The descision of how to plan your school year is one of the first you will make. Most new homeschoolers assume that going with the public school year, roughly September through May, will be the template they will follow. However, after starting, many of us find out that there are many advantages to NOT following the public school year model.1. No big gaps means no need for tons of review over last years work. I'm sure we all remember with less than fond memories the amount of review that was required at the beginning of each year. What we learned the previous year was almost always lost during the weeks of no application over the summer holidays. Year round schooling eliminates this by eliminating the huge gap over summer break, keeping concepts fresh in your child's mind.
2. Working at a pace that is best for your child. Most of us have at least a general idea of what we would like to accomplish during a school year, but what if our child needs more time on a particular concept? This is not possible when you are in a rush to finish on a self-imposed deadline. Year round schooling gives you the flexibility you need to spend days or even weeks helping your child fully grasp concepts that they struggle with.
3. Things happen. Let's face facts. Stuff happens. Kids get sick, relatives pass away, cars break down. All of these things can interfere with schooling, but schooling year around gives you the option to put off school without having to worry about playing catch up.
4. Not having to vacation with the crowds rocks! What is worse than paying for a vacation to Disney World only to get there and be held hostage by the long lines at the It's a Small World ride? Let me tell you from experience that Disney World is so much better in August after school starts than in June when all the summer crowds are there. Not to mention most hot spots for vacations will run specials during the off seasons.
5. Flexability. Besides just simply beating the crowds, being able to plan your vacations or time off when you want is just convient.
6. No back to school blues. Well, I think this one speaks for itself. No having to fight the kids to get back on the school schedule. No having to recover from one day being able to do what you want, to the next day having to get back on track.
Year around school looks different for each of us who use it. Some will use a 6 weeks on, 2 weeks off schedule. Others simply take off time when they feel like it. We personally use, a mix of taking off when we feel like it and scheduled time off, taking off all of December. Trying to school during the chaos of the holidays is all but impossible for us. What does your school year look like?
4 comments:
Great post! We have a schedule similar to yours - all of December off along with the last week of Nov. and first week of Jan.
I didn't do a year-round schedule until I started working. But the benefit of going at the right pace with the flexibility to take life as it comes are invaluable!
~Luke
We've tried both, and we much prefer the year-round schedule - we'll be sticking to it from here on out. Your points were excellent!
Our year round schedule is more along the lines of "taking time off when needed", to allow for life's curveballs, as you mentioned. There are a few holidays we definitely take a week off for, but other than that, nothing too set in stone.
5. Flexability. Besides just simply beating the crowds, being able to plan your vacations or time off when you want is just convient.
Typo--should say convenient. :)
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