We are on our third week of spring break. First it was spring break in our home county in Florida. Then it was spring break for our friends in our old neighborhood. And now, it’s apparently spring break in New Jersey.
As homeschoolers, we don’t really pay attention to the local school calendar and generally do our own thing. But the local schools being closed do still affects our day-to-day.
Here’s what most homeschoolers think and feel whenever there’s a school break:
To school or not to school?
Most homeschoolers I know don’t follow the school calendar of their local district, but that doesn’t mean we don’t question whether or not we should do school during the summer (here’s why we do) or if President’s Day should be a homeschool day. It can when even become a battle with homeschooled kids who spend time with public schooled children and know about all the days off.
We need to avoid all the places.
As homeschoolers, we becomes accustomed to having a lot of places to ourselves during the day time. There’s usually only a few toddlers at the park. The museums are usually barren (unless there are school groups also attending) and other recreational places like pools, skating rinks and indoor play places are usually eager for business.
We’re also used to having a low kid-to-adult ration with most activities and programs having at least one parent in attendance with their kids. All of which makes going out during school breaks quite a shock for us homeschoolers. We’re not used to the crowds or the masses of kids running around with few adults and, quite honestly, most of us choose to just stay home when school is out.
The Facebook posts are hilarious.
I’m well aware that homeschooling is not a good fit for everyone. I’ve heard all the reasons why most parents could never homeschool (over and over and over again). But I still chuckle to myself every time the school break memes and posts start popping up on social media because most parents’ hardest week is my every day. And while I choose to keep my kids home, that certainly doesn’t make it any easier for me than any other parent. I’ve merely learned to adapt and make it work, all without the perk of knowing it’s temporary.
Let’s save the vacation for next month!
One of the most frustrating parts of being part of the traditional school system for our family was not being able to travel when we wanted. With more schools cracking down on family travel as unexcused absences, it means that most families who want to take a trip must do so during scheduled school breaks. Which, of course, is when everyone else is also trying to travel. Which makes airports and roads busy and everything horrifically expensive. I’m definitely thankful we can travel whenever is easiest for us rather than when the school calendar says we can!
Being off schedule is hard.
The biggest struggle for parents of traditionally schooled children during school breaks is the change in routine. And it’s no different for homeschooling parents. It may seem that the public schools being closed wouldn’t really affect homeschoolers but it can change our extracurricular schedule with programs either being closed or having revised class times and it also usually means that our regular homeschool meetups and classes are cancelled as well because the facilities we regularly use are unavailable or overcrowded. Being off the regular routine, even if we choose to do schoolwork during the break, can make life a little more stressful for everyone.
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