How to schedule it all when out of house one day a week?

[jenamiles]

This year all three of my kids will be going to an enrichment program one day a week.  I am really excited about it because it means I have one day just with my 2nd grader and one day with just my 7th/10th who share a lot of subjects.  It also provides me access to testing (state required), curriculum funds, extra curriculars, and community college programs.  Overall, there are many benefits to my family.

What I'm struggling with is how do I get in all of their subjects in just the four days we have left?  They will do a little bit of every subject at the enrichment program but they won't necessarily align with the curriculum or topics we are covering.  Do I just condense what they do into four days and not adjust the load?  Do I condense but make them do everything?  As an example, we use Notrgrass for history/english which has five days of activities every week.  If I just throw out a day, they'll miss something and if I ask them to do it all, they are doubling up on one day.  This same holds true for Math and Logic.  Do I adjust everything I do to revolve around what they are learning at enrichment?  We need an absolute plan and schedule otherwise this family of ADHD'ers will just procrastinate until May.

[sdobis]

With the 2nd grader, I would just do the next thing. Don't double up. As far as the 7th/10th, that's a little more difficult. Is it an all day class? Is there no time for school at home on that day? My 10th grader has schoolwork to complete on the weekend, but that's because he goes to homeschool skate for 4 hours on a school day. Could you double up on one subject a day? I wouldn't completely skip a lesson a week. Maybe you don't finish a book in a year. If they are taking classes once a day elsewhere, I don't think it's right to make them carry a full load at home as well unless the classes are non-core subjects like art and music. 

[Lori D.]

My first BIG question is: how much at-home time will the enrichment program take? Is there going to be work expected to be done at home? If so, then you will need to put that first in your schedule,  which may mean dropping a subject or two for your other students in order for them to have the time at home to do the work to be prepared for the enrichment program. If homework will be part of your participation at the enrichment program, then I'd probably be looking at dropping Logic entirely, as that is an "elective", and that would free up time to do the enrichment program homework, and also might free up a little more time in the 4 days at home for working in the 5th day of lessons from your at-home curriculum...

 

As for how to schedule 5 days of work when you drop to a 4-day schedule... This can really vary from student to student. You may find that you get a lot of extra work done on the day you have focused time just with the 2nd grader, and the day you have focused time with just the 7th & 10th graders.

 

 

2nd grader

If you have a quick learner, your 2nd grader may naturally finish everything by the end of the school year anyways just in 4 days a week at home. If not, just continue any of the "3Rs" still left into the summer, especially any math. That helps reduce the time over the summer for a young student to forget everything. ;) Any other subject -- science, history, art/music, etc. is "gravy" for elementary ages, so whatever you covered during the school year in those subjects will be plenty fine! :)

 

7th and 10th grader

First, I would look over what is being taught at the enrichment program and if there is overall on any topic, drop that chapter or topic out of your at-home materials and just let it be covered at the enrichment program. For example, if your science labs are at the enrichment program, GREAT! Skip labs at home, which will probably naturally all 4 days for the readings.

 

From there, it really depends on your student, but below are some ideas for easing a crunched schedule. Also, IMO it really depends on how much you are willing to be flexible and let the enrichment program count for credit, even if it doesn't entirely match up with your curriculum and subjects. Sometimes we have to compromise, and if doing this enrichment program is the best option for your family, then this is the year to bend YOUR curriculum to the enrichment program to get the most out of the enrichment program.

 

BEST of luck in working through what will work best for your family! Warmly, Lori D.

 

 

- QUALITY not quantity
Do what helps your DC learn concepts and put them into practice -- don't feel you MUST do every . single . problem, or . read . every . book just so you can check off a box for your program or your own checklist. Pick *carefully* what you have your student do that encourages real learning, and drop all that is extraneous.

- Speed up the day
1. Where possible, just do selected problems, not every.single.one.
2. Do some work orally.
3. "Double dip" -- example: count anything written for History as hours toward BOTH History AND the Writing/English credit; sports team extracurricular also counts toward PE credit; participation in Speech/Debate counts towards rhetoric for English; participation in Youth & Gov't or Mock Trial counts towards Gov't credit...

- Set time limits on "mushy" subjects
Some subjects are not so cut-and-dried as to what to cover, so you have to arbitrarily limit yourself in subjects such as History (no more than 4-5 hours/per WEEK) or Literature (no more than 5-6 hours/per WEEK). Otherwise, you are unfairly requiring more than a credit's worth of work, but not granting that credit.

 

So, for example, if you are getting some time at the enrichment program on History or Literature, count those hours toward the History or Literature credit, and cut those hours out of your at-home schedule so you're not over-scheduling a credit.

- Schedule one Saturday a month as catch-up day
Do try all week to do a little extra so you don't fall too far behind schedule, but then plan on one Saturday out of every 4 as the catch-up day of school.

- Spread out the Science (or History)

If your student is not going into the STEM fields, drop from 4 credits to 3, and focus on doing them well. You can do 3 credits over 4 years, at the rate of 2/3 credit each year -- that means the amount you spend each day can be less, because you're allowing yourself more time overall to complete the credit. On the transcript, list it by SUBJECT, rather than by date or grade level. That would definitely allow Science to be scheduled in a 4-day-a-week way! And if you are only doing 2 or 3 credits of History, that makes it VERY easy to schedule it fewer days a week, and then take 1.5 years to complete 1 credit of History.

- Do some reading in the car/at night
For the Literature or History, read at night,  on weekends, or listen as books on tape while driving, exercising or other "multi-tasking" way.

- Summer school
Get a 0.5 credit class out of the way over the summer. Or, use the summer for the fun studies. Maybe push Logic out of your schedule this year and plan on doing it over the summer; that would give you an extra amount of daily time to work ahead on one different subject each day so everything is done by co-op day.

 

- Dual Enrollment
Foreign Language can be done in half the time, as 1 semester at the Community College often equallys 1 year of high school foreign languge.

- Readjust expectations
Unless it is an absolutely required credit for high school graduation or college entrance, in a real pinch give yourself permission to readjust your plans and drop a 1.0 credit class down to a 0.5 credit class -- or entirely drop a class if it is just too stressful. Consider turning it into informal learning on the fly or when you can include it rather than worrying about making it a formal credit, which allows you to get *some* learning in, while greatly reducing stress levels.

 

For example: consider spreading out the Logic over 1.5 or even 2 years. Maybe complete it as summer school. Maybe only do it in 4 days a week and see how far you get by the end of the year and just count however much was accomplished as a partial credit and call it good...

- Condense/Reduce/Drop
1. Grammar
Does the student really NEED any more grammar at this point? Usually you got a little behind or the student is delayed, by high school the student has covered all the instruction needed for grammar, and it is no longer taught/practiced with exercises, but USED as part of the writing. If grammar IS needed, schedule it short/lite -- no more than 15 min.,  2x or 3x/week.

2. Writing
If you're doing a writing-heavy History, then alternate weeks with the Writing. And double-dip -- count Writing done for History or other subjects towards the Writing credit, too. Notgrass has a load of writing -- just choose to schedule how much can realistically can be done WELL by your student in 4 days a week. A slightly smaller quantity but at high quality is going to get the job done well!

3. Vocab
Usually this is learned in context of the Literature. However if you're using a separate program, choose to schedule it short/lite = just 15 minutes 2x or 3x/week.

 

4. Math

Do just selected problems. Or "skim review" if your student already learned the material -- for example, in some standard school textbooks, the first few weeks of material are all review of the previous year's material; if your student is confident with the material, go over the teaching portion for 2 lessons and just do selected problems for a "skim review" until you hit the new material.

 

Or, just keep "doing the next thing" and go into the summer to finish. The co-op will set you back, at most, about 36 days, which is just about 7 weeks of time. And there's less time to forget the math if you are continuing to do it daily over the summer... ;)

 

5. Science

Sometimes it can save time of prep (getting all the supplies), set-up, clean up and tear-down on science labs to save up all the labs and do them all at the end of the chapter. Or as one long experiment day at the end of the month. (Schedule nothing else for that day to have plenty of unhurried time.) If really in a "time-bind", substitute watching virtual online labs in place of the few lengthy time-consuming labs.

 

6. History

When in a time crunch, occasionally drop a book or assignment out of the schedule to get back on track time-wise for finishing up. Skip a few quizzes or tests (and the time required for studying) to get back on schedule. Reduce the occasional longer writing assignment to a one paragraph "reader response" or summary -- or even just an oral discussion.

 

Since you're doing Notgrass, maybe do that 5th day's reading on the evening you finish the other 4 days of reading, or on the weekend at dinner so Dad can join in on discussion?

[jenamiles]

Thank you both of you for the feedback.  It really does help and it means I have more questions about the enrichment program.  It's an all day, from 8:30 - 3:15, and I don't know what is expected yet.  Unfortunately we were out of town for New Parent Orientation so I hope to get more info at Back to School Night Wednesday in regards to how much outside activity is required and that kind of thing.  The fact that we have paid for Community College when we want it makes it well worth it to figure it out though :)

[mothergooseof4]

We have only ever done four day weeks because my kids visit grandparents one day per week. I keep struggling with this, but I feel the relationships are important. Plus, closer family bonds are one reason we hs. The kids do things on these days that we don't do at home, too: crafts, driving lessons, shooting, fishing, archery, etc.

 

Anyway, I don't double up lessons. I do skip things that are mastered and move on. But, the main way that we fit it all in is to school year-round with breaks when we feel like it.

 

I have decided that I may have them do math when they return home on the afternoon they visit, but I have never required this in the past twelve years of this schedule.

[mothergooseof4]

sorry dp

[Ellie]

Well, couldn't your Official School Year be a couple of weeks longer? 

[matrips]

We are gone 2 days a week this year (same as last year). Last year, we winged it and did next next lesson etc. not such a great method for us. We were still schooling into August.

 

This year, I took some time to plan everything out, and so far I love the way it's working (3 weeks in). I took our subjects and decided how much I wanted to accomplish this year, and wrote out a 36 week schedule (by subject) to get it done in 3 days a week. So yes, I doubled up work as needed, after looking through to see what was do-able. They knew they would have longer days to fit it all in, still have 2days off a week for their classes, and still take a week break every 6weeks, and they were fine with it. Strangely though, the days are so smooth, they are not that long!

 

I put student books together and each child gets a schedule for the week of their work (this in itself is wonderful! They love knowing what they need to do and when the week will be over). If it wasn't so scheduled out, our 3days would be much longer. Since it is so organized, and they are motivated by having the schedule (extra time is theirs), the days are moving along much smoother than last year. And I can't believe how much we get done each day. I do teach the math lessons for the week Sunday afternoon though (15-20 minutes per child). That way they can start Monday morning and know what to do, without waiting on me. Math is their most time consuming subject. Tey do that while i work out, and then we do our other lessons together. I write out the schedule each Sunday for the week, based on my master plan for the year. This way I still have the flexibility to move things faster or slow some things down, but still see the overall picure of where we are at.

 

I have 3 kids too, but they are all third grade. So different set up than you.

[happypamama]

Well, couldn't your Official School Year be a couple of weeks longer?

That's what I would do.

[thebacabunch]

2 things work for us.  I add 15 minutes per subject per day.  The kids haven't even noticed.  Second, I use audiobooks and curriculum on cd (like sotw and songschool Spanish) in the car. 

[loftmama]

We only do 4 days a week because we have music lessons 1 day a week in a town far, far away. (Or so it seems.) I have always felt guilty about this till I read in the most recent edition of TWTM that they also do 1 day out a week. That is still considered "school" but it's more like field trip day. Errands, library, maybe a museum, lessons that are outsourced, ex. So one day a week, that's exactly what we do: swim, hike, music, library, grocery store and misc errands. B/c it's so far, we are gone all day. It's a big treat for us. We stay at the library for 2-3 hours and always feel rushed when it's time to leave. My schedule is: M, T - school at home; W - "field day' Th, F, school at home. The day off in the middle of the week works great for my kids because we all need a break from the relentless pushing I tend to do.

[Lori D.]

The fact that we have paid for Community College when we want it makes it well worth it to figure it out though

 

 

Just adding a "PS" to commiserate and give you perspective on the community college aspect of your enrichment...

 

Most of the ladies responding here only have elementary ages, which is easy to go with a 4-day a week at home schedule. But the older the student, the harder it is to take a day out of the schedule. High school courses require a lot more time and work, and unless you can count some of the time used for the enrichment toward the credit, that means you are most likely going to have to either:

 

- drop down in the amount of credits to attempt this year (gives you more time each day to double up on lessons in everything else during the week)

- do evening and/or weekend schooling

- school longer and go into the summer

- do a credit as summer school

 

 

Up through grade 6, we had no stress doing mostly a 4-day schedule at home with a 5th day for outside-the-home activities, or for fun educational supplements. (Your 2nd grader will be fine with just 4 days a week -- and will get the bonus of the great outside-the-home opportunities. :))

 

But starting with grade 7, we had to move toward doing 1-2 hours of regular work on that 5th day to stay caught up and still do outside things. (So, your 7th grader will likely not be TOO hard to work catch up on work missed on the 5th day -- maybe work longer on the other 4 days, maybe work on a few Saturdays, maybe work into the summer, maybe just drop some optional elective to make more room for the outside opportunities...)

 

But for high school, a credit is a certain amount of work, and if you want to count it as a full credit on the transcript, if the outside opportunity is not going to be able to be counted towards credit, then you just HAVE to make up that time and work somehow. For us when we hit high school, the outside day dropped from all-day 4 days a month, to 2-3 days a month, and when some were just half-days out of the house, we'd also do regular school for 2-3 hours as well. Most high school extracurriculars were either in the afternoons after school hours (sports), or evenings, so that knocked us out of doing homework. And *I* needed the break of no school on the weekends, as much as our DSs. So, we ended up by going with some "double dipping" (where we clearly had plenty of hours to count in two directions) and going longer into the summers to get everything accomplished.

 

In late high school, once we were doing dual enrollment classes at the community college (CC), that became the priority. We schedule everything around the CC classes, which suck out a lot of time from your schedule -- the classes usually meet 2x week during the day; plus there is the time to commute, and time needed for doing the homework/study. Fortunately, the dual enrollment definitely counts as credit, BUT... due to the time element and due to the priority of getting good grades (dual enrollment goes on your permanent college transcript from the college), it meant that we did fewer credits of work at home. We also had to start doing the CC homework in the evenings or on weekends, and going into the summers to get our home courses all done.

 

By high school, you really have to weigh the pros and cons of ANY outside opportunity carefully, because it really impacts how you schedule your home life and family time, and how much time you'll have for schooling at home. Time spent as a family really can take a hit when you have high schoolers and you are taking a full day each week out of your schedule... For me, the advantages and benefits of each outside activity we did had to clearly outweigh the disadvantages and inconveniences.

 

Hope it will all become clear for you as you learn more about this program! Warmest regards, Lori D.

[MtnTeaching]

This will be our 4th year in a ps enrichment program that sounds very similar to yours.  One day a week, 8:15a-3:15p.  It has been a wonderful thing for my kids (ds16, dd15).  Unfortunately, my ds (a junior) has decided not to do it this year due to the craziness of his schedule last year in 10th.  He took several outside classes last year, including AP classes.   When he added the classes from the enrichment program, he wound up working every single weekend throughout the year.  He found that "losing that day a week" was not worth it for him this year.  Having said that, it is a wonderful program with great teachers.  Both children have had wonderful experiences and made strong friends.

 

My dd would probably not homeschool if she did not have the enrichment day.  She is too social for that. She is a freshman and knows that doing the program guarantees that she will be working weekends, but she accepts that.  

 

Losing that extra day really does put a kink in the week, especially now that they are in high school.  It was not as much of a problem before hitting high school.  I have to say, though, it has definitely been worth it.  They have been in incredible Musical Theater productions and worked with wonderful teachers who love working with the creative and polite homeschoolers.

 

It can work, it just gets a bit tricky when they hit high school. 

[katilac]

I have a 10th-grader (and an 8th-grader). A full day out of the house every week would not work for us at all. At a minimum, the oldest would have to do 'homework' plus a few hours of sustained work over the weekend, every weekend, rather than the occasional catching up or reading she does now. She would not like that trade-off at all, but other kids might think it is well worth it.

 

The other alternative would be to lengthen your school year. If you currently take a full summer and all of the typical breaks, you could gain a fair amount of time.

 

I find it nearly impossible to double up on high school level lessons, while still keeping the level of engagement and understanding that I want. I'm sure some kids can do it, but mine can't. They most definitely could not do 2 high school math lessons in a day on a regular basis!

[abba12]

If you're talking about high schoolers, I would say they just need to do evening school/early morning school.

 

When I was a HS highschooler my daily schedule was 6:30-8am, then 9am-12pm, then 8:30pm-10:30pm. If we were out all day I could easily tack my middle session onto my evening session, 5:00-8:30pm, with a half hour break somewhere for dinner.

 

Sometimes we forget that school can happen outside the hours of 9am and 3pm.

 

I also, personally, found that I had better retention and focus if I did one or two subjects a day, and did 2, 3 or even 5 lessons of it. That is not the case for every child, but for me it helped, and that also cut down on time because I didn't spend time trying to remember where it was all going and getting back into that math mindset, or writing mindset etc, and the other things involved in picking up where I left off. I could just continue through, and since I was already 'in the groove' I would accomplish more, faster. This does not work for foreign language and any subject that required practice more than knowledge. But if it might work for your daughter, I'd consider switching things up.