How To Homeschool 3 Days a Week

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Feeling overwhelmed, stressed, or just burned out by your homeschool schedule? Can you homeschool three days a week instead of five?

Is it possible to set aside a day for yourself? For “ME” time?

I know the feeling!

And you know what? It’s possible!

One of the many benefits of homeschooling is that you’re capable of scheduling your homeschool week. It doesn’t have to be a Monday through Friday scheme just as the many regular schools are doing. You can easily adjust your schedule depending on your own terms.

Homeschooling doesn’t have to be exhausting and nerve-racking for you and your children. But before you start a three-day week homeschool schedule, you need to sit down and create the “master plan.”

(You can see here how I plan for my homeschool year here!)

Literally everything I do in this life starts with a notebook, pen, and a great devotion in God.

And if you’re a planner person like me, I highly suggest investing in a high-quality homeschool planner.

In this blog post, I’m going to show you that yes, you can homeschool three days a week, and how to create a three-day system that works for you.

Are you ready to get started?

Can you homeschool 3 days a week

 

Check Your Children’s Curriculum

Evaluate what your child’s specific needs are. Check your homeschool curriculum and see if there’s anything that needs to be removed.

I know this can be difficult! I’m curriculum-savvy and it can be hard to cut unnecessary electives.

To make it easier, try putting all the week’s activities for ELA (English Language Arts), history, math, and science together to see exactly what you should be covering. Then count how many pages you need to read, experiments you need to complete, and worksheets that are expected to be finished.

Finally, just divide all of those activities by three to see how much you should do each day!

Pretty simple!

Character Building Day

Homeschooling is more than just academics. It’s really winning your child’s heart and building their character.

I used to focus on getting them to finish their task and making sure that they get everything right instantly. My goal was for them to excel academically. But I realized soon after, that character building is even more important.

Once a week, you can set aside trips to your local zoo, parks, or museum. Scheduling this day on the third day of the week is great for loosening up after some intense subjects.

can you homeschool 3 days a week extracurriculur sports

Or if you decide to stay home, you can simply study some foreign languages like Spanish, Greek, or Japanese. Or exploring and teaching your homeschooler gardening, paintings, and arts make for the perfect days off, too!

If your child is involved in any sports or clubs on a specific day, maybe that day works best for your break day.

And if you tend to be a social person, co-ops might be right down your alley! Finding a local homeschool co-op or even starting your own can be a fun new way for your kids to socialize while learning valuable new skills.

If you want to learn more about building character in your kids, check out this Ted Talk on YouTube!

What Are the Benefits of a Homeschool Coop?

Parents and homeschoolers can both benefit from homeschool co-ops!

Participating in one can broaden your base of knowledge and it becomes a place for parents to share their expertise and experience with fellow homeschool moms.

  • Opportunities to socialize. It can provide socialization opportunities for both the parent and the student. The weekly meetings are great ways to build lasting relationships and friendships! One of the biggest disadvantages of homeschooling is the inability of homeschoolers to interact with other kids their age. Learning to mingle and build a friendship is important for the child’s development, their social skills in particular. It’s also a great leeway to learn how to deal with peer pressure, bullies, and uncooperative students. These experiences can lead to valuable lessons that’ll help homeschoolers develop the competence to deal with future school and workplace situations.
  • Learning in group settings. Co-ops provide homeschoolers an opportunity to experience how to be taught in a group set up just like in public schools. They learn skills like how to speak in front of a group of other kids their age, or what it feels like to participate in a classroom set-up and to learn how to follow instructions from other people.
  • They’re affordable and budget-friendly. Homeschool co-ops help homeschool parents save money. They provide a place for homeschool parents to share equipment and supplies that are expensive and will only be used for a short period of time. For example, buying a microscope is quite expensive and it’ll be used for science classes only. Another example is that foreign language is really hard to be taught, especially if you’re not a linguist. Even though we want our children to learn different languages, if we as teachers don’t know, how can we teach them? In a homeschool co-op, everyone shares the expense to hire teachers for classes that homeschool parents can’t teach.
  • There are subjects that require group participation. There are subjects that can be better understood if taught in a group. Homeschool co-ops provide classes that require group participation such as PE, public speaking, and drama. In homeschool co-ops, kids can also learn how to work in a group and be partners with drama presentations, laboratory experiments, musical theater and more. They can also learn how to play their favorite sports like football, basketball, or soccer.

Homeschool co-ops aren’t for all, but it’s definitely a break for both parents and kids. Both of you will have so much fun, especially with extracurricular activities such as theme parties, sports, and more. You can learn so much from them in your homeschooling journey and this is a big help for your child’s character building.

The way we perceive and deal with people tells so much about hearts. The more I focused on their character, the more I saw them stepping up and giving their best. It’s not always perfect but I now see accountability and effort in everything they do. The more time we spend together, the more time we have in addressing their feelings and thoughts.

One of the best things I learned from homeschool is that it’s more than hard work, it’s heart work!

ME Time!

Time for yourself is not only good for you but also for your whole family. Being a mom is really hard. It requires physical, emotional, spiritual, and mental strength.

You juggle work (if you’re working part-time like me), taking care and homeschooling your kids, pampering your husband, doing household chores, and anything under the sun. Being a homeschool mom is a very tiring job physically, emotionally, and mentally.

can you homeschool 3 days a week

That’s why a “free day” once a week is a big help!

I schedule my “ME” time on Friday of every week. Why? Because after the hustle and bustle of doing lesson plans, this is the day that I tend to relax, stretch, loosen up, and just be free.

I usually do the grocery shopping, some household chores, laundry, and schedule dental or medical appointments.

You can also drop off the kids at their grandparents’ house or a friend’s as you meet with a group of ladies from church for Bible study. Or simply open your favorite book and get an amazing coffee in hand.

What a Three-Day-per-Week Homeschool Schedule Looks Like

Creating a three-day-a-week homeschool set-up might look a little something like this:

  • Sunday – Devotion and Family Day
  • Monday – Homeschooling Day
  • Tuesday – Homeschooling Day
  • Wednesday – Character Building day
  • Thursday – Homeschooling Day
  • Friday – Mom’s Day
  • Saturday – House Chores and Kitchen Day

Of course, if this schedule doesn’t suit you, you can always adjust it.

Maybe you have to work on a Saturday, or you want your day off to be Monday since you feel that it’s the best day to strengthen you for the whole week.

But maybe your daily routines change on a week-to-week basis, making it hard to plan ahead! If so, I highly suggest investing in a planner to keep track of your weekly plans.

It’s ultimately up to you! And that’s the advantage of homeschooling.

In the end, it doesn’t matter how your homeschool week is structured as long as it meets the requirements of your state’s homeschool laws.

If your intuition is telling you to readjust your homeschool plan, go for it!


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