Stephanie T

Winter Springs, FL

Hi all! I'm curious if/how anyone has made MBTP work for a 4 day school week. One day each week my big guy will be in co-ops most of the day - so that will leave us only 4 week days to get our school work in. Plus occasional field trips and days that maybe don't go as planned. I'm afraid we'll be working year 'round on this.
Is it possible to do the work in 4 days - without being overwhelmed? Comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Keith H

Durham, NC

Hi Stephanie.

Thanks for posting your question. We currently use a 5 day week with our kids, but have used a 4 day week in the past. You would certainly need to make some adjustments to accommodate a 4 day week. There are a number of different options.

One approach would be to adjust your expectations around how long it takes you to finish each level. Since you would be giving 20% of your school time to a co-op, it should take you 20% longer (roughly 2 months) to finish each level. You could target 3 concepts for the academic year and then start the 4th concept with the beginning of the next academic year.

Another approach would be to find a way to move through the curriculum more quickly. As you go through the curriculum, there will invariably be activities that your child may have already mastered, or that are more creative and less academic in nature. If you want to finish each level in a year while continuing with your co-op, you could trade off some of these activities for the benefits you get from your co-op.

When we used a 4-day week we actually chose to homeschool year-round. In the summer we continued with a very relaxed 2 1/2 hour morning schedule. This gave our restless children some structure to their day while allowing us to finish up the remaining units in the curriculum.

I hope this helps. I am sure there are plenty of other good options, but you can certainly make both MBTP and a co-op work for you. The important thing is to understand your limitations and accept whichever trade-off you have chosen so you don't feel guilty if you don't "finish" next May.

Keith

Stephanie T

Winter Springs, FL

Thanks, Keith. Still would love to hear from other families too! :-)

Phoebe J

Madison, IN

I homeschool when it gets done. Most of the time we are hitting around 3-4 days per week. BUT, I have no hang-ups about finishing the book in any time frame. The way to eliminate the pressure is by, well, eliminating the pressure. Skip some activiies, do some really well, and do others not as well.

We also are using Basic Math from Dr. Cotter which adds more time to all the stuff. This material is so easily expanded on that if you get behind in one level then as the child ages, just make the projects more difficult.

This program is written so well, with so many supplemental websites/books etc. that one could go more indepth for an older child.

Alexis C

Pompano Beach, FL

I have a deal with my 9 year old. If we get enough done (a certain number of lessons and activities during the week) by Thursday - then Friday all we do is art and swimming. It's only been two weeks but it has worked so far and I love having a day off too.