Six Advantages of a Year Round Homeschooling Schedule

As I sit and write the weather outside is absolutely gorgeous.  Spring has finally arrived up here in the North East and we are hungry for it.  Everyone is itching to get outside.  A few of my friends have even posted pictures to social media sporting their first sunburns.  For many in the education world (whether homeschooling or traditional schooling) the turning weather marks the time of year when school begins to wrap up.  We begin to look ahead to the summer and a couple of months away from the books and all that we typically associate with “education.”  Our minds grow nostalgic for the endless summer days we remember from our own childhoods.  No one wants to think ahead to the fall when we must snap back into the routine and the schoolwork once again.

But what if there was another way?  What if the summer vacation wasn’t necessary?  Could it be possible to homeschool year round and even enjoy it?  I can hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth as some of you read these words (or perhaps those are the sounds you imagine your children will make). Keep reading! There are plenty advantages to the year round homeschooling schedule.

1. Sticking to something resembling your regular school routine will make for smooth summer days. Your children know what to expect and so do you.  You’ll find they argue less and generally have overall better behavior when their lives stay fairly consistent throughout the year including the summer.
2. Your children won’t forget the important things they’ve learned. Did you spend all winter mastering the multiplication facts?  If you continue with math throughout the summer months come fall they won’t have forgotten any of them (God willing) and you can skip review time.
3. There will be no restarting battles in the fall. Getting back into any routine after time away can be brutal on parents and kids. Schooling year round means you can skip those battles next fall.
4. A year round schedule affords the flexibility to take breaks when you need them most. Are the holidays just chaotic for you? Does your husband have a busy season in his business and he appreciates some extra help (from you or the kids?).  Do you help put on a spectacular Easter play at your church every spring but the rehearsals drain the life out of you? If you school year round you can choose when to take school breaks perhaps for a day or two or weeks at time!
5. Vacation when YOU want to! Perhaps Dad can only take certain weeks off from work each year. Maybe the airplane tickets to visit grandma and grandpa are cheapest in late fall.  Our family LOVES to camp and we choose to go in the spring and fall when the campgrounds are just about empty because most children are still in school!
6. Release the pressure! I bet you are much like me in the way that I love to do fun educational things with my children. We enjoy a special science class at the aquarium an art class at the art museum.  We are a part of a co-op.  We go on fieldtrips… LOTS of fieldtrips.  We enjoy volunteering for our church food pantry and helping out friends and family members when we are needed.  It is thrilling to hit the beach on gorgeous late spring or early fall days when they are deserted.  If we were a slave to traditional school year schedule we’d have to say absolutely no just about all of these wonderful opportunities that bring richness to my children’s education and our lives.

There are a few variations on the year round homeschooling schedule.  In our family we choose to take time off when needed.  Other families will school for six weeks and take a week long break before hitting the books again for another six weeks and so forth.  You could choose to take a month off for the holidays.  If you live in a particularly hot climate you may want to schedule your breaks for the spring and fall so that you can take advantage of the best weather days of the year.  The options are endless!  One of the most spectacular things about homeschooling is the gift of flexibility it affords.  Year round schooling takes utmost advantage of that gift.  I urge you to give it a try.

Crystal Heft is a wife and homeschooling mother to four beautiful children. A former public school teacher, she took a dramatic turn in her life when her oldest was born. Now she stays home educating and raising her family while also running her own photography business. Crystal blogs about life, homeschooling, photography and more at www.crystalstarrblog.com.