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Have you ever considered a 4 day homeschool year?
Or should I say… have you even considered homeschool at all? If not, head here first to my post on “why homeschool”! If you have never used or considered a 4 day homeschool plan, you may be wondering… “why would I want to try 4 day homeschool year?”
Reasons to try a 4 day homeschool year
Here are just a few reasons that you might want to try out a 4 day homeschool year, this year!
- Does your homemaking/ family responsibilities seem to lag behind once the school year begins?
- Does doctor visits and necessary errands throw your school days off each week?
- Do you find yourself lagging behind with the curriculum due to “non emergency” , life interruptions and responsibilities ?
- Is your weekend never long enough?
- Are your children struggling to finish up homework or “extra projects”?
- Do you need a few extra hours to bring in extra income, WITHOUT neglecting your child’s education?
- Do you need some ‘one on one’ tutoring time with a certain child?
- Do you struggle to find family time?
- Are your children (or you) easily overwhelmed by long school weeks?
- Do your children seem to always need more sleep during the tiresome school year?
- Do your children struggle with the post summer break “learning lag” after such a long summer break?
If your answer is yes to ANY or ALL of these, then keep reading! You may find that a 4 day homeschool year will benefit your home.
More stats on a 4 day school year
Edweek.org reported a research stating that more than 1,600 U.S. school districts have adopted the model as of 2019-20 including 60 percent of Colorado’s districts and around 40 percent of New Mexico’s and Oregon’s. Here are a few statements from their research.
First of all, this is the numbers and statistics that participated in this research.
Now on to the results!
- “Four-day secondary students spent more time on homework, at jobs, at school activities, and on hobbies than their counterparts.” And “Most students in the four-day districts—80 percent of high school students and 90 percent of elementary students—spent their “off day” at home.” I think this demonstrates the freed up schedule.
- “The four-day week did not appear to affect student-absenteeism rates or result in more food insecurity for students.”
- “It did seem to change some sleep patterns, with four-day elementary students reporting that they got more sleep and four-day secondary students saying that they felt much less tired than their counterparts in five-day systems.”
- “Parents and students, given the choice, overwhelmingly said they favored the four-day model, with 69 percent of the former and 85 percent of the latter preferring it over five-day schedules.”
- The last main result I want to point out is this one… “When timing was added up, districts in the sample using the four-day schedule had longer days by about 50 minutes, but over the course of the year averaged 58 fewer hours of school.”
The difference in how I plan my 4 day homeschool year
Now I want to spend a minute on this last finding of research. This is where my homeschool plan differs from this research. I encourage planning a 4 day a week homeschool plan that equals the required amount of school hours or in some cases , the added up value of 5day a week school hours. This could be accomplished in a couple of ways. By either lengthening school hours (but more carefully) as done by many of the schools researched above, or by shortening summer break which is what I have chosen. Some would call this a all year school year although we do get about a month long summer break.
Does homeschooling the right way really matter?
As a homeschooling mom, I believe in homeschooling the right way. If your state has minimum amount of school days, school hours, and required subjects, be sure to abide by these schooling regulations.
Using a school planner can really help out here and is, in my opinion, a must! Link below to my absolutely favorite affordable homeschool planner that is super adaptable and comes in super fast through Amazon! (I may receive a small commission if you use my link).
Getting your required/ recommended amount of yearly school hours can be important for a couple of reasons.
1. As a Christian Homeschooling Mom, I do not take the liberty and freedom of homeschooling my children lightly. I want to make sure I abide by the time regulations and do my part in keeping my right of freedom from being voided.
2. Second, although I do not agree with all of our state’s schooling ideas (public schooling) I do believe, our states have put together these school time requirements to help our children succeed in their education. I want to make sure my children are not under educated by my negligence.
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.
1 Corinthians 10:31
Please research your state rules and laws for yourself! Each state is different and can change from year to year. You will want to make sure you are up to are on all requirements before beginning the school year. Don’t just take someone’s word for it.
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Happy Homemaking!
Related links
Why homeschool?
Homeschool tips to finish up the school year
