Creating a Homeschool Schedule

This year more parents than ever have dived into homeschooling. If you are one of them and you are trying to figure out how to schedule your days, you’ve come to the right place. According to mprnews.com, “The National HomeSchool Association received more than 3,400 requests for information on a single day last month, up from between five and 20 inquiries per day before the coronavirus”. Homeschooling is on the rise, and we are here to help you figure out how to make your days run smoothly (-ish!) and feel like you are staying afloat. 

Before mapping out your daily homeschooling schedule there are some important considerations. Things like ages of your children, work-from-home obligations, planned activities outside-the-home, personalities of your children, and more. If one or more parents work outside the home, what time do they leave for work and when do they get home? Are your children morning people? Are you a night person? Are you using a curriculum? Lots to think about, right? 

The most important thing to remember is that homeschooling is flexible. Let me say that again, homeschooling is flexible. You are the boss of your homeschooling schedule. For the past few months, we have been starting our “homeschooling” day around 2pm and working until it’s time to start dinner. My children are enjoying playing outdoors and with their toys independently until lunchtime. Which is allowing me time to work, and do household things, so I shifted things around. There is no law saying that you have to homeschool from 8am-2pm Monday-Friday. You can homeschool on the weekends if that works for your family. You can change things around when and if you need to. The point is, swim with the tide, not against it. 

That being said, it is important to have a schedule or rhythm to your days. Consistency is important for children’s and parents’ sanity. Rather than trying to plan hour-by-hour, I prefer to break the day up into 3-hour blocks of time. This works best for us. With children, things are bound to come up and cause delays--and my type A personality doesn’t like when things don’t go as planned. So if I had “language arts” from 9-9:30am, and something came up and we didn’t get to it until 9:45am, that would cause me stress. If you need things mapped out by the hour, we are here for you too. Or if you hate looking at the clock and would rather have a to-do list type of schedule, you’re covered too! Step 1 is to figure out which way works best for you and your family. Step 2, print one out (provided for you below) and see how it works. Don’t be afraid to adjust along the way.

3-hour blocks--Daily Homeschooling Schedule & Free printable

Sample Block Homeschool Schedule

Hourly Daily Homeschool Schedule & Free printable

If you prefer to go one hour at a time through your day, this one's for you!

Sample Hourly Homeschool Schedule 

List View--Weekly Homeschool Daily Schedule & Free Printable

 *You’ll need one of these for each child

Sample List View Schedule

A few more considerations:

• The amount of school work you can get done in an hour or two at home is likely equivalent to an entire school day’s worth of work in a traditional classroom. How is that possible? Well if you account for lunch and recesses, and then transition times and classroom management, the teachers really do spend the bulk of their day on things other than actually teaching. Which means 2 things for you: 1) You’ll have to find other things to fill your days, and 2) Don’t stress if they finish their “schoolwork” in 2 hours or less.

• The younger the child, the less time you need to spend on actual homeschooling. Don’t worry, children are always learning. Older children will obviously need more homeschool work to do. 

• These sample homeschool schedules don't allow for things like park days, co-ops, errands, or sports. Don’t forget to plug those in on yours.

Happy Homeschooling! Here’s to organizing your days in a way that works best for your family.