Does anyone else struggle to keep track of the days of school? I live in a state where I don't have to report or record anything so there isn't that pressure. We use open and go curriculum for most things - for our three R's at any rate. So we go at the child's pace and finish when we finish. Often it's in way less than 180 days for the main subjects. Anyone else find this to be the case? Do you drag your year on anyway? Just move on to the next level of curriculum?
I don't keep track. I know we work for 32-36 weeks, and I've broken our curricula down so that it fits between August and May with plenty of fudge-room for times when we want or have to take a break.
I also don't have to keep track of "days", though I'm required to have a certain number of "hours". I would never "drag" the yeaar on. Usually if I were to complete a subject, I will give a week off, and then move into the next book.
We are required to keep attendance records but do not have to show them unless asked. I just print off an attendance sheet for each child and check off the days we do school. I do not drag a subject out just to cover a set number of days. I move on to the next book until our school year is finished and pick back up when the next school year begins.
I have to keep track of days AND hours. So dumb IMO. I just keep a checklist of days we do school and the total number of hours each day.
That's us, too. I dont sweat it, I do my best to help them do their best then we walk away for a break & pick up where we left off...keeping up with our days sometimes tend to be odd. We dairy farm so sometimes a 'school' day might consist of learning how to replace an axle in the RTV..lol. I DO count some of these work times as school lessons which sets us a little behind on the actual curriculum book work. Therefore we dont move through them very quickly. I dont let their 'school work' interfer with learning during a real life situation. Books will wait, life will not.
I keep track of our school days, just because I want to look back and see how many days we did and I also keep track of grades, and dates of field trips, sick days, etc..., because we come from the public school and we are used to that and the kids like seeing their grades, and for us, it helps us know we are on the right track. I work full time, have a baby, a 12yr old and a 14 yr old, so time management and organization is how we survive. So this just works best for our family
I live in a state that doesn't require attendance but my reviewer likes to see it. So this year I printed a calander circled the start day and x holidays and sick days. As for finishing early, this year DS will finish most subjects 5 wks early. I plan to use that time to work on things he needs extra help with. Debbie
We are required to have a certain number of hours and have an attendance log (but I have never heard of a district asking to see it though, they normally just want the hours). I would not bother to drag something out. If I finish early, depending on how early I will either move on to the next level or possibly find something to add in that would be fun (movies, activities...). If it is within a month of when I was planning on ending school I will pretty much drop it and just not worry about it. We will finish Math way before everything else but that is ok.
I have had trouble keeping track of days. I would count days and then forget to count other days. This year I made a schedule of school days and days off and don't count anymore. I just stick to the schedule or switch out a day if needed. We don't have any requirements here, but I keep to the same number of days as the local schools. Here the full school year is 192 days.
We have to track. Yuck. LOL If you don't have to track, why do you!? LOL I plan it out, and we usually go over or under a few days, then I add field trips, and whatnot to get us there. I occasionally count a Saturday or Sunday if we've done school like things. My evaluator is GREAT at helping me find the things that I SHOULD count but don't usually. Technically, they school 365 days a year because life is learning!
I track as a self-discipline measure to keep us on track. I also do not use a lot of grade leveled curriculum so we advance to the next grade when we have completed the required number of days.
On track according to whom? (And this is simply a philosphy of education thing...not "right" or "wrong"!) But for me, keeping track means I'm comparing to where a public school kid would be, and I fight against doing that. I take as long or as short needed on the subject. If for some reason we only do history for three days one week, oh, well!!! Faythe took a year and a half to get through Pre-Algebra, and another year and half to get through Alg. 1. But that's not because we didn't do it half. She went slower, because it didn't come too easy for her, and I'd rather go slowly and have it down well, rather than rush through it and it not really clicking. But other things we kind of rush through, which is just as OK.
On track according to me I don't compare academics. I compare time. We definitively don't do things the way public school does, but I do require my kids to put in the same number of days as their public school peers. My older kids are also expected to put in the same amount of hours as public schooled kids (minus homework and transportation time). These are my requirements. Now, before I get the :shock: or :cry: look I sometimes get:lol: I should state that our days are not full of sit-down-at-the-table-and-complete-your-worksheet/paper/assignment. We all would hate days filled with that, I think. My kids are thriving and are pursuing their passions in school and out of school.
We don't keep track of days, and I prefer a relaxed, year-round schedule. Mostly I like to let school revolve around our life, rather than our life revolving around school, but I suppose we do a little bit of both. I value outside time, plus we have a lot of outdoor work here, so ideally we take a lot of time off in the spring when the weather is beyond perfect. Then when the hot, humid summer days hit with the 20 bazzillion biting bugs, we spend more time doing inside school work, returning to the great outdoors once we reach the enjoyable fall season. We get the most book work done in the winter, but I like to keep them doing something all year, rather than playing catch-up in the fall.
Blizzard, I SO wanted a relaxed, year-round schedule, but could never worik it out. I thought we could do a little math and reading aloud and maybe a little science or history in the AM, and spend the PMs at the pool. But between camp, and my parents taking the kids, and going on vacation a week, and Bible School.... It never worked out for me! I finally gave up! Embassy, your line, "My kids are thriving and pursuing their passions in school and out of school" pretty much sums it up!
