Why Homeschool Year Round? Less Stress! (5 Days of Tips for Homeschool Parents, Day 2)

One of the big reasons I decided to do year round homeschool is to lessen the stress of homeschooling!

Often times I hear other homeschool moms make comments like, we can’t go (to field trip, or whatever), because we are behind in our curriculum.  Other times they say they schooled all day to get caught up, or holidays or weekends, or whatever. 

One thing I have learned over the years that I have homeschooled, is it all works out, as long as you are doing something they are learning.  There is no need to let the curriculum rule your life.  With that said, when you homeschool year round, you have a lot more time to get it all in!  You don’t have to feel guilty about taking a little time, here or there.  You can take that field trip, take that break that you need, have a play date, go to the park, sign them up for a class that ‘interferes’ with ‘normal’ school time.  It’s all good! 

Now homeschooling year round doesn’t automatically relieve stress, you have to train yourself, and learn to relax a bit and learn to go with the flow a lot.  But it is definitely one less thing to worry about when you aren’t on this Sept-June time line. 

I do have a general idea of what I want to cover each year, for subjects like Science and History we cover as much as week can in a subject, but always start a new unit (topic) in September.  The other subjects, we just truck along, and as we finish one book, we start the next. 

Having a year round schedule, for me means that we can have more child-led days.  If my son wants to just listen to an audio book all day, I can let him.  If he decides he wants to build the periodic table out of index cards, I can let him.  If he wants to make a giant weaving loom and weave all day, I can let him.  If we need a break, we can go to jump time at the trampoline park.  I strive for 3 school days a week, and if we make it… I consider that successful! 

TIP:  To help relieve my stress of ‘having to get things done’ and ‘getting it all covered’, I have some computer courses that they do on a daily basis (4-5 days a week).  This helps me relax and I know things like MATH are always covered! 

I have recommended Home Schooling Year Round to several mom’s who were feeling stressed by time lines, curriculum outlines, etc…  It really is an answer to a lot of the stresses of homeschool (In my opinion).  If you feel that these things are burdening you in your homeschooling, consider trying a year round schedule! 

What are some of the causes of stress in your homeschool?  How do you think a year round schedule could help relieve some of that stress?  Consider it!

Check out some of my crew friends at their blogs!

Jeniffer @ Thou Shall Not Whine
Jennifer @ A Peace of Mind
Jennifer @ Faithful Homestead
Joelle @ homeschooling for His Glory
Joesette @ Learning Curve
Kari @ Random Acts of Boyhood
Katie @ Katie's Daily Life
Kemi @ Homemaking Organized
Kim @ Homestead Acres
Kylie @ Our Worldwide Classroom

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