This month my kids are wrapping up their current grade levels that we began in September and getting ready to move on to the next grade. But it’s purely coincidence that we started are finishing within a traditional school year calendar because we’ve always homeschooled year-round, taking breaks as necessary and as it’s been most convenient for our family.
And, as we come up on the 6th anniversary of our switch to homeschooling, I’m confident with our choice to homeschool in the summer. But when we began our homeschooling journey, I don’t know that I gave homeschooling in the summer much thought. It wasn’t until we came up on the end of our first homeschool year that I gave the idea of doing homeschool year-round any thought.
At that time, I was more than halfway through my pregnancy last pregnancy and the spring had been a blur of morning sickness and what felt like homeschooling chaos after what was a really awesome start to our homeschooling journey in the fall.
I knew we’d be taking a hefty break from school work when the baby arrived, so I decided we needed to continue homeschooling through most of the summer to accommodate the big life changes coming up.
Since then, we’ve homeschooled through the summers each year, with the only exception being last year when we were moving into our new house.
But there are a lot of reasons we choose to continue homeschooling in the summer:
Learning never ends
Every day presents opportunities for learning something new and while I don’t think every day needs to have book learning involved, I do want my children to grow up loving to learn. By doing our homeschool year-round, I hope to show my kids that learning never ends and can happen anywhere, any time. I also hope to instill the joy of life-long learning in my children by making it a part of everyday life, not a punishment or something with start and end dates.
The “summer slide”
I don’t know that I believe they hype about the “summer slide” and how much “learning” kids really lose over the few short months they’re out of school (if they truly learned it in the first place, how do they so easily forget?) But because we continue homeschooling in the summer, the only summer slide I’m worried about is the one at the park being too hot.
No deadlines
I honestly don’t know how we’d school within a traditional school-year schedule. Because my kids are allowed to work and learn at their own pace, their achievements don’t coincide with the calendar. We have never finished a grade level in June nor have we been ready to start a new grade in August (with the exception of when we started homeschooling and when Sugarplum started kindergarten a year later.) By not having strict deadlines, it allows us to spend more time on concepts they struggle with and breeze through others they get right away and they can advance whenever they’re ready until sitting around waiting for the year to run out.
Flexible schedules
Because we homeschool year-round and continue homeschooling in the summer, we have the freedom to take breaks whenever we want. Throughout the year we probably take about as much time off as children do in traditional school, we just do it at different times. We take off whenever we travel or have family in town. We take as much time as we want and/or need around the holidays. We take entire weeks off when the family gets sick. And I never have to feel guilty about our long breaks or worry about “getting behind” or having to do makeup work.
It works
Our homeschooling method and style has changed and evolved over the years and throughout our journey and we’re at a place where our system is working really well for our family. My kids know the expectations and easily meet them without too much whining or complaining. So why on earth would I change what’s working?
Consistency is key
We don’t have a strict schedule by any means, but we do all do better when we have some sort of schedule or expectations. By continuing homeschooling in the summer, we get to keep that solid schedule that keeps us grounded and I don’t have to fight with them about getting back on schedule in the fall.
No boredom
The biggest complaint I hear from other parents during the summer months? Their kids driving them crazy looking for constant entertainment. Not a problem here, if my kids are bored, they can always do their school work. If they’re driving me crazy, I can send them to do their work instead of having to come up with something for them to do on the spot.
What are you reasons for homeschooling year-round or taking the summer off?
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