We are still homeschooling year round in high school. I floated the idea of taking the entire summer off to see what Caroline would say. (I honestly wasn’t sure.) I asked her if she would be interested in taking the summer off or if she would get bored. She didn’t even have to think about it. She said she would get bored.

So there we go.

Over the weekend we analyzed the calendar and set up a schedule for the time between Memorial Day and the week of Labor Day. We’ll do learning for eight weeks and have seven weeks off. It’s broken up in a way that made sense to us but not according to any fixed schedule such as two weeks on and then two weeks off. It’s more mixed up than that. We don’t have school weeks or vacation weeks for more than two back to back. So sometimes it’s two in a row and sometimes only one. It should give us a nice mix of getting two months of schooling in and getting plenty of time off to pursue our individual interests.

Even during the weeks off, plenty of “learning time” will take place. I’ll keep track of things done that I can add them to the appropriate classes (Home Economics, Art, Music, History, etc.). 

We’ll be finishing up her second year of high school with this summer schedule. 

If there is one thing I “miss” about being part of the schooling system whether as a student or a teacher, it’s that rush of freedom you feel on the last day of school when you are done. We don’t experience that as homeschoolers which is perfectly fine. I’ll take the freedom to conduct my own life over any momentary rush of emotion every time. But I do miss it a tiny bit since it was my world for many, many years. 

But that says a great deal about the system when one of the things many homeschooling parents say they miss from their own school days is the feeling of being set free, doesn’t it?

Artwork: “Afternoon Pastimes” by Theodore Gerard

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