While most people are starting their school year in August, we start ours in January.
Why? Well, I am sure that you know that we homeschool our children, and for us it just make sense.
If you are a homeschooler and follow the typical school year schedule, I will tell you all the reasons we use a different schedule, and who knows, you may find that this way works better for you too!
I like to start our new school year with the new year!
I used to follow the public school schedule, but when May would roll around, there just seemed to be no good reason to just stop school for 3 months. We had nothing better to do!!! lol
I found that I really needed more time off around the holidays. We get so busy getting ready for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and I thought, why can't we just take off November and December instead?
I mean, summer is so hot, the kids don't want to be outside that much, and really, I mean, what are you doing that you need the summer off of school anyways?
Now, there may actually be a good reason for some of you, but for us, and most people I know, it just doesn't make any sense.
We also school year round.
Now, I know I just said we take off November and December, and we do, to a degree.
We try to do some schooling during these months so they don't get totally out of practice, but we do it on a much smaller scale, and don't worry if we miss any days during this time.
You know, it really doesn't make a lot of sense, at least for our family, to take a 3 month break.
Most of the beginning of every school year is spent catching back up on what the children learned the year before.
There are studies that show that children lose about 3 months of what they learned every year.
It just doesn't seem like this schedule of taking off 3 months in the middle of the year works very well in a family setting.
I think we all need to remember that we do not have to follow exactly what the public school does.
They have to follow their schedules for a reason, and so much of it is busy work during the year, and then relearning the same thing again at the beginning of the next school year.
Keep in mind what works best for your family, and do that.
Don't worry about what everyone else is doing. Yo are not everyone else, and you need to do what is best for your family. Even if it is different.
So, we school year round, with more time off during November and December. It works for us.
What works for your family?
3 comments:
We officially start school in July (when I send in the paperwork to the school district lol)but really this was the first week of school for this year (because it is a new year- and it makes sense to me to start at the beginning and not the middle). We school year round also taking June and most of December off as well as quite a few breaks in between. There is no chance of all that information leaking out of their ears while they sleep during the summer this way :) It is always being used/refreshed. The first year we homeschooled and followed the public school schedule they were so bored the first month of summer vacation. That's another reason we go year round- boredom.
This year we're actually starting new levels and (mostly) new books in January. In the past, we just moved to new books as the need and interest arose.
I like being flexible with our routine, especially to make the most of the children's eagerness to learn .. or slowing down when we're all feeling tired.
First, let me say that I love your blog! We also have school year round. We took off 2 weeks for Thanksgiving and 2 weeks for Christmas. My son is only four, so if I feel that he needs a break we sometimes do 3 weeks on and 1 week off.
It still amazes me how much we get done in a few hours! Having been a preschool teacher, that was impossible with a classroom of students.
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