You probably just saved our homeschooling. Last year I totally screwed with planning. Now you gave me hope, I will try four-day-week or 3 weeks schooling -1 week off. Thank you so much!!!❤️
You are so welcome, so glad that you found this to be helpful! Please reach out with any questions you may have as you move forward. One of the great benefits of homeschooling is our ability to be flexible with what will best serve our children and our family.
Here is my plan that works every year. 38 weeks not including 3 holiday weeks (2 at Christmas and 1 at Easter). Then there are a few other days off: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Memorial Day. This gives us 184 days. So for this coming year we will begin August 1 and end June 11. When my kids were young we schooled four days a week year round. I preferred it, but when the kids got older they wanted the summers off. I use the summers to write lesson plans, etc. Great video, Sonya! 😊
I want to thank you for the step to step explanation of the different ways you can structure the school year. It was very helpful for our first year starting home schooling. Could you give us an idea how long or how many hours would you consider would be effective for younger children and older children to spend every day in school?
Charlotte recommended the following lesson lengths: 1st - 3rd grade - 15 to 20 minutes per lesson 4th - 6th grade - 20 to 30 minutes per lesson 7th - 9th grade - 30 to 45 minutes per lesson 10th - 12th grade - 45 minutes+ per lesson Per school day total, you'll want to remember the principle of short lessons. And here is a blog that will help you see per grade levels per day: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/how-to-finish-lessons-by-lunch/ Grades 1-3 ~2.5 hours Grades 4-6 ~3 hours Grades 7+ from ~ 3 hours 15 minutes - ~4 hours
Thank you so much for this video as this will be my first year homeschooling starting next week year-round! Originally I planned for six weeks on and one week off but that quickly changed after I learned about the three weeks on and one week off you mentioned. I must admit I did use ChatGPT to help me decide which one to pick (3 vs 6 weeks on) I let it know my MBTI personality type as well as my OCEAN results and asked it which one would be better for me as a teacher and for my children’s ages and and the pros and cons for each, and it gave me a great rationale for which one would likely be best which was three weeks on one week off and then I asked to actually write out the schedule after I gave the weeks off that I’d like to have off in the year and how many hours total per day of schooling we’ll do over six days a week and it drafted the calendar for the year for us and with that we have so much cushion space outside of the week offs and the vacation weeks I selected for potentially other events or (surprises in our schedule). All to say thank you so much.
Thank you for joining us and sharing how you figured out what would work best for your family! So glad that you found this video helpful and that you have figured out a great scheduling plan for the upcoming year!
O dearest Sonja & crew... tx! I have tried the 6weeks on 1 week off and it almost burns me out with so much to do besides school. And then tragedies hit and and... I sometimes think that in a cotton brain we forget we dont have to do things one way.. thank you soooo much 💜🇿🇦
A crisp, easy distribution. I've been using a combination of these schedules. I feel so relieved knowing that it's ok. One month we went on a week off mode as we had guests for a wk. Another term, we put in 4 days study and 3 days off as we had weekend projects. And yes, we were able to cover the required hours. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much , this eased my heart and mind so much on scheduling (my brain doesn’t like structure, so I have to force it. ) This was exactly what I needed for that!
My brain doesn't like structure either. Neither does my son's it seems. Did you find a schedule that works well for you? If so, I'm curious which one worked best.
We love schooling during the summer and taking breaks in the spring and fall. No one wants to go outside during the hottest time of the year in Virginia.
These are some great considerations for how to plan your school year and how this may look different depending on where you live! Thanks for stopping by and sharing what has worked well for your family!
This is so helpful! I liked the blog you linked below with the idea of a "project week" instead of just a break week! Brilliant. I think the 3 weeks on, one off schedule will help with planning as well: Project Week can include planning week for me! I always get behind getting my plans in order, papers I need printed organized, etc. I'm really looking forward to this school year, but trying to keep my plans reasonably do-able! 😅
I got interrupted before I asked my question, and then I forgot about it. (baby brain here!) Do you have a video showing how you'd keep track of this schedule and record what you'd done? I live in a state with very few requirements, but I would think that tracking how many weeks you'd done, what you'd done and when would be very helpful. Thanks!
Hi, Thank you for joining us! You can keep track of your schedule in any way that works best for your family! You can keep a planner and just mark down those project days in the planner indicating that is what you have done. Simply Charlotte Mason also has an online system to keep track of what you have done, which you may be interested in, you can find out more about this resource here: simplycharlottemason.com/store/cm-organizer/
Exam week is usually held the last week of the 12-week term, or Week 12 of each term. In your 36-week school year, then, exam weeks would be scheduled for weeks 12, 24, and 36.
This is an area where you know your family best and your capacity to school around life events or illnesses as needed. I would encourage you to give yourself much grace and yes, you can either build in some days ahead of time for the unexpected or work the extra school days in as needed.
A great rhythm for 3 weeks on and 1 week off is to use that week off as a project week. Here are some ideas: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/a-project-week-idea/
This is a great question and many families modify their schedules for what best fits their family. Here is an excerpt from the blog post I'll also link below to show how you could possibly keep your days the same length as a 5 day/week plan and extend the number of weeks you school: "We’ll just do our math a little differently. We said that a typical school year is 180 days. So take those 180 days and divide them by 4 days a week: 180 ÷ 4 = 45. So it will take 45 weeks to get in our school year if we do school only 4 days per week. Forty-five weeks of school, but there are 52 weeks in a year; that still leaves us 7 full weeks of vacation to use whenever we want it. You could do school only four days a week and still take 3 weeks off over the holidays and 4 weeks off in the summer or 2 weeks off over the holidays, a week off in the spring, and 4 weeks off in the summer." simplycharlottemason.com/blog/4-ways-to-schedule-your-homeschool-year/?fbclid=IwAR3bcOj_O1hZ0FcYxmqzVad3US5m3--0ebKF4NYS_H1thiYF9ddVj_F2IL8 If you want to keep the same number of weeks as a 5 day/week schedule, you'll need to be mindful of still keeping to the principle of short lessons and not overwhelming you or your students. The typical amount of time a 5 day/week schedule would be these approximate times: Charlotte recommended the following lesson lengths: 1st - 3rd grade - 15 to 20 minutes per lesson 4th - 6th grade - 20 to 30 minutes per lesson 7th - 9th grade - 30 to 45 minutes per lesson 10th - 12th grade - 45 minutes+ per lesson Per school day total, you'll want to remember the principle of short lessons. And here is a blog that will help you see per grade levels per day: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/how-to-finish-lessons-by-lunch/ Grades 1-3 ~2.5 hours Grades 4-6 ~3 hours Grades 7+ from ~ 3 hours 15 minutes - ~4 hours
hi sonya, in your schedule 3 weeks school then 1 week off, what do you usually do with the 1 week off? is it your time for planning? how about the children what do they usually do during the 1 week off?
You probably just saved our homeschooling. Last year I totally screwed with planning. Now you gave me hope, I will try four-day-week or 3 weeks schooling -1 week off. Thank you so much!!!❤️
You are so welcome, so glad that you found this to be helpful! Please reach out with any questions you may have as you move forward. One of the great benefits of homeschooling is our ability to be flexible with what will best serve our children and our family.
Here is my plan that works every year. 38 weeks not including 3 holiday weeks (2 at Christmas and 1 at Easter). Then there are a few other days off: Labor Day, Thanksgiving, the day after Thanksgiving, Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Memorial Day. This gives us 184 days. So for this coming year we will begin August 1 and end June 11. When my kids were young we schooled four days a week year round. I preferred it, but when the kids got older they wanted the summers off. I use the summers to write lesson plans, etc. Great video, Sonya! 😊
I want to thank you for the step to step explanation of the different ways you can structure the school year. It was very helpful for our first year starting home schooling. Could you give us an idea how long or how many hours would you consider would be effective for younger children and older children to spend every day in school?
Charlotte recommended the following lesson lengths:
1st - 3rd grade - 15 to 20 minutes per lesson
4th - 6th grade - 20 to 30 minutes per lesson
7th - 9th grade - 30 to 45 minutes per lesson
10th - 12th grade - 45 minutes+ per lesson
Per school day total, you'll want to remember the principle of short lessons. And here is a blog that will help you see per grade levels per day: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/how-to-finish-lessons-by-lunch/
Grades 1-3 ~2.5 hours
Grades 4-6 ~3 hours
Grades 7+ from ~ 3 hours 15 minutes - ~4 hours
Thank you for this amazing explanation of scheduling! I found this so encouraging ❤
You are so welcome!
Thank you so much for this video as this will be my first year homeschooling starting next week year-round! Originally I planned for six weeks on and one week off but that quickly changed after I learned about the three weeks on and one week off you mentioned.
I must admit I did use ChatGPT to help me decide which one to pick (3 vs 6 weeks on) I let it know my MBTI personality type as well as my OCEAN results and asked it which one would be better for me as a teacher and for my children’s ages and and the pros and cons for each, and it gave me a great rationale for which one would likely be best which was three weeks on one week off and then I asked to actually write out the schedule after I gave the weeks off that I’d like to have off in the year and how many hours total per day of schooling we’ll do over six days a week and it drafted the calendar for the year for us and with that we have so much cushion space outside of the week offs and the vacation weeks I selected for potentially other events or (surprises in our schedule). All to say thank you so much.
Thank you for joining us and sharing how you figured out what would work best for your family! So glad that you found this video helpful and that you have figured out a great scheduling plan for the upcoming year!
I absolutely appreciate this breakdown! Thank you
O dearest Sonja & crew... tx! I have tried the 6weeks on 1 week off and it almost burns me out with so much to do besides school. And then tragedies hit and and... I sometimes think that in a cotton brain we forget we dont have to do things one way.. thank you soooo much 💜🇿🇦
A crisp, easy distribution. I've been using a combination of these schedules. I feel so relieved knowing that it's ok. One month we went on a week off mode as we had guests for a wk. Another term, we put in 4 days study and 3 days off as we had weekend projects. And yes, we were able to cover the required hours. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you so much , this eased my heart and mind so much on scheduling (my brain doesn’t like structure, so I have to force it. ) This was exactly what I needed for that!
My brain doesn't like structure either. Neither does my son's it seems. Did you find a schedule that works well for you? If so, I'm curious which one worked best.
You look so beautiful Sonya 💖 Thank you for the videos and the wisdom you continually pass on to others!
Thank you for this! And may I just say, your haircut is SUPER chic!
We love schooling during the summer and taking breaks in the spring and fall. No one wants to go outside during the hottest time of the year in Virginia.
These are some great considerations for how to plan your school year and how this may look different depending on where you live! Thanks for stopping by and sharing what has worked well for your family!
❤️ 💗 Thinking of trying the 3 weeks on one week off this year!
We did that for the first time last year, and absolutely loved it.
The best help with scheduling!
This is so helpful! I liked the blog you linked below with the idea of a "project week" instead of just a break week! Brilliant. I think the 3 weeks on, one off schedule will help with planning as well: Project Week can include planning week for me! I always get behind getting my plans in order, papers I need printed organized, etc. I'm really looking forward to this school year, but trying to keep my plans reasonably do-able! 😅
I got interrupted before I asked my question, and then I forgot about it. (baby brain here!) Do you have a video showing how you'd keep track of this schedule and record what you'd done? I live in a state with very few requirements, but I would think that tracking how many weeks you'd done, what you'd done and when would be very helpful. Thanks!
Hi, Thank you for joining us! You can keep track of your schedule in any way that works best for your family! You can keep a planner and just mark down those project days in the planner indicating that is what you have done. Simply Charlotte Mason also has an online system to keep track of what you have done, which you may be interested in, you can find out more about this resource here:
simplycharlottemason.com/store/cm-organizer/
Thank you. I'm brand new to HS. Your videos are so helpful!
Wow! This would've been great when we were homeschooling. I used your method and had your resources though. How wonderful this is!
so helpful i have a mental block for maths and this just simplified the whole process love the different options. thanks once again for a super video.
Me too!
Thank you so much for your work.
Thanks for sharing this. This is really helpful!
Thank you so much for this! I will definitely be thinking about the different options for this year. - Michelle
When calculating weeks of school where do most include exam weeks for the end of each term? Thanks for all you do, love watching you videos!
Exam week is usually held the last week of the 12-week term, or Week 12 of each term. In your 36-week school year, then, exam weeks would be scheduled for weeks 12, 24, and 36.
@@SimplyCharlotteMason okay. Thanks so much. I wasnt sure if it was a 12 week term with the 13th week being the exam week. Or the way you said.
Thanks so much! I appreciate you doing this math. 😊
This was really helpful!
When sick days or unexpected events occur, do you plan ahead for a certain number of those? Or just tack on extra school days during vacation days?
This is an area where you know your family best and your capacity to school around life events or illnesses as needed. I would encourage you to give yourself much grace and yes, you can either build in some days ahead of time for the unexpected or work the extra school days in as needed.
I love you...
I like 3 wk school and 1wk off, but what to plan on that one week off days? What should kids do? Thanks for the reply.
A great rhythm for 3 weeks on and 1 week off is to use that week off as a project week. Here are some ideas: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/a-project-week-idea/
How long are your days with the four days a week schedule?
This is a great question and many families modify their schedules for what best fits their family. Here is an excerpt from the blog post I'll also link below to show how you could possibly keep your days the same length as a 5 day/week plan and extend the number of weeks you school:
"We’ll just do our math a little differently. We said that a typical school year is 180 days. So take those 180 days and divide them by 4 days a week: 180 ÷ 4 = 45. So it will take 45 weeks to get in our school year if we do school only 4 days per week. Forty-five weeks of school, but there are 52 weeks in a year; that still leaves us 7 full weeks of vacation to use whenever we want it. You could do school only four days a week and still take 3 weeks off over the holidays and 4 weeks off in the summer or 2 weeks off over the holidays, a week off in the spring, and 4 weeks off in the summer."
simplycharlottemason.com/blog/4-ways-to-schedule-your-homeschool-year/?fbclid=IwAR3bcOj_O1hZ0FcYxmqzVad3US5m3--0ebKF4NYS_H1thiYF9ddVj_F2IL8
If you want to keep the same number of weeks as a 5 day/week schedule, you'll need to be mindful of still keeping to the principle of short lessons and not overwhelming you or your students. The typical amount of time a 5 day/week schedule would be these approximate times:
Charlotte recommended the following lesson lengths:
1st - 3rd grade - 15 to 20 minutes per lesson
4th - 6th grade - 20 to 30 minutes per lesson
7th - 9th grade - 30 to 45 minutes per lesson
10th - 12th grade - 45 minutes+ per lesson
Per school day total, you'll want to remember the principle of short lessons. And here is a blog that will help you see per grade levels per day: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/how-to-finish-lessons-by-lunch/
Grades 1-3 ~2.5 hours
Grades 4-6 ~3 hours
Grades 7+ from ~ 3 hours 15 minutes - ~4 hours
hi sonya, in your schedule 3 weeks school then 1 week off, what do you usually do with the 1 week off? is it your time for planning? how about the children what do they usually do during the 1 week off?
Usually a project week. More here: simplycharlottemason.com/blog/a-project-week-idea/
@@lh77733 thank you so much!
@@SimplyCharlotteMason thank you so much! God bless you!
I love your videos! I’m wondering why 36 weeks is the magical number? Is there something wrong with more than 36 weeks?
I think because 36 weeks = 180 days, the typical amount of school days public school does, and it is probably, therefore, required in many states.
You could certainly do more than 36 weeks. Most states require at least 180 days of school, which is 36 weeks if you school on weekdays.