After wondering if I had done something horribly wrong, I started thinking back to my childhood, and what I did in public school. At the beginning of each school year, we had a few weeks of review. It was because we had spent all summer slowly forgetting some of the things that we had learned, or stuffing it in the back of our minds so we could learn how to do cat's cradle, play four square, or some other random tidbit. We had to be re-taught or reminded of the things we had forgotten.
With all of this in mind, and the challenge of re-teaching the things that my kids had forgotten while teaching all of the new things as well, my husband and I made a desicion.
We are going to do year-round schooling. No Summer vacation, no Spring break, no extra days off for holidays. 5 hour days, 5 days a week, 52 weeks a year. The only days the kids will have off of school are the days that Daddy has off of work and days they are sick.
This will benefit in other ways as well... We will well outdo the state requirements for how many hours a year a child has to be taught when not in public school. I will have no worries about rearranging my schedule at the beginning of the school year. And, I will not have to explain why they stop learning at a certain point, then start again a few months later.
I know it will be a struggle once they reach the age where they realize that other kids get long bits of time off of school, but by that age, they should be able to understand that it is more beneficial for them to have it this way. And with the fact that we can rearrange our daily schedules to fit in any extra activities, they still won't miss out on having fun with their friends.
I love having so many options in the way that my kids are taught. I can't thank my husband enough for letting me know years ago that he would like for our kids to be homeschooled. The extra quality time and one-on-one time with the teacher make all of the extra work and time spent well worth it.