staceyobu Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I was having some conversation this week with other moms and they were saying they would take a day off each week if they had kids the same ages as mine (2nd and K). So, we'd do school 3 days a week, one day a week off, and one day a week at a coop. The kids have a PE class and one academic class at the coop. They suggested sometimes going to a museum on the off day... or just using it to catch up with friends, housework, etc. What do others think? I'm not sure about only doing math/LA 3 days a week... but I also know that I have a tendency to do too much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Forget-Me-Not Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I don't think it would work for us. In past years, we've done a 4-day schedule that works well, but I've found this year my 4th grader really needs to do a 5th day of math every week. We could incorporate more math work into the other days, but that seems to go beyond his frustration limit. So now we save Fridays for math and make-up. I try to stay on top of things during the week so we don't have to do as much on Friday. I can't imagine trying to cram everything into just three days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoxcell Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 To me it wouldn't be enough unless maybe you are schooling on a year round schedule.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 If you can cover everything you need to cover than I see no problem with it, especially considering you co-op on the 4th day. I just can't get through the math book if we don't do it 4-5 times per week. We generally school 4 days and on the 5th day we catch up and then do fun stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RoundAbout Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Would not be enough for us on a permanent basis. DS does better with a little bit every day. If we only did 3 days/week I'd be tempted to do too much on those days. Right now we're doing super short lessons 7 days/week and he's flying and its very easy on both of us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LittleIzumi Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 That might work considering one day off is really a coop day. Just three days only, no, I do not think that is sufficient past say kindergarten. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I think that the younger the child, the shorter the lessons, the more frequent the lessons. It is better to school for an hour each day than for 2 hours 3 days per week...even though you actually school for an extra hour on the 3 day schedule. That said, I am completely fine with doing the 3Rs in short lessons 5 days a week, and only doing "gravy" subjects 3 days per week (history & science & art, etc...). In fact, I still sort of do that. I have things we do 5 days with rare exception (reading, writing, math), and other things that can be cut or postponed to make room in the schedule for a busy day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Momma2Luke Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 totally doable if you school year round or almost year round... or you can take advantage of pockets of time on the other 4 days of the week to get some work done.... that's what we do.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Embassy Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 It depends on your kids. Do you achieve a week's worth of math and language arts during those 3 days? If so, it might work. I just test-drove a new set-up for us. We were doing 5 days a week, but I really needed to move some of my work (part-time job) to daytime hours. Today, I let my kids self-direct their learning for the whole day. They chose their subjects and areas of independent study. Of course they avoided things they don't like, but we will cover a week's worth of those subjects in the other 4 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marbel Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I think it depends on your kids. You're really talking about 4 days a week with the co-op, and your oldest is only 7. I'd say if I had a 7-year-old who was engaged and learning during schooltime, and doing productive fun stuff during non-school times (Legos, drawing, imaginitive play, reading or listening to books, etc), then I think it could work fine. If your off day included chores, that'd be great too. You could try it and see how your kids respond to it. If you didn't feel 3 days of formal lessons was enough, what about including math games and such on the "off" day? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwallowTail Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 We kind of do that, at least some weeks (if the weather is bad, we can be home and do school every day). It is really important for my dd to get social time (as an only child), and also lots of outdoor time and exercise. We still work on some reading and spelling skills daily, and we read literature aloud to her daily. But, we also school year around, including weekends. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AimeeM Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Well, we only *do* school 4 days a week with our 6th grader; Monday - Thursday. Friday is gone between an outsourced Latin class, Mass, and then an academic co-op. She does, however, do math 6 days a week (mon-thurs, sat and sunday). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chiguirre Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 For a 7 yo, it's probably fine. When we do field trips during the week, I catch the kids for an hour or two on the weekends to make up work. It's worth it to me to take advantage of special events. We do coop and park day on Fridays, so that's always an off day for us and we school year round. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Χά�ων Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 How many hours are you schooling during the 3 days? How much is teaching/learning new concepts and how much is busy work? We did one day a week in kindergarten, two in first and 0 in second due to some major life issues. I am putting the most emphisis on math this year. In August I gave DS an evalutation designed for the end of 3rd grade and he had mastered all the concepts. We are building fluency this fall and I plan to retest him in December or January in 4th grade. My son is not advanced and is not behind due to our doing so little formal education thus far (except in reading and that is because of severe visual and auditory processing disorder not lack of instruction). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jar7709 Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 We do formal stuff only 3 days/week many weeks, other weeks are 4 days/wk. We go year-round. It is enough for my kids (ages 6 and 7). One of the weekly "off days" is a day with Grandma and/or DH, and I think they do have a lot of value in that even if it doesn't include any "curriculum". The other weekly "off day" is not every week, but it accounts for the stuff that comes up we need to work around like sick days, field trips, etc. On that day we usually do about half the normal curric., often just math and reading. My kids are slowly becoming more independent and self-reliant so I am hoping we can still maintain this as they get older. We shall see. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KungFuPanda Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I kinda wish I'd done that during K-2 when you can really get away with it. I didn't realize how YOUNG my kids were then until they really were big kids. I watched them grow from babyhood and thought they were so mature and ready for the serious stuff. I look at kids that age now and wonder what I was thinking. People warned me, but I didn't buy it because we were just more 'academic' than them. If I had a surprise baby now, we'd definitely do a more relaxed K-2 and save our energy for the older grades. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ellie Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I was having some conversation this week with other moms and they were saying they would take a day off each week if they had kids the same ages as mine (2nd and K). So, we'd do school 3 days a week, one day a week off, and one day a week at a coop. The kids have a PE class and one academic class at the coop. They suggested sometimes going to a museum on the off day... or just using it to catch up with friends, housework, etc. What do others think? I'm not sure about only doing math/LA 3 days a week... but I also know that I have a tendency to do too much. Since I did Official School Stuff only two days a week for several years, three days a week sounds fine. :) Your dc are little. I think your proposed schedule sounds just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
regentrude Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 For K and 2nd my kids could have done all the work they did in ps a whole week long in two days of work at home. So, yes, works, especially if they have enrichment activities on one other day. Mine are in high school now... short weeks are out . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redsquirrel Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 Until 4th or 5th grade, my kids always had one light day a week, usually friday. At 5, each of my kids started with piano lessons and that has to be practiced almost every day. So in k-3 we only do piano, math and reading 5X a week. Everything else was 3 or 4 times a week. But, piano, math and reading only takes 75 mins, or fewer, at that age. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I think at those ages you could easily cover everything in three days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desert Rat Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 We work on school 4 days a week. Fridays are for tests only, both boys have 2-3 a week. Sometimes, if it's been an unusually busy/sick week, we will catch up on Friday. We also do school 42 weeks a year. With the ages of OP's children I say give it a try. I would be concerned about math and reading though, depending on the kid. Both of mine would do fine with math only 3 days a week. My youngest would have a hard time with reading. He just needs the extra practice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FairProspects Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 It wouldn't work for us. We're struggling with that now actually. Once the math hits a certain level, it seems like you just need more time and more frequent sessions to keep the algorithms fresh. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calledtobehome Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 I was having some conversation this week with other moms and they were saying they would take a day off each week if they had kids the same ages as mine (2nd and K). So, we'd do school 3 days a week, one day a week off, and one day a week at a coop. The kids have a PE class and one academic class at the coop. They suggested sometimes going to a museum on the off day... or just using it to catch up with friends, housework, etc. What do others think? I'm not sure about only doing math/LA 3 days a week... but I also know that I have a tendency to do too much. We have always done school 4 days a week. Over the last year or so we added a co-op and other outside activites like Lego League, piano, homeschool P.E etc. We still do math everyday except Sun now. I just started that this school year and I plan to continue. If you decide on a 3 day work schedule you could still do math at least 4 days out of the week. Maybe play math games on your days off. I think it can work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NASDAQ Posted October 5, 2012 Share Posted October 5, 2012 We do six days a week. I think it's better to do smaller amounts daily than larger amounts a few times a week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stripe Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 So, we'd do school 3 days a week, one day a week off, and one day a week at a coop. Isn't this three days a week off, one at a coop, and "school" three days a week? Some academic activities -- like reading -- I wouldn't skip even on "off" days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mélie Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I think it can be done if you have to, but I wouldn't do it by choice. We do 5-6 shorter days, with activities or outings almost every afternoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 Isn't this three days a week off, one at a coop, and "school" three days a week? Some academic activities -- like reading -- I wouldn't skip even on "off" days. Yes... sorry, I wasn't including Saturday and Sunday in my week. 3 days a week off. 3 "normal" school days. 1 co-op day. Perhaps some pertinent further information... I don't really have any desire to school year round. I don't need to limit school to 3 days a week. I guess it's more of a question if it's overkill to have 4 academic days a week with a co-op on day 5. I don't know that the kids learn a ton at co-op (our purpose with it is to have fun). I also like taking the afternoon off after co-op because *I* am exhausted! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coralloyd Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 Totally! We school 4 days a week. However, the 4th day looks very different. We are done with our MUS lesson for the week; so we play math games, do TT, LOF,etc... Spelling Wisdom is done so we do vocabulary all together. We go on a nature walk. We usually do our SOTW activities or science experiments on Thur. So in short we can easily drop the 4th day if we need to and still get the essentials done in 3 days, schooling yr. around. I am much more relaxed than most here though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 I don't need to limit school to 3 days a week. I guess it's more of a question if it's overkill to have 4 academic days a week with a co-op on day 5. I don't know that the kids learn a ton at co-op (our purpose with it is to have fun). I also like taking the afternoon off after co-op because *I* am exhausted! I do not think it is overkill to do 4 school days and a co-op day. (And, that is why I do co-op in the afternoon! We do our necessaries in the am....and have dinner in the crockpot so I can crash in the evening.) You can probably fit everything into 3 school days per week, but I have found that too many breaks make progress screech to a halt...especially if the 7yo struggles with reading, writing or math in any way. That is just my experience. You could try it out and evaluate in a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
staceyobu Posted October 6, 2012 Author Share Posted October 6, 2012 You could try it out and evaluate in a month. That's a good idea. I have a fear of decreasing academics... I would hate for that to come back to bite us later. My 2nd grader is an excellent reader, but struggles a lot with math. 1-2 pages of math mammoth can take her an hour. So, I don't know if I can double math lessons up. If we only do 3 days of math, we won't finish the curriculum. And, I don't want to fall behind in math... But, maybe she could do math only on day 4. My k'er is doing well across the board right now. Is it sufficient to do reading lessons 3 days a week? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FO4UR Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 That's a good idea. I have a fear of decreasing academics... I would hate for that to come back to bite us later. My 2nd grader is an excellent reader, but struggles a lot with math. 1-2 pages of math mammoth can take her an hour. So, I don't know if I can double math lessons up. If we only do 3 days of math, we won't finish the curriculum. And, I don't want to fall behind in math... But, maybe she could do math only on day 4. My k'er is doing well across the board right now. Is it sufficient to do reading lessons 3 days a week? I would do less math daily, and do math 4-5 days per week. Math Mammoth gives a TON of problems for little ones. You could give her 1/2 of the problems to do 3 days per week (circle evens or odds for her), and then give her only a few of the last half of the problems (the ones that need more review) on the 4th/5th days. So those 2 days are not as mommy-intensive, and not as long for her. For a dc learning to read, I'd do reading 4-5 days per week also. 10min on co-op day, just to keep things fresh. That can be done while lying on the couch.;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy22alyns Posted October 6, 2012 Share Posted October 6, 2012 No, it wouldn't work here either. I've done 4 days a week with a one day co-op, and we got through math and LA with no trouble. This year, we're doing all subjects 4 days a week and bonus subjects on Fridays. So far, so good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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