I have been asked before if Homeschooler’s “should” school year round. Let me just say first I hate the word “should”. Let’s define should …
Should: used to indicate obligation, duty, or correctness, typically when criticizing someone’s actions.
I firmly believe you “should” do what’s best for your family. It might require a few summers to figure that out. And that’s ok!
As far as the Layton Boys … they did best schooling after July 4th holiday and taking a long long break in the winter when we either travelled or just enjoyed being outdoors again.
Florida summers are long. They start in May and end in October. I wish I were joking. Pools feel like bath water and even the lakes become less refreshing. Theme parks are overcrowded. So the only thing left to do is play electronics inside for long periods of time. Which usually leads to bickering, poor attitudes, and aggressive pent up energy.
Flipping our summer and winter break has been our best option and I do not feel the long drain of February many homeschoolers complain about.
However, I never relax on reading and math skills during our breaks. One year I took off completely and spent far too much time getting back to where we left off. I believe we should all be challenging ourselves (children and adults) with reading and keeping basic math skills sharp.
I buy books on sale during the year just for the break when we create our own Reading Rewards Program. I keep a ‘wishlist’ of board / dice games that will be played to keep practicing Math. I buy brain teasers and trivia games to help us stay mentally sharp.
Usually we spend our breaks traveling which always leads to great learning lessons and mapping skills. When your middle schooler can navigate the DC Metro … you know those practice social studies activities were totally worth it!
I quickly noticed the longer I take off and require absolutely nothing from the boys, they are bored, lazy, and loose skills quicker. It’s just not worth it to me!
One year we moved to the west coast and started Swimming Creatures Zoology long before our regular July start.
We snorkeled every day. It was genius to learn about what we were finding using our homeschool curriculum! We finished the book ahead of the rest of the daily subjects. It was nice having experiments off my plate with end-of-the-year activities, tests, and parties. I might start science earlier every year.
Your homeschool schedule should be unique to your family. Never feel like you “should” do what everyone else is doing. Find your own groove and rock it!