Academic Calendar for 2008-2009

I decided to plan for 40 weeks of academics again this year. I like the flexibility of being able to stagger when we start subjects at the beginning of the year, so that both the beginning and end of the school year are lighter. The calendar will mainly cover the core subjects. I'm hoping that a shorter summer break and a few more weeks off during the year will help keep the kids refreshed and ready to work. We'll probably save some science and either some history or literature for the next summer break (depending on how well it works this year) to maintain a bit of structure (since last summer they were asking me when school started long before I was ready). I've printed of a one page school year calendar from donnayoung.org to put in the front of my school binder and labeled the days off with pencil so that we can adjust if necessary as the year progresses. The hardest part will likely be the 10 week stretch in January to March, but I thought the kids would rather finish earlier in May when the weather is nice than have a break in the winter (and the March break is scheduled around the time of the girls birthdays which worked well this year).

Our 2008 -2009 school schedule

Week 1 - 8: July 7 - August 29
Off: September 1-5 (flexible)
Week 9 - 12: September 8 - October 3
Off: October 6 - October 10 (vacation)
Week 13-19 1/2: October 13 - November 26
Off: November 27 & 28 (holiday)
Week 19 1/2 - 22: December 1 - December 23
Off: December 24 - January 2 (holiday)
Week 23 - 33: January 5 - March 20
Off: March 23 - 27 (testing and spring break)
Week 34 - 40: March 30 - May 15
Off: May 18 - July 3 (summer planning break)