Schooling year round...

LeAnna · Post by **LeAnna** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:42 am

Okay, I am new at this to some extent. I was homeschooled growing up, but now it's my turn to homeschool my kids, and things are a lot different than when my mom taught me.

So, my question is... Does everyone on here school year round? I am just wondering I guess, what your reasons are behind this and how do you report this on your afadavit? I have always planned to start in the fall like around Sept. and then go until May or June and then have about 3 months off to relax and have fun. I don't know, I am just a bit surprised that I have seen so many going through the summer. I think my kids would need a break so that they are fired up to start again in the fall. Plus, I NEED a break too.

So, I guess am wondering, is this something that CM recommends? And, how do you report this on your afadavit? I am in CA, so things are different here. But, I am confused as to how to do this.

LeAnna · Post by **LeAnna** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 11:44 am

Carrie, I don't want to put you on the spot, but I value your opinion.

What do with your family? What do you recommend?

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 12:11 pm

I don't think everyone on here goes year round, but just some of us do. When we say year round, that does not mean without breaks! We take plenty of breaks all the time...which is one of the reasons we go year round, to get in our 1000 hours.

I don't think it was something advocated by CM. Many educators do feel that the year round, with breaks peppered throughout, helps with retention of information. An example of a year round schedule would be school for 3 mo. and 1 mo. off. You would still have your 3 mo. off, just not all together.

Hope this helps clear things up, but you also should remember that you have to do what works for you and your family. I personally prefer my off months to be in the spring and fall and do school during the extreme cold and extreme hot....I'm wimpy that way!

Here in MO, you have 12 months to get in your hours on whatever days you wish. I have no idea about CA, but there are several CA ladies on the board.

Oops....I started replying before your second post and just noticed you wanted Carrie's advice. Sorry, hope it was ok to respond.

annaz · Post by **annaz** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:13 pm

We school year round, because sometimes I just get behind or we have company or I just don't feel like schooling that day because we had such busy days prior. I also don't like long breaks and I don't think they're condusive to learning, especially since I'm not the "unschooling" learn-as-you-go type that would keep my dd going in the summer without a curriculum.

Arizona is a very homeschooling friendly state. No logging of hours, no subjects except the main ones that need to be covered, no recording. My guess is that you would choose a time to start in your own mind an arbitrary recording start date, so you have the hours you need to log by the time they need to be in. If it was me, I'd start logging hours the week when your ps school gets out and make that an arbitrary starting point, that way come May or June...whenever your numbers need to be logged w/the state, you will be finished; your hours will be in. Just my thoughts, but take into consideration, I don't have to do any logging.

LeAnna · Post by **LeAnna** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:14 pm

Oh no, Melanie. I would love to hear from anyone.

I am just trying to figure out what would be best for our family, and would love to hear from all of you and what you are doing. That will help me figure it out.

I am sorry if I wasn't very clear.

Thanks for posting!! That makes a lot of sense. Do you have to record when you start and stop then? How do you do that?

Thanks Melanie

jamieswife · Post by **jamieswife** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:31 pm

We don't usually start out the school year planning on going year round but it always works out that way! We end up taking so much time off during the year for whatever reason that we need the summer to finish up (which we never REALLY finish up, haha).
We like a long break at Christmas and any time Papa is home for the day and then there are those let's-just-sit-on-the-couch days (ok, those are mine not the childrens).
But when you can get everyone schooled in 2 hours it's not that much time taken from their "summer". And my guys work extra fast (and accurately) when they have the "You can go outside as soon as you're finished" motivation! And here in Alaska during the summer that is BIG motivation!!!!!

Melanie · Post by **Melanie** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:33 pm

Ann is right on the money about logging those hours...I start logging on July 1st and run through June 30. For some reason that's the way it is suggested in MO, but I think you could run any 12 month period you wanted.

I use the free version of homeschool tracker. All I use it for is to log hours, I don't plug in lesson plans or print out lesson plans. I just sit down each evening and log in what we did and how long it took. I will make one print out for each of my kiddos at the end of our year...June 30. It takes me about 10 minutes each evening. I don't know of anyone that has been checked on by our state, but it's nice to have "just in case".

I may do the other version of Homeschool tracker for high school so that I will have a nice transcript for college application.

I would never get my hours in if we went on the 9 month ps schedule....we take too many breaks!!

crlacey · Post by **crlacey** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:55 pm

We are planning to school year round so that our kids can retain what they've learned. Plus that means we can take breaks when we really need them throughout the year.

LeAnna · Post by **LeAnna** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:07 pm

We don't have to count hours in California, just keep a log of attendence. So, i am wondering then when I file, would I write- (if I was going to start Oct. 1st) that we will end Sept. 31st of 2009? Then, that would give me a whole year to play with? I probably sound dumb, but it's all new to me.

Candice · Post by **Candice** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 2:39 pm

Hi LeAnna,

I thought about this a bit more after I "talked" with you about this subject the other day. I think I will probably plan on initiating a "year-round" schooling plan. My reasons are based on the need/desire to take breaks if needed. We like to take advantage of going camping and places such as Disneyland in the off-season to avoid the crowds. I would also like to be able to take as much (or atleast a reasonable amout) of time off for major holidays or family gatherings/events. My husband has 4 sisters so, there are many get togethers throughout the year. And of course, if we need to make it to appointments or deal with sick kiddos, I would want to be able to attend to those needs without feeling time pressures looming over us. So, sacrificing a 3 month summer break to be able to have those perks seems like it would be a great benefit to us here. Also, we have a homeschooling family across the street who goes year round' and she has a 4 year old daughter that Danielle plays with. I like the idea of having a similar structure to sort of align their play time with eachother.

Candice

Post by **Carrie** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 3:56 pm

Hi LeAnna,

The ladies are doing a great job of showing you all of your options! Keep it coming ladies, it really helps to see the many ways a homeschool "schedule" can run.

Warning... since you asked what we do, I'm giving a detailed response about why we do what we do! Many of you who love to year-round school may wish to skip past it, as it won't pertain to you.

(I do realize that being able to school year-round is a blessing for homeschoolers, but I just wanted to give the flip side of why we have chosen not to do it here.)

As far as our house goes, we do follow a traditional school-year calendar for several reasons. We did try a year-round schedule when my youngest was in Kindergarten and First Grade, but it wasn't for us.

Here's why:

One... We really value our summer weather here in South Dakota, as it is fleeting! So, we "live" outside for June, July, and August. We do still save our family vacation for September or October, and just take a week off then.

Two, I am a person who functions best on a schedule, and once we get in a flow (with my boys especially) taking a week or two off every month really causes us to lose the flow of our schedule. Also, when I did school year round, my little guy was always asking whether we needed to do school today or not. He was confused when we were on and when we were off.

Three, my boys love their summer projects and their unstructured days to really get into book-writing, building things, recording tapes or making long video productions, trying experiments, and so on. They come up with their best ideas with long days of freedom. Often during the year, I'll point out things that will be good summer projects.

Four, I am often going to conventions in May and June, so it helps to be done with school.

Five, I am usually pushing hard to finish our new book, so the time off from teaching coincides great with that for me!

Six, I'm an organizer and a planner, and having a more traditional school-year makes it easier for me to tell where my kids should be academics-wise. I just can't quite shed that "school" mentality. (Too many years as a public school teacher brainwashed me!)

We do not follow the public school calendar, so we have school every day Mon.-Fri. (with a half day on Fridays). We do take off a week at Christmas and an extra day at Easter/Thanksgiving (and when family visits from far away). Otherwise, every week day is a school-day here. My kiddos never ask whether we're having school today. (Otherwise, I'd find it too easy to say, "No, we're having a day off)!

\

You may have to try it a couple of different ways to find what really fits your family! Good luck!

Blessings,
Carrie

Candice · Post by **Candice** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:07 pm

Carrie wrote:Hi LeAnna,

The ladies are doing a great job of showing you all of your options! Keep it coming ladies, it really helps to see the many ways a homeschool "schedule" can run.

Warning... since you asked what we do, I'm giving a detailed response about why we do what we do! Many of you who love to year-round school may wish to skip past it, as it won't pertain to you. (I do realize that being able to school year-round is a blessing for homeschoolers, but I just wanted to give the flip side of why we have chosen not to do it here.)

As far as our house goes, we do follow a traditional school-year calendar for several reasons. We did try a year-round schedule when my youngest was in Kindergarten and First Grade, but it wasn't for us. Here's why:

One... We really value our summer weather here in South Dakota, as it is fleeting! So, we "live" outside for June, July, and August. We do still save our family vacation for September or October, and just take a week off then.

Two, I am a person who functions best on a schedule, and once we get in a flow (with my boys especially) taking a week or two off every month really causes us to lose the flow of our schedule. Also, when I did school year round, my little guy was always asking whether we needed to do school today or not. He was confused when we were on and when we were off.

Three, my boys love their summer projects and their unstructured days to really get into book-writing, building things, recording tapes or making long video productions, trying experiments, and so on. They come up with their best ideas with long days of freedom. Often during the year, I'll point out things that will be good summer projects.

Four, I am often going to conventions in May and June, so it helps to be done with school.

Five, I am usually pushing hard to finish our new book, so the time off from teaching coincides great with that for me!

Six, I'm an organizer and a planner, and having a more traditional school-year makes it easier for me to tell where my kids should be academics-wise. I just can't quite shed that "school" mentality. (Too many years as a public school teacher brainwashed me!)

We do not follow the public school calendar, so we have school every day Mon.-Fri. (with a half day on Fridays). We do take off a week at Christmas and an extra day at Easter/Thanksgiving (and when family visits from far away). Otherwise, every week day is a school-day here. My kiddos never ask whether we're having school today. (Otherwise, I'd find it too easy to say, "No, we're having a day off)! \

You may have to try it a couple of different ways to find what really fits your family! Good luck!

Blessings,
Carrie

Oh boy, this makes the other option (traditional school calendar) look so smart! More to think about!!! Thank goodness I have plenty of time to decide. Lots to think about!

Candice

LeAnna · Post by **LeAnna** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 4:17 pm

Thank you, Carrie. That was very helpful. I am more "traditional" too, and am a scheduler. I can maybe take a day or two off, but not too much more, cause I feel completely behind.

After reading your post, I think I am going to stick to a regular school schedule. I don't think I would be motivated to start the next year without a longer break in between. It gives me time to get excited about the upcoming school year.

On a side not, I noticed that you are going to be in Des. Moines in June. I am originally from Des. Moines, but now in CA. I was excited that you were going to be there, so I told my mom about it. Too bad she doesn't have any kids left to homeschool.

They are all grown and married with kids of their own to hs.

water2wine · Post by **water2wine** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 5:43 pm

We school year round. I do decide the year before what our schedule will be so I don't just put my finger in the wind and decide by the day. Although I did today.

But a little bit of flex time is in there and today was the far away dr trip day that fell into that plan.

I had never intended to do it this way I just found it works best for us. So here is why we do it...

Here's the logical

-I have a child with special needs and if I stop I will spend a ton of time with her relearning the ground we already gained. And for my other kids I also hate the review just because we took three months off.

-The summers here are hot and Sept and Oct are actually the prettiest and best months to be outside. So why not be outside some then. And hey why not avoid the crowds.

-I easily lose a week a year in just doctors visits. So going on my schedule I always leave 2 weeks emergency time just to not have the stress.

-We love taking a month off at Christmas, so we do it and it is really very special to us. My kids would rather do that than summer in all honesty.

-We have two weeks floating vacation in addition to Easter, Christmas, our Fall break and a mini summer break. So I never get to my wits end and if I do that is the time to take the break and get in touch with how great my kids are.

Now here is the illogical but honest....

-There is something deep inside me that says why should I let the public school system tell me anything especially when I should do school and when I should take a break.

Ok probably unveiling some major psychological issue there Hehehe! But we get six months off a year I want to feel like we really get six months off a year. If I always take vacation when they say it doesn't feel the same to me for some reason. And for us when we hit the end of our official school year we are not on our last leg and in fact we get going on the next year. It feels good for some reason.

Our state requires 180 days 4.5 hour hours long. We are officially done with this year the first week in May. A huge benefit of year round, besides FREEDOM, is that my kids tend to never stop learning and get into a lazy phase. I don't ever feel like I have to teach them to get back into the groove of school. We just stop when we want and start when we want. Usually they are telling me it is time to get going again. I like it that way rather than the other way around.

shera · Post by **shera** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:13 pm

Well I school yr round or at least that is our plan. I started MFW K last August and we finished up in March. I then found HOD and we are currently in week 7 I think of LHFHG. I don't actually schedule time off except at holidays and even then it is usually just the few days around the holiday. Family is close by so there isn't a lot of hoopla. We plan vacations during off season and just take them then. At the rate we are currently working my ds will be done with LHFHG in October. I will have to see how this is going to work long term since it seems almost like we are covering 2 grades in 1 yr.

My reasoning is in AZ the nice weather is in October/November and March/April

HTH
Sarah