![\"Homeschool](\"https:\/\/www.myschoolyear.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/07\/BoyStudying.jpg\")
<\/p>\nI call it block scheduling because we do a few subjects in longer blocks of time and it works great for us. Let me explain.<\/p>\n
When I was preparing for high school for the very first time and thinking about the subjects and the amount of work and time involved, it perplexed me a bit. Not the work on my end, but the work for my student! I kept thinking about all the subjects in one day and it just seemed like a lot of work in many different subjects. For example reading history, then reading literature, then reading science and performing experiments seemed like a lot of transition\u00a0in one day. I haven\u2019t even added in math or spoken about their foreign language classes! (puns intended)<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It isn\u2019t for everyone. It works for us, and we really like it. Read on as it may be for you too.<\/p>\n
We chose 3 subjects to block: history, science, and literature. We have daily subjects of foreign language, math, elective, and religion. I don\u2019t recommend blocking those\u00a0subjects since they are designed to be studied over longer periods of time. We then add on one of our block subjects to the daily schedule.<\/p>\n
The block subject is equivalent to the amount of work that 3 subjects would be concentrated into one. Instead of switching through history, science, and literature on a daily basis, during our block we only focus on one. This allows for plenty of time to do all the reading required and experiments or projects that accompany those subjects.<\/p>\n
Here is a sample of a block schedule.\u00a0Each quarter is 9 weeks for a total of 36 school weeks, and a\u00a0block subject lasts for 3 weeks in each quarter.<\/p>\n
Here is another way to block schedule.\u00a0Each third\u00a0is 12 weeks for a total of 36 school weeks, and a\u00a0block subject lasts for 12 weeks.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Obviously block scheduling can look intense, but you also have to remember that you are not spending time on the other 2 block subjects so you have that time to really spend on your block.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve only provided 2 examples on how to block schedule and there are many ways you can do it. You can decide to block more or less subjects for more or less time.<\/p>\n
With block scheduling the student\u2019s schedule more closely resembles a college schedule (5 classes at a time is approximately 15 hours of college course work.) Going down to 4 classes is an option as well. Also studying these block subjects at this pace will also be more similar to the pace of a college course. While visiting a university with my daughter, a professor mentioned to the prospective students that college courses are much faster than high school and that you will go through a whole year of science in approximately 15 weeks. We were even more rigorous than the university!<\/p>\n
We have done block scheduling for 2 children \u2013 one of which did it all 4 years of high school and the other will be doing it for the third year now. I have 2 more students that will begin blocking this next school year. Please note if you choose to block, keep in mind your individual student\u2019s abilities and personality along with the choice of block subjects and the timing. Block scheduling should be a blessing and help to your student not a source of frustration and lack of learning the material. Block scheduling has been a great experience in our homeschool.<\/p>\n If you\u2019ve blocked scheduled and have a comment, please share it with us.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Watch out for<\/del>\u00a0Read Vianney\u2019s blog<\/a> on a student perspective on block scheduling.<\/p>\nRemember the Student’s Abilities<\/h2>\n