Has anyone tried long-term block scheduling?

[EKT]

Hi all! So, my kids are 8 and almost 6. Right now, we do skill work (math, and all facets of language arts) every single day. The girls each do their skill work one-on-one with me in the morning, after Morning Time. Then, we break for lunch and rest (quiet time in their rooms). In the afternoon, we reconvene and do the remaining subjects together (science, history, art, etc.). The problem is that we sort of lose steam in the afternoons. Right now, I'm doing history M/W and science T/F. (We do art, health, or music on Thursdays after co-op.) But I'm finding it's so hard to get traction with either history or science because the girls forget a lot of what we've just done, and I spend a lot of time re-teaching and trying to pick up where we left off. It just feels so broken up. Our morning studies are very strong, and I think it's because everything is done daily. But the afternoon stuff is just so hit-or-miss. So, I'm thinking of changing our schedule and doing nothing but, say, history every afternoon for six weeks, then switching gears and doing science every afternoon for six weeks. Does anyone else do this? How has it worked for you?

 

 

I'm considering this because I think the daily consistency will help us stay on track better (and I think this will make my planning easier, too, since I'll only have to focus on one major afternoon subject at a time). My main hesitation, however, is that I worry that the subject that isn't being taught for a 6-week span will get very weak over the course of the break.

 

Thoughts? Advice? Alternate ideas? Thanks!

[The Governess]

I don't worry much about retention with content subjects at that age. My goal is just to expose them to important figures, events, concepts, etc., and to let them enjoy the stories and the discovery. If they forget something important, I re-explain and move on, or if they did a summary or drew a picture about it previously we will review it. They will revisit this material several times throughout their school years. Once they are in middle school retention becomes more important, but it becomes easier for them as well.

 

I'd say use whichever schedule seems to flow better for your family. :)

[EKT]

I don't worry much about retention with content subjects at that age. My goal is just to expose them to important figures, events, concepts, etc., and to let them enjoy the stories and the discovery. If they forget something important, I re-explain and move on, or if they did a summary or drew a picture about it previously we will review it. They will revisit this material several times throughout their school years. Once they are in middle school retention becomes more important, but it becomes easier for them as well.

 

This is a good point to keep in mind! Thanks for that! :-)

 

Just to be more clear, when I was referring to them forgetting, it's less about them forgetting specific facts (I'm not too worried about that, exactly for the reasons you mention!) and more like I feel like I have to re-explain the entire context of whatever we are talking about. I just feel like I'm wasting a lot of time repeating myself every other day and that we actually make very little forward progress. 

 

Edited for spelling. :-)

[silver]

I do 3 weeks science, 3 weeks history, 1 week break. So by the time we get back to a subject, it's been four weeks. The retention is OK--not any better or worse than before we did blocks. I prefer doing blocks where I only have one of the subjects to deal with any given week. I used to do it by day like you're currently doing, and I found that we'd sometimes have both history and science to do in a given day if we couldn't get everything finished the day before. Somehow a double portion of one subject feels better than a single portion of two subjects.

[ItoLina]

I used to do switch each day like you are doing and it was driving me crazy to have projects going for both history and science at the same time. It felt really choppy, and I agree, planning for both at the same time was hard. This year I started doing 2 weeks science, then 2 weeks history and I love it! I think I am going to push it to 3 weeks science and 3 weeks history for the next rotation.

 

It totally makes my planning easier. What I have done so far is when we finish our 2 weeks of science, I request all science books at the library for the next science block (this way science is still fresh in my mind and the library has 2 weeks to gather them for me and I just go pick them up). I also jot down any supplies we need for projects or experiments on my shopping list, and then I have 2 weeks to gather those together too. Then we do our 2 weeks of history and at the end of that 2 weeks I prep for the next history block in the same way. So I am always 2 weeks ahead in my planning and don't feel like I am scrambling at the last minute. It's worked out great.

 

As far as retention goes, it is nice that when you are in a subject you are really in it. They seem to remember things ok and I try to plan our stopping point somewhere that sort of makes sense. So if we are doing sound in science I try to just finish up everything we have to do on that topic so when we come back to science 2 weeks later we are on to the next thing.

 

I say give it a try. You can always go back if it doesn't work out [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ScoutTN]

We are doing 3 week blocks this year too, for the reasons pp mentioned. It does work better for us so far, but we have really just started with this schedule this year, so I can't compare retention.

[Coco_Clark]

We do blocks of 1-2 weeks; art (1), science (2) history (2) or their interest (1).

 

I'd love to make the blocks even longer but I'd get tantrums from 1 if he had to do more then a week of art. Art week is his torture. And they'd all complain when we were done with science for the year.

[EKT]

I used to do switch each day like you are doing and it was driving me crazy to have projects going for both history and science at the same time. It felt really choppy, and I agree, planning for both at the same time was hard. This year I started doing 2 weeks science, then 2 weeks history and I love it! I think I am going to push it to 3 weeks science and 3 weeks history for the next rotation.

 

It totally makes my planning easier. What I have done so far is when we finish our 2 weeks of science, I request all science books at the library for the next science block (this way science is still fresh in my mind and the library has 2 weeks to gather them for me and I just go pick them up). I also jot down any supplies we need for projects or experiments on my shopping list, and then I have 2 weeks to gather those together too. Then we do our 2 weeks of history and at the end of that 2 weeks I prep for the next history block in the same way. So I am always 2 weeks ahead in my planning and don't feel like I am scrambling at the last minute. It's worked out great.

 

As far as retention goes, it is nice that when you are in a subject you are really in it. They seem to remember things ok and I try to plan our stopping point somewhere that sort of makes sense. So if we are doing sound in science I try to just finish up everything we have to do on that topic so when we come back to science 2 weeks later we are on to the next thing.

 

I say give it a try. You can always go back if it doesn't work out [emoji4]

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

These are great tips- thank you!! What you describe is what I am hoping to achieve.

[abba12]

Part of it is simply age I would guess, especially as the content subjects can get rather abstract for little minds.

 

But, I did block scheduling in various forms throughout my school years, including one year of a month of science, a month of history etc, and I think it's great. I am a huge proponent of being able to immerse yourself into a subject rather than just get it done, whether it's spending an entire day each week on a subject, or spending a month of afternoons on it, or whatever, anything that allows for long periods to focus on a subject without distraction by 2 or 3 other subjects is good in my experience/opinion. 

 

I intend to do 6-week-block scheduling with the kids, and hope to have focus areas each 6 weeks, one block might be health, another a focused science (we do science reading all the time) another an art unit, whatever. 

[....]

I've seriously considered this type of schedule, too.  I always chicken out.  I've thought about doing 1-2 subjects at a time blocks for my older kids.  Here's a college that does blocks:  https://coloradocollege.edu/basics/blockplan/  Also, if you google "block schedule", there's all kinds of articles about it.  Lots of schools have tried it.  When I searched for it before, I even saw a couple of studies on kids' test scores and block schedules.

 

Everyone always warns against that kind of schedule, but my older two kids don't do well with constantly changing subjects.  So it becomes a...do you do what you think the kids would do best with?  Or do you heed the warnings of the block schedule?   I just don't know!  :tongue_smilie:   

 

 

Edited to add: Your block schedule would probably look different than mine (because of the age differences of our kids).  You really couldn't do one subject at a time, but I think I could with older kids.  Have you seen Waldorf schedules and the way they do main subjects with review?  That might be a good one for younger kids. 

[Jennay]

I've seriously considered this type of schedule, too. I always chicken out. I've thought about doing 1-2 subjects at a time blocks for my older kids. Here's a college that does blocks: https://coloradocollege.edu/basics/blockplan/ Also, if you google "block schedule", there's all kinds of articles about it. Lots of schools have tried it. When I searched for it before, I even saw a couple of studies on kids' test scores and block schedules.

 

Everyone always warns against that kind of schedule, but my older two kids don't do well with constantly changing subjects. So it becomes a...do you do what you think the kids would do best with? Or do you heed the warnings of the block schedule? I just don't know! :tongue_smilie:

 

 

Edited to add: Your block schedule would probably look different than mine (because of the age differences of our kids). You really couldn't do one subject at a time, but I think I could with older kids. Have you seen Waldorf schedules and the way they do main subjects with review? That might be a good one for younger kids.

True block schedules don't work out so well with math and foreign languages. So a hybrid block schedule just like some pp described above should work just fine!

[....]

True block schedules don't work out so well with math and foreign languages. So a hybrid block schedule just like some pp described above should work just fine!

 

Every once in a while, we have a thread about block schedules and that's pretty much the general consensus.  But, I think it would work with higher math...   :001_unsure:   Maybe?  

[abba12]

Every once in a while, we have a thread about block schedules and that's pretty much the general consensus. But, I think it would work with higher math... :001_unsure: Maybe?

Its generally said that block schedules don't work for math, but I will say that, against advice, I block scheduled my own math in high school, and for ME it worked great, retention was as good if not better than daily practice. But it depends on your student, of course.

[....]

Its generally said that block schedules don't work for math, but I will say that, against advice, I block scheduled my own math in high school, and for ME it worked great, retention was as good if not better than daily practice. But it depends on your student, of course.

 

What kind of math were you working on?  The reason I think it would work is because we had a huge break this spring (it was probably a 4 month break) and we stopped right in the middle of Algebra.  I was really worried that we would have to start over from the beginning...  We did a week of review and she just picked right up where we left off!  

 

OP, sorry for adding so much to your thread!   :leaving:

[EKT]

 

 

OP, sorry for adding so much to your thread!   :leaving:

 

No worries at all! I welcome any and all discussion and find it really helpful!

[Jess4879]

We did this last year and I loved, loved, loved it.  It took off so much pressure and I found we were actually covering those subjects in greater depth.  I had scheduled for 3 days/week and because it freed up time, we often did extra.  For science months, I made sure to have some history books in our library pile and vice-versa.  The kids still remember the topics we covered last year.  :)

 

This year I went with Mystery of History and it's a full year program on it's own and I don't want to take 2 years to cover it...so we're back to doing both science and history every week and we are already about a week behind what I had scheduled.  :(

[KeriJ]

We did this last year and I loved, loved, loved it.  It took off so much pressure and I found we were actually covering those subjects in greater depth.  I had scheduled for 3 days/week and because it freed up time, we often did extra.  For science months, I made sure to have some history books in our library pile and vice-versa.  The kids still remember the topics we covered last year.  :)

 

This year I went with Mystery of History and it's a full year program on it's own and I don't want to take 2 years to cover it...so we're back to doing both science and history every week and we are already about a week behind what I had scheduled.  :(

 

That's the way we're doing it, sort of.  When we're doing a block of history as a family, they have independent science to read and vice versa.  What has worked for my younger crowd lately is history in the fall, science in the spring, geography in the summer.  

[abba12]

What kind of math were you working on? The reason I think it would work is because we had a huge break this spring (it was probably a 4 month break) and we stopped right in the middle of Algebra. I was really worried that we would have to start over from the beginning... We did a week of review and she just picked right up where we left off!

 

OP, sorry for adding so much to your thread! :leaving:

In Australia math is spiral,, even through high school, and our sequence is a bit different. I believe the specific year I'm thinking of I was doing about the equivalent of the second half of algebra 1, first half of trigonometry, and basic statistics. For some of the year I was doing math one day a week, or two days in a row every two weeks, doing a weeks worth of lessons in a day. (I did no other subjects on math days) Later in the year I did the entire 'term' (approx 9 weeks, though two of those were revision and I skipped them) in one and a half weeks, again doing only math in that time. I don't know if one day a week worked very well, it was too little, too far apart, but one or two weeks a term was great for me. Obviously most people here are looking to do more than one subject a day so that isn't a reasonable plan, but 6 weeks of math, followed by 6 weeks of, say, foreign language, each done at double pace, is achievable for SOME students, if they study best with deep focus. I learned that I couldn't do more than three, preferably 2, subjects a day well, which is why I moved to these schedules.

[...................]

I am still trying this out with my dd11 almost 12 who has focusing issues.

 

It seems like it's better....she does math and spelling every day, and piano.

 

Then, she does an entire week's of either: History, Grammar or COmposition, Science or Bible.

 

The only downside is that she really groans when it's Grammar/Composition Day because she is doing ten pages of grammar, or she is churning out an entire essay in one day.  However, she still does a better job, this way, than the previous way.  

 

With kids as young as yours, grammar/composition would have to be done every day, because they are really still building foundational skills.  So really, the only subjects that you could block would be Science, History, or Bible...

 

 

[EKT]

 

 

With kids as young as yours, grammar/composition would have to be done every day, because they are really still building foundational skills.  So really, the only subjects that you could block would be Science, History, or Bible...

 

Yes, exactly. We would still do math and language arts every day; I am just thinking of doing the long-term blocks with science, history, and the arts. Thanks for your feedback!

[Rosie_0801]

Our block scheduled subjects last as long as they last. 

 

Lately that has looked something like:

Two days on an architecture lesson ->

Two days on geography ->

One day on RE ->

Four days on a MindUP lesson ->

Two days on a Human Rights lesson ->

Eight days on a science lesson->

Two days on an architecture lesson ->

One day on geography ->

Five days on RE ->

Four days on a MindUP lesson ->

One day on a Human Rights lesson ->

Three days on a science lesson->

 

And so on.

[Chelli]

I did my trial run of block scheduling our content subjects in the spring. It was a HUGE hit!

 

For this year we are doing 10 week blocks at a time and like a pp mentioned the kids read books about the other topics that we aren't studying during their independent reading time. I plan for a 40 week school year since we school year round, so our blocks this year are 10 weeks of science, 10 weeks of history, 10 weeks of cultural geography (Middle East this year), and 10 weeks of history again.

 

I wrote a blog post about it if you'd be interested in reading it: Table Time

[rebbyribs]

I haven't tried it, but I wanted to chime in and say that Moving Beyond the Page curriculum seems to be set up in similar blocks, with English every day and alternating 3-week Science and Social Studies units.  

 

I think that if I were to try a block schedule for history and science, I would want to be flexible about how many days we spent on each subject and switch from one to the other when we got to a point where we were wrapping up one topic and about to start another.  (For example, in science we just finished up a section on matter and started on Newton's laws, and in history we finished up a few chapters on European colonization of the Americas and jumped over to Japan.)  I'd probably do a few art project afternoons in between.

[lea_lpz]

Hi all! So, my kids are 8 and almost 6. Right now, we do skill work (math, and all facets of language arts) every single day. The girls each do their skill work one-on-one with me in the morning, after Morning Time. Then, we break for lunch and rest (quiet time in their rooms). In the afternoon, we reconvene and do the remaining subjects together (science, history, art, etc.). The problem is that we sort of lose steam in the afternoons. Right now, I'm doing history M/W and science T/F. (We do art, health, or music on Thursdays after co-op.) But I'm finding it's so hard to get traction with either history or science because the girls forget a lot of what we've just done, and I spend a lot of time re-teaching and trying to pick up where we left off. It just feels so broken up. Our morning studies are very strong, and I think it's because everything is done daily. But the afternoon stuff is just so hit-or-miss. So, I'm thinking of changing our schedule and doing nothing but, say, history every afternoon for six weeks, then switching gears and doing science every afternoon for six weeks. Does anyone else do this? How has it worked for you?

 

 

I'm considering this because I think the daily consistency will help us stay on track better (and I think this will make my planning easier, too, since I'll only have to focus on one major afternoon subject at a time). My main hesitation, however, is that I worry that the subject that isn't being taught for a 6-week span will get very weak over the course of the break.

 

Thoughts? Advice? Alternate ideas? Thanks!

Just wanted to say I feel you and we're in much the same boat. My kids are 6 & 8, too. We're consistent with the 3 R's, Bible, and chapter read alouds but afternoon "core stuff" is often hit or miss. I have a 18 month old and am 4 months pregnant with twins so I need the nap after lunch and some afternoons we don't seem to have it together for the other stuff.

 

I tell myself, a lot of folks only do the basics with kids my age and it's ok. We probably get to our core an average of 2-3 days a week.

[EKT]

Just wanted to say I feel you and we're in much the same boat. My kids are 6 & 8, too. We're consistent with the 3 R's, Bible, and chapter read alouds but afternoon "core stuff" is often hit or miss. I have a 18 month old and am 4 months pregnant with twins so I need the nap after lunch and some afternoons we don't seem to have it together for the other stuff.

 

I tell myself, a lot of folks only do the basics with kids my age and it's ok. We probably get to our core an average of 2-3 days a week.

 

This is very encouraging; thanks for sharing that!! It's nice to hear that others are dealing with the same issues. Best wishes for your twins! :-) 

[lea_lpz]

Oh and some weeks I modify school to not do the 3 R's, chapter books and Bible so we can do all the hands on stuff we did do. So sometimes I call an art week or a science week or a history week :). I still incorporate some writing or maybe practical math so I feel like we keep up skills.

 

At the ages of our kids emphasizing the basics seems practical.

 

Another thing is I allow a lot more self lead learning. My dd often does arts, crafts and science experiments she comes up with for fun with my 6 year old boy. It's still learning. And we are doing more park days and field trips this year. I am resizing they learn a lot this way! I follow it up with asime journal narration on the trip about what they learned!