I’m not what you might call a “structured mom”. My kids wake up mostly when they want to, they play outside a lot, and their chores are inconsistent. But one thing they do all year long is school. And the benefits are obvious!
As a homeschooling family, we have the flexibility to come and go as we please and school work is rarely done in silent, sitting at a desk. My kids talk and laugh throughout their lessons and we only work for a few hours each day. But we do school every week, all year long. We do schooling through the summer, and my kids barely notice.
1. It keeps them structured.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been told by or overheard other moms say that their kids need structure all year. It’s like they are upset that their kids sit around all summer break. My kids wake up each week day and have school.
2. The learning never ends.
Because we homeschool, we don’t have to follow the public school timeline. We work at our own pace and that means some things get done very quickly, while other things may take longer to master.
3. We take breaks when they work for us.
My husband doesn’t have a normal schedule so it isn’t always possible to take a vacation for “spring break” and he almost never gets holidays off. So we take breaks when he gets breaks. Or whenever we want them. So if we would rather go to the park one morning, we go.
4. No extra work.
We don’t have work on the weekends and we don’t have homework after school. Because we go all year long, once school is done, it’s done. We don’t worry about “catching up” or extra assignments when we know we have 52 weeks to do it all.
5. It’s less stressful.
Because we have 52 weeks to complete a “normal” 36 week curriculum, we have so much time to take. We don’t have to stress out if one of the kids is taking longer to understand a concept – we just take time to learn it. We don’t have to suffer through school when a sickness is circulating through the house – we just take time off.
Schooling through the summer is beneficial for my family. What do you think? Would you ever do it?
