Tradtional or Non-Tradtional: Scheduling the Home School Year/Day.

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I think it is rather fitting that the first Blog Cruise of the New Year asks about Traditional or Non-Tradtional school scheduling.  As I write this we are finishing up our extra long Christmas Break 

For the 2010-2011 school year we are following more of a traditional year by starting in August and finishing in May but we are taking a longer break for Christmas and we’ll be taking at least two weeks for Pascha (Easter).

Though we are following somewhat of a traditional school year, we haven’t always followed a Aug/Sept through May/June type of calendar.   When the girls were younger, I did a “year round” approach to home education.    We took shorter breaks which allowed better retention.  It also gave more structure to our days which we all needed for sanity!

Now that we’ve been homeschooling for years, I find that I really need a summer break.  Education and learning still happen but summer becomes the time when I can focus on other projects and can spend time planning, researching and preparing for the next school year.

Though I am now following more of a traditional calendar,  we still do not follow a rigid or traditional “school hours” type of day.   Home education is a way of life for us and as such our school work flows and blends with our daily lives.  We might start with school and then take a break and do chores or start with chores and then flow into school work.  Some days we start with group school (such as Bible and Greek) and other days the girls start with more independent subjects or online classes.  

I aim for being finished with formal academics by 4pm but that doesn’t always happen and we often do our literature reading and supplemental dvd’s in the evenings.

I love the flexiblity of being able to set my calendar and take of the days that I want to take off or rearrange the hours of my school day to accommodate my family’s needs.   We can school longer on one day so that we can take an unexpected day off or do school on Saturday so that we can take a week day off.  We are free to take off the days that my husband has off from work.  I am glad I am not confined to a predetermined schedule set by someone else.

 

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