Several years ago we decided to homeschool year round. There are many benefits of year round homeschooling that our family loves. Because we homeschool year around it may seem like we’re a super-serious, hard academic homeschool family. Actually we’re relaxed homeschoolers who even incorporate unschooling for some subjects.
Year around homeschooling ultimately gives us more flexibility than a traditional 9-month school schedule. We love it and will never go back to taking summers off.
10 Benefits of Year Round Homeschooling
Homeschooling Year Around is Less Stressful
I know it might not sound like it, but year round homeschooling is actually less stressful than a traditional school year for both me and the boys. We never have an official start or end of the school year so we’re never scrambling to get things going or rushing to finishing things up by a certain date.
We simply vary our schedule a bit each season to prevent boredom and to keep space for extracurriculars.
For a peek into our days check out our Fall Homeschool Schedule, Winter Homeschool Schedule, and Spring Homeschool Schedule.
We Get More Done with Year Round Homeschooling
By homeschooling year around we can get more done than we could in a traditional school year. Of course, we don’t rush things, so we usually wind up getting the same amount done.
We prefer a slower pace. However, if the boys ever wanted to move along in their school work faster, they could do it quickly with the extra time we build into our schedule by year round homeschooling.
We Only Do School Four Days Per Week
Some of the extra time we’ve put back in our life exists because we only do school four days per week. By homeschooling four days per week we cut down on our stress and add more time to our schedule for family activities.
As a self-employed mom, homeschooling only four days per week allows me to have a weekday with no homeschooling duties to focus on work.
If we didn’t homeschool year around we’d need to do school five days per week to get done with as much as we currently do in just four days per week.
We Have More Time for Extracurriculars (and Recovery From Extracurriculars)
My oldest and youngest sons are on travel soccer teams. Having Friday off of school is wonderful for them after a long week of practices.
We also have Fridays available for traveling to out of state tournaments. We typically take the Monday after tournaments off of school, as well.
All of these days off of school are built into our homeschool schedule. Homeschooling year around lets us take a day off without guilt or fear of getting off schedule.
We Take Time Off Whenever We Need
In addition to taking days off to travel to or recover from extracurricular activities we also take off on birthdays and half-birthdays. How awesome is that?
We take week-long breaks at least every other month. I try to time them around birthdays and holidays. The time off of school makes those days extra special.
So, even though my kids do school throughout the summer months, they get their birthdays off of school and regular breaks throughout the year. We don’t have that awful, long stretch between the winter holidays and spring break. We average a week off of school every month.
We can take so much time off because we don’t take 8-9 weeks off during the summer months. We spread our time off around the whole year.
The Boys Don’t Forget Things Over the Summer
Year round homeschooling means we don’t have to spend the first weeks of the school year reviewing things from the previous year that the boys have forgotten. They never have a chance to forget anything because we move smoothly into the next level with rarely more than a week between terms.
Occasionally we’ve gone two weeks between lessons, but that’s usually reserved for special, unforeseen circumstances and doesn’t occur more than once or twice per year.
Check out my suggestions for the best summer learning workbooks.
We Keep a Steady Routine
When I was a child my mother would prime me for the start of the school year by pushing up my bedtime and waking me earlier as the first day of school approached. Year round homeschooling helps us keep a consistent schedule.
It helps us to avoid laziness and helps me to maintain a steady work-at-home schedule, errand-running routine, and meal times.
We Don’t Have to Do Every Subject Every Day
There’s no need for us to cram every subject into every day. For example, the boys do Math on Monday and Wednesday and Language Arts on Tuesday and Thursday.
Because they are working on these core subjects year around, they don’t have to do them every single day. We have plenty of time to get it all in over the course of a whole year.
No More Homeschool Burnout
Homeschool burnout is real. Neither the boys nor I have experienced homeschool burnout since we began year round homeschooling.
You’d think it would be the opposite, but homeschooling year around leaves so much room for flexibility and requires so little from each day. There is plenty of time in year around homeschooling for things other than school work.
Read my article about how to avoid homeschool burnout for more information.
We Can Travel in the Off Seasons
We’re really big fans of using the freedom that homeschooling provides. Freedom is one of the reasons why we homeschool, after all. If you’ve never been to the beach in October you don’t know what you’re missing.
Homeschooling allows us to go fun places in the off seasons when the crowds are gone. You don’t know bliss until your family of introverts gets an entire beach to themselves in weather that is not scorchingly hot.
And no lines at the amusement park, aquarium, or museum? Sign me up!
There are many benefits to year round homeschooling. It just might work for your family, too. Give it a try!
Try one of these great planners for planning your year around homeschool schedule.