Even though homeschooling provides a ton of freedom, a bit of structure helps children with predictions and expectations. Learning how to build a homeschool daily schedule, that works for your family, can be a blessing to your hectic days.
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Our Homeschool Daily Schedule Example
| 7:30 Kids wake up and ready to play and learn! 8:00 Breakfast and get dressed. Sometimes we just stay in PJs all day. 9:00 Unload or load the dishwasher. During this time kids are self-reading or free play. 9:30 Mom collects materials and writes morning message. 10:00 Morning message – usually a message about what we are doing for the day. Kids get to fix mistakes, circle sight words, add beginning or ending sounds, etc. 10:30 Read together 11:00 Activity related to a book – can be science, social studies, writing, English, etc. 12:00 Lunch 12:30 Math (Math is done every day) 1:00 Music or Outside Play 1:30 Free Play or Child guided activity 2:30 Clean Up |
As you can see our homeschool day is pretty relaxed and it doesn’t take up a ton of time. A typical day takes 3-4 hours if you include free play. Two subjects we cover every single day are English and math. English and writing are sprinkled in throughout the day. We make sure we are stopping to make corrections and learn new concepts about writing.
Download our free daily homeschool schedule templates
Homeschool Schedule Template – by the hour
Homeschool Schedule Template – by half hour
Blank Homeschool Schedule Template
Editable Homeschool Schedule Template
How do I create a daily homeschooling schedule?
Start by determining what you already naturally do throughout the day. Prioritizing is key! Create a route that works by considering what you must get done and what is less important. Don’t overwhelm yourself by putting too much on your schedule. Empty spaces for wiggle room are just as important as planning out your day.
Prioritize
What are some of the most important goals or milestones you are trying to reach? If you don’t already have a list of goals for this school year start one! This will help you determine what should be scheduled first. For instance, English and math are a high priority for us. Therefore, I always schedule those activities first. It’s also just as important to prioritize the order of your activities as well. We will talk about that a bit later.
It can be helpful to write a full list every week of all the things you would like to cover. Use this list whenever you are scheduling out your day. Schedule the most important items first and then save the least important for another day or evening activity.
Leave extra time for kids directed ideas
Leaving wiggle room in your homeschool daily schedule is critical. It provides a window for your children to expand on their learning. It is amazing to watch their minds take off whenever they are extremely interested in a topic.
And if they don’t use the spare time you surely will! You’ll find yourself tidying up a bit before the next activity, taking some notes for future lessons, or you’ll just be done homeschooling a bit sooner. There is no need to do things by the clock unless you are trying to be somewhere.
Limit subjects
Of course, each state has different requirements and I highly recommend you to look at your homeschool state laws. Depending on what the laws are will determine what subjects you need or don’t need to cover.
Even if your state requires you to cover 4 subjects you do not need to schedule them for every school day. You can arrange the subjects in a way that better fits your daily schedule without making it too hectic. Consider doing your prioritized subjects every day and then rotate the remaining subjects in the allotted spots.
Consider doing difficult tasks first
Planning your most disliked or difficult tasks first will enable you to get them out of the way. Children tend to focus better at the beginning of the homeschooling day and putting this first should decrease the push back you receive. However, feel free to play around with it. Your child may respond better to doing it later in the day.
If your child responds better to doing difficult tasks at the end of your homeschool day then you can focus on doing the most prioritized lesson first.
Test and test again
Don’t be afraid to change your homeschooling plan multiple times! It can take time to figure out what works well and what doesn’t. Try it one way and take notes for areas you could improve on. Make the adjustments and keep going. You’ll know the schedule is working when things begin to feel like a routine rather than a schedule.
Routine
As I just said, you’ll want your homeschool daily schedule to feel more like a routine. You want things to run smoothly and successfully. You don’t want it to feel forced. Homeschooling is a beautiful thing. Having the ability to naturally apply learning into the family dynamic takes time, but you will know what works best.
Be prepared
Another great tip for your homeschool daily schedule is to be well prepared. Do you ever feel like time is wasted because you had to stop everything to print worksheets? You can waste a lot of learning time by having to stop in between subjects to print and collect items. Choose to prepare for the next day of class by collecting your items the night before. You could even collect all the things you need for the entire week if it seems to be beneficial.
Be organized
If you are organized you will be better prepared. Learn how to organize your homeschool supplies in a small space. No more hunting for the markers or crayons. If you have a homeschool room figure out a layout that will make homeschooling simple. You could start with some of these homeschool room ideas.
Some other simple homeschool daily schedule tips
Don’t be tied down by the hours
The absolute best part about building your daily homeschool schedule is that you can do it whenever you want to. This means if you work during the day or just like to sleep in, you can homeschool in the evening. If some of the weekdays are too busy then homeschool on the weekends.
Please, do not feel obligated to replicate the public school system hours to match your homeschooling schedule.
Avoid tv/electronics in the am
Avoiding electronics in the morning is one of the best things I could have possibly done for our homeschooling day. Have you ever let your children watch tv or play on the tablet while you sorted yourself in the morning? It seems to always lead to a disaster. You end up with cranky and uncooperative kids. Do yourself a favor and learn from my mistakes!
Don’t forget to move often.
Oh, the freedom to not sit at a desk all day! Remember to let your child move whenever necessary. If they start to lose focus, give them time to run circles in the house. Movement helps keep the body awake and as a result, you’ll have a better learning experience.
Also, don’t be afraid to change up your homeschooling setting as well. If Wednesday is bright and sunny, plan to have a lesson outside or even take a trip to the zoo.
Give yourself time
This includes time for planning and time for self-care. You’ll be a better teacher all the way around. Do whatever you need to do to plan for your day. Plan the night before or a week ahead. Some even plan a month, but I don’t suggest it. You’ll be more on top of things if you plan as you go.
After you are done planning, take a moment to yourself because you deserve it! Homeschooling isn’t always easy and putting all the other tasks on top of you can be overwhelming. I promise taking an hour for yourself, to do whatever it is you like to do, will not cause the house to meltdown. At least I hope not.
Have a visual homeschool schedule for your kids
The last tip I have for you is to have a visual homeschool schedule for your kids. This will help them stay on task and see exactly what is coming next. I use this with my children and it has been a useful resource for our homeschooling day.
Each night or morning I will create their schedule. After each task is accomplished you put a checkmark by the task. Kids love doing this and they will even try to add things to their day. It is just a healthy reminder of what it is we are to be doing. It keeps us on track and moving from one topic to the next without much disruption.
You could even use this for children to plan out their homeschool-free day. It’s a great way for children to practice being in charge of their schedule and will help them reach their expectations.
So, what is a good daily homeschool schedule?
A great homeschool schedule fits perfectly with your family. You shouldn’t feel stressed, but rather relaxed as you find a schedule that feels more like a routine. Do what feels natural to you and try not to compare someone else’s homeschool schedule to yours. The tips I mentioned will help you find the perfect balance.