Year round school

[EmmaLismom]

I will not begin HOD until after we fininsh up with this year. I am taking things very slow with my dd and basically just lapbooking each letter of the alphabet with some math/social studies thrown in as well. I figure we will be done with that by April as well as having our states required amount of days fulfilled by then. I was wondering if HOD is the type of program that will work well for year round schooling. Are the books/history lessons planned around a certain time of the year (ie fall/ Christmas/ Easter)? I'm thinking we can take a few weeks off and then jump right into HOD in late May or early June if we could. Other wise I may have to look for something to "fill the gap" because 4 months off of school seems way too long for a 6 year old IMHO.


Thanks,
Dawn

[inHistiming]

I think HOD would be a great fit for year-round. I wouldn't say it's necessarily 'seasonal' but obviously it touches on some of those areas in the various curricula. What's easy is picking up right where you left off the day before, or even week before...or a few weeks if that's what you choose. It would be a nice easy pace too, you could just do a few days a week if you wanted or do HOD 3 days and other things during the 2 days that are left. We may do year-round here...because we've missed some due to moving, starting late as it is, plus we're in South Florida now so I don't feel we have to maximize our summers quite so much as we needed to in NY. Besides, my children (and me!) do so much better with a plan than we do with unstructured time. I'd say try it, and if you don't like the way it works you can then decide to do something else.

[EmmaLismom]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think that the thought of being unstructured like you said is sort of what has me worried. Both EmmaLi and I need that in our day or we just sit around doing nothing. I think we will give it a try, if nothing else like you said, a few days a week!!

In Christ,
Dawn

[my3sons]

There are many HOD families that school year-round. I think it would work just fine for you. I personally find it to be a huge relief that HOD is not themed around seasons and holidays, as life naturally throws curveballs and then I get off and feel horrible about (for example) studying winter in the spring. The Day 1, Day 2, etc. format HOD uses helps me to feel "on track" all the time, rather than off schedule (as I felt with other plans I followed that had Monday, Tues., etc. labeling). It helps me to have a general idea of when we're doing school to make sure we get in the days and try to finish a guide by the time I want to. We do take summers off here because we live in SD, and the winters are long and are the perfect time to enjoy homeschooling inside where it is warm and cozy. Here's what I typed out last year to give you an idea of what I'm talking about:


If you figure out the number of days you'll be doing school, plug in your start date, holidays, vacation, etc. and then pick an end date, you can then map out a general guideline of when you want to be doing school and when you'd like some time off or some short breaks. It also makes it more clear how many days a week you'd like to do school, and of course all of this is very flexible and can be modified as you go. This year, I left a few weeks open before the end date I wanted for school, just to give a cushion in case we get behind somewhere along the way, which we usually do for some reason or another. If this is way too much planning for your tastes, many, many moms just pick up HOD and teach however many days they want each week and finish when they do. That works just fine too! I just thought I'd throw out this "general" planning perspective in case it appeals to you or anyone else. HOD is so awesome - it works in many different situations - I know it will work in yours too!

In Christ,
Julie

[EmmaLismom]

Wow Julie, that is a great system! I hope to be that organized some day. Right now I'm just using an extra calendar.

I'm really excited to hear that HOD doesn't follow a strict schedule. I really am looking forward to starting it. I definately will have to wait until I need to start it to place my order, or I will not be able to wait to use it. I know we are following the right schedule though for this year, I just have to learn to be patient.

Dawn