One characteristic of the institutional school is the idea of starting the year, finishing, school being "out for summer". Life is not a school but should be learning 24/7 every day of the year. Certainly there are seasons of concentrated focus on textbooks and seasons of rest and travel. However, it's not helpful to think of "finishing" school nor taking extended breaks from the discipline of learning.
We "school" year round. Again, independence from an institution gives us flexibility. We usually take a break from a full slate of formal daily lessons for about 4 weeks from mid December to early January. We may take a whole week off for Thanksgiving. We'll take weeks off now and then for family trips, though not necessarily at "Spring Break" as institutions do. We continue to learn during the summer months. Some summer weeks we replace school with special music or drama activities that are more typically scheduled in the summer. Some summer weeks we follow a full slate of lessons as we would in fall or spring. On weeks we take off, we typically still have several Bible or Math lessons, unless we are out of town travelling or have guests in our home. So even the 4 week break in December would still include 6 to 10 math lessons to maintain momentum in that subject and some degree of routine. This makes it easier to resume the full schedule later in January
This plan refers to certain months and certain weeks, but these are just helpful markers like a chapter and verse in a book. It doesn't mean you must do month 6's work in February. But it lets you know the general order of the weeks. We also assume about 36 weeks worth of school in a given year. In a 52week year, if you take off a week in November, 4 weeks in January, 3 or 4 weeks during Spring, 5 or 6 weeks in Summer, and allow 2 or 3 weeks worth of days for unplanned events and sickness, you will wind up with about 36 weeks of school. So you maintain a reasonable pace with flexibility. A big key is to not take off for long summer breaks. You then have to waste several weeks in review and resuming your routine. If you maintain the steady pace generally you're never recovering old material and the children are taught that learning is for life - not just while school is in session.
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I so agree with this
I so agree with this approach to homeschooling. I have decided that we will no longer take the 3 months off during the summer, but will take a "moderate" approach to schooling during these activity filled days. Math is a definite, as is reading and discussing good literature. I have to tell you also that I have been encouraged to not make the children do every single math problem plus the facts and worksheets page in Saxon. I love that program up through 8/7 but it is very tedious and time consuming. I am switching things up a bit and seeing if we can cover more with doing less problems while maintaining comprehension.
I realize that this original post was written almost one year ago, so I am not sure if you will even see this comment, but I have to tell you that your blog has been a blessing and a source of refreshment to me. I have 4 children that I have homeschooled since they entered kindergarten (except for 2 years when I enrolled them in an on-site charter). My eldest will graduate 6/2009 and my youngest is currently in the 5th grade.
Ruthie
Thanks for your kind words
Thanks for your kind comments on the blog, I'm glad it's been a help to you. We continue to have great success doing only about1/3 of the Saxon problems each lesson. The kids do all the practice problems and then every 3rd problem. They seem to retain it all and can keep progressing to a new lesson every day. "Your mileage may vary" as they say, but always experiment to see what your kids may require so they get the most from their educational experience.