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How to Create a Homeschool Schedule
After deciding to homeschool and choosing a suitable curriculum, figuring out how to formulate a homeschool schedule is sometimes one of the most challenging aspects. A majority of today’s homeschooling parents graduated from a traditional school setting, where the schedule was easy. Homeschool schedules may be broken down into some manageable chunks.
Yearly Schedules
The first plan you have to determine is your annual schedule. Your state’s homeschooling laws play an essential role in setting your yearly schedule. Some states require a specific number of hours of home instruction each year. On the other hand, some require a particular number of homeschool days. Other states consider home schools self-governing private schools and put no conditions on attendance.
Weekly Schedules
One of the advantages of homeschooling is that your weekly schedule does not have to be strictly Monday through Friday. If a parent has an unconventional work week, it is possible to adjust your school days to maximize family time. For example, if a parent works Wednesday through Sunday, that can make an entire school week. A weekly homeschool schedule can also be synced to accommodate an infrequent work schedule.
Daily Schedules
Similar to yearly schedules, your state’s homeschool laws may affect some aspects of your daily schedule. For instance, some state’s homeschooling laws require a specific number of hours of daily learning. Some of the new homeschooling parents often wonder how long a homeschool day should be. They worry that they may not be doing enough because it may only take two or three hours to get through the day’s work, especially if the students are young.
Parents need to realize that a homeschool day may not take long as a typical public or private school day. Homeschooling parents do not have to take time for administrative tasks like taking a roll call or preparing 30 students for lunch or allowing them to move from one classroom to the next between subjects.
Sample Daily Schedule
Allow your daily homeschool schedule to be directed by your family’s personality and needs, not by what you think it should be. Some homeschool families choose to schedule specific times for each subject. Their daily schedule may look something like this:
- 8:30 – Math
- 9:15 – Language Arts
- 9:45 – Snack/break
- 10:15 – Science
- 11:00 –Reading
- 11:45 – Lunch
- 12:45 – History/social studies
- 1:30 – Electives (art, music, etc.)
The most vital tip to remember is to allow your family’s needs to shape your schedule, not an impractical idea of how the schedule should or should not be set up.
