Table of Contents
What is a Good Homeschool Schedule?
Homeschooling in high school can be extremely overwhelming. But having a daily homeschool schedule will be helpful. Planning will assist in reducing anxiety and stress. Even though your daily homeschool schedule is flexible, organizing things provides a good framework for your homeschool day.
How Do I Create A Daily Schedule for Homeschooling?
After deciding to homeschool and choosing the best homeschool curriculum, determining how to develop a homeschool schedule for your teenager is a challenging task of teaching at home. Many parents who are homeschooling currently graduated from brick-and-mortar schools, where they had an easy schedule:
- High school students went to school prior to the ringing of the first bell rang and staying till the ringing of the last bell.
- Counties announced the school calendar year as well as breaks.
- Students knew when all classes were going to happen as well as how long they would spend in every class depending on the class schedule.
Hence, how do you create a homeschool schedule for your high school students? The flexibility and freedom of teaching from home make it hard to forget the brick-and-mortar school calendar approach. Let us break the homeschool daily schedule into manageable plans. Here, we break the daily homeschooling schedule into schedules that can be managed.
Annual Homeschool Schedule
First, you will need to determine your annual homeschool schedule. Many states need specific homeschooling each year. Others need a particular number of homeschooling days. Other states take into consideration homeschools self-governing private learning institutions and do not have attendance terms.
So, how long is a homeschool year? A typical homeschool year runs for 180 days and works to four 9-week quarters and 36 weeks. Many providers of homeschool curriculums base their products on the 36-week model.
Most homeschoolers make their annual timetable to be very easy by selecting a beginning date and then counting dates till they have attained the requirements of the state. They take days off and breaks as required.
Others opt to have an outline schedule. Annual schedules are also flexible. Some likelihoods consist of:
- A normal school calendar starting Labor Day till May
- Learning throughout the year with nine weeks on and two weeks off or six weeks on and one week off
- Four-day learning weeks till you have attained attendance requirements
- Adhering to your state or county’s private or public-school calendar.
Weekly Schedules
After you have made a decision on the plan for your annual homeschooling plan, then you can deal with your weekly program. Consider other factors like work schedules or co-op when creating your schedule.
So, how many days a week should you homeschool? After you know how many days and hours your state requires every homeschool year, the next thing to consider is your teen’s individual needs. For some families, homeschool 4 days a week is more than fine. They are able to get the needed hours in and spend the other three days of the week doing the things they require to do. So long as you get the required days and hours in, your online homeschool schedule can look like whatever you make it!
One advantage of weekly homeschool schedule is that it does not have to start on Monday until Friday.
You can change school days so as to minimize family time if both or one parent has an unconventional work schedule. For instance, if a parent works Tuesday through Saturday, you can make that your school well, with Sunday and Monday being your weekend.
You can adjust your weekly homeschool schedule in order to accommodate an irregular work schedule. In case a parent works four days in one week and six for the next, your homeschool can follow a similar schedule.
Some homeschooling families do their normal school activities for days every week and reserve the fifth day for field trips, co-op, and other outside-the-home activities and classes. The other weekly scheduling options include loop schedules and block schedules.
Loop Schedule
In loop schedules, there are lists of activities to be covered, but there are no exact days to complete them. Rather, homeschooling families spend time on them when their turn comes up on the loop.
For instance, if you want to dedicate time in your homeschooling timetable for music, cooking, and art, but you do not have time to dedicate to them daily, include them in a loop timetable. Then, find out the number of days that you need to include loop plan subjects.
Possibly, you select Tuesdays and Thursdays. On Tuesday, you learn geography and art and on Thursday, music, and cooking.
Block Schedule
In a block schedule, one or more classes are allocated a lot of time for many days a week rather than one hour or so daily. For instance, a parent can schedule three hours for science on Tuesdays and Thursdays as well as three hours for history on Mondays and Wednesdays.
This kind of homeschool scheduling enables learners to focus on specific subjects without over-scheduling school days. It provides time for crucial activities like science labs and hands-on history projects.
Daily Schedules
Similar to annuals schedules, the homeschool laws of your state might dictate some aspects of your day-to-day schedule. For instance, homeschool laws in some states require specific hours for daily learning or teaching.
New homeschoolers usually wonder how homeschooling days ought to be. Homeschooling parents often worry that they are not doing enough since it might take three to four hours to complete daily work, especially when they are young.
Homeschooling parents must realize that a daily homeschool schedule might not be the same as a typical private or public-school day. Homeschoolers do not have to take time for organizational tasks like preparing 20 students for lunch or roll call or allowing time for learners to shift from one class to the next.
Moreover, homeschooling permits focused, face-to-face attention. Parents can answer questions from their students and proceed instead of answering questions from the whole classroom.
How Many Hours a Day Should I Spend Homeschooling?
We recommend that homeschooled high schoolers spend around four to five hours each day in their studies. Teenagers might spend three to around five hours or more depending on the state laws. Nevertheless, you should not even if your high school student’s work does not take a lot of time so long as he or she is completing as well as grasping the content.
Offer a learning-rich environment for your teenagers, and you will realize that education occurs even when textbooks are placed away. Learners can utilize additional hours in reading, investing in extracurricular activities, exploring electives, and pursuing their hobbies.
A Sample of a Homeschool Schedule
Let your homeschool schedule be dependent on the needs and personality of your family and not what you believe ought to be. Some homeschoolers choose to schedule a specific time for every subject. A homeschooling schedule for teenagers can be something like;
- 8:00 – Mathematics
- 9:15 – Language Arts
- 9:50 – Break
- 10:15 – Science
- 11:00 – Reading
- 12:00 – Lunch
- 1:00 –History
- 1:45 – Electives such as music and art
Some homeschoolers opt for a day-to-day routine rather than a time-specific program. Such families begin with mathematics, utilizing the above sample, and then finishing with music or arts. However, homeschoolers might not start at one time and end at the same time each day. Rather, they complete every subject and take breaks are required.
Things to Consider When Setting a Good Homeschool Schedule
It is important to note that most homeschoolers begin much later in the day. These homeschooling families do not start until 11 or 12 am. Factors that influence the start time for a homeschooling family include:
- Needs of the family – Factors like a family business, a sick relative/ teen/ parent, and home chore might impact starting times.
- Work schedules –Homeschooling families where one parent or both parents work on a typical shift might opt to begin class after the parent goes to job.
- Biology – Those who focus more in the morning or early risers typically opt to start early, while those alert in the afternoon or night owls choose to start later in the day.
- Outside classes – Dual-enrollment, homeschooling co-ops, and activities or classes outside your home might command your starting time, which requires that you finish assignments after or prior to these commitments.
When you have teenagers who can learn independently, your daily homeschool schedule might undergo a radical change. Most teenagers find that they are more productive at night and they also need enough rest. Homeschooling provides freedom for homeschooling teenagers so that they can learn when they are most productive.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there is no flawless homeschool schedule, and getting the best for your family might require trial and error. You will have to adjust your schedule annually since your students get older, and also factor impacting your schedule does change. Notably, you should allow the needs of your family in order to shape your homeschool schedule and not impractical ideas regarding the creation of homeschool schedules.