your schedule look like? It's interesting to see how different people choose to organize their years!
We went straight through the summer because baby #4 was due the end of November and I knew I’d need some time off. We are still on lockdown over here in Germany, but I’m hoping things open up in the summer months. I think I’d like to have the summer of this year to give myself a break. Four kids is more haha. Your points actually changed my mind about my plan because I don’t want to burn myself out with these major changes.
1) Ideally, I do like breaks in the warmer weather for nature study and lots of outside time. Especially when the kids are young and don't yet have to take their studies as seriously. 2) I hate leaving things unfinished so I try to get the planned curriculum done in one year, September-September. My husband's teaching semester goes until the end of June so that's a good target for us so we can rest in July-August. 3) I don't really schedule planned breaks and we even do some schoolwork on Saturdays sometimes. However, if we have social events or other plans, we just go ahead and take the day off. 4) If we get the math and language arts done then I don't mind if we still have some read-alouds to get through, even in the summer. 5) I want to incorporate year-round journaling, but so far it's still a chore for my oldest since he has dyspraxia. I kept travel journals as a kid and I want to encourage my kids to do that, too.
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