Homeschooling comes in so many flavours that it is hard to say that there is one, two or even three ways of doing it. There are seriously a lot of options. And THAT is the beauty of homeschooling. We get to choose the curriculum we prefer to use and to set up schedules that suit the demands of a particular season of life.
Entrenched in the System
However, because most (all?) of us grew up in the public school system, we tend to automatically bring its way of doing school into our homeschool without asking if it is a good fit. At the other extreme are those who so hated their time in school that they eschew everything that the public school did. Again, forgetting to ask if it may perhaps be a good fit.
Our Homeschool Schedule at the Start
When I started out homeschooling the children back in 2004, I unthinkingly followed the public school calendar of 10 weeks of school followed by breaks of either one week in March and September; 4 weeks in May/June; and 6 weeks in November/December.
Yes, 10 weeks of non-stop school before getting a break. It was T O R T U R O U S!
But the public-school children and teachers did it. What’s the big deal? The big deal is that I am the only teacher (except for the Chinese tutor) handling school work and all the extra activities. I was also the housekeeper, the cook, and the mother. And did I mention that at that time I had 5 children aged 7 and under? It was C R A Z Y!
I, and I am sure the children too, longed for the end of the 10 weeks. The light at the end of the tunnel? It was barely visible!
The Breaks were Too Short or Too Long
And when it came, the one-week break was too short for me to actually rest or even get caught up with the rest of the house. But the 4 and 6-week breaks were interminably long. The children started picking on each another out of boredom.
But the worst was that after the long breaks, I couldn’t get my engine revved up and the children forgot most of what they had learnt! How totally unproductive! The first year was a struggle.
Change it!
So I decided that something had to change for our homeschool to thrive.
Since I was only homeschooling one child who by then was in Primary Two, (I don’t consider the pre-school years formal homeschooling), the school workload for him was light. So, I decided to school for 4 weeks and take 1 week off, all year round instead. Christmas and Chinese New Year would have a 2-week break. And we would take off on each of our birthdays and on Public Holidays.
Life-changing
It was indeed life-changing. 4 weeks of school gave David a long enough stretch to work on things that needed regular practice. And the one-week break was not long enough for him to forget his work. Also, knowing that we would be having a break at the end of 4 weeks was very motivating.
For me, knowing that I had a one-week break coming up every 4 weeks reduced the pressure to cram as many things into that one week break as possible.
It also allowed me to do minimum housework during the 4 weeks of school and do a deep clean every 4 weeks.
One More Change
We followed this schedule for about 6 years until David switched to the Abeka curriculum sometime in 2012. In order to meet their requirements, we had to do 6 weeks of school instead of 4. And, in order not to mess up my mind, I put everyone on the same 6-weeks on, 1-week off schedule. And it has been this way since then.
Of course, this schedule is not cast in stone. Sometimes we go as long as 8 weeks or as short as 4 weeks to accommodate our needs of the season. But it has suited our family very well.
Free Download of the Homeschool Weekly Planner
If you need a sample weekly planner printable to get you started, I have done up a few versions for your personal use in our Resource Library. You just need to subscribe to gain access to all the printables.
Your Turn
If you homeschool, do you follow the public-school calendar or do you have your own homeschool calendar?
Related Posts
Homeschool FAQs
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A Typical Day
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Need more help for homeschool planning? Check out Pam Barnhill’s Plan Your Year* here.
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4 Comments on Our Homeschool Schedule (6 weeks on, 1 week off)
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Hi serene, this is Praisy. Thank you so much for this post. I always wanted to meet you but never got a chance. I use Abeka for all my 3 boys and have one highschooler. I struggle with keeping up their schedules and the follow up. May I have a sample of your planner for a highschooler, if you don’t mind?
Hi Praisy! So sorry I took so long to get back to you. I did not see this message until today! With my high schoolers, I do not make my own planners for them anymore. This is because I follow Abeka’s Lesson Plans exactly as they are laid out. It is located in the Video Manual Booklet. I just record in my planner when the tests and quizzes are due. Let me know if you need anything else.
Hi Serene, thank you. I am sorry too for the late reply. We left Singapore last month and had been busy. Thank you for your response. I will also follow the video manual but have not kept track of the dates. I think I will do it from now. I will ask you when I need help. Your response and the article is if great help to me.
Oh great! I was going to email you to confirm that you got my reply! Take care and keep in touch!