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Homeschooling year round, every day, wasn’t my original plan.
When we first decided to homeschool, I saw all these other mamas online with strategically planned out days, scheduled time off and planners galore.
I tried, I genuinely did, but I found it caused me so much more stress rather than making things easier. In the midst of trying and failing at all the things to help stay organized and on track, I noticed something huge.
All the things still got done. Maybe they didn’t happen as I had planned, but they happened. I thought we needed a set schedule but really we just needed to simplify and be consistent.
That’s when I decided to homeschool year round, every day, little by little. Below are just some of the things we love about our current “schedule” and why you may want to give it a try.
A very Flexible Schedule
By holding our days with “mostly” open hands, we are able to take advantage of any opportunity that may arise. And while we do have a normal flow to our day, our kids have learned to easily adapt when needed.
This doesn’t mean we don’t make any plans, but we try and remember that while we can plan all we want, the Lord establishes our steps Proverbs 16:9. We review our week for things we know are coming up; but we don’t plan out which lessons we will do each day or when or how far we will get each week. Homeschooling all year means we have a lot more days to divide the work between .
We can take vacations when we want or just a little time off as needed whether it be for sickness, fun adventures or we are just not feeling it that day.
freedom for our kids
A huge part of the reason we chose to homeschool was to give our kids a relaxed and free learning experience.
We didn’t want to simply mimic public school at home, with packed schedules all day long and even more to do in the evenings.
With the fast paced, constantly changing world around us, we wanted to create a slowed down home. Some of the best “school days” we have had are days where our kids simply got lost in play and exploration.
We wanted to give our kids the gift of time. Time to explore, play, read or whatever else their hearts desire. Time to be bored, to get creative, to find joy in each day. Family time that is uninterrupted. Time with siblings to build unbreakable bonds.
Homeschooling a little each day, year-round gives them the most of that time in their days. We pray that as they get older, the Lord would use this time to help them grow into who He created them to be.
Learning is just a part of our day
While we learn all day, everyday through doing life together, we also do a sit down lesson each day. My kids know our motto is every day unless something gets in the way. We exercise our minds just like we do our bodies and consistency is key.
Generally we do 20-30 minutes at most of focused school work each day. It’s super easy to squeeze in even on busier days; but if we can’t here and there, that’s okay too. We just get back to our routine the next day.
You may be thinking…how do you get all the schoolwork done in such a short time?
Doing school year-round, means more school days and so the work is divided into smaller portions. We usually complete a full year curriculum in less than 9 months. This includes taking time off here and there and we generally take at least a day off each week due to something inevitably shifting our focus for the day.
For reference, our daughter is just getting started with her preschool work and our son is currently 6 and in 2nd grade math and 3rd grade language arts. As he gets into middle school and high school, we may have to expand a little; but honestly there are days now where he finishes his work in only 10-15 minutes.
If you would like to know more about our daily routine and how we fit in our elective subjects, you can read about it here.
No Summer Regression
I still remember when I was a kid going back to school in the fall and having to relearn a ton from the previous year because I had been removed from the environment for so long.
By teaching year-round, I don’t have to go searching for supplemental material to avoid regression in the summer. We just keep working on the curriculum that we’re in.
I know there are some concerns about kids having off the same time as other friends who are in public school. I personally have found this to be a non-issue. We get a break in the summer from any co-ops or groups we may participate in as most go for the standard school year.
With the little amount of formal work we do each day, it’s not a huge ordeal to get it done. If we have family in town or friends we want to meet up with, we can also simply skip the day.
Joy of learning
Generally speaking, my kids love to learn and I think that’s because a majority of the time, they aren’t being told to do it.
There is a small part of our day where we work on things that require more focused learning but everything else is interest led.
We read a TON, go out on adventures, do science experiments, make yummy treats and just do life together, learning all we can along the way.
If you are thinking of transitioning to year round-schooling or just getting started on your homeschool journey, I highly recommend trying year-round. While it may not be a perfect fit for everyone, we love it. The wonderful thing about homeschooling, is that it can be tailored to each family and you can change it up whenever you like.
Happy homeschooling!
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