4-Day schedule for Bigger

[Mamamindy]

Hello! I have been searching the boards for a 4-day schedule for Bigger and I can't find one posted anywhere. I saw a suggestion to look at the HOD Facebook group to get one, but I don't have Facebook. Can anyone help?

Thanks

[Rice]

I sent you a private message, since this is an adaptation of Carrie's suggestions. I don't want to step on toes.

Blessings,

[StephanieU]

I would also consider why you want/need to do a 4 day schedule. If you have a 7yo doing Bigger, I would just do one lesson a day, not completing a unit in a week. If you have a 9yo, then condensing may make sense since your child is at the older end of the age range. If your child is 8, then I would first do the guide as written, taking more than a week to do a unit. If you find that after a while you can get more done in a day without overloading yourself or your child, then you can start adding an extra box each day, moving to completing a unit in 4 days. But some times that is just too much for an 8 yo, and that is fine. You could just stretch out your school year a few weeks if you need to.

[christina32344]

We do a 4 day work week with Bigger. Each day we choose 1- 2 different boxes to double up on throughout the week until we have completed the full unit. This is the schedule that works for us without overwhelming my daughter by doubling everything all in a single day.

Hope this helps.

[Mamamindy]

Thank you for the responses!!

I am using this with 8 & 9 year old boys (grades 2 & 4). I'm not worried about it overloading them. They can definitely handle a couple extra activities each day.

My husband's day off is on Tuesdays. We usually take that day off school so the boys can spend time with dad doing guy things I don't take summers off, but we take off through the year when we need to. A 4-day school week is just what works for us. My thought is to have a consistent routine each week where everybody knows what days we notebook, do an experiment, art project, etc. Just looking for a routine

[Rice]

My thought is to have a consistent routine each week where everybody knows what days we notebook, do an experiment, art project, etc. Just looking for a routine

The one difficulty with this approach is: what happens if you have another day off due to sickness, appointments, field trips, unforeseen circumstances, etc.? Would you skip the daily activities for that unit? Double up to make it work out?

Many of us have discovered that it's far easier (on us!) to let Day 1 of each Unit fall on whatever day it happens to fall, and no matter what day of the week or what comes up between, Day 2 is what you do the next day you do school. Because of this (and despite the fact I shared a 4-day schedule with you) it isn't necessarily beneficial to work into a 4-day Unit, even if you're doing a 4-day school week. Unless your kids actually need the extra work of a couple extra subjects each day, it would be better just to move on to the next Day on the next school day, no matter which Day of the Unit you happen to be working on or weekday it is.

(FWIW, I have one on Day 4, one on Day 1 and one took an earned "inservice" day today - all in different units of 2 different guides! That totally wasn't the way I started homeschooling but have discovered it works far better than trying to keep them all on the same Day - although if they were working together, that would be different. The younger 2 I don't know what day they're on - we'll just pick up tomorrow where we left off today, in guides that I still control. )

You may be able to come up with a 4-day/week, 4-Day/Unit, assigned project day schedule that works for you, and if you think that will work best for you, go for it! I just haven't been able to make that work here.

Blessings,

[Nealewill]

I did do a 4 day a week schedule last year with my son. We implemented it about 1/3 of the way into our year. This is how I doubled the boxed and shifted my schedule to only 4 days: On day 1, I added the box from Science day 2 to the first day and we did Poetry from day 1 and day 2 together. On my second day of the week, I didn't have to add anything. On Day 3, I combine Bible from day 3 and day 4. And then on day 4, I combine the rotating box, timeline and storytime together from Day 5 to the history, rotating box and story time on day 4. For spelling, that is listed on day 5 but we just made our own schedule of being sure to complete spelling 3 out of 4 days per week. With reading - either emerging readers or DITHOR, we just made sure to do it every day so there was no formal shift. For music, we just listened to the songs 4 days vs 5. For Cursive and Preparing to Build, these I did not shift. It would have been way to much information. But, we do a very light schedule of school over the summer every year. We finished the grammar book over the summer and are finishing the cursive book now this year.

For my son, he was able to handle the workload because he doesn't take a lot of time with anything. I also did a lot of hand holding with my son so I was able to maintain this speed with him too. With my youngest, I had planned on doing this same thing. But I am finding that she takes great care in her work and that because I am working with the other kids more (mainly my son), I really can't maintain this type of schedule in anyway. This year is just too busy. So I have resigned that my youngest will just do 1 days worth in a day. The good thing is that she is very independent and works very efficiently. With out modifying the schedule at all, my days are getting done fairly fast with her too. And she actually does a lot of stuff independently and for me, I just didn't want the stress of trying to put it all in 4 days this year.

One other thing to note is that I found out this year that my son's workload for Bigger (by doing this) was heavier than his workload with Preparing. Wow! Didn't realize that! So that is another reason I decided not to have my 7 year old complete Bigger nearly as quickly this year.

[Mamamindy]

Thank you for the responses!! We started Bigger this week, going 1/2 speed for Unit 1. I am so excited about using HOD with my guys this year. They are the youngest of my five and I am savoring spending this time with them. They grow sooooo fast!!

[Carrie]

Mamamindy,

Welcome to the HOD Board! We're glad to have you here. As you ponder what will work best for your family, I just wanted to pop-in and share a few things for you to consider while you are pondering.

One thing to remember is that each guide is designed to have a daily workload that is appropriate for the skill level of your student. Each day of plans is written with a careful balance in mind of visual, kinesthetic, and auditory assignments. Creative and more structured assignments are also balanced within a school day. Also, the activities on the left side and even some from the right side of the guide are meant to intertwine together as written within a day of school to allow kiddos to make connections.

I share all of this to say that when you start shifting boxes around, you lose the carefully timed workload, lose the balance of skills, and lose the connections that are designed to happen effortlessly. To show you what I mean, I'll share this example. Imagine that you are a classroom teacher in a Christian school. Each week you spend your entire weekend and many nights writing a week of plans for your class. You work to be sure that each activity has a special purpose in that particular day, bringing out things from the history reading or the Bible or science that you desire your kiddos to relate together. As you arrive on Monday, you discover that there is a two hour assembly scheduled for Monday that you were unaware was taking place when you wrote the plans. So, you begin shifting the plans, trying to keep what was really important together (which you can do fairly well because you wrote the plans). Now, later in the week there is a fire drill, and the plans shift again. Later in the week the guidance counselor stops in to talk about playground troubles, and more shifiting occurs. By the week's end, how well do you think those original lesson plans are functioning? How cohesive are they at this point? You sigh, and hope the next week will be better.

However, if you do this shifting every week with HOD, you can quickly see what is lost! No longer can your kiddos just follow the two-page spread and know when the boxes are checked off they are done. No longer do you view your school day that way either, as you are constantly trying to squeeze more into less time. At that point, you are pretty much rewriting the plans in a way that they were not designed to be taught. When we talk to moms who have shifted too many things in the plans, we often discover that they are on different days of plans in so many areas that both they and their kiddos are completely confused as to where they really are.

I share this not to discourage you, but rather to encourage you with some wisdom I've gained through the years. As we homeschool our kiddos, we have to ask what it is we are racing to do? Why must we approach schooling in a way that has us cramming more into fewer days? Homeschooling is a journey that goes on for many years. It is not a race to the finish line, but rather requires steady progress forward.

So, if you have a child in Bigger Hearts and you need a 4 day schedule, I would recommend teaching a day within in a day (once you work your way up to it from half-speed). On your day off, simply set the guide aside. Then, when you return to your school, pick the guide up where you left off and go forward. Once you get to Preparing Hearts on up, you will switch to a 4 day plan anyway, so why not give your family every chance to succeed with Bigger Hearts by using it the way it was written? You always want to leave your kiddos begging for more in the early years, rather than leaving them (and you) barely getting done.

Enjoy the younger years, where the school day isn't so long, because it will get longer soon enough!

Blessings to you as you ponder,
Carrie

[LovingJesus]

Thank you for this post Carrie. It really helped me to read it, and you shared many elements that I needed to hear. You are such a blessing for so many of us in home schooling.

[hs.mama07]

Hi! We have done LHFHG, Beyond, and will do Bigger using four day weeks during the school year (when we have a homeschool co-op). Then, during the summer, when we do school, we do 5 day weeks. We continue doing 34 weeks of school each year...some weeks have 4 days of plans, some have 5 days of plans. By doing 5 day weeks during the summer, we end up almost finishing the guide in a normal year and it seems to work out well. This might not work since the reason you want to take off is your hubby's day off, but wanted to share just in case.

I personally agree that the days feel better when they are done as written--just goes smoother and feels easier, but, you need to do what works for your family. If you find you don't like the feel of mixing up boxes/days, here are some other ideas I've seen:

You can simply add a few extra weeks of school to their year. As it is, there are 34 weeks of school and about 18 weeks of vacation. You could take 14 weeks of vacation instead. Then you'd still have four more weeks of the guide to finish in the next year, but that's not too big of a deal. If you did a few five day weeks here and there, then it would be even closer to finishing the whole guide in one year.

Even if you did a normal 34 weeks of school doing 4 day weeks (one day of the guide each day), it would only leave you 8 more weeks of the guide left for the next year, which isn't that much of a difference in the long run. Especially considering Preparing on up are 4 day weeks so you'll be finishing those in a year easily. The guides spread such large age ranges and Carrie uses such advanced materials, it isn't really like they are behind. Your 9 year old may turn 10 toward the end of Bigger, but most of the guide he'd be in the age range. And you can always use extension books if you feel he needs more of a challenge. You might be able to add the extension books halfway through Bigger, if he turns 10 and you feel he's ready for more. I've never used them so not sure about that.

Another idea would be to do the above suggestion (4 day weeks for 34 weeks...extra 8 weeks of the guide in the next year), but you could do extra math and language arts so that the kids stay grade level in those areas.

Whatever you decide, I hope it goes well! Don't be afraid to tweak as the year goes on!