We attempted to model traditional school. When we first started homeschooling, we tried to follow what the traditional schools were doing because that was all we knew. We chose a complete curriculum that provided all the resources, teacher guides, and a daily syllabus. It was a great way to start our homeschool journey and I’ll cherish those memories forever. The curriculum we chose required a lot of parent involvement. It was not flexible in regard to missing days of work. A missed day of school upset the weekly schedule and made it difficult to catch up. After two years of using this curriculum, I was burnt out. It felt like traditional school, the very thing we were trying to escape.
Questioning the need for the long school day. I began to question if lengthy days of study are necessary for success. Schools send a strong message that every minute of every single day counts. Missed school days have to be made up even on a Saturday. Do three missed days out of 180 days really matter? Are three hours of homework necessary each night?
School as daycare. While investigating the rationale for 8-hour days at school, I concluded that the purpose of the eight-hour day was to allow parents and school staff to work an eight-hour day. But I still wanted to verify if eight-hour days are needed for academic success.
Related: Is an Eight-Hour School Day Necessary at Home?
The search for answers. I was anxious to hear from parents who schooled less hours a day and less days a week. Internet searches yielded plenty of stories about parents who stepped away from tradition and achieved the same things we wanted for our kids. They tended to eliminate certain subjects and push out portions of other elementary subjects to middle school – essentially skipping them during the elementary years. Their kids turned out fine. Some seemed to achieve amazing academic success. These stories were encouraging.
Extreme stories. I even heard stories about kids who didn’t do any school for an entire year and didn’t get behind. They still scored well on the Iowa Basics test and other achievement tests. I wasn’t about to try that, but these stories did bring some sort of strange peace. If I backed off on the amount of work and skipped a few courses, perhaps my kids would be fine. Maybe even better than fine.
Rationalization process. I trusted that there must be some sort of slack or room for error in the process. If kids could miss a bunch of school and still meet academic goals, then perhaps lengthy days of school are not necessary. Schools say that kids can’t make up education deficiencies very easily, but common sense suggests otherwise. I’m not an expert in education, but I have seen kids learn more quickly as they age. Many improvements come with maturity. Maybe it’s hard to make up learning in the traditional school system because the daily schedules are too full, and students are forced to move lockstep. Homeschool allows plenty of time to focus on particular skills. There’s time to meet with tutors.
Ready for the risk. I was willing to take a risk to salvage our sanity. At this point in time, my kids were in the 2nd, 5th, and 8th grades. I was ready to restructure, or should I say deconstruct, our current homeschool plan and come up with a new one. This new plan would require less hours a day and cut certain subjects out each year.
Focusing on the 3 r’s. Instead of using a complete curriculum, we purchased separate curricula for reading, writing, and arithmetic. This allowed us to pick the best curriculum for each child. See my post English in the Elementary Years to help you design your own English curriculum. We eliminated social studies and science as formal courses in the elementary years and alternated between them in middle school, never studying both in the same year. Read: Rethinking Science and Social Studies for the Lower Grades.
Immediate results of the short day. Our school day was essentially reduced to 1 hour a day in the elementary years not including recreational reading. These changes improved our life considerably. My kids developed great skills in math, writing, and reading because of the focus. We all gained more time to work on personal interests which is just as important as academics to us.
Long term results of the short day. Reduced study hours and eliminated courses did not hold my kids back. They did not fall behind in science and history. In fact, they earned early college credit in biology and history. They’ve done well in outside classes and scored over 30 on ACT test. My older two have earned academic scholarships and are getting A’s in their college courses. The best part of this plan was that they had time to develop their talents and skills to extraordinary heights. These skills have helped them earn talent scholarships too. And I should add that they never felt burnt out as students. Because we dared to step away from the unnecessarily oppressive schedules and filler classes, my children’s lives were made more delightful and fruitful.
Final thoughts. The shorter school day may be the answer for families who have committed to long term home education. Students who need to return to the school system may find themselves behind in certain subjects.
I am not an expert in education. This post is to offer rescue ideas and inspiration for families who are feeling jaded from their journeys. If you are at a point in your life where education has you overwhelmed, take it to God. You are not alone. Pray for guidance and wisdom for your next step. God has a plan for each of us if we simply ask and trust in Him. The plan may seem unorthodox, but when God is backing it, you will be at peace.
For with God nothing shall be impossible. Luke 1:37
Read: Rethinking Science and Social Studies for the Lower Grades
Read: How My Kids Spend Their Extra Time
Read: Is an Eight-Hour School-Day Necessary at Home?
Musing: a period of reflection or thought. As such this post reflects my thoughts, opinions, and experiences on the topic. The choice to home school and the methods you choose are yours to determine.