Why We’re Choosing Seasonal Homeschooling

Earlier this year, I found myself pulled to let the seasons greater influence our learning. Not just with what subjects we cover, such as studying butterflies in the spring or the leaves in the fall, but with how we structure our days. In my search for how this may look, I came upon Jaime Martin’s article, The Case for Seasonal Education. It was just what I had been feeling but had never really seen. With my newfound info and decision to begin homeschooling year-round, I set out to see how I could change our days to fit more with the impending summer season. This is what I came up with.

 

 

We began our summer school rhythm last Monday because it was the week of the summer solstice. Around last Christmas, I became interested in celebrating winter solstice, and ever since then celebrating the solstices has appealed to me. I like the idea of using the solstices as benchmarks for how we structure our days, as well as the activities we do. So, this summer solstice, we celebrated by reading The Longest Day, going to see a movie, and generally basking in the sun and enjoying the warm weather. You can check out some pictures of our day here. Summer school will run until the day before autumn equinox, which is Saturday, September 22, totaling about 14-weeks, including two weeks of optional break time. We’ll take those as needed, or not at all, depending on how we’re feeling.

So, how have our days changed? We now have school in the afternoon! In all of my years homeschooling, we’ve always had school in the morning, no exception. I like to “get things done first thing,” so, naturally, completing school work fell under that category. The problem with this and switching to seasonal homeschooling is that if we had school in the morning, we’d be outside in the afternoon, which is the hottest time of the day. To me, playing outside, running errands, doing yard work, and anything else that could be done outdoors in the morning made more sense so we could take advantage of the cooler weather. What I didn’t realize was that we’d also have a more relaxed transition into school time because early afternoon is naturally a down time in the children’s energy, so they’re better able to sit and focus than in the mornings when they want to go-go-go.

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Here’s our summer school schedule:

7:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.           Open

11:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.         Lunch

12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.           School (3 year-old’s naptime, if applicable)

2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.             Open

4:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.             Dinner

4:30 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.             Open

7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.             Children’s Bedtime

9:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.           Mom Time

Here are the subjects we cover each day:

Monday

• Read aloud
• Black History
• Language Arts (Spelling & Grammar)
• Math

Tuesday

• Read aloud
• Black History
• Language Arts (Spelling & Grammar)
• Art
• Math

Wednesday

• Read aloud
• Language Arts (Spelling & Reading Comp.)
• Math

Thursday

• Read aloud
• Language Arts (Spelling & Writing)
• Science
• Math

Friday

• Open

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What you see above is the goal, not a requirement. It gently offers us some guidance throughout the day to ensure a healthy, natural ebb and flow, which helps prevent burn out. Hello. And, to me, that’s what seasonal homeschooling is all about.

Do you homeschool all year round or with the seasons? How does your rhythm change? Share with me in the comments below!

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