And on the Seventh Day God Rested: Using the Principle of the Sabbath to Organize Your School Year

It's almost time for my first Sabbath Week of the 2011-2012 school year. Many people have told me that incorporating Sabbath Weeks into their schedule has saved their sanity. So, since many of us are probably feeling our first twinges of burn out, I am reposting my article about Sabbath Schooling.

May you be as blessed as I have been.

This is an article I wrote that was recently published in Home Educating Family Magazine.

“And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made.” Genesis 2:2-3

"Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter . . . . Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Deuteronomy 5:12-15


When God rested from His labor of creating the universe, He wasn’t tired. He didn’t need a break. Rather, He was modeling for us a pattern of living—-a pattern that we ignore at our own peril. We work. We rest.

Despite what our modern culture insists, rest is not a luxury; it is a necessity. If we don’t rest, we soon won’t be able to work—-at least not very well. However hard we might try, we cannot push ourselves to unlimited productivity. Ignoring our need for regular periods of rest leads to burn-out.

Ah, burn-out. There’s a word that is all too familiar to anyone who has been homeschooling for a few years. We start off the school year full of zeal and excitement. This will be the year, we tell ourselves, that we get it all done! We mark out 36 weeks of lesson plans, with a Christmas break here and an Easter break there, and we charge full steam ahead. And then, somewhere around mid-October, our engines slow down . . . considerably. The zeal and excitement have long disappeared, and now not only are we having to drag the children reluctantly through their school lessons, but we are having to force ourselves through the motions as well. The joy is gone, the exhaustion has set in, and we find ourselves wondering if Christmas break will ever get here.

But I’ve got good news: it doesn’t have to be this way! Deuteronomy 5:15 reveals a beautiful truth: “Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.” Because God has delivered His people from slavery, His people can rest. Because we are free, we can rest!

The homeschool provides a wonderful opportunity to live out this truth. Homeschoolers are free. We are not slaves of the public school system, and we can rest—-whenever we want to!

My homeschool was liberated the day I rejected the public school calendar. There is absolutely no educational benefit from following a nine-month school year with a 3-month summer break. None! In fact, to the contrary, a long summer break creates “brain drain.” Textbooks begin with review chapters because they assume that students have forgotten a large chunk of what they learned the previous year. We’ve all experienced this: trying to get school started up in the fall only to discover that our children can’t remember how to add or what a noun is.

Additionally, as much as we often crave the idea of a long break when the spring semester is dragging on, most families go slightly batty in the summer months. I can remember my mother saying every summer that she couldn’t wait for school to start back up. The truth is, usually I couldn’t wait either. Children and families thrive on a consistent daily routine.

So, if I don’t follow the public school year, what do I do? And what does this have to do with the Sabbath? I believe that the Sabbath teaches three important principles for the homeschool. 1) We are free; therefore we can rest. 2) We need regular, scheduled periods of rest. 3) My soul responds to the pattern of laboring for 6 and resting for 1.

Our God is good, and He knows what we need. We must recognize the need for rest and plan for it. Regular periods of deliberate rest keep us refreshed and joyful about our labors. It is much easier to work hard when we know that a break is coming up soon. Avoid the recipe for burn-out: pushing yourself to the point of exhaustion and then guiltily taking off a day or two. Spread scheduled breaks throughout the year.

I still homeschool for 36 weeks each year, but now I don’t try to cram those weeks into 9 1/2 months; I spread them throughout the whole year. I experimented with many different ways of organizing my school year and finally discovered a pattern that brought a rhythm of peace and joy into our lives: we homeschool for 6 weeks and then take a 1-week break that I call Sabbath Week.

I have learned the hard way that 6 weeks is my limit for productivity. I can work hard and well for 6 solid weeks, but every time I push myself beyond that number, I experience burn-out. Every time!

Sabbath Week not only keeps me from burning out, it also keeps me from stressing out. During Sabbath Week, we rest from our usual labors, and strike a balance between fun and taking care of all the things that pile up and stress us out: appointments, car repairs, house cleaning, paperwork, etc. I can avoid feeling overwhelmed by all of my responsibilities when I know that I can take care of things during Sabbath Week. I don’t have to try to squeeze more into my already full homeschool week.

This arrangement still leaves me 10 weeks of breaks to spread throughout the year however I wish. I take 4 full weeks off for Christmas break, reducing our stress and increasing our enjoyment of the holiday season. We bake cookies and make presents, sing Christmas carols at nursing homes, perform in a Christmas pageant, attend special church services, and get all the joy we can out celebrating the birth of Christ. Not having to worry about school during those weeks keeps the stress level low and the joy high.

That leaves 6 weeks for a summer break, or a shorter 4-week summer break with 2 additional vacation weeks to be used whenever we want them: family vacations during the off-season are always fun!

Enjoying the liberty of homeschooling and instituting regular Sabbath Weeks has transformed our lives. I went from feeling overwhelmed and burnt-out to truly enjoying my time with my children and my calling to educate them. God desires joy and peace for His people, and when we seek His wisdom and embrace His principles for living we increase our joy and peace—-even in our homeschools.