Our Year Round Lifestyle of Learning
Homeschooling is about more than just academics. It’s a mindset and a lifestyle of learning. Read more about what this lifestyle of learning means to us.
Does year-round homeschooling sound like a crazy concept to you? It did to me, too, at one time. Back when we first started our homeschooling adventure, the idea of going to school year-round sounded awful. I mean, you have to have three months off in the summer, right?
Well, that was when I was still in the mindset of “following the rules” established by the public school system. I had to realize that we weren’t “going to school” year-round, but instead we were learning year-round. Learning as a lifestyle can’t be shut off like a switch. It happens everywhere, all the time — evenings, weekends, and yes, even during the summer.
This time of year can be tricky for year-round homeschoolers because others are wrapping up their school year and thinking about summer vacation, so I wanted to re-visit the reasons why we have adopted this learning style.
The Reasons Why We Homeschool Year-Round
- The freedom to follow interests in learning without worrying about accomplishing a certain task at a certain time.
- The freedom to take time off whenever we need to, for just about as long as we need to, because there is no “catching up” to be done.
- A renewed eagerness to learn because it is fun rather than a chore to be completed in a certain time frame.
- Less time spent on review because we don’t “lose” information over the summer break.
- A lifestyle of learning that isn’t forced to take place between September and June alone.
Those are some of the major benefits to homeschooling year-round. There are other perks, like traveling during the off-season when the prices are lower and there are no crowds, too.
Does it really work for us?
I recommend that all homeschoolers ask themselves this question. Add to that a few more questions until you’re sure that your homeschool philosophy and what really benefits your children line up.
Does our current schedule and style of homeschooling really work best for us or am I just doing it out of habit?
Am I afraid to make changes?
Am I working with our strengths and interests or fighting them?
In our family, homeschooling year-round set us free of artificial schedules and opened up our whole lifestyle of learning.
Do you homeschool year-round? Why or why not?
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I was so glad to read this because just recently, I have been pondering whether we should make the switch to more year-round(ish) schooling. We are pretty free with our schedule; but we do distinctly have certain school things that we finish usually in April or May, and then feel like we have time off. We then use the summer for some things that we never get to during the school year, so I don’t feel like it’s a total waste educationally. 😉 But I have wondered if I should change my thinking and my habits a little bit to make it more of a year-round system. Thanks for giving me some good food for thought! 🙂
I know just what you mean, Davene. In many ways it’s more a change of mindset than an actual change of schedule. It takes some of the pressure off and acknowledges that learning happens all the time. I’ve learned to relax and enjoy the discoveries of learning new things with my daughters much more now that I’m not bound to the “traditional” school schedule. 🙂 I have friends who have adopted a 6 weeks on/1-2 weeks off rotating schedule all year and that has worked well for them. Maybe that would work for you?
Thanks for taking the time to comment!