Work It In Wednesday: Two Hacks for a Smoother Homeschool Week {5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop}

I am not quite ready to start planning for the 2018-2019 school year out yet--we won't start until the beginning of September and not full until after we attend the Feast of Tabernacles at the end of September. But even though I haven't started the actual planning, there are two things that I know will be included in our plans--our 4 1/2 day school week and our Mandatory Monday Morning basket. It's taken us a few years, but I've come to learn the value of both of these Hacks for a Smoother Homeschool Week, and I'm going to share them with you today as part of Work It In Wednesday of the 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement Blog Hop.

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Why A Mandatory Monday Morning Basket?

I know that I am not alone in dealing with reluctant learners every single Monday morning. I think it's the same whether your child is in public school or homeschool! Monday rolls around and school is the last thing they want to do. But school needs to get done. Our Monday's are even more crazy,
because that's the day my husband heads into Cincinnati to start his 3 day/2 night work week. This means he's there eating breakfast with us and leaves at 9am. After daddy leaves, the boys just aren't ready to start school. So last year I started a Monday Morning Basket and it quickly earned its place in our routine and became the MANDATORY Monday Morning basket.

So now that you know why we have it, what exactly is it?

A fun and easy-to-learn logic game

This is a basket with low key activities in it to ease our way into the school day and school week. I have it full of puzzles, logic games, other games, read aloud materials, sketch books, nature books, and vocabulary activities. The idea behind this is to let the boys have free choice among the basket's activities, working through them for about 45 minutes. These are all still educational activities--but they are more fun and encourage natural learning. They could ask to take their sketchbooks outside and do some nature study--they really enjoy this excuse to spend time outside before school.

Sometimes they like to play the logic games together or play the independent ones. Some of their favorites include Balance Beans, Circuit Maze, Code Master, Clue Master (a favorite of my youngest), and Wonky. I like to trade them out so they don't always have the same ones each week. I also trade in other games like Tenzi, card games, or some printable games I've put together.

Wonky is a family game!

Allowing the boys to ease into our school day makes a huge difference in how the day goes. I use the time during this morning basket period to pull the normal morning subjects together and be ready to go. Monday's are no longer a dread for any of us and that's why we incorporate our Mandatory Monday Morning Basket!

Why a 4 1/2 Day School Week?

The second thing that gets implemented every year is a 4 1/2 day school week. I have found that Fridays (like Mondays) can be a rough day for everyone after a full school week. I also use Friday as my preparation day for our Sabbath day on Saturday, so there are extra household chores to be done. We also attend the weekly storytime at the library from 10-11am. When you take this all into consideration, it is just not a idea to expect a full school day on Friday to happen. What we NOW use Friday for, is a day to work through the once a week subjects (usually electives like poetry) and to do the more detailed weekly science experiments. We don't do any of our math curriculum on Friday, choosing to use math apps on the Kindle (Tower Math is a favorite), math activities on the computer (ABCYA.com and adding in iknowit.com), and flashcard practice. The boys both like this lighter math option and happily do it. This year, Friday is also going to be the day for the boys to finish any of their weekly assignments that didn't get done--especially my oldest. He's going to have larger projects and using Friday as the catch-all day works perfectly. Regardless, once 1pm rolls around (or the assignments are all completed), the school day is done!

I have discovered through conversations with other homeschoolers, that choosing a 4 day or a 4 1/2 day school week works very well for most families.

So there you have it! Two Hacks for a Smoother Homeschool Week: create a monday morning basket to ease into the week and try a 4 1/2 day school week! Even if you go with one of these, I am confident you will have a smoother homeschool week!

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I am happy to share that this week is a great week! It's the annual Back to School blog hop! This year, the theme is 5 Days of Homeschool Encouragement and I'm itching to share my posts with you! I have a very busy week, so if they don't show up in the morning, make sure you check back for them later in the day! And as always, you can follow me over on Facebook and never miss new post!
Want to visit some other bloggers participating this week?

Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
Angie @ Run Ran Family Adventures & Learning
Annette @ A Net in Time
Ashley @ Gift of Chaos
Betty @ Let’s Get Real
Brenda @ Counting Pinecones
Carol @ Home Sweet Life
Chareen @ Every Bed of Roses

Do you have something that shares a peek into your own homeschooling adventure? Link up for us to see!

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