Q&A: Should I homeschool year-round? 

One of the great things about homeschooling is that you’ve got lots of options. One of those options being whether to follow a traditional schedule with the summers off or a year-round schedule with shorter breaks along the way. There is no right or wrong way to do it because each option has its advantages. Each family should decide what works best for them.

The debate about year-round “school” is too large to cover in a single post, but here are a few considerations that impact homeschooling specifically.

Advantages of a Year-Round Homeschool Schedule

•  Avoiding burnout

Year-round homeschooling allows for frequent short breaks (typically a week or two long) as opposed to one long break in the summer. The advantage is that both child and parent (yes, parents can get burned out too) get refreshing downtime more often.

• Less time to forget

Most summer breaks last about three months, and that’s a long time to remember concepts, which means that a lot of information is forgotten. Thus, a lot of review is required at the beginning of the next school-year. Homeschooling all year long minimizes these problems.

• Normalizing schedules

By learning all the time without a large gap, homeschool becomes more of an accepted part of your family’s normal routine rather than an extra task that only has to be done part of the year.

Advantages of a Traditional School Schedule

• Summer break

Who doesn’t like a three-month break? Spending a good deal of time indoors focused on textbooks and projects gets a lot harder when backyards, swimming pools, and beautiful summer weather are calling. Summertime is also typically accompanied by an increased number of extracurricular activities such as sports and travel, and it may be more difficult to squeeze those in around your homeschool.

• Easier scheduling

Many homeschool curricula  and schedules are designed to fit a traditional school year. By following a traditional schedule, your child’s point of transition between grades is more clearly defined.

• Coincides with conventional schools

By following a academic year calendar, time off will align with friends and family members who are in classroom schools with the same schedule or are planning to take vacation around a holiday.

If you’re on the fence about homeschooling year-round, I hope the information we’ve covered will be helpful in your family’s decision-making process!

What other advantages would you add to these lists?