Do You Need an Easy Homeschool Schedule That Works?
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Are you looking for a homeschool schedule that works?
One that lets you homeschool three young kids while you have a toddler running amok. One that accounts for preschoolers and high school teens?.
Then here’s your solution!
A Homeschool Schedule That Works:
This homeschool schedule came about during the years I was homeschooling 3 children with a toddler roaming the house creating chaos as quickly as he could.
And the homeschool schedule has worked over the last 14 years while I worked in and out of the home.
It held while I was pregnant and on bed rest. And even held up later when I had two toddlers racing around the house.
I’ll walk you through the entire day because the schedule isn’t just when I homeschool my kids. It also includes how I organize chores, activities, and meals.
So here’s how to schedule your homeschool when life is crazy!
The Schedule | Early Morning
Rise and shine!
It’s obvious, but in the morning get up, get dressed, enjoy a cup of coffee, pray, and spend time relaxing and preparing for the day. Aim to rise at least 15 minutes before the kids.
Nothing is worse than waking up to a crisis before you’ve even had your coffee!
We’re early risers, so my goal is to start breakfast around 7 am. Change the time to fit your family’s lifestyle!
While you’re preparing breakfast, have the kids do their morning chores. Kids dress, brush their hair, make their beds, and tidy their bedrooms. You’ll want to start laundry at this time.
After breakfast finish the morning chores. It’s also the perfect time to get the weekly chores done as well. Have the kids help you with those as well.
If you don’t like doing weekly chores in the morning, another option is in the evening after dinner. But pick one and stick to it!
Clean the kitchen, inspect bedrooms, and get ready to start your homeschool day!
Once chores are done, send the kids outside to play. They’ll sit and study better when they’ve run off excess energy.
As you plan your early mornings, have a time in mind to begin homeschooling.
My goal is to begin homeschooling at 9 am.
It’s an unoriginal time, but it works. 8:00 or 8:30 doesn’t give me enough time in the morning. I don’t have time to sit and enjoy a cup of coffee with my husband. The kids don’t have enough time to run around the yard.
Too early of a start time means your mornings become rushed, hurried, and chaotic.
Instead, use a measured pace for the mornings. You need enough time to finish all your tasks and still have enough margin to enjoy a cup of coffee, change a diaper, or admire your 8-year-old’s artwork.
But you don’t want to start too late either. Then you end up running behind all morning. And again your homeschool becomes rushed, hurried, and chaotic.
So 9 am is when my family begins our homeschool day.
The Homeschool Schedule | During the Day
If you’re wondering how to homeschool a large family, try beginning your homeschool day with morning time or group studies.
Group studies include religion, poetry memorization, read-aloud, history, science, fine art, and nature study.
The schedule for group studies is as follows:
- Daily: Religion, memorization, and read-aloud
- Mondays and Wednesdays – history and fine arts
- Tuesdays and Thursdays – science and nature study
- Fridays – discussions
History and the fine arts go hand-in-hand. Study the famous artists of the time period. Listen to the music. Even better, choose one artist and musician to study each quarter. Your kids will retain much more by focusing on one person than trying to skim over twenty.
Keep in mind that you’re aiming to awaken a sense of wonder, awe, and joy as you’re educating your kids.
Science and nature study also work well together. Apply the science you’re learning to nature study. If you’re studying chemistry, take a look at the chemistry behind photosynthesis. You can bring nature study into the house or plan on heading into the backyard for a few minutes.
If you have high school teens, arrange your morning time so anything you want the high school teens to study is done during the early part of your group studies. Then they take off for their individual work while you continue to work with your younger children.
Morning time or group studies makes a beautiful preschool curriculum, so include all your children. Put toddlers in their high chairs with finger food to play with and eat. Pudding makes great food for finger painting and you don’t have to worry about your child tasting the paint.
It’s tempting to move group or morning time later in the day. DO NOT DO SO!
You’ll find yourself skipping group studies when you’re tired, the kids are cranky, and you’re ready to be done. You have activities to attend, books to read, and hobbies to enjoy.
Studying history and science never seems quite as vital as studying language arts and math. Or teaching a child to read.
So do the group studies in the morning while you’re fresh.
Once morning time is finished, move on to individual studies.
During individual studies, you’ll sit down with each school-age child for 30 minutes while the children complete their independent work. And while you’re sitting down with each school-age child, have your older kids rotate through playing with the littles.
The youngest children love playing with their older siblings and the school-age children enjoy a break from their studies.
I’ve found that kindergarten and first graders can usually finish all their schoolwork in 30 minutes, which is good because they need constant attention. You’ll want to cover phonics or spelling, handwriting, and math at your child’s level.
Resist the urge to keep adding! You’ll cover more ground keeping your homeschool short, sweet, and doable.
Second graders are usually able to complete a few subjects under light supervision and have about 30 minutes of work they need help completing. Second graders study reading, spelling, handwriting, grammar, writing, and math.
Older kids are usually able to complete their individual work on their own and simply sit down with me for individual instruction. The kids study Latin, literature, reading, spelling, handwriting, grammar, writing, and math. In addition, they may have additional readings in history and science.
You’ll find the homeschool runs much more smoothly with a schedule or routine. I create a schedule that we follow rigorously for the first few weeks. Then it becomes our daily routine.
The Homeschool Schedule | Adapting for High School
High school teens get fussy about learning from mom, so the 30 minutes of sit downtime tends to disappear. Wah! Instead, I pick up DVDs for the kids.
My teens love them. They get taught by a teacher who knows how to teach the subject. I’ve found the teachers on the DVDs know when kids are likely to go astray and when to give little tips to help the kids understand the topic.
And I turn into a resource for when the kids are stuck.
High school usually needs a couple of extra hours over the younger kids.
You’ll want to plan 1 hour per subject each day with the goal of a minimum of 135 hours per subject per school year. Ideally, you’ll reach 180 hours. If a course runs over into the next school year, don’t sweat it. Concentrate on mastering the material.
Award credits by time spent or completing a high school level course. Each year-long class is 1 credit. For instance, 9th grade English is 1 credit. Algebra is 1 credit. Biology is 1 credit.
Keep office hours so teens know when they can ask you questions, have tests graded, etc. I like to spend my office hours right after lunch while younger children are reading, finishing independent studies, or enjoying quiet time.
I complete light work at my desk that’s easily interrupted – checking plans for next year, researching curriculum, writing an email to my family, or reading a book.
{Related post: The Easy Homeschool High School Schedule You Need}
The Homeschool Schedule | Afternoons
Lunch happens around 11:30 or 12:00. After lunch, send your kids off to enjoy quiet reading or finish independent studies while you enjoy a few minutes of peace and quiet.
Quiet Time and Office Hours
In my house, the younger children enjoy quiet activities while the teens finish their schoolwork and I hold office hours. I do not start work that’s hard to interrupt during this time because I want to be free to help the teens if they need it. If you have more than 3 or 4 school-age kids, consider using this time to finish your one-on-one work with the kids.
This is also an excellent time to sit down with the teens for one-on-one tutoring as necessary.
Aim for a quiet time of 1 – 2 hours right after lunch.
Afternoon Activities
Do not schedule appointments or activities in the morning unless you absolutely have to. Mornings are for homeschooling. Repeat after me: mornings are for homeschooling!
But afternoons are free. Schedule lessons, park days, field trips, and other activities in the afternoon.
Head out for nature walks, drop by the museum, or go on a bike ride.
But don’t fill up every afternoon with activities. Keep a few afternoons free. And give your kids the opportunity to enjoy a hobby, write books, hunt ants, and explore the world around them.
You never know when a hobby will turn into a lifelong passion.
Remember to have the kids do a quick tidy of the house before you leave for an afternoon activity.
Schedule time either immediately after quiet time or before dinner for your kids to practice musical instruments. Personally, I’ve found immediately after quiet time works best because we’re often racing home at dinner time.
{Related post: Set Limits for a Well-Run Homeschool}
The Schedule | Dinner & Chores
As the afternoon is winding down, have a start time for dinner.
You’ll need at least 30 minutes to put dinner on the table unless you’re using the crockpot. So plan to be home 30 minutes before dinner time so you have time to cook. Otherwise, plan a dinner you can walk in the door and serve such as a crockpot meal or casserole.
Sit down for dinner as a family.
Dinners make a great time for family discussions about your studies during the day. You can even write a few discussion questions on an index card to ask as the meal goes on.
Unless your family likes to chat. Then you’ll never get a word in edgewise!
After dinner, make a rule that no one leaves the kitchen until the kitchen is clean. Having everyone help clean the kitchen makes clean-up go quickly and doesn’t burden mom.
Once the kitchen is clean, send the kids off to complete their after-dinner chores.
This works well because I’ve found daily chores either need to be completed in the morning. These are chores such as making the bed and starting laundry. However, taking out the trash really should be done in the evening so it doesn’t stink up the house.
This is the other spot where doing the weekly chores fits perfectly. You can send the kids off to complete their daily chores while you complete the weekly task.
The advantage is the weekly cleaning job doesn’t interfere with getting the homeschool going. However, I’ve found I have less energy in the evening and am more likely to skip it altogether.
Do what works best for your family and energy level.
{Related post: You Can Have a Clean House While Homeschooling}
The Schedule | Evenings
Now it’s time to enjoy a peaceful evening. This is the time I allow the kids to watch television. You can also enjoy puzzles, read aloud to the kids, or simply curling up in the living room listening to audiobooks.
A few points:
- If you’re giving a young child a bath, wipe down the bathroom. You’re in there already, so why not?
- Also, take a shower after your kids head to bed so you’re ready to go in the mornings.
- Go to bed on time!
You need to rise before your kids (even if it’s just by 15 minutes) so you’re not waking up to chaos. And to do that, you need to head to bed!
Make a habit of turning off the computer, doing a last quick tidy of the kitchen, and preparing for the morning.
Then pray, relax, and hit the sack!
The homeschool system gives my family a structure for our days. The kids and I know how the day is going to run. What needs to be done and when it should be completed. Ultimately everything has a place and a time.
So when your life goes topsy-turvy and you’re wondering how to homeschool your kids, use this easy homeschool system.
You’ll find it returns sanity to your life!
