How much time do you take off for Holiday's, vacations etc?

[Aeress]

Just wondering what people take off for holiday's?

I had originally planned two whole weeks but now that the kids are getting excited about Christmas, I think, keeping them busy might be a good idea but on the other hand, getting some of our homeschool stuff put away for a few weeks would be nice.

I haven't planned out any other days off, until Martin Luther King Day.

DO you plan, or just go with the flow?

[ocelotmom]

Originally Posted by Aeress

Just wondering what people take off for holiday's?

I had originally planned two whole weeks but now that the kids are getting excited about Christmas, I think, keeping them busy might be a good idea but on the other hand, getting some of our homeschool stuff put away for a few weeks would be nice.

I haven't planned out any other days off, until Martin Luther King Day.

DO you plan, or just go with the flow?

We are going to use the break to catch up from the last few weeks, as I've been totally slammed with my own school and kind of slacking. However, that's not really that much.

Beyond that... DS doesn't want to stop entirely (he was begging to do more math at bedtime last night ), but we'll probably do things based totally on what he wants to do, rather than trying to work all our normal stuff in.

[pigpokey]

Mine are K-1 and we do not take off from our brief almost-daily math and reading sessions because they will backslide. We will take off 24th-25th and 31st-1st likely. I might be interested in a two week holiday when they are doing less basic work.

[Dakota's Mom]

We have never gotten back on track since I was sick. After missing almost the entire summer, we really need to get busy but I just can't get in to it. We're lucky if we do one or two days a week right now. Last week we did nothing. Since Daddy will be home for the next two weeks we won't do anything then either. Dakota will not focus on school work when Daddy is home. I hope in January to get back on a better schedule. But we'll see what happens. I would like to do school work at least three days a week.

Kathi

[Ruthiegirl]

Most of the month.

Dh takes some time off this time of year and it is our opportunity to spend time with him and be a family. We don't just loaf around, but continue to be active and learning, but with a nice break from the schoolish stuff.

[Ruthla]

We don't really "do school" regularly enough to "take time off." We read. We watch educational (and purely recreational) TV. We talk about life- in the process answering questions about science and history. Sometimes we open up the math workbook, but it's not a daily thing.

My older two are currently attending school. We probably won't open up the math workbook during the week and a half that they have off- since it's not currently part of the routine to to math work with them home. But the rest of our "living and learning" will continue, but with three "students" rather than just one.

[CariOfOz]

Well.. our year officially ended on the 12th. And the boys are insiting that we need to do math today So my plans of a nice cruisy summer break until the end of January aren't looking like they are going to happen So I suppose we'll do a lesson each of math u see, and maybe read through/look at the pics in some of the books on ancient Rome that need to go back to the library tomorrow.. and maybe watch the dvd that came in the mail just too late for the official 'year'

I'm very liberal with time off all year long honestly. And this year I've had a lot of health issues, as well as a 3wk trip to the US, but we still managed to cover just about everything.

[LilyGrace]

The Kid sets his own schedule. I have on the calendar how long each subject would take if we did it according to the books. He can decide when to take off, when to continue, and how he'll do it. At this point, the default is that work can be done ahead, but he cannot fall behind. During certain situations he has proposed plans that rework the final schedule, and at that time he needs to present a full plan that shows what he will do and how he will stay on track.

Christmas break we're not taking off. The Kid has done all sorts of alternative activities like writing holiday stories, playing with the coal G-pa brought home, making candles, etc. that incorporate special times into his schoolwork and leave the papers and books behind.

[DaughterOfKali]

I don't think I'll stop completely. My son needs to have some consistency.
A lot of our learning is fun and ds doesn't even realize that it's 'school work'.

[Aeress]

I am hoping to do a lot of field trips during our break- local science museum for sure and maybe art museum, plus ice skating and maybe swimming.

We will be venturing into "the human body" in the next month, Bella has been asking questions, which I have answered but I think it is time to start the birds and bees talk.

I think our actual time off will be half a week at most, unless they ask for more.

[kittie313]

I'm not really taking off lessons, we're easing up a bit but I don't plan to stop over the break. I need to keep our routine up or else it will be a disaster later, and I don't want to deal with trying to get back into routine later because its a real bear. I find it easier to force us to keep the routine than it is to get back into it.

[mommy68]

I'm more lax around the holidays and take it as it comes but there are no designated days off except definitely all day Cmas eve and Cmas day. They have been off today because we got a buttload of snow over the weekend and I doubt I could get them to do school work even if I tried.

[karemore]

I LOVE the flexibility of homeschooling!

DH ended up with some extra vacations days he had to use by the end of the year. We've been spending time with him visiting family and friends and getting ready for the holidays. I LOVE that we've been able to enjoy this family time since DD and I were home.

This year we're doing K, so it's pretty relaxed. But I think every year around the holidays we'll lighten up, knowing we have a loooooong cold winter ahead to do school work.

I do keep the craft supplies out on the dining room table so DD can make gifts and cards whenever she feels creative. We bake, and read. I don't think the learning has stopped but I won't focus on it or worry about it until after NY's.

[mom2mygirls]

we are taking two weeks off.

[earthmama369]

The kids largely set their own schedule. Most of our outside activities -- things like classes and playgroups -- take anywhere from a week to two months off during winter and summer. Our at-home activities don't change much, though. DD's really into Hooked on French right now, for example, so we've been doing a lesson or two a day for fun. Today's Yule, so we've been doing Yule crafts and activities, but we still did two lessons in French because she was begging to. There's a decent chance she'll want to do the same on Christmas.

[elizawill]

we're taking thursday & friday off of this week and all of next week. we've been doing a lot of crafts and baking the past couple of weeks & watching christmas movies. we're reading lots of christmas books too & doing "christmas around the world" type stuff. the month of december is always laid back for us. we'll take another week off in spring.

otherwise, days "off" aren't planned really - we just take off a day here or there as needed. we usually end the year in may and take the summer off...then start back in mid august. of course they're always learning...i'm just talking about my need to keep an agenda, have records and portfolio stuff, etc. my state requires that.

hth.

ETA- we always take the week of thanksgiving off too!

[craft_media_hero]

We take off whenever we want/need. We have just moved and had some other big adjustments as a family, so we're pretty much taking about 3 wks to most of the month off.

My girl is 6yo/1st grade, and this is our first year homeschooling. I hope that she doesn't lose any ground. She does still want to do math pretty much every day, but it's been a lot more informal (no workbooks), just mostly manipulative free play. I'm not really worried about her backsliding in math, but reading is the one that I worry about. I try to be cool and wait for her to get it when she's ready, but she DOES have to do exit testing at the end of the year, and I worry about the consequences for us if she's not at grade level . . . but this break was needed all around. I don't feel guilty about taking the time off, but we are both feeling a bit stir crazy to get back at the more structured stuff.

[prairiebird]

Originally Posted by mom2mygirls

we are taking two weeks off.

Same here. Or I should say that we're taking two weeks off from their 'book work', like their math and their grammar books. They will still be doing a lot of hands on learning things and watching a few learning movies. Though probably not a lot of field trips because the weather is horrid for driving lately and $$ is ridiculously low right now.