How to schedule with co-op

[tbarr12]

We are on our second day of Bigger with my oldest 2, and things are going very well. However, Monday I have to face the issue that we are gone for 1/2 the day at our co-op. This was no problem when we were doing Preparing with only 4 days, but now that I've moved them down, I need to figure this out. Has anyone else ever faced this, and how have you dealt with it? Thanks.

[Tree House Academy]

We do Beyond with co-op. Beyond takes so little time that we do it in the mornings before we go. When we get to Bigger, that will likely have to change. It is possible that we may double up the history reading one day and the Science another day, but do the rest of the guide if we need to. I will just have to cross that bridge when I come to it. I will be watching this thread to see what great ideas the ladies here offer!

[amethyst rain]

I can't remember where I got this from. I believe it was another message board. This is not my plan. I don't claim it, so all thanks should go to the person who came up with it, unfortunately, I don't remember who it was.

Beyond 4 day plan:
History day5 to day 4
Science day 2 to day 1
art day 5 to day 4
poetry day 4 to day 3
poetry day 5 to day 4

[my3sons]

Good question - you probably have lots of options here to choose from. Does the co-op run year-round? You could just take longer to finish Bigger Hearts, just doing 4 days a week while the co-op is running and not trying to double up anything. This would add 30 days. Do you school year-round, or do you take the summers off, etc.? Really this would just be six five day weeks to finish it out. It may be worth it not to have to double up on anything. I've become comfortable with stopping wherever we are in a guide, and then starting up where we left off, as long as we're within about the right age ranges for it. If that works, you could just do that and finish when you finish. Otherwise, Bigger Hearts takes about 3 hours to do. Is it possible for you to do that before you leave for co-op? If it's a half-day co-op, that would probably work.

One other thought would be to double up on the LA/math type subjects, choosing one day each week to double something, and then just doing the other subject areas on the co-op day. For example, Day 1: double up R & S English, Day 2: double up math, Day 3: double up Storytime; Day 4: double up cursive

You could do DITHOR 4 times a week instead of 5 times, and be just fine (they were doing 3 in PHFHG anyway). You could also do the Corresponding Music box just 4 times a week and be just fine. For science, I'd double up on the day there is an oral narration, as this is a shorter day and would be easy to do 2 lessons. The night/school day right before the co-op, you could do the last Bible Study box, so it will still be in close proximity to the rest of the theme for that 2 page spread.

So, on co-op day, that would just leave Reading about History, the rotating box, and poetry - which only takes about 30 minutes. This would allow you to keep each day's balance and theme together, while leaving just a little to do on co-op day, and a little extra for just one LA/math/science skill each day. I hope something here helps! I guess no matter what I did if I were you, I would try to keep the left side of the guide as much intact as possible, as the connections are so neat to have.

In Christ,
Julie

[Busymomma1]

We have a 1/2 day co-op, too, on Tuesday afternoons. What I have done is do double science on Monday (works well b/c the readings are not that long and the activities flow) and Double Storytime as well. Also, most days we start at 8:30am, but on co-op day, we get up early and start school by 7:30am. But it works! So we really can get it all in (minus the science and storytime, usually) by 11am. We eat and get on the road a little before 12 noon.

I do it that way b/c I want to fit it all in in a typical 9 month school year, and I like the idea of ending a unit on Fridays. We try to share verses and poems and songs with Dad on Friday evenings.

Anyway, that's how we are doing it, and it works! I'm looking forward to the next guide with 4 day plans, though!

[tbarr12]

I had my first day of trying it yesterday. Amazingly, we did everything but Science by 11:30!!! Admittedly, we didn't linger over things, and did a lot of our math and grammar orally, but we covered all but one box! I was very pleased. I hope to work it all into an official "schedule" within the next week or two - i.e., perhaps divide out some of the topics over other days as the 2 pp's said, but for yesterday I was pleased. it's doable.

[my3sons]

I had my first day of trying it yesterday. Amazingly, we did everything but Science by 11:30!!! Admittedly, we didn't linger over things, and did a lot of our math and grammar orally, but we covered all but one box! I was very pleased. I hope to work it all into an official "schedule" within the next week or two - i.e., perhaps divide out some of the topics over other days as the 2 pp's said, but for yesterday I was pleased. it's doable.

That's super! I'm so glad you are seeing how this will work out well. I love it when God lifts some of our burdens and stress off our shoulders by showing us a way.

In Christ,
Julie