Our 4-Day a Week Homeschool Schedule

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One of the many freedoms that homeschooling allows us is the ability to find a schedule that best fits our families. We don’t have to follow a strict Monday thru Friday daytime school schedule if that’s not the rhythm we want for our homeschool journey. Over the years, we’ve come to settle on a 4-day a week homeschool schedule.

 

 

The Beginning of Our Homeschool Journey

When we first started homeschooling, I was eager to do everything everyday. I didn’t see any reason why we shouldn’t be doing some type of school work 5 days a week with additional structured educational activities on the weekends. My oldest was only in kindergarten, but I was excited to get her going with school so that she could easily be ahead of her peers in public school.

Boy, was I in for a surprise!

We originally wanted to use Sonlight, but BookShark came on the market right around the time we started homeschooling. I loved the idea a religious-neutral version of Sonlight, and BookShark was the answer. However, I put the brakes on the switch when I realized that BookShark was only a 4 day a week homeschool curriculum. That didn’t work with my “full speed ahead” plan.

Even though Sonlight offers a 4 day version their curriculum, I wanted 5 days a week. I wanted all of it! I wanted every book we could cram into our homeschool journey. Anything less felt like I was slacking.

This is what prompted me to do a side by side comparison of Sonlight’s level A and BookShark’s level K programs. I expected to choose BookShark because we wanted a religious-neutral curriculum, but I intended to add in all of the non-religious books from Sonlight’s 5 day program.

My intention didn’t go quite as planned.

 

4 Days of Homeschool is Plenty

I quickly realized that a homeschool learning environment can be incredibly different than public school.

So much of the instruction time in public school is wasted on behavior issues and standardized tests. Yes we have our own behavior issues to deal with in our homeschool, but it’s nothing compared to what is often found in a large classroom. Because of this, we can be far more efficient with our time. What we can accomplish in 4 days of structured homeschool instruction is beyond what is done in many public school classrooms.

When using a literature-rich curriculum, the form the lessons take is far different than a textbook and worksheet approach that is often found in schools. The books ignite curiosity and encourage deep dive discussions with our kids. The combination of using spine books, readers, and read aloud-books provides a learning experience that is far more in depth than public schools can offer.

Four days a week worth of this approach to learning is a completely different approach to education than what is found in public schools.

Now that my kids are older, the books are longer and the discussions are deeper. Four days a week of BookShark equals an impressive pile of books and meaningful discussions that we get to explore with our kids. It’s thorough without being overwhelming.

Related Post – Why Experienced Homeschoolers Love Using an All-in-One Curriculum

 

Finding Our Homeschool Lifestyle

As much as using a literature rich curriculum is a key component in our homeschool lifestyle, so is getting out of the house with friends. Using a 4 day a week homeschool schedule gives us the time to pursue other interests while still giving our kids an exceptional learning experience.

During our first year of homeschooling, my primary goal was to find our homeschool family. We live in a city with a huge homeschool community, but it took a lot of time (and events) to find other families with whom we connected. We went to at least one event every single week during that first year. That time out of the house was well worth it. We experienced many field trips, nature hikes, and park play dates while making new friends.

Six years later, we are still out of the house every week on these adventures with friends. This helps to make our homeschool journey rich and varied. Plus, it’s just plain fun!

Using a 4 day week homeschool schedule gives us the time to pursue…

• Sports
• Field trips
• Hikes
• Group classes with our homeschool friends
• Individual and group music lessons
• Independent projects
• Hobbies
• Art and Music

 

Freedom with a 4-Day a Week Homeschool Schedule

When we first started, I took the schedule literally. We did school 4 days a week and then tried to coordinate everything else to fit into that 5th day. Well, that didn’t work for long.

After quite a bit of frustration, I realized that we were never going to fit one week’s worth of these extra experiences into one day every week. Even with minimal activities, it was rare to have a field trip fall on the same day as our regular extra-curricular activities. Sometimes it works for a bit but not for long.

I finally learned to use our curriculum schedules as guides that we can alter as needed.

We usually spread 4 days of work over 5 days during busy weeks. We may have a group class and a field trip on different days one week. Doing a full day of school on those days is often difficult, but we do what we can so that we’re not taking 2 full days off that week. Those weeks turn out to be 3 full days and 2 half days of structured school work. We love our extra activities, so that is a fairly common week for us.

 

Sticking with a 4 day a week homeschool schedule frees up time to spend with friends and pursue sports, music, and other activities. We still accomplish more in those 4 days of school work than many public school classrooms because we can be more efficient with our time. A 4-day a week homeschool schedule still provides a rich learning experience for our kids especially when using a literature-rich homeschool curriculum.