Halcyon Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Hi- This is one of the more helpful changes we made to our homeschool last year, and I thought I would share it. It's quite simple. One day a week is dedicated to Science and History. No other subjects are done that day. If your child wants to read or do independent science other days in the week, that's fine, but with that one day devoted to History and Science, you know you're covered. I always found that Science and History took much longer to do properly than other subjects. For Science, there's the reading, the quizzing, the experiments, the setup, the clean up, the prep time, the goofing off. For History, it's the reading, the research, the videos, the runs to the library, the extra books, the timelines, the projects....you get the picture. I was always frustrated trying to "fit them in" and then I would feel like either History and Science were shortchanged, or the other subjects for the day were. Anyway, that's my helpful tidbit for the day. :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stratford Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 Thanks for this. I've been contemplating the same thing and it's good to hear that it's worked well for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halcyon Posted January 7, 2014 Author Share Posted January 7, 2014 You're welcome! Yes, it really has worked well for us. The other days we can devote to more "workbook-y" subjects like math, latin, writing (okay, not workbooky, but "sit down and write"), spelling, vocab, etc. I guess science and history are so NOT sitting in your chair, particularly science, that they really break up one's day when you try to just "fit them in", kwim? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 It's funny you should mention this - I've just rearranged our schedule so that science and history get more devoted & focused time, for the same reasons. What we're doing now is Math, English, and The Randoms (critical thinking, spanish, typing) in the mornings, and then two afternoons a week devoted to science, and two to history. It works out to the same - or a little more - time for each subject as if we tried to do it every day, but I think it will be a lot more relaxed, and more coherent and focused as well. I'm not doing a separate writing program for the rest of this year, writing will be about content subjects, and so this gives us the time to really make that work - to have time to read, discuss, *and write* in history, and to do experiments or watch docos in science. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mom2att Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 When my boys were smaller we did something similar--one week a month we did Science and History week and did nothing but those 2 subjects (including various involved projects) during that week. They LOVED it, and I loved not having the pressure of having to squeeze everything in, as well as the knowledge that we weren't missing out on the fun parts of history and science (because those are the first to go when I'm trying to squeeze everything in). I like the one Science/History only day per week, too. :hurray: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jayne J Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I've done this for a few years now and really love it. We actually get all those experiments done, the crafts, the extra readings and documentaries and all the other fun stuff that got left off due to time or energy constraints. We call it Fun Friday and occasionally add in read alouds, and art projects. My kids look forward to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moxie Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 So, you do all the reading for history and science on that day or just the project/odd-ball stuff? That would be a lot of reading here. Hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cottonwood Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I could see that working here if we still did the reading for these subjects daily and took the one day to do the rest of the work (mapping, worksheets, experiments, etc) on the one day. Wondering tho how the info retention would be from one day to the next, to the day the actual work needed to be done. Guess it's worth a try, thanks for the suggestion! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kbutton Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 We use RSO science (Earth and Space this year), and we take big chunks of time to do as much as we can at once. We try to do one unit at a time, and it's so much nicer that way! We sometimes change the demonstrations and experiments, but it's nice to get a lot out of the way. Once in a while, the neighbor kid joins us if it looks like fun to him. If I get brave, I think I will do one day per week, but right now, we simply have a catch up day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berta Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 We do this with all of our subjects. We do a several lessons per day of just 2 or three subjects. By the end of the week my planner is complete and all subjects have been done. We had a problem getting all of it done each week, somehow science and history took a back seat. Now it all gets done weekly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elliotterae Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I have been toying with this idea as well. I tend to get off on little side roads with history and science and I agree that to really give them the attention I want to, an hour doesnt cut it. Im going to implement it, right away. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LMD Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I'm planning a different way this year, and one subject days are something I'm hoping to incorporate. I want to have a poetry tea day, and yep - science. I find that to do science properly we need TIME, which is in short supply on an average HS day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I just switched us over to doing 2 days wk/2days week for the same reason. Trying to do each one every day meant that I didn't want to delve into anything too deeply. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RootAnn Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I tried something like this both with dd#1 (large block of history or science for the entire afternoon w/nothing else scheduled) and with dd#2/dd#3 (leaving a lot of time just for history or just for science). The problem with my kids is that they can't stand more than 30-45 minutes on either one of those two subjects no matter how varied it is (read aloud, work on a lapbook, watch a video on the computer, do an experiment). They love history (and dislike science, in general), so it isn't a matter of interest. Anyway, if it doesn't work in your house --> that's ok. Just in case there is anyone else out there who has kids like mine who start whining after 20 minutes of science or 30 of history and just want to "be done." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Soror Posted January 7, 2014 Share Posted January 7, 2014 I tried something like this both with dd#1 (large block of history or science for the entire afternoon w/nothing else scheduled) and with dd#2/dd#3 (leaving a lot of time just for history or just for science). The problem with my kids is that they can't stand more than 30-45 minutes on either one of those two subjects no matter how varied it is (read aloud, work on a lapbook, watch a video on the computer, do an experiment). They love history (and dislike science, in general), so it isn't a matter of interest. Anyway, if it doesn't work in your house --> that's ok. Just in case there is anyone else out there who has kids like mine who start whining after 20 minutes of science or 30 of history and just want to "be done." I like to do a wide variety of activities during our time; read alouds, video clips, activities, discussion etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plink Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 We divide up our school work too. For us, it works best to focus exclusively on Science for half of the year and on History/Geography for the other half. It allows us to throw ourselves into our work a bit more. In the spirit of sharing things that help - These are my favorite little things that keep our school going. I love it when my work can go on autopilot because we have the right stuff around. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brookspr Posted January 8, 2014 Share Posted January 8, 2014 I am thinking of doing something similar, either on Wednesday or Friday having a project day. Mostly for science and history, but it could be for anything. One day devoted to hands-on projects like building a motor or making a medieval castle out of project bricks. The activities that seem to get pushed off for "more important" things like reading, writing, math. Yes, those are important, but I think the hands on stuff is as well, and I don't do a good enough job of making sure it happens each day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lots of little ducklings Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 I love this idea-- just haven't figured out how to make it work since our "day off" is Community Bible Study plus extracurriculars (all of which the kids love) and we really need the other 4 days for the three "Rs". But last summer we did "summer fun science" for summer school several times each week (and no other subjects during the summer.) This worked well, especially since we could get outside. I've toyed with doing History this way too, but a new baby arriving this spring may make that impossible this coming summer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leeannpal Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 We school 4 days a week and have pared down our schedule. Math, reading/literature and Bible are done everyday, grammar 2x , spelling 2x, hadndwriting 2x and writing skills 2x a week. She loves science, so we 2 blocks of science, one block of history and one block of geography a week. Because of our work schedules, dh and I both do the homeschooling. He does math, Bible and reading in the morning, and do the other areas of language arts and our block schedule subjects in the afternoon. We have just begun to try this schedule and like it so far. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chrysalis Academy Posted January 9, 2014 Share Posted January 9, 2014 We did it a bit differently when the kids were younger--we split it by semester. History before Christmas and science afterwards (or vice versa). Before we did this, it was just too hard to get it all in. We don't do it that way in high school, but it worked well for years. Until 8-9th grade, our science was 4-H, cool science kits and Usborne-type books. Worked VERY well! Hi Margaret, I'm curious why you decided not to do this in high school? Just thinking about the pros and cons of a more college-like block schedule in high school, at least for the content subjects. Sounds like you decided against doing that and I was curious about your reasons? Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.