The Truth About Year-Round Homeschooling: What Works & What Doesn’t
The Pros and Cons of Year-Round Homeschooling
Long, sun-soaked days on the beach or enriching school lessons in the summer – what’s the better choice for your family? Have you considered that summer fun and homeschooling don’t have to be an either-or situation? Who says you can’t enjoy lazy pool days and sneak in some learning with a side of sunshine? Let’s dive into the pros and cons of year-round homeschooling, a happy balance of vacation and schooling, and taking the traditional summer break so you can find the rhythm that works best for you and your kids.
The Advantages of Year-Round School for Children
Year-round schooling has tons of benefits for your child, and when done in a relaxed way, it can be fruitful for the whole family!
Avoiding the Summer Slide (Regression)
We’ve all heard about the dreaded “summer slide,” also known as regression, where kids forget a chunk of what they learned during the school year. It’s a real challenge, and it can be discouraging to spend weeks relearning concepts in September that should have already been mastered. Even students who remember much of what they learned find that their fact fluency suffers, and their recall of facts might be slower (think: multiplication tables). In fact, most students also regress with their reading level once fall rolls around if they haven’t read consistently over the summer. Year-round homeschooling helps to avoid this pitfall. With regular, consistent learning, there’s no need to waste time relearning lost knowledge. Instead, you can keep building on what your child already knows, which helps them maintain steady progress throughout the year!
More Frequent (and Flexible) Breaks
One of the greatest joys of homeschooling is the flexibility to adjust your schedule. Year-round homeschooling allows for more frequent, shorter breaks instead of one long, three-month hiatus. Many families looking for a getaway don’t want to vacation during public school breaks when hotel and airfare prices are at their highest and amusement parks are their busiest. Perhaps you have family coming to town for an extended visit and want to take off a few weeks to enjoy time together. Schooling year-round allows for longer, extended breaks throughout the year whenever you choose to take them.
A More Relaxed Daily Pace
With year-round homeschooling, you can spread out lessons over the entire year and take learning at a slower pace or simply get ahead by moving through the curriculum. Either way, there is less rush to cram everything in, translating to potentially shorter school days, less stress, and adapting learning to your child’s pace. Perhaps if you’ve felt like you’re always racing against the clock to finish, schooling year-round gives you more time for hands-on activities, creative learning, and meaningful projects.
Life Feels More Balanced
In a traditional school schedule, there’s always that abrupt “back to school” transition at the end of the summer. With year-round homeschooling, you avoid that sudden change, making life feel more balanced, especially with a child who is sensitive to changes in schedule.
The Downsides of School in the Summer
It Can Feel Like There’s No Real Break
While shorter, more frequent breaks sound great in theory, some families miss summer’s long, lazy days. There’s something special about taking an extended break from structured learning – time to build forts, swim, or just lie in the grass and enjoy the moment. If you don’t clearly define your breaks in a year-round schedule, it can start to feel like there’s no true downtime, which may lead to burnout for both moms and kids. It’s important to find a rhythm that allows everyone to recharge.
Summer Activities Might Conflict
Summer brings a host of fun activities—day camps, swim lessons, summer sports, and church programs like Catholic Vacation Bible School (VBS). If you’re schooling year-round, you might find that these classic summer activities conflict with your schedule. It’s also a challenge when your friends who attend traditional school are free to do summer fun while your kids are still working through their lessons. Navigating these conflicts can be tricky, and it’s important to weigh how it might affect your family dynamic.
Less Time to Reset
The summer break isn’t just for the kids—it’s a time for parents to rest, refresh, and plan for the upcoming year. Without the extended break, you may feel like you’re missing that crucial “reset” time. For homeschool moms and dads, it’s important to have time to reflect, reorganize, and regroup so that you can head into the next school year with a fresh perspective. Year-round homeschooling can sometimes make this harder to achieve.
The Joys of Summers Off
A True Mental and Physical Break
There’s something wonderfully rejuvenating about a long summer break with no structured learning. Kids get to rest, play, and pursue hobbies they love—activities that sometimes get pushed aside during the school year. For moms, it’s a chance to step back from the daily grind of lesson planning and teaching. With a break, you can return to homeschooling in the fall with renewed energy and excitement.
More Time for Summer Fun
Summer is synonymous with outdoor fun, family vacations, and spontaneous adventures. With a traditional break, your family can enjoy all of the wonderful summer experiences that make childhood memorable, like barbecues, beach days, or even just enjoying quiet afternoons in the backyard. Without schoolwork looming in the background, there’s more space for relaxation.
A Fresh Start in the Fall
One of the perks of having a defined summer break is the excitement that comes with the start of a new school year. The anticipation of new school supplies, a fresh curriculum, and a clean slate provides a natural opportunity for kids to reset their motivation. There’s something magical about the excitement of new beginnings for kids and parents alike!
The Downside of Summer Break
As you may have guessed, breaking for summer may come with a price. The likelihood that your child’s reading level may regress, or they may get rusty with some of their facts from the year before is pretty good. In my experience teaching fourth grade, I found that although almost all students regressed with their reading because of lack of reading during the summer, they made up for lost time quickly, and were back on track with their reading skills within a few short weeks.
Motivating students to restart formal lessons in the fall after a summer of fun might also be a challenge. Back-to-school in our homeschool always starts with a celebration—a day of sweet treats for breakfast, a back–to–school surprise gift (like a book or craft supplies), a special family meal at home, and renewed excitement for the year ahead—a tradition my children really look forward to in late August.
The Pros and Cons for Homeschooling Moms
As homeschooling moms, we often put the needs of our children ahead of our own, prioritizing what will be best for them and their learning. Remember that as we are called to serve our families in this special way, it’s essential we consider what is also best for us as homeschooling parents so that we can continue to teach with enthusiasm. Here are a few ideas to consider before making a final decision on what school schedule is best for your family:
Pros of Taking Summers Off for Mom
- A Chance to Recharge: Homeschooling year-round can be exhausting! Taking a break allows you to relax, refresh, and prepare for the next season.
- Curriculum Planning: Summer offers the perfect opportunity to reflect on what worked and what didn’t, giving you time to plan ahead for the next year.
- Time for Hobbies & Projects: A summer break frees up time for personal projects—whether it’s reading that book you’ve been meaning to dive into, starting a new craft, or just catching up on rest.
- More Quality Time with Kids: Without the pressure of daily lessons, you can enjoy spending quality time with your children in a different way, whether through spontaneous adventures or simple relaxation.
Cons of Taking Summers Off for Mom
- Loss of Routine: Some kids – and moms – thrive on routine. Without the structure of school, the day can feel chaotic or unproductive.
- Harder to Get Back into School Mode: Coming off a long break can make it hard to reignite motivation and dive back into schoolwork. Both you and your kids may struggle with this transition.
What Works for My Family
In our home, we take the summer off—but with a little twist. While we don’t have formal lessons, we keep core learning going in simple, low-pressure ways.
We prioritize reading for pleasure, whether it’s trips to the library, listening to audiobooks during car rides, or snuggling up together for quiet reading time. As a former public school teacher, my biggest hurdle was getting children back to the reading level they were at in the spring before school ended, so I now prioritize reading throughout the summer for my own children. We also work on basic math skills, like multiplication tables and mental math, to keep those critical foundations sharp. Depending on your child’s strengths and weaknesses, you may want to have them keep a journal of their summer fun to perfect their handwriting skills and keep their spelling fresh. Incorporating board games that involve math and critical thinking, cooking together, and playing an instrument are all ways to “sneak in” some additional learning.
This approach allows my family to stay engaged without feeling like we’re “doing school,” which keeps the joy of learning alive during the summer months. In fact, I am going to purchase caterpillars for my sons so that we can watch them turn into butterflies. We will make scientific observations, journal their progress, and read books about butterflies without making learning feel formal. When fall rolls around, I am confident we will be ready to dive back into formal lessons as we have been in summers past.
So, Which One Is Right for You?
Ultimately, there’s no one-size-fits-all answer – only what works best for your family’s needs. The beauty of homeschooling is the freedom to craft the ideal schedule for your family. Whether you choose to school year-round or take a traditional summer break, know that you’re making the right choice for your unique situation.
Remember, what matters most is that your family’s homeschooling journey is enriching, flexible, and fulfilling. If you’d like to continue the conversation and share your experiences, join us at the Homeschool Connections Facebook Group. I would love to hear about your plans for this summer!
Editor’s Note: If you’d like to take advantage of online courses over the summer, Homeschool Connections offers various courses created just for summer learning. These shorter courses are designed to build a foundation of joy in learning. If you have any questions, you can reach us at [email protected].
