A Gentle Schedule for Elementary and High School

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One of the hardest parts of homeschooling is figuring out a schedule that works for your family, especially a schedule for elementary and high school.

This year, the kids and I have developed a gentle schedule for elementary and high school that’s working really well so far. And I thought I would share what we’re doing.

A Schedule for Elementary and High School Kids

Before I move further, here’s the link to my homeschool choices for the 2020-2021 school year. You can take a peek at what we’re using.

A Gentle Schedule: Elementary Kids

My schedule for elementary and high school has me primarily focusing on the elementary kids during the week as my high school teens can work independently. This is not to say that you should never check-in, but they don’t require the oversight younger kids do.

Usually.

My elementary kids and I start our homeschooling around 9 am in the morning. It’s not a hard and fast time but rather a general guideline.

• If it’s 8:55, I know I have a few minutes left to enjoy my morning coffee.
• If it’s 9:05, I know I’m late and better gather the kids.

So right now my youngest begins with math. Even though Teaching Textbooks technically can be done independently by the student, I sit behind him for most of the lesson.

This allows me to see what he understands, what topics he struggles with, and to ensure he’s actually learning his math.

That takes up about 30 minutes, give or take. My daughter heads outside to play while her little brother does math.

Around 9:30, she comes in and begins her math lesson while I sit down with my youngest for language arts.

His language arts consists of

• Personal reading
• Read to mom
• Handwriting
• 1 lesson of The Good and The Beautiful language arts

Once he’s done with language arts and my daughter is done with math, we switch off.

My son goes to play on the computer while my daughter and I sit down to complete language arts.

In her case, language arts consists of:

• Personal reading
• Handwriting
• 1 lesson of The Good and The Beautiful Language Arts

We work through the language arts lesson before I send her off to do her personal reading and handwriting independently.

All in all, I’ve found it takes me about 1 1/2 hours to finish the core subjects with my youngest kids.

After lunch, the kids and I gather again for history and science.

Right now we’re working through the Story of the World series and Memoria Press Mammals.

So first I sit down and read a section of Story of the World to the kids. The color or draw while I do so.

Then we complete a narration or notebooking page. And complete mapwork every couple of days as needed.

I usually save the mapwork for the last section of the chapter so we can do a gentle review of what we’ve learned.

Then we sit down and work through science. My daughter is completing Memoria Press Mammals by herself and doing very well with it.

We love, love, love the curriculum!

My son and I are working through Memoria Press’s Mammals together. He enjoys it, but perhaps not quite as much as his sister does.

All in all, I would say science and history take us about 45 minutes to complete on a daily basis.

That leaves us most of the afternoon to head out on a nature walk, run some errands, or complete an activity from Story of the World’s activity book.

What I love about the schedule is that we’re easily getting everything done without feeling like we’re doing a sprint.

The kids are completing math, language arts, history, and science daily. But we’re not feeling rushed.

Thanks to this gentle schedule for elementary and high school, we’re enjoying our homeschool again!

Gentle High School Schedule

But where is my high school teen in this schedule for elementary and high school?

He gets started on his schoolwork about the same time as the younger kids and I do.

And works independently for most of the work. Although I check in daily to see how things are going and if he’s keeping up.

High school students are still kids and don’t prioritize their obligations in the same way adults do. Stay on top of their schoolwork so you don’t discover they’re weeks behind at the end of the semester!

Once a week, we sit down together and run through his work. We hold our Tapestry of Grace discussion. I do a thorough check of math and English. I look through his science work. And grade any assignments that need grading.

It gives us time to sit and talk without younger sibling vying for attention

This gentle schedule for elementary and high school gets done.

I’ve been pleasantly surprised with this schedule for elementary and high school kids.

The kids and I are relaxed as we work our way through the subjects.

And best of all, we are able to easily maintain the diligence needed for a successful homeschool!