Your Home Education Calendar

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It’s that time of year! When all of our minds turn to what we will be learning with our children this upcoming school year. Or at least it is if you follow a traditional school schedule.
There are so many ways to enjoy our homeschooling freedom and one of them is to follow our local school district’s schedule… or not! I am definitely in the NOT group.

All the different ways

Here are the few of the ways I have tried to juggle our homeschooling schedule. This is classified under “homeschooling failures” in my house. It took me a while to learn…

School District

We first tried following the local school district’s schedule, down to the snow days, because, hey, why not? We were miserable! The hours did not work with the toddler and the baby. They totally ignored that we had other “priorities” (said tongue in cheek, of course) than feeding them, changing them and entertaining them. Also if we were at the museum or the zoo on our week off, so was everyone else, and that was no fun.

Trimesters

So we tried the trimester system: 12 weeks of learning to one week of break. Mom was the one to fail that one miserably! Too much fell by the wayside and I could not catch up in just one week, plus preparing for 12 weeks at a time was overwhelming.

8 weeks?

So I cut down to 8 weeks of learning and 1 week of break. That was ok, but again, a lot of catching up for me and the kids were burning out around week 6.

The change

Once I finally gave up on trying to find the perfect home education schedule outside of my home and looked at the people inside of my home, it all clicked! We all burnt out around week 6, the house was a disaster and I was frazzled. So it made sense for us to take a break after week 6. The result of this change was astonishing!

The first thing that happened is that planning for 6 weeks at a time was completely manageable. I could foresee what was on our plate, what needed to happen and what events were on the horizon. The only thing that was, and still is, out of my control is when someone gets sick. But for most everything else, I can at least predict what is going to come up. 

The second thing was the astonishing progress each child shows after our break. Every single time, something that was a struggle before our break, has become acquired knowledge after a one week break. It still boggles my mind, but I believe that the rest and the letting go of trying to understand allows for the brain to absorb the new knowledge or skill. It is really amazing, every time.

Changes for Mom

And for me the biggest thing is that I can usually catch up with life after a 6 week stretch solely focused on school. 

I have been able to plan 12 weeks at a time (since that’s where I started), so every break I plan for the next 6 weeks stretch. That keeps me a whole 6 weeks ahead of ourselves, and it allows for the right tweaking that might be necessary and it definitely reduces my stress. 

In July I will plan our first 6 weeks, usually starting August 1st, as well as the next 6 weeks. But in September when we stop for the first time, I will plan our third stretch of 6 weeks. And so it goes.

Sabbath Schooling

We call this Sabbath Schooling: we work hard for 6 weeks and we rest on the seventh week. 
This allows us great freedom, much rest and the ability to learn better. 
We homeschool all year round with longer breaks when necessary but we can always catch up.

How do I plan my school calendar

I print a free July to July calendar and I mark out the important times we need to be off of school, such as Christmas, Easter and any family vacation that are already planned.

I then back track from the first significant break we would have, such as Thanksgiving week, and I count 6 weeks. So for this year Thanksgiving falls the week of November 25th. Backtrack 6 weeks and that’s the week of October 6th. We take that week off as a break. Then backtrack another 6 weeks, that’s the week of August 26th. So our first week of home education would happen to fall on that week. 

Then we would have the 3 or 4 weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas during which we would learn more. 

We have a longer break for Christmas and New years and we usually restart the Monday after Epiphany and start our 6 weeks cycle all over again, ending an official year sometimes around the 4th of July. 

I like to take July off and restart early August, most years, as there is less tendency for kiddos to get sick in the late summer than in the spring. It is nice to bank in as many weeks and days before cold season hits as it gives us a nice cushion. And when we do get sick, it is easier to re-arrange a 6 weeks schedule than a 12 weeks one.

This Sabbath Schooling is truly wonderful for us. We can all thrive with it and grow. We are able to learn better, to be more rested and enjoy life to the fullest.

Challenge

So I want to challenge you this year to let go of the assumed calendar, let go of “we’ve always done it this way” and pay attention to the people inside your home.

Pay attention to their rhythms and yours, to what works for them, to what works for you. 

Give yourself permission to enjoy your homeschooling freedom to design your home education life to fit yours and your family’s needs. It will look different for each of us. It will be beautiful and worthwhile. It will be an adventure!

The curriculum should always play second fiddle to the relationships and your calendar and your rhythms determine the relationships. So instead of making our days fit the curriculum, let the curriculum fit our days. 

Love, 
Mattie

PS: The rhythm of our days coming soon!