There are so many different homeschooling schedules that you can come up with. This is the one we have used most recently and it worked really well for us. There are a lot of benefits that come with year round homeschooling, but there are aspects of it that can lean on the negative side.
The homeschool schedule that works for your family may take a bit of fine tuning and trying different types of schedules or merging them together to create something unique.
If a schedule isn’t working then change it up. Don’t just keep persevering when it clearing is just not working…no matter how perfect it looks on paper.
What is Year Round Homeschool?
The traditional school year has a huge three month vacation over Summer with breaks schedules periodically through out the year over Fall, Winter and Spring.
A year round schedule reduces the Summer vacation to a similar break as other season or much shorter that the traditional three months. The result of this means that you are able to take much more frequent breaks while still maintaining the same time spent on schooling.
In a year round homeschool schedule you may take off four weeks over Summer as opposed to twelve. You can then go in shorter burst of school before taking another week or so for a break. The school year is spread out much more evenly over the course of the year.
Benefits of Year Round Homeschool Schedules
More Time
One of the biggest worries of homeschooling parents is “how am I going to fit it all in?”. The traditional school year is approximately 36 weeks give or take depending on where you live. Year round homeschooling gives you 16 more weeks to get it all done. That is like four extra months!
Deeper Understanding of Subjects
This one is in part a carry on from the previous point. When you don’t feel as though you are on a time crunch you can really take the time needed to ensure that your children really understand the subject matter.
I know as a homeschooling parent I have at times rushed my child through a topic to “stay on schedule” when really they needed an extra week to truly master the concept. This extra time allows for a bit more flexibility in the schedule.
If you have children with learning difficulties you will know that they will often need that extra time to understand and finish their work. This lessens the pressure to “keep up” so to speak. They now have a full year to finish a grade instead of three quarters of a year.
Flexibility
Now that you have all this extra time there is a lot more room to be flexible. An impromptu trip to the beach or play date isn’t going to cause you to fall behind.
You are now able to be for flexible when someone is sick. They can take the time needed to fully heal instead of trying to get on with their school work when they are only fifty percent better. Even as a parent you can take a sick day…although sick days are never quite the same as a parent!
If there is a family emergency or unplanned trip that needs to be taken you can do so without worrying about school. You will be able to concentrate you time and energy to the matter at hand. I imagine we will have to take an impromptu trip back to New Zealand at some point in the year and I am so glad I will be able to do so without having to worry about trying to have the kids keep up with their book work.
Routine
Kids love routine. Well they might not say they love routine but their behaviour and their attitudes tend to say otherwise. Do you ever wonder why kids go crazy over school breaks? Or why they seem to fight so much more, or become lazy? It has a lot to do with being out of routine.
Routine provides stability and expectations. They know what is happening each day and when it will happen. They will tend to argue less because there is really not a lot to argue about, you just get on with the day.
Routine is good for you as a parent too. Being a stay at home parent, who is also their teacher can be incredibly mentally and emotionally draining. You are “on” 24/7 with not much chance to take a break. If there is anything that you can do to lessen the load it is a good idea to do it. Having a routine takes off the mental stress of “what do we do next?”. Once everyone knows the routine it will start to flow like clockwork without much thought.
Consistency
I am sure there is a better word for this but it isn’t coming to me right now. Over the traditional Summer break kids forget a whole lot! Teacher will tell me that they spend the first couple of months revisiting what was taught the previous year before they even get in to teaching the current years topics.
This seems so crazy to me, but it is entirely understandable. A year round homeschool schedule ensures that there is constant review and building upon concepts that reteaching doesn’t need to take place. This saves so much time and results in the children moving forward a at a more constant speed.
Moving at Their Own Pace
Consistency plays a large part in children being able to move forward at their own pace. When you homeschool year round there is ample opportunity for children to complete more than one academic years worth of school work in a given year.
For example this year I foresee my two oldest children completing one and half to two grade levels of math. This is not because they are math geniuses my any stretch but simply because they will have the time to do it. It just makes not sense to finish teaching math for the year once they have completed the book only six months into the year. We will simply move on to the next level. It won’t be too difficult for them because it will be a continuation of what they have already been doing.
Vacations
Who doesn’t love vacations?! I am sure you are aware that prices for vacations are at an all time high over school breaks. Year round homeschooling lets you schedule your vacations outside of peak periods. Did you know that if you hit up Disneyland only a day after spring break ends it is not only cheaper but also a ghost town…okay not a ghost town but you will only have to wait 20mins for a ride instead of 2hrs.
Holiday periods can also be incredibly stressful, as you try to fit in all the parties, shopping, fun activities etc. Why not schedule a break to occur around the holidays so you can actually enjoy yourself and do all the fun stuff without feeling guilty for skipping your history lesson for the day. We took of the entire month of December and it was amazing!
Homeschool Burnout
It is a real thing people, and you need to be aware of it. If you have no idea what I am talking about you need to read this. Mental health of your children and yourself is paramount. You really need to keep an eye on how everyone is doing and know when it is time to take a break. As a parent you sometimes have the mentality of just pushing through hoping that it will get better but trust me it doesn’t and then you pay for it big time.
Year round homeschooling give you more breaks spread a lot more evenly through the year. Breaks are so vital for keeping everyones energy levels and enthusiasm high. Most importantly they are one of the best ways for beating homeschool burnout.
Downside to Year Round Homeschooling
Complacency
Sometimes when you are homeschooling year round it becomes so easy to think that you have all the time in the world. I have been guilty of this at times.
It takes a good deal of restraint and foresight to strike a good balance between how many breaks to take and how much school needs to be done.
No Break To Look Forward To
Many families who homeschool year round find that they burnout because they school every day without any break insight. If you fail to plan at least a few good week long breaks in your year then it is almost certain that both you and the kids will burnout.
Who Would a Year Round Homeschool Schedule Suit?
Families Who Have Children That Need Routine
If you have children that need a routine then this is the schedule for you. Children who are on the autism spectrum or have ADHD will benefit enormously from this type of scheduling. More ideas on how you can homeschool your child with autism can be found here and with ADHD over here. I would highly recommend reading each of those posts as they will give you so much valuable information and resources on where to go and where to start as well as different ideas and tactics specific for children with both of those diagnoses.
Even if your child is a typical child but still does better when you stick to a routine then this is for you.
If You Like a Bit of Spontaneity
If you want to have the freedom to take a quick trip or take advantage of the perfect beach weather you might really enjoy what year long homeschooling can offer.
We have really enjoyed having a year long homeschool schedule for the past three years it really works well for us. We love the routine and I love not having to worry should unexpected events happen. I also really love being able to have a more spread out year. We just took a month off over Summer and we have all been itching to get back to work. I can’t imagine what three months would do to us!
