The idea of year-round homeschooling may seem odd if you {like most of us} grew up with the notion of summer “freedom” being an essential part of the school experience.
But it works for us. And it might work for you, too.
We do not take summers off or pause for long holiday breaks in our homeschool. Basically we prefer to move along at a consistent, predictable pace rather than take lengthy, planned breaks.
I find this to be simultaneously more productive and more relaxing. We are always learning and doing, yet we never feel pressure to hurry up and finish, because we are not trying to fit our activities into a limited amount of time.
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What Exactly Is Year-Round Homeschooling?
Of course, “year-round homeschooling” can mean many different things, depending on who you ask.
Some families might go for six or eight weeks and then take a week off. Others might take the entire month of December off, or condense summer break into six weeks instead of three months. Still others might maintain a four-day week, allowing for shorter but more frequent breaks. Many will implement a combination of these things.
For us, it means we very rarely take a significant chunk of time off, instead preferring to muddle through most weekdays unless we are sick, traveling, or hubby is off work {because, hello, distracting}.
This usually ends up giving us many additional “school days” on our calendar, although we don’t work as long on any individual day, so it evens out.
Probably the longest stretch we take away from our routine is when we are wrapping up one grade level and moving to the next. And even that is often just a week {maybe two} to reset and order new materials.
This year it ended up being essentially a long weekend. {It’s not like we had much else going on thanks to the pandemic, so why not?}
As a military family we also move frequently, so longer breaks happen then by default as well. When we moved from New York to California a few years ago, for example, we had one of our longest resetting breaks. We took six full weeks off: a month at my mom’s in Pennsylvania and then two weeks to unpack and acclimate once we arrived.
What About Holidays and Vacations?
We take off for holidays if we need to. Many holidays {e.g., Labor Day, Memorial Day} just end up being normal school days for us. Christmas Eve and Christmas Day we usually have plans so no schoolwork then. Really, it just depends on what else is going on and what we feel like doing.
We also tend to just take off the actual holiday {or perhaps one additional day, such as the Friday after Thanksgiving} and “do” school the rest of the holiday week. In the past we tried to incorporate, for example, a “real” winter break—no school from just before Christmas until just after New Year’s—and it was simply too long without our usual system.
As far as vacations, it works out better to have travel plans coincide with days Hubby is able to take off work, instead of following a traditional school calendar.
Honestly, one of the main reasons we began homeschooling in the first place was to be able to travel {and do so on our own timeline}. Plus we enjoy being able to arrange trips in the off season and take advantage of better deals and lighter crowds.
When Does Your School Year “End”?
So how do we determine exactly when we are “done” and ready to move up a grade level? The short answer is, just when it feels right. I know; not helpful . . . but true.
Sometimes an outside entity {e.g., the Navy telling us it is time to move} influences our decision, but often we just get to a point—usually after 9-12 months—when it just seems appropriate to start wrapping up.
Maybe we are nearing the end of several spine texts. Or maybe we know the next topics we want to cover will take way too much time to get involved in now. Or maybe we are just tired of school and want a bit of do nothing time. Often it coincides with a longer planned vacation or a deployment starting or ending.
I try to let my students guide me here as well. Usually they will reach a point when they feel “done” or just seem to be over the current curriculum. The longer you follow a pattern of year-round homeschooling, the easier it becomes for everyone to figure out their individual groove.
Doesn’t Everyone Need a Break?
I realize it is hard to let go of the mindset of “needing” a large chunk of time off from the day-to-day. It didn’t seem normal to me either at first. It took a while to accept that it actually resulted in more pleasant break times and a better organized routine overall.
Some folks have a love–hate relationship with summer break, yet they cannot imagine what life would be like without it. The traditional school year {with its predictable breaks} has been deeply ingrained in our minds in US culture.
Even those parents complaining all over social media in August {in a normal, non-pandemic August, anyway} how badly they want their kids to go back already and get out of their hair would mostly scoff at the idea of having a schedule like ours.
What we have done, however, is {unintentionally} reached a place where it doesn’t matter. Over the years, we’ve essentially made “school” something the Agents don’t feel they need a break from.
That’s not an attempt at a humble brag. They legit don’t think learning is a chore one needs to periodically escape. It is just a part of life for them. Not in an unschooling free form kind of way—we all like schedules and routine way too much for that—but in a this is the way things are kind of way.
Don’t Kids Need Time To Be Bored?
The structured parts of our day remain relatively short—even as the Agents age. They have plenty of opportunities to read, play outside, do art, and yes, even waste time and be bored. We never feel like we have missed out on experiences because we skipped summer or winter break.
Basically we have learned to listen to the rhythm that we have created. Because we never stop for very long, we do not have to deal with “summer slide” or forgetting skills during a long break. It keeps things consistent in other areas of life as well, since we are not contending with a separate “school” versus “summer” schedule.
Do you homeschool on a similar schedule? How does year-round homeschooling work in your family?
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