How to Create a Daily Schedule for Homeschool
It has been awhile since my last homeschool update. Our third quarterly report has been submitted, and approved (thank goodness). And, we are coming to the close of the school year… this is insane!
I have a few posts documenting our journey, where we contemplated taking the leap and dove in, shared some of our favorite free resources (found on YouTube), and discussed the difficulties of home schooling after coming from a traditional education myself.
At this point, I know we all feel the shift that world events have brought our way. Some have lost those near and dear to our hearts, relationships have changed, we have (in a way) collectively gone through a metamorphosis. And, that metamorphosis has included homeschooling for our family.
If this is your first read, I am a complete newbie to homeschooling. But, extremely blessed to have a spouse within the education system. He has been my guiding light throughout this journey.
It has taken a long time for us to find a schedule we can all groove to. And, it has changed so many times this year but, the schedule I am about to share with you, is one that has been the path of least resistance for our family.
My Typical HomeSchool Schedule..
Won’t be yours…I know that seems counterintuitive to the message of this post but, let that stand as a disclaimer. This is the schedule that works for our family. Some days it takes longer than others to work on a specific subject, some days my girls just don’t want to be at school (aka our dining room table). However, the beauty of homeschool is that I can shift our schedule based on their needs for that specific day.
The schedules I am going to share with you are a framework. They allow me, as the teacher, to ensure that I am covering everything that needs to get covered, while keeping in mind their educational endurance and interests.
If anything you just read scares you, that is the complete opposite message I would like to convey. You can totally do this too. Now, don’t get me wrong…there will be bumps in the road, you will question everything, and you might even think about giving up entirely. However, no one knows your child better than you, period.
In my opinion, bringing education back into the home is one of the bravest and smartest things we can do for our children.
However, this opportunity would have never been on the table if my husband and I did not pay down our (my) debt. In the form of student loans…
I would be forced to send my kids back to school/daycare into a system and pandemic regulations I did not agree with. While it wasn’t our intention when we paid off our(my) debt. Getting rid of our(my) debt, opened up a world of freedom we never knew existed. But, that is a story for another time…
Let me know in the comments, if you would like to hear more about our debt free journey and I will share our experience.
For now, let’s just stick to the schedules…
After months of searching I came across this blank daily schedule freebie from Confessions of a Homeschooler, and I love the simplicity of it. I use this template for both girls’ schedules.
Sadie's Pre-K HomeSchool Schedule
Full disclosure here, Sadie is three years old. Some days she wants to sit and do work and others she’d rather not (to put it politely). I created this routine to align with her older sister’s schedule, and I wanted to make sure she had a variety of activities to keep her interest.
In other words, if she has a week that she is ready to sit down every day to get work done, then we are covered. But, she’s three! So, I do not push her to do work if she is not into it because honestly, it’s not worth the struggle when she is not fully engaged.
On average, I would say Sadie is in session 3-4 days a week. And, 5 days would be a complete rarity. But, as we move into PK-4, I am planning to keep a similar routine and push her to make school 4-5 days a week.
Nora's First Grade HomeSchool Schedule
Now, Nora’s schedule took some fine tuning. Six months of fine tuning to be exact! So, don’t get discouraged if you want to implement this schedule for your kiddos and it doesn’t work out. Every child is different. But, I know for Nora, we need to get Math and Language Arts out of the way asap so, we can have a lighter/easier afternoon.
Do you notice that its always harder to get the kids to focus after lunch?!
For Nora, we purchased a curriculum for First Grade, and have decided to stay with the same program for second grade as well. Honestly, I have been incredibly impressed with this Waldorf inspired curriculum so much so that it will take a lot for me to deviate from it in the future.
If you are currently homeschooling and using a curriculum, please let me know which one you use. Although, I love our curriculum, I also like to research different educational strategies and techniques to implement here at home.
Until next time,
