heartofdakota.com

I'm new to the boards but I wanted to chime in. We have always schooled year around. We do 3 mos on/ one off. This gives us 12 week blocks for learning, yet not so much time off that we need review when we return. It also gives us April ( to get outdoors in the spring, & plant the garden) August ( to spend at the lake/pool) and December (to worship & visit family) free.

We also school year round here with the only set break 2 weeks at Christmas time. The older girls are in Quizzing so they take a day off each time they have a quiz meet. [If you don't know what Quizzing is they are on teams of four and study one book of the Bible from September to May and are quizzed on their memory of the verses, content, situation, speaker etc. Excellent way to commit the Word to memory! Last year our 13 year old memorized 3/4 of Luke as well as 1/2 the concordance They are studying 1&2 Corinthians this year] Anyhow this format has always allowed us to take a day off here or there, or now that the two are older take a day and really dig into an area or a subject without having to worry about not finishing on time or getting off track. We do "skip" more days in the summer as we live in Northern Saskatchewan (we had snow today) and we really appreciate the summer as short as it is. Mind you more often than not even when we get it the van for a long drive each child grabs their bag, stuffs their books in it, and starts school in the van with the clipboards. I used to discourage it, as I wanted time off but now it has become such a part of our everyday it is no longer burdensome. We do have our moments, but nothing like before. We have the "Mom shop" where with good marks, excellent behaviour, service opportunities (chores shhh!), or by doing random acts of kindness, you can earn or be blessed with Mom dollars. I sell 1/2 days off for $5. If they are having a bad day, or an anywhere but here day, they can cash in their 1/2 day off coupon. It usually motivates them enough to get a few things done so they can be free. (They can use up to 2 a week) At least this method works for us.
Joyanna

I too decided to school year round. We do a 4-day schedule since we have co-op on Fridays. We don't really have a schedule but I may try something like 4 weeks of school and 1 week off or something like that. We'll just do math and phonics during the summer along with fun crafty stuff and any science experiments the kids want to do.

lhazc wrote:I'm new to the boards but I wanted to chime in. We have always schooled year around. We do 3 mos on/ one off. This gives us 12 week blocks for learning, yet not so much time off that we need review when we return. It also gives us April ( to get outdoors in the spring, & plant the garden) August ( to spend at the lake/pool) and December (to worship & visit family) free.

This plans sounds interesting to me! I might have to give this a try, or something very similar considering I need more than a month off around december for the new baby...Thanks for sharing!

We start about mid-July and then take of completely between Thanksgiving and New Years, when we start up again. I did this last year just because I had a baby due between those times but it was so nice to focus on the season without worrying about school work.

AboveRubiesMama,

We too started in July, and because of moving, and the holidays we didn't get much done between October and December. We just finished our first year, and I haven't decided if I want to do school year round. But, starting in July seems to give us the time we need to get through.

LeAnna

We school year round. I have some children with special needs, and we miss a lot of school time for various therapies and Doctor appointments. So, we do school every day that we can to make up for the days when formal schooling is not possible.

Also...my kids are SO disappointed on days when we don't "have school". They don't like Saturdays! They thrive on having something to do, and I like it as well. : )

Shannon

mrsrandolph wrote:We school year round. I have some children with special needs, and we miss a lot of school time for various therapies and Doctor appointments. So, we do school every day that we can to make up for the days when formal schooling is not possible.

Also...my kids are SO disappointed on days when we don't "have school". They don't like Saturdays! They thrive on having something to do, and I like it as well. : )

Shannon

This is us too! Although, we aren't doing a lot of therapies right now. Our oldest is special needs. But, having school everyday is great, because we do have 'off' days with my daughter's health and just uh...life in general with lots of little ones ; ) My kids seems to love having the structure of school. I too am thrown off on the weekends sometimes, because of the lack of schedule. I love having my hubby home, but I do look forward to the beginning of the week many times.

Us too! For one thing HOD is so teacher freindly and pleasent to use, it makes it so easy to not need a long break, we simply do not tire from it . Aslo it is so nice to stay in the "grove" of things. We do about three days a week, and if there is somthing that comes up or a vacation, we simply take that week off. That is what is soooo wonderful about homeschooling and the flexiblility that HOD provides.

I school year round as well, but without a schedule. I'm like a pp, that if we need to take a break, we do, and it's no biggie! I love that aspect of homeschooling!