Summertime is known as a time for rest and relaxation, but for most homeschoolers, it’s a time to keep learning.
Most homeschool families opt to skip a summer break and homeschool year-round. There are many reasons why homeschooling year-round appeals to families and children. By homeschooling in the summer, parents are able to help their children catch up on topics they may not understand, take sporadic days off throughout the year, keep consistency, and have shorter school days.
So before you start to feel that homeschoolers are deprived of a summer break, learn why do so many of us choose to keep learning all year long. Read on to find out!
Benefits of Year-Round Homeschooling
Homeschooling year-round? Yuck. That was my original thought when I talked to veteran homeschool moms talking about all the perks. Then I did my research and became one of them.
Homeschooling year-round has so many benefits. Now it seems crazy that I started homeschooling thinking we would take a summer break.
Here are the reasons we chose to “skip” summer break and homeschool year-round.
Catch-up Time – Some material is harder to understand than others. If a difficult topic has taken longer to grasp, we have the summer to catch up and gain a full understanding before moving on.
Consistency – Kids need consistency. It is so hard to get back into the swing of school when we take long breaks. It is easier on me and my son if we do a little bit of school each day, instead of slacking off during the summer and trying to start back up in the fall.
Shorter days – What kid doesn’t love a shorter school day? We do fun schooling, so our days are enjoyable anyway, but I love having less to do each day. Then we have more freedom to do anything and everything else that we want to do.
Review – We use summertime to review the already covered material as a refresher before moving on to our next book.
Vacations are less expensive – One unexpected benefit of homeschooling year-round is that we can take our family vacations at non-peak times. This saves us so much money! For example, our favorite area to travel to is $4000/week during peak time but only $2500/week during non-peak time.
Curriculums are discounted – Did you know that some programs offer discounts on their curriculum at off-peak times? Now you do! Many homeschool curriculum companies want to clear out their inventory during April and May to get ready for their new inventory. This is the best time to buy at a discount.
Days off throughout the year – Since we homeschool year-round, we can take days off throughout the year without guilt. We can still meet state guidelines of how many days we must homeschool.
Time off around the holidays – I’ve found that taking time off around the holidays is much more enjoyable for our family than taking a summer break. The holidays are so busy, and we usually opt to take the time off between Thanksgiving and New Year’s. (Plus, starting at the New Year is good for my OCD.) During the break, we still learn the basics by baking (recipes have reading and math!) and shopping for gifts (hello, budget!).
What Homeschooling in the Summer Looks Like
In the summer, we take a much less structured approach. We make a bucket list of all the things we want to do during the summer. Then, we figure out ways to incorporate learning into each thing!
Visiting the beach turns into writing math problems in the sand, engineering a sand castle, and counting the seashells that we’ve collected.
Having a water balloon fight turns into a math and science lesson.
Creating a lemonade stand turns into an opportunity to learn about business, money management, and self-employment.
Making a bird feeder turns into a woodworking lesson, an art class, and a science class.
In the summer, we only focus on the major subjects – reading, writing, and math. For history, we occasionally watch documentaries and read library books. For science, we have Saturday Science Experiments and spend a ton of time in nature.
We also go on way more field trips in the summer. Recently, we visited a dinosaur museum and it was a huge hit.
Year-Round Homeschool Schedule
Homeschoolers are required to be taught a minimum of 180 days each school year. Let’s break this down.
If you choose to homeschool 9 months a year and take the full summer off (June, July, August in the United States), your children will need to be taught 20 days a month. With the weekends off, this equates to 5 days a week, plus the 3 summer months.
If you choose to homeschool 10 months a year, children must be taught 18 days a month, meaning 2 days off a month, plus the weekends and 2 months off.
If you choose to homeschool 11 months a year, children must be taught 16-16.5 days a month, meaning 4 days off a month, plus weekends and 1 month off. Many like this option because it allows for 4 day school weeks.
If you choose to homeschool 12 months a year, children must be taught 15 days a month, meaning 5 days off a month, plus weekends. This option allows for 3-4 day school weeks.
By homeschooling year-round, there are not only fewer days of more structured learning but also shorter school days as you can spread the work out throughout the year.
| # of Yearly Homeschooling Months | # of Monthly Homeschooling Days | # of Weekly Homeschooling Days |
| 9 | 20 | 5 |
| 10 | 18 | 4.5 |
| 11 | 16 – 16.5 | 4 |
| 12 | 15 | 3 -4 |
If you choose to take a summer break, keep in mind that it only takes 30-45 minutes a day for kids to not lose progress on what they’ve already learned.
Try to make it part of your daily routine to review and incorporate what they’ve learned into your everyday life. Here are some ideas:
- Practice spelling words on the way to the grocery store
- Cook dinner together
- Ask your kids to bring you something that starts with the letter “Y”
- Make up rhyming songs
- Recite poems together
- Play games like Uno, Snakes and Ladders, and Trouble
- Do science experiments together
- Go on nature walks
- Build STEM projects together
When making your decision on whether to homeschool year-round, keep in mind that the reason traditional schools are closed in the summer is that historically, children needed to be home in the summer to help on the farm. This has continued in the present day due to most public schools not installing air conditioning, making it hard for students to concentrate.
Conclusion
So, what’s the verdict? Are homeschoolers deprived of a summer break? In my opinion, no.
We have more flexibility throughout the school year and we can take time off when we want to. Our days are shorter and we learn all day every day.
I wouldn’t trade this lifestyle for anything!
Do you choose to homeschool year-round? Let me know in the comments below!
