>check out my free farm bingo printable at the end of this post<
I homeschool year round
Homeschooling year round is the secret to awesome family benefits that we instinctively started from day one. Many families can benefit from this schedule especially in place of public or private virtual classes occurring because of the pandemic! My husband is from New Zealand so it was natural for us to use a year round schedule. I work nights and do not have a lot of free time in my schedule. The key to my sanity was to stretch out our homeschool schedule throughout the year.
Homeschooling year round gives you more time!
I come home after work and only have a few hours before I need to head to bed. My husband and I chose a curriculum that works best for our family schedule. The program allows me to teach my children through middle school but then offers online coursework leading to a degree in high school! Dedicated time with the student and stretching the curriculum to homeschooling year round allows me to get the material done in a condensed time period before I need to sleep. I have been using this approach for the past 3 years and love it.
Homeschooling is NOT like virtual teaching
It is important to note that homeschooling is different from the current climate of online classes. The students are being required to be on a computer for many hours of the day attempting to learn the material in a non-tactile manner. Plus, they have homework still.
A homeschooling day is shorter than a traditional school day. Pupils at brick and mortar schools have a schedule that is designed to fill an entire school day- whether or not that much time is needed to teach. A lot of time is wasted switching classes/teachers, presenting projects/reports to peers, attending gym class, eating lunch, making announcements, “homeroom,” fire drills, bus drills, assemblies, attendance, homework checks, school photos, book fairs, field trips, etc. With homeschooling, field trips can happen any day at any time!
A homeschooled child gets more one on one time
My child does not need to switch rooms. She gets to handle math manipulatives and flashcards herself for each and every example. She does not need to take a turn putting a new calendar day or weather of the day card onto a board. She doesn’t get ignored while eager students raise their hands to answer questions. I know that she has to know the answer to each question, whereas she could easily get by with not raising her hand or a whisper from a classmate with the answer. Any project she can present to me or to her official grader for her homeschool academy.
Homeschool doesn’t have to happen just during school hours
“Announcements” include family business which is discussed over dinner. My child gets to eat lunch at her pace without being rushed to the next class. Gym class is our backyard with woods, bikes, toys, a pool, a swing set, etc.
Actual time spent learning during a school day is not as long as you’d think
At the high school level for homeschool, the teenager is not required to stare at a computer screen all day like the current virtual teaching set up for some schools. The child takes course work for a few hours a day and does reading/homework for a few hours a day. As you can see from this chart, the actual amount of teaching time takes from 20 minutes a day at the pre-k level up to 4.5 hours a day at the high school level.
If you are working from home, a working parent, or a stay at home parent, consider homeschooling as a way to cut down on the stress; no uniforms, required paperwork, fundraisers, specific school supply lists, and no specific start and end time! You also get to be there for school photos so you can fix their hair or outfit instead of a suboptimal photo. Speaking of school photos, click here to download a free first day of school sign printable!
How to start reaping the family benefits with your homeschooling year round schedule
We now know that a maximum time for actual learning even at the high school level is 2 – 4.5 hours for a standard 180 day school year. Accounting for 12 weeks off a year (one week a month if you choose!) and weekends off, you would need your highschooler engaged in learning for 1.8 to 4 hours a day once you spread out the lesson plans over the course of a year. If I prepare on my days off, I know that I can teach my child for a couple of hours after work; I can spend longer on my off days if needed. We chose a program that teaches high school for us as discussed above. My maximum teaching hours up to 8th grade is a little less than two hours a day if spreading the curriculum throughout the year!
Use a planner to help with organization
The key to planning your homeschool year is to actually break down the lesson plans into smaller chunks of time. Whether you choose to only teach one subject a day or shorter amounts of subjects each day, you will need a nonacademic calendar year planner. I teach from July to June. Another option is a planner without preset dates. I like to write only a few weeks ahead in case we fall behind or ahead of schedule.
Awesome family benefits
- My children will not have to relearn material that they forget over the summer! In fact, 14% of US schools are doing the same thing. By having shorter breaks, we spend less time relearning the material. Year round schooling models what other countries like Japan, Australia, and New Zealand are doing.
- The child does not get burnt out. Let’s face it, before Thanksgiving break, Christmas break, spring break, fall break, and summer break not a whole lot of concentration is happening! By spreading out the workload across more days but shorter times, kids stay fresher with more frequent breaks as well. Some countries are pushing for a shorter work day in order to be more productive. The same is true for children; they get bored in a classroom all day but excited to learn for brief periods at a time.
- Life happens and homeschool is flexible. There is a leak in the ceiling, the baby woke up tugging his ear and sister has a sore throat, the car breaks down, routine doctors’ appointments (that end off taking up a large chunk of the day due to wait times), and other unexpected events will happen! If you miss 1.8 to 4 hours of school one day, that means between 3.6 and 8 hours the next day. Alternatively, you can do one hour extra each day until you have made up the hours.
- The parent has more preparation time! I like to concentrate more on reading, writing, calendar, music, catechism, and art during my work stretches and science, foreign language, mathematics, history, and book reports during my off days. I need time to prepare cutouts, set up experiments, and read to my daughter for longer periods when I am not working.
- On a traditional school day, there is limited time in the evenings after school especially if both parents work and the children are in after school programs. There is time to have family dinner, give the kids a bath, and then do their bedtime routine. Another amazing benefit is FAMILY TIME. I can teach my older daughter and still have time for bubbles and playtime before I go to bed. If we did a traditional 180-day schedule, I might only have time to teach on my workdays. A year round homeschool schedule allows me to spread out the curriculum so I can have quality free time with my children each day! It also allows for vacations during less popular times at discounted rates and doctors/dentist appointments scheduled around the half-day of school.
Play a fun game of bingo with cute farm graphics that kids should love!
Homeschooling year round is the secret to awesome benefits for everyone in the family! Children get more quality time for school and play and adults get more lesson prep time and improved mental health!
Have you benefited from year round schooling? What type of planner do you use? Leave me a note in the comments!
