2ndGenHomeschooler Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 This year we have had a difficult time maintaining a school routine. Between my DH's crazy work schedule, our extra curriculars, and my piano students, we struggled to find a rhythm. I've been trying to figure out how to improve this next year. I'm considering a 6 day a week schedule. My thinking is that if school was a regular part of every day that it might be easier to be consistent. The flow of our days wouldn't be interrupted as often and school would just become part of the routine. The 3 hours between breakfast and lunch would be set aside for school plus piano practice in the afternoon and read alouds before bedtime. We wouldn't necessarily do traditional book work all six days. Some days may be field trips, extra-curriculars, or fun stuff like educational games or documentaries or music and art. Primarily, those morning hours would be set aside for education/learning - in some form - every day. We would still take off a week or two at a time throughout the year but school time would likely be replaced with something else to keep direction in our days. This schedule would also free up the afternoons for the kids to play and explore their own interests as well as leave time for me to keep up with housework, teach piano lessons, and enjoy my own hobbies and self-education. What do you all think? Have you tried it? How did it work? Am I crazy for even thinking of trying this? I'd love some thoughts and opinions! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OneStepAtATime Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 We actually do a little school work on Saturdays fairly often. Usually things that are routine and the kids can do relatively independently. They do them as soon as they get up. DD, for instance, does a Fix it Grammar lesson 6 days a week because she is trying to complete the book by December but doesn't want to double up lessons each day. We started not that long ago and she intends to keep working through the summer with just a couple of weeks off in July and in August. Math, also, we usually do 6 days a week. Same with typing. I keep Saturday lessons short. We also incorporate fun things on Fridays. As for scheduling, I started using Homeschool Planet just this past month and it has really helped us stay on track. Took a little bit to learn how to use it but not nearly as tough as other on-line scheduling systems I have tried. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Farrar Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 Yes, we aim for 6 days a week. I say try it for a few months and see how it goes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tawlas Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 We've been doing it for quite a while. It helps us be able to keep some flexibility around grandparents visits and my step-daughter's visit to her other parent's house. To be fair, there's at least one day a week where we spend the majority of the day out of the hourse (piano and swimming lessons plus weekly errands). In the past I've aimed to be done by lunch except for some read alouds/silent reading time so they get plenty of time to play outside as well as a 1-2 hour quiet time each afternon. Heck, on days we've missed group subjects during the week for whatever reason, I've been known to declare Sunday "Chocolate Chip Sunday" and hand out chocolate bits for every attempt and enthusiastic reply to discussion questions :) It's worked really well for us for the past two years! My kids are pretty big structure kids (they come by it honestly lol!) and I found that having school (almost) every day really helped. This year, because I've got three students at three different levels as well as a toddler, I'm planning on no formal at-home bookwork type schooling on our "town day" and do one-on-one subjects during our quiet time in the afternoons (so *I* don't actually get a quiet time :( ) and continue schooling on Saturday. Not sure how this is going to go. . . Definitely, definitely try it and see if it works for you! If it doesn't, it's not permanent. Go ahead a change it again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sbgrace Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 I school six days a week, with flexibility whenever needed of course. I decided to take math out of our Saturdays for the summer this year. We're moving quickly through that curriculum anyway, and I was starting to sense some burn out. I do think it might help in your situation if everyone can get on board. It's certainly worth a try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndGenHomeschooler Posted June 11, 2015 Author Share Posted June 11, 2015 I'm so glad to hear that this has worked for other families! This I tried making one weekday a week "Saturday" to line up with my DH's day off. I thought it would be great for the whole family to be on a similar schedule. It did NOT work. The kid could never figure out what was supposed to be going on each day and consistently seemed shocked when I told them we had to do school. It was hard for me to get everyone going on Monday when I new we were going to be taking Tuesday off and if Thursday was going to be our "Saturday" we may as well skip Friday. It was a mess! And then everyone complained if I suggested doing school on Saturday because "no one else has to". I think 6 days a week will be easier. "Everyday, regardless of what day Daddy has off, we will be learning something from breakfast until lunch." That seems much easier for the kids keep track off. Then, days when we have a family outing planned or don't use the whole 3 hour school block can be exceptions instead of the rule. I like it - seems easier already. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeaConquest Posted June 11, 2015 Share Posted June 11, 2015 This past year, my son attended a homeschool charter 3 days/week, and we homeschooled the other 3 days. 6 days/week worked well for us this year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Roadrunner Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 I feel like a complete slacker, but I must admit you are onto something. We get only four days a week due to activities, and I feel guilty asking kids to do school on the weekends. I might just join you and Saturday school them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2ndGenHomeschooler Posted June 12, 2015 Author Share Posted June 12, 2015 We have extra curriculars a couple of days a week too - karate and sign language. Both are in the morning. We may be helping to start up a co-op in the fall too. I figure these activities still count towards our morning "learning time". I think I can use driving time more productively too. We can work on memory work, drill math facts, or listen to CDs that go along with our studies. (No reading or writing in the car for us! We get car sick!) I'm starting to get excited about this! :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stm4him Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 We do 6 days a week unless something comes up. If we are having visitors we end up cleaning all day. We take off when something cool comes up that we want to do. Sometimes we take off because I don't feel well or because I need to get control of some area of the house or shopping or whatever, but unless we have something planned we school Saturdays as well. We school from 12-4:30 and they do their 1 1/2 hours of reading before bed when it gets dark, so they have plenty of daylight for playing before 12 and after 4:30 (at least in the spring and summer.....less in fall and winter). Six days shalt thou labor works for us..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3 ladybugs Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 We sort of do this now, but will be really doing it in the fall. Right now I am in charge of writing, spelling, reading, math and art, and DH is in charge of history and science. Hubby often pushes his back to the weekend. I September though, my son will have German once a week on Saturday morning. That will basically make him a 6 day a week student. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MariaT Posted June 12, 2015 Share Posted June 12, 2015 We homeschool 6 days a week when our coop is in session, which is 10 weeks in the fall and 10 weeks in the spring. The coop day is an all-day affair, and we learned pretty quickly that no schoolwork would get done on coop day, and that we were falling behind both in home-study courses and online courses. Over the years it has gotten to the point that even when coop ends, my kids use a weekend day to get schoolwork done. This is particularly true when my oldest started CC classes-- he was studying all weekend to prepare for classes the next week. It makes sense for us, not just for the logistics of keeping on track with their studies, but it also reinforces the idea that learning does not take place only during certain hours or days, and that we are all lifelong learners. Go for it! Maria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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