Weekly Block Scheduling
In the six years that we've been homeschooling, we've changed our routine frequently. Sometimes what works just... stops working. It isn't your fault and it isn't a bad thing.
For the last two years, we've been working on a weekly block schedule to cover subjects and it has been working fantastically for us all. It allows us to delve deeply in to a subject and really explore it without time constraints. It also is easier on me, as the planner and executor, to prep materials for a single subject.
I'm getting ahead of myself, though. What exactly is a block schedule and what does it look like for us?
Block scheduling generally means less classes/subjects in a day with more focused class/subject time. We focus on one subject (English Language, History, Science, Art) per week with a few daily routines that don't change. One subject a week, with four subjects total, means that we essentially do a month's worth of work for a subject in one week. Gosh, that sounds so much more complicated than it really is! Lets look at it visually.
An example of our block schedule for a month:
Within any given day, each of my kids has a set of daily work that they must complete apart from the week's block subject. For example, they all must do 30 minutes of math. Math doesn't get it's own week because what kind of masochist can survive a week of intensive math? Also, a little each day just works well. Two of my kids do spelling work each day, one of them journals, and the all read/work on a novel project (I'll talk about novel projects later. They're everyone's favorite part of homeschooling). That daily work doesn't change with the block schedule.
It's worth noting that I wrote out this schedule as though we work like this five days a week. HAHAHAHA! Fooled ya! No homeschooler can crank out work like this. This year, we (aim to) work Tuesday-Thursday, as we have on-site classes and activities with friends the rest of the week. But you get the idea.
For the last two years, we've been working on a weekly block schedule to cover subjects and it has been working fantastically for us all. It allows us to delve deeply in to a subject and really explore it without time constraints. It also is easier on me, as the planner and executor, to prep materials for a single subject.
I'm getting ahead of myself, though. What exactly is a block schedule and what does it look like for us?
Block scheduling generally means less classes/subjects in a day with more focused class/subject time. We focus on one subject (English Language, History, Science, Art) per week with a few daily routines that don't change. One subject a week, with four subjects total, means that we essentially do a month's worth of work for a subject in one week. Gosh, that sounds so much more complicated than it really is! Lets look at it visually.
An example of our block schedule for a month:
Subject Focus
| Monday |
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Language Week
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
History Week
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
Science Week
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
Art Week
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
------->
|
Within any given day, each of my kids has a set of daily work that they must complete apart from the week's block subject. For example, they all must do 30 minutes of math. Math doesn't get it's own week because what kind of masochist can survive a week of intensive math? Also, a little each day just works well. Two of my kids do spelling work each day, one of them journals, and the all read/work on a novel project (I'll talk about novel projects later. They're everyone's favorite part of homeschooling). That daily work doesn't change with the block schedule.
It's worth noting that I wrote out this schedule as though we work like this five days a week. HAHAHAHA! Fooled ya! No homeschooler can crank out work like this. This year, we (aim to) work Tuesday-Thursday, as we have on-site classes and activities with friends the rest of the week. But you get the idea.
