Hobbes Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 (edited) In previous years I've done history and science all year - usually we have a history focused day and a science focused day. The kids love both. But I've always wondered if we would focus better and dig deeper if things were less spread out. We started our school year two weeks ago, but then left on a trip, so I haven't really dug into content stuff yet, aside from the great trip adventures we had! As we get going on this year, I have SOTW3 (doing half of it this year, I slow it down because of mixed ages) and RSO Chemistry (cutting the large elements chapter, so it's shorter). Has anyone had good results of doing science for one semester and then history for the next? Pros and cons you've found? I've read several of the threads here about block schedules, but I'm specifically wondering about semester-length blocks, rather than 2 or 6 week blocks. ETA: typo Edited September 17, 2017 by indigoellen@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertstrawberry5 Posted September 17, 2017 Share Posted September 17, 2017 I like to alternate by the month. If you make history or science a daily priority, you might be able to finish in about 5-6 weeks, and be fully immersed the whole time. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hobbes Posted September 20, 2017 Author Share Posted September 20, 2017 I like to alternate by the month. If you make history or science a daily priority, you might be able to finish in about 5-6 weeks, and be fully immersed the whole time. That's a nice idea - in-depth chunks, but shorter than a semester. I have to think it through more, but the thought is very appealing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueWren Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 I like 6 week blocks. That way History and Science are both covered each term. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wendyroo Posted September 22, 2017 Share Posted September 22, 2017 We study science one semester and history the other. Pros: - We fully immerse ourselves into a subject and interact with it daily, instead of having to juggle one history topic and one science topic each of which we only touch on a couple days a week. - Much more manageable prep for me. Each week I just look in the one book we are working through to see what supplies we will need. - Not a lot of time to get bored with a topic. Just when we are getting bored with chemistry at the end of the semester, we are ready to switch to history. Cons: - We move through the material at double speed, covering a week's worth of material every two days. This doesn't leave a lot of room for extra activities. - This means we go without formal science/history for an entire semester. I'm fine with this because my kiddos are naturally interested in those subjects and read and watch documentaries constantly. - It breaks up the flow of history. At the beginning of our science semesters we are usually starting with a new branch of science, so no review is required. At the beginning of our history semesters, however, we have to spend some time reviewing what was happening in the world when we left off. Some of this review is done for us at the beginning of each SOTW book, but we also spend a few days looking through our coloring pages, maps, and review cards from the previous year. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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