When it is absolutely necessary to switch from a 4 day school week to a 5 day?

[Jennefer@SSA]

Dh is off on Fridays so we've never schooled on Fridays. I am thinking about future years and would love to get input from others who have btdt!

 

TIA,

[Pensguys]

I think it depends on several factors....what your state requires for reporting would be the first thing I would consider. In GA as long as I get my 180 days in, it doesn't matter how I do it. We have co-op every other Fri so we have one week of 5 days and one week of 4 days (bookwork). The week where we are home for 5 days, the Fri is lighter than the rest because my dh is home too. I choose the major subjects to get done that day (math, Latin and any writing that is leftover to get done; (and phonics for my little guy)).

 

I don't think it is absolutely totally necessary, but I'm sure it varies once you get to middle or high school depending on outside activities (volunteer work or jobs) and the balance between that and how much work is left to do at the end of the week.

[Mx5]

Dh is off on Fridays so we've never schooled on Fridays. I am thinking about future years and would love to get input from others who have btdt!

 

TIA,

 

My husband's only day off is Mondays (he's a pastor), so Mondays are always what I call "Math Mondays". I only require all 5 kids to do their math on Mondays. The rest of the day needs to be spent with regular chores, and goofing around with their dad. I don't regret this, and the kids are doing well academically.

[PeterPan]

3rd grade for us. We have enough subjects going now that doubling up isn't as easy. We've been missing Friday's this year for co-op classes, and let's just say I won't do that again! Unlike Pen, we end up getting NOTHING done on Fridays, meaning I have to carry things over to Saturdays to keep us on track. :(

[mcconnellboys]

Oh, I think it became harder and harder to do it by seventh and eighth grades, as we were doing high school level work then. And by ninth we just couldn't skip Fridays at all because of the rigor of the classes he was taking.

 

If you work hard and get your stuff done in four days, you can continue to do it. But if you're trying to complete entire books and you're dividing by 4 days every week instead of 5, then your work really does get heaped up after a while. Doing three or four pages of grammar a day in a third grade book is one thing - doing that same amount in a high school level book might be something entirely different. Same for math or any other subject.

 

Regena

[Karenciavo]

We do four days here, Thursday is AP Biology class for ds14, piano lessons for ds12, and co-op for all of us in the afternoon. We have a very rigorous schedule and manage to squeeze it all in, it's tough though.

[Heather in VA]

We couldn't get it done in 4 days. In order to get it done we'd have to go pretty long into the day. My girls are competitive gymnasts and the older one practices 5 hours a day 4 days a week so if she wants time between school and practice we don't want to run really late. So we go 5 days. I think either way once you hit jr high and high school it's really difficult to give adequate attention to the subjects without a full week.

[Jenny in Atl]

I find it hard to stick to a straight five-day schedule, but I do find a way to fit in five days worth; often doing school weekends or nights. I started to feel more of the push when oldest hit 5th grade.

[Sunshine State Sue]

6th grade, junior high, we need 5 days.

 

Sue

[Kimber]

Same here Jennefer. My dh is off Fridays, and we go to co-op. But we've just decided that the older two children will be doing math and reading on Friday's after co-op and Saturday mornings--just 1 lesson. Otherwise we wont finish on time.

 

Basically, we spend too much time doing math during the day. And I think more frequent, shorter lessons will aid retention. DD (Soon to be 10) is midway through Horizons 5 and ds8 is midway through Horizons 3.

[Jennefer@SSA]

I hope all of your crew are healthy and doing well!! :)

[Karen in CO]

How is that for lame advice. Really. We school 4 days and always have. it isn't an option for us since I work 3 days a week. My hs son manages his own workload. He has to get his work done and does it in his own time frame. Sometimes that means he is up early doing it or up late or working on weekends, just like any other teen ps or otherwise. I schedule out a weeks work for him and he does it.

 

I give my dd7 math and reading to do on Friday and call it a day. Flexibility is one of the key benefits of homeschooling. My state requires 172 days of schooling each year. If we take one day each week as an unschooling day, it is still a school day to us. Or we could just divide our year in 43 4 day weeks instead of 34 5 day weeks. Either way, it is okay. It is a matter of what your goals are and what you think is most important. There is no reason to plan to give up 4 day weeks. Spending time with together is very important.

[Kimber]

Yes, although they are all still awake at 10:00 pm. I've been sick all weekend, and I lost control.

 

Happy schooling to you and your crew! :)

[Lori D.]

In order to still take 2 Fridays a month off for homeschool group activities, student council, etc., we've shortened our summer. In early elementary, we took 14 weeks off. Then it shortened to 12. Now we take about 8 weeks completely off, with another 4 weeks at the beginning of the summer with "finishing up" math, science or anything else that didn't get done. Usually only takes 1-2 hours a day, 4x a week for those 4 weeks, so still a lot of summer fun time.

 

BEST of luck in finding how to continue scheduling your Fridays off! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[susie in tx]

We've been doing a 4 day week. I do request that my two olders do math on the 5th day. Sometimes, we also do a science experiment on that day. Plus, drawing has been happening then, too, if it happens that week.

 

This week, I had my two oldest make their own schedule, using calendars I purchased earlier in the year. We went through *my* weekly schedule and they made a daily schedule based on that. We'll see how it goes. Wednesdays are always short days for us because we have PE in the afternoon, so school always ends at noon. And Thursdays are piano lessons, so we leave the house at 2:30.

 

For those of you who are schooling high school students with a 4 day schedule, how long are your days? We start around 9 and I try to end at 3. We take at least an hour for lunch. Much of my 6 yo's work gets done during the dinner hour. :(