Schooling year round...

inHistiming · Post by **inHistiming** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:35 pm

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

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These are my thoughts exactly; I thought I had it all planned out...but summers are fleeting here too. Now what?! Back to thinking this over...

annegirl1919 · Post by **annegirl1919** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:53 pm

we go 'year round' so that we can have breaks whenever we need them. in indiana you have to get 180 days in between july 1st and june 30th. (i believe this is right. if any one else if from IN and thinks this is wrong, please tell me!)

anyway, during the summer months, we probably only do 3-4 days per week because there is a lot going on, and then during the traditional school year we really try to do 5 days a week. then, we can take breaks whenever we need them-this year 3 weeks around thanksgiving, another 2 weeks around christmas, a few days here and there that are just too busy, and then i plan to take off 6 weeks or so as soon as this baby shows it's face, and yet we will still have no problem getting our 180 days. i just LOVE the flexibility of it.

hope that helps!

jamieswife · Post by **jamieswife** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 7:53 pm

It's interesting what Carrie and LeAnna said about being schedulers by nature and not schooling year round. I wonder how much of that plays into how we decide. I am a fly by the seat of my pants gal and that can't help but work it's way into our schooling. I know you can schedule year round but it sounds like most of us who do year round (except maybe W2W

) have a more casual approach to scheduling.

Post by **Carrie** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 8:56 pm

I love threads like this, as it is so much fun to see all of the different ways that moms make school fit their family lifestyle.

The great news is that there is no wrong way to schedule your school-year, and it's really more of a matter of finding the schedule that fits your personality so you feel empowered by the schedule (instead of the schedule running you)! For each of us that will look different, so keep the sharing coming, it is so helpful!

Blessings,
Carrie

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 9:09 pm

We will probably do 2 or 3 days of real school work a week this summer to get a bit ahead for the next school year as we often do a 4 day week. but that's not a hard and fast thing.

My preference is to follow a traditional school year, but do some stuff over the summer, mostly read alouds and some math and handwriting or puzzles.

We'll just see how it goes. I am a scheduler, however, I have difficulty following the schedule I create. I buck the schedule (rebellious nature) and end up flying by the seat of my pants.

beandip71 · Post by **beandip71** » Mon Apr 07, 2008 10:57 pm

We follow a traditional school year and I am a big time planner and organizer. I like having my year planned out ahead of time.

Gina

my2guys · Post by **my2guys** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:08 am

Well, we aren't really at the place where we have to decide this quite yet, but my feeling is that we'll probably mostly do a traditional schedule with the main reason being that my dh is a public school teacher and he messes us up when he's home!

That's not totally true, but there is a different dynamic in the house when daddy's on break. We don't have the option of taking vacations in the spring and fall (which I would love to do!) so all of our travelling and fun family stuff has to take place during the traditional breaks from school. That said, I've been thinking that when we have to start reporting, we probably will schedule our school from July-June. This will give us the flexiblity to do special trips and unit study type things with dad over the summer and perhaps short times of math and reading 3x a week or so to keep continuity - and get a little bit of a head start on the year so that we don't feel so much pressure. However, I think our 5-day-a-week schedule will run pretty much in synch with what my dh's schedule will be.
I love this thread. It's so interesting to get ideas from everyone.

jamieswife · Post by **jamieswife** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 12:44 pm

my2guys wrote:we'll probably mostly do a traditional schedule with the main reason being that my dh is a public school teacher and he messes us up when he's home! That's not totally true, but there is a different dynamic in the house when daddy's on break.

We almost never school when Papa is home! I've had more then one math test interrupted by "Can the kids come out and play yet?"!!!

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:19 pm

jamieswife wrote: We almost never school when Papa is home! I've had more then one math test interrupted by "Can the kids come out and play yet?"!!!

agreed, we can't get any work done if dh is home either. They naturally want to spend time with their dad!

Hillcrest Academy · Post by **Hillcrest Academy** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 8:54 am

I'm from South Africa where our school year begins around halfway through January and ends in the first week of December. It's divided into four "terms" with the longest break being the Dec/Jan break.

Our dates are:
Term 1: 9 Jan - 20 Mar
Term 2: 14 Apr - 20 Jun
Term 3: 14 Jul - 26 Sep
Term 4: 6 Oct - 5 Dec

I have decided to stick with this schedule for a number of reasons:

1) That month off in Dec was always more than enough for me as a kid and by the time Jan came I was bored and more than ready to go back to school. I can't imagine taking a longer break...

2) What a waste to lose the exploration and hands on time that summer affords! We'll probably be more flexible to allow spontaneity and swimming etc, but we'll take FULL advantage of the weather to go exploring, do field trips, and work on bookwork outside under the trees for a change of pace.

3) Thanksgiving to Christmas is the craziest season in our house. I need the flexibility to take time off to prepare for and enjoy the holidays!

I love schooling year round, since we're always open to anything and have flexibility to do what we need to at that time.

HTH!
~Caryn~

netpea · Post by **netpea** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 9:12 am

Our plans have changed dramatically. My elderly parents (79 and 82) care for my special needs niece when my sister works. We are planning to ask for my niece to visit us for 2 months this summer to give my parents a break. So now my summer plans (if they let her come) are just to work on gardening, household chores and life skills for my 2 kids and my niece.

I hope they all agree, my parents need the break, but my mother may resist. Samantha is "her baby".

Tiffini · Post by **Tiffini** » Wed Apr 09, 2008 6:22 pm

Caryn, I love that South African schedule! That makes so much sense to me!

I am struggling with this whole topic right now. I have enjoyed reading everyone's perspectives. I love the idea of going year round with regular breaks and never really getting out of the flow of things and never really feeling totally burned out due to frequent breaks. But, then summer happens, and it seems impossible to do school during that time. Too many fun things going on and people to visit.

However, it does get hot and humid here in the summer and the kids don't want to be outdoors as much. And there are issues with the neighborhood kids that we are pretty tired of by mid-summer. So, it is so tempting to take May and June off and then start up in July and go with that year round schedule. Still praying and thinking it through.

Thanks for all the ideas!