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Our family has been homeschooling for 8 years now! Through those years I've had to make adjustments as needed to accommodate the personalities of my four kids. After finding the right rhythm for our homeschool the current schedule we follow seems to be working well for us.
Before I go any further please remember that this is a look into our homeschool. My home. Your schedule and what works best for your family will probably be different. I hope you glean something from what we do to help you in areas that might need tweaking in your own schedule, but I would hope that your homeschool looks different from ours.
Years ago I was overwhelmed, frustrated and heading towards burnout! It seemed that chaos and sometimes bad attitudes ruled our school day. It lead to a lot of whining, complaining and fighting from everyone - myself included!
Something had to change - NOW.
So what did I do? Prayed! I prayed for wisdom and that God would equip me to do the job He was calling me to do - homeschool our kids.
My husband and I agreed on a more structured schedule that required the kids to be up and ready for the day by a certain time each day. With time for us to gather together for read-alouds, plenty of time for breaks and independent work.
I hope by sharing our schedule with you it may encourage you or give you some suggestions for your own homeschool structure. So here is what our typical homeschool day looks:
Our Homeschool Schedule
8:15 - Bible Study - my oldest two girls (6th grade & 8th grade) are ready for the day and start working on their Bible study. This gives me time to help answer questions or discuss the lesson with them before their younger brothers need me to help them get ready for the day.
*we attend a weekly Community Bible Study (CBS) class which has a home school and teen core group class. We LOVE it! The class meets every Wednesday and since I am part of the teaching team we are there all day. My oldest (8th grade) brings school work to do during non-Bible study time and my youngest three just play in the gym during that time. I do not require the kids to do school on Wednesday therefore our school week is only 4 days. click the link above to find a class near you.
8:30 - Bible Study - the boys (4th grade and K) get their school day going with Bible Study.
9:00 - Group Read Aloud Time - we gather at the kitchen table and I read either our history lesson or whatever chapter book we are reading to the kids. During this time they can doodle, color, play with slime - anything that is quiet!
10:00 - Math (6th grader) / Language Arts (4th grader)- At this point my oldest starts her independent work in the order she chooses. While the two middle children do math and language arts I spend time with our youngest playing games or working on reading, math or handwriting.
10:30 - 11:00 BREAK TIME - by this time in the morning we all need a break and this is free time for everyone to do whatever they want. Most of the time they play basketball outside on a nice day or play with Lego's if the weather is bad.
11:00 - Math (4th grader) / Writing (6th grader)
11:30 - Spelling & Writing (4th grader) / Language Arts (6th grader)
12:00 - 1:00 LUNCH BREAK - we all eat together! During this time I will either read to them or we watch past episodes of CNN 10 to get up to date on current events happening around the world.
1:00-1:45 - Science (4th & 6th grader) - The two middle children have been doing science together for the last 3 years and it has worked out well for us. The curriculum we use has a student notebook/workbook that has both a junior level (lower elementary) and a regular level for the upper elementary students. My youngest loves to do science with us and has his own plain spiral notebook to write in and make lap books with the older two.
1:45 - 2:30ish - Reading / Exercise / Music - this chunk of time includes a lot of different options for the kids to choose. My son (4th grader) takes an online robotics class and uses this time to work on his EV3 robot as well as read his assigned chapter book. My 6th grader practises her guitar or reads her assigned chapter book during this time. Depending on what day of the week it is the kids can also use this time to exercise on our Max Trainer machine (they love it!).
Whew! That is one busy day, right!
My oldest ends her school day at various times during the week depending on how ahead or behind she is with her assigned work. Most days she is usually done with school around 2:30 / 3:00.
I found this great Homeschool Planner Printable on Etsy that offers tons of options for you to use while creating your schedule. If you are not great at creating a schedule from scratch this product is for you!! (affiliate link)
This schedule represents a typical day of homeschool when we are HOME! What is not listed on this schedule are the extra weekly activities the kids do like ballet class 3 times per week, guitar lessons, little league, doodle crate art and a baseball class. With a flexible yet structured schedule our days have been more productive and enjoyable.
Because of these extra activities it is quite common for us to "road school" which means each kid packs a bag with one or two subjects to work on in the car (or waiting room) while we are out and about.
This schedule has taken a lot of "tweaking" to get it working well for us. Here are some tips I thought would be helpful for you as you work on your homeschool schedule.
5 Tips to Help You Create An Awesome Homeschool Schedule
#1 Tip - pay attention to what time of day your child learns best and schedule their more challenging subject(s) during that time. Also make sure your schedule is age appropriate. I don't know any homeschool kindergartners who have a 5 hour school day!
#2 Tip - Make sure you are consistent yet flexible as you create a homeschool schedule for your family. If the schedule says get up and be ready by 9am - do it! If your child was up late one night cut them some slack and allow a little flexibility for a tired cranky child.
#3 Tip - Don't overload your week with extra activities. I know each opportunity is fun, educational and your kid just wants to do it but there is a limit to how full you can pack your schedule.
#4 Tip - Get your kids involved helping you create a schedule. This will help them feel heard, important and give them a sense of ownership of their homeschool - it is their schedule right?
#5 Tip - Create a
calendar just for homeschool so kids know when certain projects, book reports or papers are due, what they should be reading or studying and if you test, when the test will take place as well as any other important deadlines. This keeps everyone on the same page! Don't add items like doctor appointments to the homeschool calendar - Just Homeschool Items ONLY!
I could probably go on and on and I'm sure you can add your own tips to this list but I will save those for another post.
I hope this helps you as you figure out what is best for your family. Flexibility has been a key factor for us as we journey through each year of homeschool. Best of luck to you as you work on your family's homeschool schedule.
If you get stuck and can't seem to figure out why your schedule isn't working I'd love to help you. Please leave me a comment, question or suggestion so we can chat! Don't forget to PIN this post so you can come back to it as you work through putting your schedule together.
