How To Create The Best Homeschool Schedule
When you start homeschooling, it's easy to get bogged down wondering about different homeschool schedules and what you need for your family.
I've rounded up the most common homeschool schedule ideas in this post. I've also included sample homeschool schedules like how we use a combination of them to guide our basic routine for school work - with a picture of our daily homeschool schedule board!
Let's dig in and find the best homeschool schedule for you!
Your Homeschool Day Must Be Flexible for YOU!
Before we move forward, I want to emphasize the need for your homeschooling schedules to be flexible! It doesn’t matter if you’re creating a kindergarten homeschool schedule or one for high school, it must be flexible.
As a homeschool mom, you have to mentally plan for sick days, or the car randomly breaking down, because...
You are still managing a household on top of educating your kids!
Groceries to buy,
Errands to run,
Appointments to make,
Meals to prepare for and cook,
Dishes to wash and put away,
Laundry to wash, fold, put away,
etc. etc. etc. - it doesn't stop!
None of those obligations will stop just because you homeschool! Plus, your kids will be tagging along for all of it! Who said homeschooled kids aren't socialized? HA! They're always out in society!
Related Reading: Popular books for cheap! Keep your kids in the social loop without breaking the bank for birthday and holiday gifts by using Scholastic Book Clubs for Homeschoolers!
If You Fall Apart, So Will Your Homeschool
With such full days and so many responsibilities, you must take care of yourself to avoid burnout and resentment.
It's essential that you embrace flexibility and don't max your days out. You will need breaks! By the time you feel you need a break, you are already behind on caring for yourself.
Like drinking water: If you feel thirsty, you're already dehydrated.
With this loving caution out in the open, let's explore how you can set up your homeschool schedule!
You Can't Do It Wrong!
Let me start with this - you can't do this wrong! Please don't worry about perfecting it because it will constantly change based on your family's needs and schedules.
Each year will look different from the next, as will the seasons. There will be a ramp-up, hyper-productivity, a slump, full-on resistance, new-found excitement, etc.
This is totally normal and happens in a classroom setting, too.
The gist is to be flexible and have enough grace to change things if it's not working
Homeschool Schedule vs. School Schedule
Homeschooling is different from traditional school. Simply put, your homeschooling schedule should be different from a traditional school schedule.
If you’re homeschooling kindergarten, you’re not going to have the same rigidity as a kinder classroom. You’re going to create your own homeschool kindergarten schedule - which should be way less intense, and much more relaxed than a school setting!
Do Not Recreate a Classroom Environment
Classrooms are full of 20-30 children with only 1 lucky adult, maybe 2. There are bell schedules for timed recesses (if they're lucky), timed lunch blocks, transitions between specials, and SO MUCH behavior management that eats up instructional time.
This classroom picture makes me cringe… First, there would be way more kids per class, and second, they’ve obviously been waiting with their hands up for a while!
Trying to mimic a classroom schedule is madness and totally unnecessary!
You don't need that rigidity, and you don't need to take up all those hours!
If you try to recreate the daily structure of a classroom, you will go mad trying to keep track of the materials - your kids will go mad with the overbearing structure - and you'll fight their waning engagement and kill any enthusiasm for learning.
Doesn't that sound fun? Yeah right!
How To Start Planning Your Homeschool Schedule
For every family that educates at home, you will find a different schedule that works.
When planning out your schedule, there will be 4 main components to consider:
Their age. Homeschool kindergarten is different than homeschool middle school.
Individual subjects you want/need to teach
What you want/need your daily schedule to look like
What particular subject you want/need to have covered by the end of the year
The 4 Main Types of Homeschool Schedules
The two most structured schedule systems are the loop and the block. The two most laid-back schedules are flexible scheduling and checklist schedules.
Block Schedule
There are 2 blocks systems. One is where people block specific time frames in a day (somewhat rigid) - the other is where you block large time frames (weeks, months, seasons, etc.) for specific teaching themes or curriculum.
The large time blocking system is similar to a semester framework. You teach a single subject consistently for a period, then when that period is over or the curriculum unit is finished, you stop and move to a different subject.
I use a large block system for our afternoon topics. Our current block is for curriculum units and consists of science and writing. When those units are finished, I'll start a new subject.
A common way to plan block schedules is with a 6 week teaching block, followed by a 1 week break before the next block starts. This repeats for 6 terms. This accounts for 42 weeks of school - leaving 10 weeks of flexibility in a year.
The 6 Week Block system is fantastic for a grand view of what you want to be accomplished in your entire year, but with wiggle-room.
Below are 2 example schedules for organizing a 6 Week Block system:
This is one example of how to plan a year-long 6 Week Block schedule for your homeschool
Another sample schedule of you can set up a 6 Week block schedule
Below is an example of a block schedule that someone might use to block specific chunks of time into their daily schedule. I have definitely used these in the past for other needs, but this doesn’t work for our homeschool specifically.
This is how I set up my classroom schedule when I had bell schedules to adhere to.
For us, there is too much pressure and too little flexibility - say when the weather is absolutely perfect, and we scrap everything to go play outside. We are so incredibly fortunate to have that flexibility!
If you work or have other schedules you need to meet, this might be perfect!
Here’s another example of how to plan your homeschool daily schedule - some block by specific time
Loop Schedule
This is a very simple schedule system. First, the parent decides how often they want to cover a topic during a week. They list the subjects, then teach down the list.
If you need to run out mid-lesson, it's ok! You pick up where you left off with your lesson plans and continue down the list. Once you reach the end, you loop back up to the top!
I really like this one for a homeschool kindergarten schedule because it lends itself to following a child’s whims and being flexible.
Below, Loop Schedule Example 1 is the homeschool schedule template for kindergarten that I’d use. You can click the image to download your own copy to try out.
Here are 2 example templates of how you could set up a loop schedule for your daily schedule:
Loop Schedule Example 1
This loop schedule template lets you establish your goals - say, how often you want to teach a subject, then allows you to create the list to follow through.
Loop Schedule Example 2
With the next loop schedule, you have space to establish your frequency goals and different spaces for daily work and loop work.
This is similar to our schedule because we do math, reading, typing, and grammar daily - then we loop our afternoon subjects. Our current goal is science 2x and writing 3x and I’d probably add in read alouds. This would work for 6 weeks, then I’d change up what we loop through in the afternoons
Relaxed Scheduling
With a relaxed schedule, the parent chunks their day into broad times. It might look like this:
Morning - independent work
Afternoon - chores, free time
Evenings - core and group lessons
Relaxed Schedule Example
With this relaxed schedule, you can write the gist of what you want to be accomplished during that time period. This is what we do since we don’t adhere to times other than meals.
Checklist Schedules
This one is pretty straightforward. You make a checklist of things you want to be accomplished for the day and cross them off as you go!
This weekly checklist schedule is great for kids to keep track of what they’ve done and what work is still ahead of them. Excellent for time management!
How I Use Each of the Schedule Systems
I use a combination of everything! I don't do anything by the clock. That stresses me out! Stressed mom = anxious kids. No Bueno.
Here's how I use each system: and please look past my childish cursive. Yes, I wrote that, not any of my kids HA!
This is end of day, Friday’s homeschool schedule for the week. They erase the day when it’s all finished.
Block
This is how I do our over-arching year-long plan.
I use blocking to determine what subjects we cover during the entire year and when (which season) I teach them. This helps me with what homeschool curriculum to buy for the year since I try to buy them when there's a sale or Gently Used when there's a purge or Spring Cleaning in homeschooling social groups.
Flexible Schedule
This is how our week is planned out
Mornings are chunked out as school time for daily subjects
Early afternoons are free time and
Late afternoons are core lessons from our block subject - I teach these family style
Evenings - read alouds and family time
Checklist
My kids have a daily checklist of what they need to have done. I write it in on Sunday (wet-erase markers), and they cross it off each day (dry-erase markers).
**The grid is written in permanent marker. It is easily erased when you draw over it with a dry-erase marker!
The kids do different subjects simultaneously so that we can overlap independent work with guided teaching.
For example, I'll show my son his math, send him off, then do a reading lesson with my daughter. We flip-flop as needed.
I try to plan the workload for an equal mixture of independence and direct instructional needs.
We are generally done at or before lunchtime by spending 20-30 minutes per topic!
Loop
I loop our afternoon lessons. First, I tentatively write down the core subject with how many times I'd like to teach it, but it can get pushed around to any available afternoon or the following week.
For example, my kids are devouring the Harry Potter series on audiobook, and I've scrapped many afternoon lessons because I let them sit and listen to the story for hours.
Weekly Schedule Considerations
When I plan the weekly schedule (which I do on Sundays), I consider our calendar obligations for the week before scheduling assignments.
We will be at the library on Wednesday mornings, so assigning a lot of work for those hours is unrealistic.
I also know that we have multiple evenings a week where I am getting kids to practices, so I have to shuffle dinner around, which affects my teaching time for those afternoon subjects.
I keep our early afternoons clear!
As a mom, I am a wreck if I don't give myself a realistic break from homeschooling to get the housework and family obligations taken care of. There are only 24 hours a day, and I need 8 of them to sleep!
You must find a balance that meets YOUR needs and your family's.
Creating Your Daily Homeschool Schedule
Things you should factor into your daily schedule include:
sleep schedules (I like to sleep in!)
morning chores,
frequent breaks (don't grind it through, it's a disservice to the brain)
snack time,
independent work abilities,
age of your child (or children!) (who has a baby or toddler demanding attention?)
how many kids you're teaching (1 will be a very different schedule than multiple!)
family time,
quiet time (AKA, please give my ears a break for the next 30 minutes)
Schedule Time For Life And Family Responsibilities
We homeschool families have so much more freedom than most families because of our flexibility with when our children get their lessons. I absolutely love that we can live life with a schedule that fits our needs rather than plan life around a predetermined set of times.
The dentist appointment is at 9:30 am, no problem! Horse riding lessons at 10:45 on a weekday morning? Sure!
Post Wrap Up
You can look for any sample homeschool schedule online, and they're a great starting point for getting your feet wet with homeschooling. But, ultimately, you'll find a rhythm that works for your family's season of obligations and interests.
The main structures for homeschool schedules are
block
loop
flexible
checklist
Again, with trial and error, we have been using a combination of all of them! So play around and find what works for your family!
