Homeschooling Year Round with Flexibility

I wanted to address a few questions I usually get when I mention that we school year round. First of all, we always have! It is just something that was natural for us, because I have curious kids- and I am a very academic, schedule, and learning oriented person. Second, it makes it sooooo easy to have flexibility in our homeschool, take trips when we want, and have break days when we need them!

You school year round? Does that mean you don’t take breaks?

No!! We just don’t have to take breaks when everyone else is! We usually take a few weeks to a month off, a few times a year. Depending on the season, what is going on in our family, and what we are learning about.

For example, this year (2021): We took off the last 2 weeks of April, and intend to take August off because that is when our baby is due! We have a much lighter schedule in December, and we don’t do school on Fridays.

So, a better way to look at it would be: You school year round? So you get to take breaks whenever you want? And the answer is YES!

You school year round? So you do the same thing all year?

NOOOO. I would just lose it! We are seasonal homeschoolers, also known as tidal homeschoolers. We change our rhythm based upon the weather, and the seasons!

Science is a warm weather subject in our house, and History is a cold weather subject.

Math is a 3 months on, 1 month off subject in our house.

Reading is something we always do, but the type of book varies depending on the weather and season!

We tend to do more “tea times” in the colder months, and more “free play” in the warmer months.

And this is just what works for us!! We try to do our school first thing in the morning in the warm/cold months; and in the afternoon in the hot months (when it is the hottest outside). This year we are doing a lot of schooling in the summer, and we are done by 10 every morning!

You school year round? So your kids are in school while their friends are out?

Yes. And that is ok with us! My kids thrive on a schedule/rhythm and so do I. The way that we do it makes it so that we never school longer than 2 hours (unless you count schooling that isn’t formal such as science experiments, nature study, reading, listening to books, art, cooking, etc); and so my kids have 5+ unscheduled hours of free play time everyday, which is a perfect amount for friend play!