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3 Reasons why we are Schooling Year Round!

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Considered schooling year round but not sure if you should? One mom shares why she is schooling year round and why maybe it will work for you too!

Oh, this is one of those posts that I was destined to write. Why? Because just a few short months ago I wrote a post about what homeschool moms should NOT be doing in the summer. Now, I am going to be somewhat breaking my own advice 🙂

We have decided to join the ranks of year round homeschoolers. It was not an easy decision, but it is one that we believe is right for our family right now.

Here are three reasons why we are schooling year round!

3 Reasons why we are Schooling Year Round! Considered schooling year round but not sure if you should? One mom shares why she is schooling year round and why maybe it will work for you too!

Time

By schooling year round I feel that we will have more time to get school done. We will have more time for field trips and co-ops, and more time to spend serving the needs in our community and our church. There have been times in the past where we turned down a service opportunity because we had to “do school” and while I know that needs to happen sometimes, I also know that sometimes we need to take time and serve others. Schooling year round will free us up to do more of just that.

Less “Catch up”

I have shared that our first few weeks of school this year were awful. I believe the summer fog hit our homeschool hard. We ended up spending a good 2-3 weeks playing catch up in math. Now, I had plans on making the girls do math a few days a week this summer, but it just didn’t happen. So, by schooling year round we will spend less time stressed out and catching up.

Fits our Needs

For now, schooling year round fits our needs. As a work at home mom, some months are busier than others.  If a busy season arises I like knowing we can take a day or two off without it affecting our school schedule.  November is a slow time at my husband’s work, taking extra time off will allow us to spend more time with him.  Our biggest need right now is flexibility and schooling year round will give us just that.

So, what will our schedule look like? I am loosely planning on the 3/1 schedule. We started school in August so we will take from Thanksgiving until the first of the year off. We will then school January-March and take April off, then May and June with July off. Of course if we have a lot of days in March that we miss, we may take less of in April. Also, if there are field trips and co-ops in off months those will still count towards school days. The key is flexibility. And I believe year round schooling will give us just that!

Are you a year round homeschooler? Why or why not?

 

Comments

  2. Ashley Wright says

    I like this a lot! Thank you…we are going to be schooling year round this year. I’ve been thinking and praying about it and I see the benefits. I’ve been planning on doing the same thing from now on. Just taken breaks here and there for various family things.

  3. michellecaskey says

    We’ve done it both ways. We never completely take off the summer, but, as my boys have gotten older they’ve had a lot more life experiences scheduled during that time of year. So we’ve been doing less and less book work in the summers. We used to do school year round when they were younger, though.

  7. Jennifer - The Deliberate Mom says

    We do year-round homeschooling as well. I love it and couldn’t do it any other way. We do 4 weeks on and 1 week off. I love the idea of your schedule, but it would probably be a bit of a battle to get my daughter back into it after 1 month off.

    Thanks for sharing!
    xoxo

  9. Susan Raber says

    We have been year round homeschoolers for a long time, but with a variety of schedules. When the kids were younger we did 4 weeks of school with 1 week off, then moved to 6 weeks on and 1 week off. Currently we take off December and July with days off here and there according to need.

    I think it makes for a more relaxed homeschool experience to make the schedule that works best for your family.

  11. Misty says

    Prayers Candice!!! Life gets “in the way” so often that year round schooling is a great fit for a lot of people! I remember one year on our FIRST day of school we got a call regarding my grandma that through our homeschool out the door for a month. BUT, the kids learned so many life lessons over that time. Caring for others, compassion, homemaking, medical, things that you can’t learn from a text book 🙂 Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of homeschooling!!

  12. mrsadept says

    We do our normal school year and then when it’s vacation time I simply relax the schedule but still get the girls to do “some” Math and English each and every day. So technically, we’re all year homeschoolers too.

  13. Candice says

    As absolute complete newbies, I am considering year round schooling. We had all intentions of starting in August then my mom had a bad accident September 1st and between helping care for her and all the other “mom” duties, there hasn’t been much time. My 6 year old has also done a lot of fighting. I am aiming to start back in January with a more normal schedule and pray that it works for us.

  14. Misty says

    Yes that is such a HUGE benefit!! My hubby had irregular hours for awhile and it is so nice being able to be flexible 🙂 Thank you for your service!!!

  16. Carol O. says

    We year-round school and I LOVE not getting pout of the habit. We are a military family and we need flexibility more than we need “summer break”. We can be off when Dad is available and can take vacation when it is inexpensive or the military allows. I am so much more relaxed and capable of achieving my goals in the full year, I have a HARD time coping with the 180 school days. I know it does not work for everyone, but it works for us!

  17. Nita says

    I too love this idea. This is our first year homeschooling and I have to say this holiday season has knocked me off my game. I was so good and coordinated the first quarter! Thank you for this post! I think we will adapt it starting the first of the year.

  19. Lisa Clark says

    When my daughters were young, I home schooled them and we always schooled year round. I am now teaching my grandson at home and once again we chose year round schooling. It is better for so many reasons. There is no dreading the beginning of the school year due to having to review everything after the kids get out of the habit of learning. It actually leads everyone to adopt a style of life time learning, and getting used to the way actual community life works – there are very few jobs that get summers off. Year round schooling allows for greater flexibility. We can schedule weeks off when we know we will be extra busy with activities or family visits, much the same way that community workers schedule vacation time. Another great benefit is the fact that we can decide to take a day, or even multiple days, off for sickness or just needing a break without getting behind schedule. This works like an employee taking personal days or sick days. We have the ability to schedule family vacations during off peak seasons to save money and avoid large crowds.

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