Do Homeschoolers Get Summer Break
As any homeschooler will tell you – yes, and no. Yes, they do get some time away from the classroom, but no, it’s not a summer break like you would get from your local public school. Here’s how homeschoolers spend their summers – and why.Many people ask this question. The short answer is “Yes they get summer breaks just A like all the other kids” however, I would like to tell you a little more about this subject.
When most kids are enjoying the summer “break,” homeschoolers are hitting the books. But how do homeschooled students spend their time when school is out? As a teacher and a homeschool parent, I wanted to know the answer to this question. That’s why I conducted a survey of over 500 parents of homeschool students and found some interesting (and useful) results.While many students look forward to summer for the opportunity to travel, get a part-time job, and spend time with friends and family — there are many homeschoolers who dread it. When you’ve had limited social interaction and friends that you spend nearly all of school with, being deprived of that for prolonged periods of time can be hard. That being said, some parents may even wish to homeschool year-round but don’t know how to approach the subject with their child. The issue isn’t so much about whether or not you should homeschool year-round but about how to go about suggesting that your child does so. Press Tab to write more.
Do Homeschoolers Get Summer Break
Should You Homeschool Through the Summer?
Summer Sacrifice
Many homeschooling families have their kids hard at work during the summer months while their public- and private-school counterparts are on vacation.
But year-round homeschooled students can take several shorter breaks spaced throughout the year. Breaks can be planned to fit into holiday observances, special family events, a parent’s work schedule, or the culmination of a special hobby or extracurricular activity for the student, such as a piano recital or a debate competition.
Families who homeschool to enjoy a more flexible lifestyle are often the most vocal proponents of year-round schooling. As with any method of instruction, there are advantages and disadvantages to choosing a calendar that does not include the traditional three-month summer vacation.
Advantages
No Review: With year-round learning, there’s less need for a time-consuming review come fall, which students and parents alike often see as frustrating after a long break.
More Confidence: A child who just memorized her multiplication facts three weeks ago is in a better position to recall them than a child who has let them slip for an entire summer. Likewise, a child who learned to write a book report last month will approach a blank page with more confidence and less anxiety than a child who completed her first report several months ago. Kids who are homeschooled year-round keep their skills well-honed and are more likely to accelerate in their programs.
More Comfortable: For families who live in warmer climates, the decision to homeschool year-round is simply more practical. For these kids, there’s no such thing as “playing outside” when temperatures soar, so working in the comfort of air-conditioning makes more sense. These kids can take advantage of the great outdoors later, in the fall or winter.
Less Burnout: Many year-round homeschool families report less burnout. With breaks more regularly spaced throughout the year, kids can go at their lessons full-tilt, knowing a two- or three-week vacation is never too far off.
More Freedom: Many families enjoy making the most of their vacations by taking an autumn or early spring holiday to beat the crowds. The chance to cruise through a children’s museum or a historical site at reduced rates is especially appealing when the majority of kids are back in school, or on vacation.
DisadvantagesMissing Out: The comments and opinions of other people account for the biggest and most consistent disadvantages reported by year-round homeschool parents. For most adults, memories of summer vacation take on idyllic proportions, and they may say that kids who are schooled year-round are missing out on part of their childhood.
More Questions: Of course, homeschool parents are used to people’s curiosity and questions. In this case, instead of having to answer the usual questions about socialization, they may have to repeatedly — and frequently –tout the rewards of a year-round schedule.
Out of Synch: Another drawback may be that the year-round schedule doesn’t mesh with other children in the family who are enrolled in public or private school, or a homeschooled child’s friends and neighbors. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to stick to a year-round program with the doorbell ringing all summer!
Whether geography, lifestyle, or a desire to accelerate your child’s learning makes year-round homeschooling seem like a good option, you’ll need to consider how it fits with your family’s educational preferences. To the delight of many families, learning through the summer is a welcome alternative.
What is Roblox?
According to Roblox, “Roblox’s mission is to bring the world together through playing video games. We enable anyone to imagine, create, and have fun with friends as they explore millions of immersive 3D experiences, all built by a global community of developers.” Roblox is an online storefront and platform where users can go to play games made by other users. But Roblox itself is not a game. Roblox currently has 29.1 million cumulative developers, 11.1 million experiences and 95.1 billion cumulative hours engaged just since January 2018. But how to we keep Roblox safe?
Why is Roblox So Popular with Kids?
Roblox is ranked as one of the top online entertainment platforms for audiences under the age of 18 based on the average monthly visits and time spent on the site (according to Comscore). Popularity is driven solely by the community with millions of new members signing up each day thanks to word of mouth. But how do we keep Roblox kids safe?
The appeal of Roblox to kids is that not only does it have easy-to-use tools and the ability and freedom to create things within the gameplay and set goals, but it’s also a social platform for kids to connect with other players and creators and even create their own games. Just like with all social platforms, kids can find a community of people who share their interests and give feedback with. Plus, players are not just limited to their gaming systems, they can play mobile on iPads, tablets, smartphones, PCs, and Xbox.
Roblox particularly appeals to kids because, like Legos, there are endless possibilities to build in the digital world, even more so. Imagination is the only thing stopping them and Roblox offers players a way to tap into others’ imaginations, building and rebuilding in the worlds of others. One cool aspect of Roblox is that kids can learn to code and build games themselves.
What Content is Age Appropriate for Kids to Play?
Not every game on Roblox is for kids. There are games with more mature content so parents need to be careful that their kids are playing the right games with the right people. There are definitely age-appropriate games available but parents need to keep a close eye that their children are staying in the appropriate Roblox lane. Moms and dads, you are the moderators. Parents should be sure to educate their children on online etiquette and best practices so they are optimizing their playtime, being safe and being good digital citizens and not trolls. You wouldn’t turn your little kids loose at a park in real life with no supervision don’t do it online if for no other reason than for your own peace of mind.
Privacy Features and Parental Controls Roblox Offers Parents
According to Roblox parental controls and parents guide, parents can easily limit or disable online chat capabilities, restrict access to a curated list of age-appropriate experiences and track monthly spending in a secure way.
Since Roblox is made up of players of all ages and levels of common sense they do offer players and parents numerous parental controls and safety features such as:
- All chats on Roblox are filtered to prevent inappropriate content and personally identifiable info from being visible. Players have different safety settings and experiences depending on their age.
- The account’s age group is displayed in the upper-right corner of the browser as 13+ or <13 as there are different levels of appropriateness depending on age.
- Players can limit or disable who can chat with them via chat feature, in-app or in-experience, who can follow them, who can send messages and invite them to private servers.
- Players can block and report others who are harassing, bullying or spamming them.
- With account restrictions, parents can limit the types of experiences kids can play limiting them to only pre-approved games.
- Parents can set up a four-digit pin to lock account settings.
- 2-step verification system that makes it virtually impossible for someone to sign in to the account even if they have the password.
- A Parental Code can be used so that a child cannot change the privacy settings.
Online safety, data protection and monitoring of who kids talk to online.
Since Roblox has a social aspect that keeps kids engaged with other gamers, you don’t really know who is on the other side of the screen. Your child could be playing with little 8-year-old Evan down the road or 45-year-old Ethan in his mom’s basement. Parents need to do their due diligence and monitor their children’s play to keep them safe. There is a single-player option but most kids are there for the multi-player game mode to play with “friends”. It really is a social media starter kit of sorts. It might not be a bad idea to play Roblox with your kid to get a good sense of what’s really going on.
Roblox has a plethora of ways to monitor your child’s account activity. While logged in you can see their Roblox account histories of:
- Small group and direct person-to-person chats
- Private message history
- Friends and followers
- Virtual purchase and trade transaction history
- Experiences
- Recently played
Limit Screen Time and Be Cautious of Cyber Predators
The more time a child spends unsupervised online, the more opportunities for cyber predators to find them and interact with your child. With the social aspect of Roblox there also comes the hidden danger of cyberbullying, exposure to pornography, self-harming and an uptick in teen suicide. The cyber-world is an amazing one but also a cruel and dangerous one. Make sure that your child proceeds with caution and information. According to the Mayo Clinic, the American Academy of Pediatrics discourages media use by children under the age of 2 and recommends limiting older children’s screen time to no more than one or two hours a day.