Homeschooling in the Summer

Year-Round Home Education

May 23, 2009 Leigh Vozzella

Many homeschooling families have ditched the traditional school calendar in favor of a year round approach that fosters the philosophy of life-long learning.

Many homeschooling families find that the traditional September through June school calendar does not fulfill their needs and are adopting a year round schedule instead. For many families, this concept of year-round schooling seems more natural than a conventional schedule.

Advantages to Year-Round Learning

• Freedom for working parent(s) to schedule family vacations around their work schedule without worrying about disrupting the school schedule.
• Less review time is needed because you are not taking a three month break between lessons.
• Kids who are homeschooled year-round keep their skills well-honed which builds confidence.
• Many families give up on homeschooling because they become burnt out. A year-round schedule allows you to create frequent breaks which helps you to avoid burn out.
• The freedom to take advantage of vacation spots during the off-season and beat the conventional summer vacation crowds.

Year-Round Schooling Calendar

There are many ways for homeschooling families to work out a year-round schedule that meets their needs. Some families choose to school for three week and then take one week off while others may choose to school for 3 days each week with two days off. Valerie Watne, author of Homeschooling With Encouragement suggests breaking the year into six week sessions with two weeks off between each session.

Summer Learning Opportunities

Certain activities, such as swimming, hiking and astronomy, provide educational opportunities that may not be available in all areas during the conventional school year. Being able to bring lessons to life with real-world hands-on experiences can make learning more exciting and memorable.

Whether your summer learning style is structured, relaxed or something in between, even a family trip can be turned into a learning opportunity. Having your child plan the route can help them with their map skills. You could also provide your child with a vacation allowance and encourage them to maintain a budget all while enhancing their basic math skills.

Are your children Harry Potter fans? Why not try the Hogwarts Summer Correspondence School! This yahoo group was created by homeschooling moms and includes classes in such things as Harry Potter Literature, Herbology, Potions, Astronomy and much more!

Too hot to be outdoors? Clickschooling is another yahoo group which offers daily curriculum ideas sent right to your inbox. Every day you will find a new website or activity in your email inbox: Monday is math, Tuesday is science, Wednesday is language arts, Thursday is history/social studies, Friday is virtual field trips and the weekends are set aside for electives such as the arts, music and foreign language.

Learning All the Time

Many homeschooling families believe that learning happens all the time – even during the summer. Most families will tout the inherently flexible nature of homeschooling. This flexibility allows each homeschooling family to not only tailor the curriculum to meet their child's needs but to also design a calendar that meets the family's individual needs as well.

The copyright of the article Homeschooling in the Summer in Homeschooling is owned by Leigh Vozzella. Permission to republish Homeschooling in the Summer in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

Outdoor Learning