Tuesday Tips: Benefits of a Four Day Homeschool Week!

Where We Started

We have found that having a four-day homeschool week for our elementary and middle grades children was very beneficial. The first year I homeschooled, I had planned on a five-day week.

This worked great for the first few weeks, but then we found the other homeschoolers in our area, and suddenly there were field trip opportunities, library activities, and more. Add in doctor’s appointments and other activities, and it felt like we were never getting in a full five days.
At first, this bothered the planner inside of me. I didn’t like feeling behind, even if it was a schedule of my creation. I also really wanted us to enjoy these fantastic opportunities that afforded so much learning, even if it wasn’t checking any of my pretty little boxes.

What I Changed

So, I changed everything up and went to a four-day school week. On paper, I planned school Monday through Thursday, and this left Friday for field trips, free play, and housekeeping. However, I kept it really flexible, and we could take off whatever day of the week we needed if there was another activity.

My elementary and middle-grade students generally only needed a few hours in the morning to finish their work, so fitting it all into four days was not challenging, and they were still finished by lunchtime or early afternoon each day.

Having that built-in day for field trips and housekeeping really took a lot of stress out of our homeschool. Another benefit is that my children were motivated to get their work done because they enjoyed the extra day off and knew that if they didn’t do their assignments because they had not been diligent, they would have to finish them on that fifth day.

Make It Your Own

Every family is unique, but creating a schedule with built-in flexibility can help you relieve the stress of not getting to all the lesson plans, allow more time for real-life learning and field trips, and motivate your children to get their work done in a timely fashion.
As my children have gotten older and started high school-level courses, they have drifted back towards a five-day week just because their courses take more time.

However, we still have weeks where they fit five days of material into four days so they can join the family on a field trip or do some other activity.
If you are feeling overwhelmed trying to fit it all in or if adding in field trips and other opportunities messes up your carefully written plans, don’t be afraid to change your schedule to provide that built-in flexibility.

It might be a four-day week or some other nontraditional option, but find what works for you and your family! I would love for you to share your flexible homeschooling schedule in the comments to give other families some ideas.

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we are adding to the library each month with new items. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you updated on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

SchoolhouseTeachers.com is doing an amazing sale this month!

Free Makeover Your Morning 5 Day Challenge! This is a great way to help re-focus and get your day off on the right foot.

Harry The Happy Mouse (Free on Kindle)

Illustrated Would You Rather Book (Free on Kindle)

Grove is offering 30% off your first order of cleaning and beauty supplies!

Free Help Your Child’s Memory Book from All About Learning Press!

Tuesday Tips #4 The Importance of White Space for Your Homeschool

What is White Space?

White space is simply empty (or white) space on the calendar, times you do not have plans and commitments. This includes times you do not plan to be ‘doing school,’ going out, having appointments, etc. White space in my homeschool is trying to have more time for school than I have plans to fill it.

Why Do I Need White Space in my Homeschool and Home?

As homeschool parents, it is easy to fill up every available space on the calendar. We plan out coursework for all the subjects, co-ops or activities, field trips, science projects, and more. We often have our days and weeks so crammed full of suitable activities that we have no time or space for life’s unexpected needs or events. We also may not have time to relax and enjoy life.

One day, I was listening to the Read Aloud Revival podcast, and Sarah Mackenzie said, “The sky is only the limit if you are an airplane. You’re not. You’re a human person,”

We have to remember that we (and our children) cannot do everything, and it is not a good idea to fill up every bit of space on the calendar.

We need white space on our general calendar and white space specifically for our homeschool. For example, if I plan to dedicate 8am-12pm each day to school, I might only plan out Monday through Thursday.

That leaves Friday for the projects that took longer, extra help needed, diving into something they are interested in, or taking advantage of that field trip opportunity that pops up.

How Do I Get White Space?

You might be thinking that having white space sounds terrific, but you have no idea how to fit that into your schedule.

Start by evaluating your priorities what things are most important to your family. Next, take a good look at the calendar and see how the things on the calendar line up with your priorities.

Always remember that unexpected things are going to happen. Someone will get sick, the dishwasher is going to break, a friend will need help, or maybe a relative will come to town unexpectedly.

When those things happen, the white space helps you to be able to manage that without having to let go of your other commitments.

Once you have looked at the calendar and your priorities, start brainstorming what you might be able to let go or change. It might be as simple as figuring out that you can combine errands to a specific day in order to have another day home. It might be that the children are involved in many extra activities, and you limited those.

Evaluate, Modify, and Eliminate

Other options might include teaching fewer subjects, combining courses, or using a loop schedule to free up time during the school day.

Sometimes it is as simple as planning ahead and using a crockpot or instant pot meals to reduce the time needed in the kitchen.

It can seem daunting, and the challenge is more complicated during certain seasons of life. However, adding white space into your days will take the stress off you and your children. It will allow you the flexibility to handle the unexpected and to take advantage of surprise opportunities.

Give yourself permission to say no to activities even when you do not have something else scheduled.

Extra Resources to Help Create White Space in Your Homeschool

Simplifying the Urgent to Focus on the Important

Letting Go of Good Things (or Why I Sold Our Latin Curriculum)

Homeschool in the Kitchen

Which Planner is the Best One?

Meal Planning: A Step Towards Sanity

Resource Library and Affiliate Disclosure

When you sign up for the Schoolin’ Swag free resource library, you will get a link and password to the library; we add new items to the library each month. You will also get a bi-weekly newsletter email to keep you up to date on what we have going on.

Resource Library

This post may contain affiliate or referral links, including Amazon affiliate links. As always, I will never recommend a product that I don’t believe in, and you will never be charged more for purchasing through our links. It does help pay for the costs associated with the blog.

Deals and Freebies

If you have not tried SchoolhouseTeachers.com, you don’t want to miss this sale!

Tuesday Tips #1 Teacher Workdays

Tuesday Tips Series

I have been doing a lot of planning and thinking about what I wanted to share on the blog this year. There will be many curriculum and book reviews, more hymn studies, and some fun unit studies.

I also wanted to start a new series called Tuesday Tips, where I will share a simple homeschool tip each Tuesday (or at least most Tuesdays). Some tips will be for new homeschoolers, and others will focus on specific areas like teens or homeschooling in the kitchen.

These will be short and simple posts that will hopefully give you some new ideas and strategies to help your homeschool run smoothly. I would love for you to share your thoughts and/or questions that need tips in the comments.

Today’s Tuesday Homeschooling Tip

Teacher workdays are essential for homeschool teachers.

We often think of teacher workdays as just something for classroom teachers, but they can be beneficial in our homeschools. These days are perfect for planning, grading papers (especially those high schoolers), preparing materials, and setting goals.

Sometimes I schedule them ahead of time, like this week. My high schooler is doing some independent work, but I am taking this week to plan and prepare before we start back from our break.

Other times we take one just because we need it. When life happens, and you feel overwhelmed, or behind, it is okay to decide to take a teacher workday and get things straight before moving forward.

You might have realized that a particular program was not working, but you aren’t sure how to fix it or what to try. Take the day to research ideas and develop a plan without feeling the pressure of also trying to keep teaching.

Are you already utilizing teacher workdays in your homeschool? What works for you?