Homeschooler - shorter school days but everday?

I'm homeschooling my A levels and currently aim to work 6 hours a day 5 days a week but I often find myself not actually working properly if I try and do 6 hours in a day. I have to do 30 hours a week but I'm considering working everyday but only for 4 hours (doing 5 hours on two days a week to make up for the 2 hours I'd lose only doing 4hrs x 7days). Can anyone think of a reason why I wouldn't do this? Normal sixth form students usually do a bit of work everyday because they have homework too so working everyday wouldn't be a problem would it? I think I'd be more likely to be more productive if I knew I had shorter hours.

I just wanted to see if there was a pro/con I hadn't thought of before I discuss the change with my mum; she used to be a teacher and is quite a traditional person when it comes to learning so I think she'll be reluctant for me to change my schedule if she thinks of a con that I haven't already considered.

Reply 1

Muttly

If your Mum is your home schooler it might be fitting in with your Mum's hours or social diary? If you look at all your options and know why you want to change - including homework & home study time I would think it is just the syllabus content to be covered?

You don't mention why 6 hours a day isn't working for you (other than saying its 'not actually working properly?') I think that would be important to explore in the first instance? Are there distractions, is it too intense, do you feel it just too much? do you enjoy the subject?

I'm sure it will all work out - so try not worry. I think you are being very sensible making the move in the first place.

Reply 2

username5897551

Original post by Muttly

My mum doesn't teach me - I have folders of work and tutors that I communicate with through email/calls so I don't need her to be available but she oversees me in general (i.e. making sure I'm on track) which is why I talked about clearing it with her. Because I'm home schooled I don't really do separate homework/home study because its all included in my courses; my courses come from a distance learning provider so I'm not trying to self-teach if that makes sense? It all follows the syllabus so I don't need to worry about that aspect.

I just end up getting distracted or I feel burnt out and like I'm reading the same paragraph over and over again. It's difficult to concentrate when you're on your own without anyone monitoring you. I enjoy my subjects most of the time but if I feel slightly confused by a topic or its a particularly tricky one or if I'm just tired it feels like a real unproductive grind to get through it.

I get good grades and I'm not behind in my courses but lately my timetable has been pretty much non existent because I end up just stopping working whenever I feel unmotivated - I hope that making the days shorter will help with that. I don't think I've actually been doing 30 hours of learning a week, more like 12 actual learning hours and 10 hours just sitting around getting distracted or not being able to concentrate.

All my courses are written folders of work so I get quite burnt out from all the reading too so I think maybe breaking my days into smaller chunks would work better from that point of view.

Reply 3

TriplexA

Original post by Ellie0990

Hi there.

Unforeseen family emergencies could occur which may take you off timetable however I do think it'd be possible to work around and get back on schedule.

Do what you feel is best for you. Try both methods and go for the one that you feel is most beneficial for you.

Best wishes.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 4

Muttly

I have done my very best to take time to read and understand your post which is so honest and forthright.

You do deserve a medal, and I am sure your post will resound a thousand times with many who are in your position.

On the one side you have the 'home schooling' process which relentlessly keeps turning out the items to be learnt. On the other side you are a human being working in semi isolation doing your best to achieve the grades you need (I also fully support home schooling)
In short you are nearing your 'RAM' capacity, and you are still trying to shoe horn in just a 'little bit' more. You know you need a break.

The positive you can take from this is that you have acknowledged your head's limits and know from your own experiences that you need to take a break. The fact that you have already considered options of how to schedule your day should be applauded. Later in life you will draw back on this time to understand exactly how you can achieve both. Excellent results and a healthy disposition to tackle those times when the demands way exceed the available time or capability are a life saver.

You really do deserve credit. You are very lucky to have home schooling, but sometimes it does reach a time where it may seem isolating or daunting because of the intensity of the revision in the expected study time. You have the maturity to know that your own emotional and physical health can be key to having a sharp mind. Many people never acknowledge this in a lifetime. Life is about negotiations, and knowing when you need to tap out is one for real. You may find amending the schedule by amending the bursts of mental pain actually alleviate some of the dread of and/or mental exhaustion. You might find it a pain in the backside to keep doing revision and learning but knowing the pain will eventually end pretty soon could be enough to help you cope.

Keep talking with your Mum who I am sure is very proud of you and has your back - Revision is not eternal and it has an end point.
Uni work never really gets a great deal harder than A-levels - there is just more of it and in a quantity that is spread over many more months. This is manageable (that is not a threat) You are going to be just fine.

I think you are very astute and very wise - 'Try it' is the only thing I can say. You are also careful enough to discuss this with your Mum and I hope you find the best balance for you that enables you to do as well as you can ever hope for.

Do get a balance between the hours of absolute inactivity with refresh of physical activity. Go walking, running or workout and don't forget to find time for laughter - with family, friends or just anyone who is a happy soul. When you get disillusioned - one mark can be the difference between and A or B grade. Hundreds will give up on that same journey (your gain) and that one extra mark you can gain can be the difference. If you have a bad day just learn one more small thing - just one more thing than you knew yesterday.

Good luck

Reply 5

PinkMobilePhone

Volunteer Team

My daughter can't study for more than 20 minutes at a time if she's going it alone. She gets crazily distracted. Try the pomodoro technique and adjust it to your requirements.

Reply 6

amyywaringg

Hi this isn’t a reply to the question but I’m also homeschooling my A-levels and was wondering which courses you are doing. I’m working from textbooks at the moment but was looking into the open study college courses.

Reply 7

username5897551

Original post by amyywaringg

I bought one course from OSC and it was awful. I ended up switching to another provider altogether. To be honest I'd steer clear of open study college - because they're such a big organisation the service isn't very individual and it isn't great.

If you're okay with working from folders (i.e. not online) I'd really recommend Oxford Home Schooling (their Oxford Open Learning if you're over 18). I did my GCSEs with them (and I had to do them in a year because of COVID and the majority of my results were 8s/9s) and I'm currently doing their history, business and psychology A levels and they're brilliant.

You get really good tutor support, much much much better than open study college. You get folders filled with your lessons which you can work through at your own pace and as you go there are tests that you send to your tutor for marking. The tutors respond really quickly by email, usually within a couple of days, sometimes hours, and they can arrange phone calls if that would be better for you. The folders are really good, they do very occasionally have mistakes in but as long as you're paying attention they're obvious and won't trip you up. I really would recommend them 10/10. You do have to buy textbooks to accompany the courses but you can get these fairly cheaply (not dirt cheap but not silly prices) and you can sell those once you've finished the course.

If you have any questions about them I'll be happy to answer :smile:

(Also if you choose a course with them and decide you want to change to a different one you don't have to pay the full price again it's only a smaller admin fee, I was originally taking English but didn't like it so could easily switch to psychology)

Reply 8

Midnight786

Hi I am a homeschooled year 10 student who wants to give their gcse early but I have unfortunately missed the deadline and my parents can’t afford to pay the extra fee. Can I still do them in November even if I haven’t done any exam to resit or do I have to wait until 2023 thank you.

Reply 9

username5897551

Original post by Midnight786

Talk to your exam centre and ask them, from what I've seen November is mostly just for resits. I think my cousin, who's also homeschooled, is taking some exams in November (not resits) but I'm not sure what they had to do to do that. It might be that you need to book a summer exam and defer it to do it in November.

Even if you do have to wait until 2023 you'll be fine.