We have always done year-round homeschool, but in years past, we have always just done the next lesson in our curriculum, working steadily through each day, week, and month … until we break for medical emergencies, pregnancies (morning sickness), or the birth and recovery of another baby.
(This article was first published in 2018)
I wanted things to be better planned this year. I wanted our breaks to be restful instead of stressful!
Year-Round Homeschool Schedule Resources
The Current Year-Round Homeschool Schedule
- First, I switched us to a 5-day school week plan instead of the 4-day week we have been doing the last couple of years (Tuesday-Friday). Though it seemed that having an extra day off in the week would be nice, it ended up being more stressful since I still wanted to complete a typical week’s worth of schoolwork.
Not knowing when a medical emergency would come up, left me feeling like we needed to stay ahead of the schedule and get as much as possible done each week. We switched to a 5-day school week a few weeks ago and it has gone well.
Our formal school lessons take place Monday-Thursday with Friday as a catch-up or extracurricular/free day. Much better than taking Monday off and then making sure the work gets done in the next 4 days!
- Second, we are planning to take the last full week of each month off from school (at least formal, textbook, seat work type of school, but hoping to have some fun family field trips during that week). We will take two full weeks off at the end of December for Christmas and New Year’s.
These are not set in stone and will change if needed. But, knowing that the last full week of each month is our planned break, gives me a week to schedule our doctor appointments (if at all possible).
I am hoping that we can clump our doctor appointments together in that one week. It won’t be a completely stress-free week off (for me), but it will (hopefully) have a few days completely free from appointments, so I can prepare for another month of homeschooling and get ahead with my online work (creating digital products, writing printed books, Lilla Rose, Norwex, PaperPie).
Meanwhile, it gives the kids something to look forward to. They spend that week creating, lounging, baking, reading, playing, etc.
Trial and Error
I have been looking at year-round planners and trying to determine the best year-round homeschool schedule for us with our special needs. I thought I had it figured out, but then changed my mind!
I know that things may (and probably will) change as needed throughout the year ahead, but I feel better going into it with a plan. But, it had to be flexible.
The Original Plan
I tried blocking out our breaks for all major and minor holidays throughout the year, giving us a week or two off every several weeks. But, after thinking about it and considering our many doctor appointments, I felt like the breaks were too random and disorganized.
It was not looking good on the calendar! It did not help schedule doctor/therapy appointments. I needed a better plan.
The Details of the current plan. Walk through the math with me.
We have 52 weeks in the year to work with. Taking 1 week off each month except July, and 2 off in December/January, we will have 12 weeks off from school. 52 minus 12 is 40.
We are planning 36 weeks (180 days) of formal schooling, so that leaves 4 weeks of wiggle room! We will take those 4-weeks in August if all has gone well the rest of the year. We will then use August to get more prep and work done within the home and farm.
For a year-round homeschool schedule, and working with medical/special needs, this feels good! How do you plan your homeschool year? Do you have a year-round homeschool schedule?
So many people think that flexibility means *not* planning, but you have to plan to be flexible! Our specific plans change from semester to semester, but we homeschool all year as well – the pattern that has been most consistent is a 4 day school week and 3 week winter and summer breaks.
Yes, love the flexibility to PLAN how we need to!
sounds like a good plan. May it work well for you.
we follow a four week on, one week off plan this year.
Thank you!
I always think a year round school year would be a good idea, but by the time summer comes I'm ready for a break and can't get myself to go through the summer! Good luck!
Thanks!
Thanks!
Clarissa,
My hat is off to you! I am so thankful that I came across your blog! To me it was a God thing!
We homeschool year round as well. This year i have done 6 weeks on and 1 week off. Both kids are on the spectrum and I, like you, have to schedule in dr and therapy appts. We can’t take weeks off at a time because of the disruption to their routine. We will take 2 weeks off the last of August. Our official new year is always the day after Labor Day. I take a week off for Christmas and will pull a couple days for fall.
Thank you for being here.
Betty
One of my girls has Eosinophilic disease & a bunch of food allergies. While we don’t have tons of medical visits at this point, she does have days of physical exhaustion and moodiness. Her medication sometimes causes bad dreams, so her sleep quality isn’t great. She is also pretty restricted on foods that are safe for her to eat (no eggs, no wheat, no soy, no nuts…) I love the flexibility to start at 10 or 11am if needed. I use an Erin Condren undated life planner to keep track of our progress. In July, I write down out goals for the school year. Then I break down the goals into about 9 months, so I have an idea of what we need to accomplish in a month. Each month, I sit down with my coffee and reevaluate/loose schedule in the daily section. We start the first Tues in August (four days a week). We take sometimes have to take the whole day off when she isn’t feeling good, but many days we end up doing just part of what was scheduled and not stressing about it. For us, the important part is to have a big picture goal for where we are heading, and then we pencil in gradually. So far, we are staying on track by sometimes doing a single subject or lesson on Sat morning. We also double up on math once in a while. So fun to read how everyone else does school. Thanks for sharing and encouraging me.