Year round verses 180 day....?

Question

I want to know what type of school year you choose, year round or traditional 180 days and what type of curriculum you use. What are the pros and cons of a year round school year. What are the pros and cons of a 180 days with 2 month summer break school year? Thank you in advance.

I am a homeschooling parent, the pros and cons of "homeschooling" is not what I am asking for here. Thanks!!

Just to help you help me in my question, we do some book work but we like to toss things up and we do not spend all day on things. I love field trips, art projects and science projects.

I guess I did spell "versus" wrong, sorry and thanks for the coerrection.

Answer 1

If you are a home schooling parent than it would be most natural to go year round.
It is how we have been taught to think; school happens 180 day's during these months, and that's that.

Even when you are not using the "books", there is much that can be learned/taught just by working together in the house, or yard.
Talking about any old subject, or reading a book together can be most educational as well.
Visit museums, concerts in the park, theater performances, and so on.

Think of the holiday's, even those in the summer, there is a lot of history attached to those, as well as traditions, and party planning can become cooking, and budget lessons.
On Memorial day, and Flag Day you can attend community services, and there is a lesson for the day.
These do not have to be taught from a "text book", or video.

Really who takes a break from life, these lengthy summers are not because children need a break from learning, teachers in the schools need a break from teaching.

This does not mean one should not take a week or two off here and there; home schooling families are not tied to the conventional school year unless they choose to be; we can take a break, or a vacation any time during the year.

Depending on the vacation, even those can be an educational trip, think of the Ocean, (Sea World), the Red Wood Forests, Grand Canyon, Yellow Stone Park, Mount St. Helen's :), I see many pros, few if any cons.

Learning takes place 24/7, all we need to do is set the stage, and sometimes let them lead us.

We do use a curriculum, and have a certain amount of structure; although our schedule is a guideline not gospel.
Our main approach is classical unschooling; all the basics, and then some are there, however living life is the best teacher of all.

Answer 2

There is a fair amount of research that indicates that kids forget about half a school year in the 3 month summer. This is avoided by schooling in the summer.

There are a fair number of parents who have discovered that children need summer to develop as well rounded healthy persons.

I am a homeschool mom of 4. 1 in college now, two high schoolers and a middle schooler. I find that the 200 days or so is fine, it is paced with what they can really learn in a year,.. but that it is better spread out through the year than bunched up in the winter.

Take more breaks. Participate in more conventions and science fairs and go to museumsand factories, and get ahead on the rainy weekends of summer, to accomodate that.

Answer 3

We use year round, we homeschool anytime-- weekends included, for a month or 6 weeks, and then take a few days to a couple of weeks off.

We normally work a lot more in the summer because from the beginning of June until the end of September the weather is unbearably hot!!! We get more work done in the AC, then during the rest of the year when it's pretty nice, especially Oct.-Dec and March-May, we take more days off and go out and enjoy the beautiful sunshine and outdoor activities and field trips more often, not to mention camp-outs. It's a bit nippy in Jan & Feb, so we sometimes work more indoors then, too.

One of the benefits of homeschoolling for us is not being stuck with the school schedule.

Answer 4

Your question threw me off until I opened it. I thought you were looking for verses (like bible verses) for a 180-day year, not "year-round versus 180 days". ;-)

We've always HS'ed year round (this is our fourth summer). We take it a bit slower in the summer, mainly working on spelling and math and doing a bunch more fun activities we can't fit in during our "typical" school year.

The advantage is that neither my son nor I get off the schooling routine (I'm worse about it). Also, when he starts a new grade level he doesn't have to spend a bunch of time reviewing the past grade. Most math and language arts curricula have a lot of review for a few units and we avoid that because it's all fresh.

We take off as we need to throughout the entire year and never schedule formal curriculum work from between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. We still do work as we get to it, but there is no push during the holidays to do the work when we're so busy. We also take off time in the spring when the weather is nice. We'd rather be outside that time of year than in the heat and humidity of summer.

I use an "all-in-one" curriculum, K12, and the planning and progress tools are online and dynamic, so it works out wonderfully for our schedule. The plan will always tell me what day we are set to complete each course, which I love!

Answer 5

It pretty much boils down to what works for you and your family. My kids freak when you even look like you may be thinking about "year round schooling" but they do well when we sneak things in during the summer.
The thing that always worked well for me is stating to my children up front "This year we will get from here to there. How long it takes is up to you, your attitude, and our circumstances." It took a bit of tough love to remind them that the 4 wks off during the holidays is exactly why they are not finished early in the spring.
Other families have a much more laid back approach, while others follow exact days. Some children are willing to work extra hard to finish early, some will drag it out.
Just experiment around. Don't get so connected to a schedule that you lose your focus. If something doesn't work, try something else next time.
The important thing is that your children are learning, prospering, and enjoying the process. how long it takes is irrelevant compared to that.

Answer 6

We use a variety of ever changing curriculum. This is year five for us. I work part time and we have never taken a summer off. We go at a slow rate all year long, even days when I am at work I find time to phone them to nag about school work. My children are becoming less and less productive so this year I am planning on giving them the summer off. I came to the conclusion that every day seems to be designated "school day" and even if there is no school done there is still that psychological shadow hanging over them. (and me too) I realize also that I need time off to work on projects like painting the house and time away from thinking about school. It is especially hard to make them work when the weather is beautiful and other kids are playing. I am hoping that when September comes around they will be rejuvenated and ready to commit again. I do support the theory of year long school but I think the children also need a period of "no-school" to refresh themselves.

Answer 7

The beauty of homeschooling is that learning does not have to be something distant from the rest of your life. Learning is integrated into our lives.

When my daughter gets older (she's 4) we will be doing some book work (Memoria Press), but that too can be blended into the natural framework of everyday life just as reading books together can be.

I guess my answer would be year round, because we learn together everyday and do as much as possible by drawing on the experiences of everyday life.

Answer 8

If you do a formal structured day for most of the year there may be value in keeping the structure of the day tho altering what you do in the day - less sitting and schooly stuff.
If you are following 'natural learning' or 'delight-driven' style, then just keep doing what you always do.

Learning happens whether at the beach, on the farm, or sitting at the desk. It's just different.
Keep a steady supply of reading books and real-life opportunities to write - and enjoy summer and warm days with the family!

Answer 9

Why don't you let your kids get involved in some activites in the summer so they have friends. A lot of homeschool kids I know are socially backwards. In life, as well as the business world, social skills are just as important as educational skills.