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We will be diving in to our first year of school where we are using two guides. We will be attending a co-op on Fridays. My oldest is 8 (using BHFHG) and my youngest is 6 (95% sure I'll put her in LHFHG ). Is there a good way to change the 5 day format of the guides to a 4 day format for both students

Thanks in advance! All ideas are appreciated!

Sally

Some people do it, but I wouldn't recommend it on a continuing basis. That is adding 20% more work each day, be which is a lot for kids normally. We have done it on rare occasions, right before a vacation or something when I wanted a unit done. LHFHG might be doable for a kids that doesn't mind school work, but Bigger would be a lot of work each week (without skipping things).
Instead, just do for days each week and not worry about Day 1 being Monday.

Just teach 4 days and the following week pick it up with Day 5 and Days 1,2,3 of the next unit. Then just pick it up the next week where you left off. I taught all the younger guides that way with my son who is now in Preparing. He does not move up in guides at the traditional school year time, but that has never been a problem for us.

Thanks for your input! I was hoping to avoid that schedule where I just complete the book around the co-op schedule, but I understand how it may be too much for the kiddos if I push for more. I may need to reign my expectations in a little bit!

Is Co-op all day? Could you do some when you got home? That's what I plan on doing. You could try to lengthen each day by a subject and see how he does. Maybe do storytime in the evening? Finish some work on Sat? Bigger is a teacher intensive year but over all takes about 2-3 hours a day. Reading Dithor on the way to & from Co-op? There is a lot of options! Try and see what works for you! Also, I've tried to keep day 1 on Monday etc. But it never works, kids sick, dr appt, snow day, holiday, etc. . . there's always something. I had to give it up. If you do go to 4 days a week, you could just lengthen your school year to get it all done.

Having older kids in guides with 4 day weeks, I have shortened the 5 day guides to 4 days many times over the years. I needed that 5th day for appointments, catching up at home, etc., and I didn't want to lengthen the school year of my younger ones either...so I would often pick and choose. Some days we would double up on history. Some days we would double up on science or story time. Some days if there was something "extra" that I didn't feel was a priority in education, we would skip a block or two (and at that age, my kids didn't know we were "skipping" something). It has worked for us, and it will continue to until all 5 of my kiddos are in 4 days guides! Do what works best for you!

Thanks Robbi and Meredith for more great ideas! Meredith, it is great to hear that you have done this and that you are coming out all right on the other side!

I did shorten the week last year with Beyond, but when I saw the Bigger guide, I was overwhelmed and thought it would be a lot for DS to handle and too much for me to juggle two guides, let alone try to shorten the week to four days. We've got two units under our belts now, and I can see how we could squeeze the week a little by doubling up on some subjects each day. Bigger isn't as overwhelming as it looked and DS and I both love it even more than the earlier guides! (Bonus!) Reading DITHOR in the car on the way to co-op or storytime at night are options I could definitely implement.

I was concerned about being able to overlap the subjects, but it works out that I can sit with one student while the other is working on math or art. I start DD with tumblebooks while I go through history, Bible, poetry, and sometimes English with DS, then start him on math. DD finishes reading and then I start LHFHG with her. We can usually make it through 5 or 6 boxes while DS is working on math, so then when I put DD in math, she's almost done with the day and I can focus most of the remaining time on DS. It's been working well so far!

All that to say, I've just got two kids to work through these guides. So thanks for your input and patience! I figured some of you with just as many or more kids might have a thing or two to teach me about adapting the guides to the family's needs.