Welcome to our new Summer Series for 2021! In case you missed our intro post outlining all our free resources and summer itinerary coming up these next few weeks, here it is!
🌻What in the world should I do with my kids this summer?🦋
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ALL YEAR . . . school?? Sounds pretty awful, right? For most of us, I think the idea of Summer School (ick!) and All-Year-School alike evoke a prison-like image in our mind’s eye. We see sad, weary kids kept inside, practically chained to their desks, week after week, month after month, year after year. And then adulthood begins.
While this may very well hold true for *traditional* Summer School, the reality of Year-Round-School (at least Year-Round-Homeschool) is often quite the reverse! An around-the-calendar schedule often offers more flexibility, more freedom, more calm, and more joy than the standard nine-month model.
If the school year is too long . . .
or summer too boring . . .
if the school day is too packed . . .
yet the school week uneventful . . .
if the pressure is too high . . .
and joy runs low . . .
if repetition has replaced rigor . . .
pattern has replaced passion . . .
or learning has lost it’s luster . . .
if your family is burned out . . .
stressed out . . .
wigged out . . .
it may be time to get out.
Wondering if it’s time to unsubscribe from the standard system and/or schedule? Here’s our family’s inside scoop on what Year-Round Homeschooling is really like!
~Year-Round Homeschool~
About this schedule style:
TARGET SUMMER GOALS MET (see our complete goal descriptions here):
✔️ = catch my child up / advance my child academically
🧠 = keep my child engaged and actively learning
😊 = have fun, de-stress, and bond as a family
TIME REQUIRED: *flexible* ; about 2 set hours per week day
Why We LOVE Year-Round Homeschool:
1.) Not So Hot & Cold
Weekday. Weekend.
School Year. Summer.
On. Off.
Get up early. Sleep in long and late.
Rush. Recharge.
Study . . . cram! Veg out . . . forget!
The nine-month school schedule model is all about getting it all in . . . crunch-time style. Year-Round School, on the other hand, should be about calm consistency rather than chaotic cramming. Rather than shoving our kids around from one extreme to the next, four-season schooling should offer our children a predictable and comfortable flow. Since it is ongoing throughout the year, learning can be rhythmic and relaxed.
2.) regular breaks versus long breaks
The school year is so LONG. Christmas break to spring break is an eternity. And spring break to summer . . . well, it’s practically torture! Then comes the long-awaited summer (finally!) and two weeks into lazying the days away our kids are bored out of their minds already.
Year-Round-School, on the other hand, offers short, palatable breaks all year long. Every six weeks or so, our kids get a week off to refresh, but not so long that they become summer slugs.
3.) No learning loss / “Summer Slide”
We all know about the infamous villain of the school year . . . the sinister “Summer Slide” or inevitable learning loss that occurs in the three month break between each grade. Teachers love to talk about “Summer Learning Loss” . . . you know, right before they hand out that detestably boring summer reading list and mile-long log. Talk about a way to kill a kid’s love for reading. But year-round-schooling boasts no grade-to-grade learning losses, simply on the grounds that there is never a long enough break for academic ground to erode.
4.) eliminates both burnout & Boredom
The relentless school year burns us out. Then the painfully slow summer bores us to tears. Slow and steady learning, slow and steady activities . . . stable growth is sustainable for the mind and body, and satisfying to the soul.
5.) More flexibility & Freedom
My freshman year of high school I got super sick. I had a cold that turned into strep that turned into bronchitis. I missed three weeks of school. In a row. It was alarming and stressful. As if I wasn’t freaked out enough, and as if my mom didn’t have enough to worry about, the school office had our house on speed-dial with a rousing call every morning at 7:15 to remind us of my atrocious attendance. And by the way . . . did I plan on getting better any time soon? My prestigious private high school was no academic joke and I was already buried beneath makeup work before I was even strong enough to get out of bed. It was an uphill battle all the way to summer.
Schooling all year and taking less scheduled breaks provides more leeway for sick days, off days, creative days, road trips, and visits with grandma.
A trip to the coast in the fall?
Two weeks to fully recover from bronchitis? (shocking, I know)
A day at home just . . . because?
Learning is life, and life has its seasons.
6.) Facilitates both accelerated & Deccelerated Learning
Some days you need to slow things down.
Some days you need to speed things up!
Some weeks you need to review.
Some weeks you need to skip ahead!
Sometimes you just need a day or two to process what’s been learned.
When you do year-round homeschooling you can freely accelerate and decelerate learning as needed. If your child needs another month in the third grade, then she needs another month. If your child is bored in his coursework and is ready to move up a grade . . . he doesn’t have to wait until September!
When asked “when will your child start 1st grade?” . . .
we can honestly answer with: “whenever she’s ready!”
Our son started 1st grade in Aril. Yes, APRIL. We didn’t plan for him to finish Kindergarten early . . . he just . . . um . . . did. And it doesn’t mean he will always stay ahead or continue to “pick up” months each academic year. It simply means that this year he finished early.
How To Get Started:
1.) Find your why.
What are your reasons for adopting All-Year-Homeschool? Finding your why will be your guide in developing your family’s personal year-round style, schedule, and curriculum.
2.) Find your Pace.
Six weeks on, one week off? Four days a week and a one to two week break each holiday or season? Block schedule? One day of skill school a week? One day of learning-on-the-go/adventuring each week?
3.) Find your Style.
Do you want to try a relaxed Homeschool style? Perhaps you want to try a Montessori, Waldorf, or Charlotte Mason approach! Or maybe you want to create your own unique fusion like we have done!
Here are some previous posts to help you and your kids find or create your own Homeschool style:
- What education model fits your family’s HOMESCHOOL STYLE?
- RUSHED to RELISHING! Saved *from* the bell and enjoying the journey!
- 12 Ways to “SLOW-START” your Homeschool Day; Restoring Calm, Connection, and Creativity!
- From “TEACHER” to “KEEPER”; Freeing Ourselves to Facilitate in our Homeschools!
Don’t want your kids’ entire summer swallowed up by school?? Neither do we! Stay tuned for our upcoming posts “The Soft-Schooled-Summer” and “The Unschooled Summer” as we work together to master the art of gentle, self-directed learning!
Thanks ever so much for reading! As always, you make our day!
Love, ~Our Holistic Homeschool~
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