I was discussing this with my husband, telling him how much I am looking forward to summer break. I brought up to him that I wanted to homeschool year round to allow for more breaks. To my surprise, he agreed with me that it was a good idea.
There are a couple reasons why I have never put year round homeschooling into action. First, I had children in public school too and it made it more convenient to keep all the children on a similar schedule. Now, I still have my step-daughter in public school, but she is older and we can coordinate the schedules easier. While she is here over summer break, she has tutoring. If I keep Laura on half-days on those days, they will both be done before lunch.
The second reason was Laura herself. She wanted to be on the public school schedule to have all the time she wanted to play with her friends in the summer. However, she also wants to have time to spend with her father. With his work schedule, we need more flexibility to take time off to spend with him when he is home. With a traditional schedule, we lose all that flexibility. So, after discussing it, my husband and I both felt that time as a family was more important than time with friends. Besides, homeschooling in the morning on half-days during the school's summer break (while my step-daughter is with us) still leaves the rest of the day for Laura to do all the summer activities she loves with her friends and family.
I have a couple of different strategies and plans. The possibility of Laura going to camp in July is keeping me from cementing plans. Plus, I want to schedule in some extra time in case of things like illness or emergencies... or just that run-away day. At a rough calculation, I am planning of having six weeks of schooling and then a week break. From everything I have read, this seems to be the type of schedule that eases the stress load and works best for year-round schooling. I'm still researching different schedules and going through a calendar.
One of the things that I desire is for my children to love learning. After about a month of our traditional summer vacations, I hear a lot of "I'm Bored!" Then, when we finally begin school again, I feel like it is review time. I have spent up to six weeks reviewing math skills with Laura... and I don't want to do that again. I had planned on having Laura work on math skills throughout the summer anyway. Why not just add in an extra little bit and count it as a school day? Our school district pushes many of the students to do summer school to keep skills up. Isn't that year-round schooling without the benefit of more breaks?
My state requires 180 days of schooling. I'm planning for 200 so that I have lots of those emergency days available. I'm also counting Fridays as a complete day, even though we will probably only do book work for a half day. Fridays is the day we clean the church or help set up for our church's food pantry. I am counting that time of volunteer work as school. It's definitely an education... even if it isn't traditional.
I want learning to become routine. Learning should be a normal part of life. I don't want learning to be something to get through, or something we have to endure until the next break arrives. I want learning to be a natural part of our lives. One thing I have seen is that, when we take a break from our normal school routine, we often take a break from a routine of time alone with God. I want to make sure that this is a part of every day so that it becomes a habit. Habits, whether it is devotion time with God or chores, are easier to form if they are relatively consistent. Taking a three month long furlough from our normal routine does little to bring consistency.
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