It's a five day program- should I make it 4?

[TNT]

Hi,

I'm an obvious newbie!
I'm using two 5 day programs for my kids. Is it better to make it a 4 day program so you can do "stuff" on Fridays with them??

Also, how do I know when to start school??? I know it's up to me- we've finished our vacations, wouldn't say I'm ready at all yet - as in organized. We came from ps....I'm tempted to start when they start??

Thanks!

[krismoose]

Hi and welcome!
What programs will you be doing? I like to do school 4 days a week and save the 5th for playdates, errands, appointments etc. (My ds does math, reading and handwriting on the 5th day as well. He needs the consistency ) It adds 9 weeks, so we just spill over in to "next year", which is fine by me. If you don't want to add the weeks, some have done extra to fit all the activities into 4 days, but I don't think you could reasonably do that after Beyond, IMO, without having a whole lot of writing every day. It's not recommended to skip activities regularly, as they all tie in to the impact of the program.

If I were coming from ps, I'd ease into things slowly a bit before ps starts, and do something special to celebrate your new school on the day ps starts! A trip to the park, or the zoo, the library? Hmm, maybe we'll do that this year too. Enjoy! I'm sure you will find a routine that fits your family!

[MelInKansas]

I did it last year with LHFHG. I did a "double up" day each week where we would cover two of the days in the guide. I did usually leave out something, often the math activity because my DD caught on to the math concepts pretty quickly. Sometimes it was the Art/Science/rotating box.

Now we are doing Beyond. I don't see how on earth we could double up a day so I'm going to try to commit to 5 day schooling, but with a flexible schedule. I have two schedules for our day, one where we will be at home most of the day (at least until 3:30) and one where we might be out from 11-2 (because this is often the window where I go grocery shopping, or when the weather's nice we'll go out for a picnic at a park or something).

But if I was going to try to do 4 days instead of 5 with Beyond what I would do is double up on one thing each day (or maybe 2?) This may cut down on the cohesiveness of the program, you may be reading about something on a different day than another activity that goes along with that. Or you can school for an extra 9 weeks, which didn't seem like an acceptable option for me. I have already started school, so maybe that will give us the flexibility to miss a few more days and still finish "on time." Right now I'm not at all fighting them wanting to go outside because it's so hot out!

Especially since you're coming from Public School definitely take the time you need to prepare yourself before you start. I think the time I spent in preparation last year and this year made the start very smooth, and made the transition easier (from not having school to having it in our case). The more confused and unfocused I am the worse it goes.

but I highly recommend starting before PS starts. It's easy to get into a routine before a lot of the weekly activities start (we do AWANA and dance classes). It would be fun to celebrate on the day PS starts by going somewhere special, to show them that this is one of the benefits of not going to PS.

[chillin'inandover]

I would do 4 days as written each week and continue on Monday with next day. It will take you longer than stated in manual and you would continue in Fall where you left off. Preparing guide and older is 4 days so when you do those programs it won't be an issue.
Tammy

[TNT]

Thanks for the replies!

I am doing Bigger with one and LHFHG with 2 of my kiddos..

thanks!

[my3sons]

I think it depends on how you want to structure your week. We have done school 4 days a week, and we have done school 5 days a week. No matter how many days a week we do school, I just do one day's worth of plans each day. This lets me just pick up the guide and teach it each day with no finagling. I have done 4 day a week guides 5 days a week and finished them quite quickly. I've also done 5 day a week guides 4 days a week and taken longer to finish them. Both have worked just fine. I do try to stay on track with a pace that fits each of our dc's needs. HTH!

In Christ,
Julie

[mom2Gracentwins]

If you do only 4 days a week in a 5 day program, does it mess with your head that the units aren't wrapping up neatly in a Monday-Friday week?

(I'm assuming only one day's plans out of the guides are done each day.)

I plan to do 5 day weeks, but I know there will be many times where dr appts, field trips, or just life will keep us from getting it done, and I'm already stressing over do I play catch-up to be on track with units and weeks lining up, or just let it slide until eventually they line up again anyway - for a time!

[krismoose]

If you do only 4 days a week in a 5 day program, does it mess with your head that the units aren't wrapping up neatly in a Monday-Friday week?

(I'm assuming only one day's plans out of the guides are done each day.)

I plan to do 5 day weeks, but I know there will be many times where dr appts, field trips, or just life will keep us from getting it done, and I'm already stressing over do I play catch-up to be on track with units and weeks lining up, or just let it slide until eventually they line up again anyway - for a time!

I left behind a lot of underlying stress once I let go of the need to have day 1=Monday, day 2=Tuesday, and so on. We do school 4 days a week and just pick up where we left off the week before, and it's fine. I thought my ds might have trouble remembering what we were doing, but he does great - *I'm* the one who needs to look at the guide and remind myself. It really is a blessing to be able to pick up where we left off and not have it be an issue.

[Kathleen]

Jennifer,

It didn't bother us at all to not have the unit fall Mon-Fri! We just did one two-page spread each day that we did school. When I started with HOD, my oldest was in Bigger and my little ones were in LHTH. Even though we mostly did 5-day weeks that year, there were still days here and there when we did not. Maybe someone was sick, or we headed out of town for the day because Dad was free, or Thanksgiving week when we did Mon and Tues and then had family in town...etc. It just worked so well even if a unit was beginning every Wed for a huge stretch of time when we were really consistent and not going anywhere extra in the winter. Now, if the guide were labeled Mon-Fri, I know that it would drive me CRAZY! But, it's not. It just says Unit 12, Day 3. You're free to do that day wherever it falls. And, it really does not mess up the cohesiveness of the units at all.

For the original question, I'd say to do whatever works best for your family! We have done both 4 and 5 day weeks here. This year, I think that my boys are going to do 4 day weeks, and I'm going to do 5 day weeks with Allison. (The boys will have extra chore work to do while Alli does school. Most likely they will wish they could do school, too.) She is ready to fly through the rest of Beyond this year, and begin Bigger. Next year we'll probably all be on 4 day weeks again. Once you hit Preparing they are scheduled as 4-day weeks. So, with the younger ones if you make their 5-day weeks, 4, you just take longer than a school year to finish. That seems to be working well in our house.

Kathleen

[Mommamo]

We do 4 day weeks because we have our homeschool group on Fridays. We just do as others have suggested and pick up where we last left off. It doesn't both anyone at all to have the units go over a week.

[mom2Gracentwins]

thanks for the answers to my question I feel better now!

[Daph]

This is great. I was wondering this same thing. We have a Bible study on Thursday mornings with a set Park Day afterward, and I've been stressing on how I'm going to fit all that in with a five-day TM.