Planning and carrying out a daily homeschool routine as a family of 7 is a full-time job. With 5 kids, all under the age of 10, we do not have the perfect homeschool schedule nailed down. However, with some trial and error, we have discovered a rhythm that seems to make our days flow more smoothly.
Homeschooling multiple kids, especially when you have infants or toddlers, is a little bit like putting a puzzle together. It takes some flipping and flopping of different pieces to finally make it all come together.
If you feel like you’re flailing to come up with a daily homeschool routine that works, let me give you some tricks and tips to help you find your way!
What do homeschoolers do all day?
The question of what homeschoolers do all day is a super common one. Those unfamiliar with homeschooling often picture it as school at home.
They envision little desks set up in the corner with a set schedule between the hours of 8 and 3.
There might be some families out there who follow a strict homeschool schedule, and that’s awesome if they make that work for them!
I’m definitely not here to tell you that you shouldn’t have a set schedule for homeschooling. What I will tell you, though, is not to feel bad if you don’t follow a daily homeschool schedule to a tee.
It’s actually super normal for homeschool students to only do lessons for an hour or two a day when they are in their elementary years.
So, what do they do with the rest of the time?
They do imaginative play, read, play board games, work on the computer, practice a new skill, go to sports practices, take art and piano lessons, hang out with their friends, and help around the house!
Sounds pretty familiar, right?
Contrary to popular belief, the majority of homeschool students aren’t bored out of their minds sitting at home all day. They actually have interests, friends, and hobbies they like to pursue.
It’s just up to us homeschool parents to give them the flexibility and free time to be able to pursue a purposeful life full of joy and fulfillment.
We can do this by structuring their daily routine so that they use the time most efficiently, while also have lots of freedom to just be kids!
Our Daily Homeschool Routine
This year, I am homeschooling a 3rd grader, 2nd grader, and kindergartner. I also have a toddler and a one-year old.
In these early years, you will only homeschool for 2-3 hours a day total. Not every one of my kids will be doing school work for that entire time period either.
My third grader will likely work that whole time, some one-on-one with me and some independently.
Our 2nd grader will work for about 1-1.5 hours. She is mostly still one-on-one with me but is beginning to do more independently, too.
I work entirely one-on-one with our kindergartner for 30 minutes. She also will sit in on some of our family learning (history, science, Bible). But, I don’t ask her to sit through all of that. She come and goes as her interests lead her. She is required to sit and do the core subjects (language arts, math, and handwriting) with me, though.
I will outline what I do with each child throughout the day in greater detail below!
Grab this free printable homeschool calendar with planning pages by dropping your email below. And, be sure to check out how to create a homeschool schedule for more tips on creating your own homeschool schedule!
Morning Daily Homeschool Routine
On a typical homeschool day, I aways start off first thing with my morning routine.
You can read more about my morning routine here, but I strongly believe in the importance of establishing a routine to start your day off on the right foot.
A typical day for us starts with homeschool at 8 am. My kindergartner is usually the first one up, so I sit down with her for about a half an hour, while the rest of the house is still quiet.
We do her language arts, math, and handwriting lessons together. We also do a short calendar and “letter of the week” time. Once she’s finished, she goes to the computer to do a lesson on Reading Eggs while I start working with my 2nd grader.
Use Family Learning When Homeschooling Multiple Children
Homeschooling a 3rd and 2nd grader at the same time can be really simplified if you use family learning in your homeschool.
Family learning is when you group your kids together for academic subjects like history, social studies, science, Bible time, health, and so forth. Each child will have their own level of reading, writing, and math. But, the other subjects can be taught together as a family.
Family learning is a great tool for making homeschooling more manageable. Subjects such as history and science can be easily adapted to suit the needs of all the children in your family, regardless of grade level. Not only does it make your job as a teacher easier, but it also brings your family together for great discussion and learning as a group.
Whether you have 2 or 10 children, using family learning in your homeschool is a great idea!
Choosing a Daily Schedule Strategy
There are several different strategies you can take when planning out your daily homeschool routine.
Some like to block schedule, while others plan using a loop schedule.
Block Schedule
A block schedule is used when you want to block off specific times for specific subjects. For instance, you might schedule language arts during the block of time from 8 am to 8:30 am. Then you would block off 8:30-9 for math. And so on and so forth.
Loop Schedule
Others prefer using a loop schedule, where they don’t assign a subject to a specific time block, but rather work through a list of subjects during their school hours.
For instance, a homeschool family might have a loop schedule for science, history, music, art, and geography. Instead of having a set day of the week that they work on these subjects, they are just constantly looping through them during an allotted time frame.
Let’s say the time frame is one hour on Tuesdays and Thursdays that they want to devote to working on their loop subjects. They might start with 15 minutes of geography, then do a 30 minute science experiment, and finish up with 15 minutes of history reading. The next time, they might do 30 minutes of music practice and 30 minutes of an art project.
As you can see, the loop schedule allows for a lot more flexibility in the schedule and less stress about always completing a lesson within a designated time frame.
On the other hand, block scheduling can give some people the schedule they need in order to stay consistent and focused with their homeschooling.
Block and loop scheduling are two of the more common ways to plan your daily homeschool routine. Whichever scheduling type you choose, or if you choose something completely different, just make sure it works for you and your family! You don’t have to do what others say is “better,” just do what works best for your life circumstances and personality.
This is also a really great article on the difference between block scheduling and loop scheduling in homeschool.
Our Morning Homeschool Rhythm
Another buzz word in the homeschool community is “homeschool rhythm.”
A homeschool rhythm is similar to a loop schedule in that you follow a certain flow of subjects rather than a rigid homeschooling schedule.
This is the style of homeschool scheduling that I prefer to follow.
With a homeschool rhythm, you will typically have “school hours.” These hours may be from 8-10:30, for instance.
Rather than assigning a subject to every single minute of that time frame, however, you have a list of subjects you want to flow through in the given time.
I will share our daily homeschool rhythm with general times that we work through our subjects, just to give you an idea. However, the times are certainly not set in stone. Depending on the day, we may not start our first lessons until 9 or 9:30.
Regardless of what time we begin, the flow of the day always stays consistent.
Our daily homeschool rhythm looks something like this:
8 am- Start kindergarten language arts, math, and handwriting. When she is finished, she goes to the computer.
8:30-9:30 am- My 2nd grader and 3rd grader eat breakfast while we do our Bible study, history, and science lessons together. My kindergartner usually does her computer work next to us. She can either work on her computer or join us with our family lessons. During this time, my younger kids are usually still sleeping. If they happen to be awake, I put out blocks or other manipulatives they can play on the dining room floor by us.
9:30-10:00 am- I work one-on-one with my 2nd grader on language arts and math while my 3rd grader works through her language arts video lesson and independent work (handwriting, spelling, and journal writing).
10:00-10:30 am- My 2nd grader wraps up by doing her independent work (handwriting and spelling), while I work one-on-one with my 3rd grader on math.
Right now, my one-year-old is often sleeping through all of our morning lessons. I know that our daily homeschool routine might look a different once he drops his morning nap. And, at that point, we will adjust however we need to.
But, for the time being, this schedule works really well for us. My older kids have made good habits of grabbing their independent work and doing that quietly when they see that I am busy working with one of the others. Setting this expectation at the beginning of the school year makes such a huge difference in having a smooth daily rhythm.
Afternoon Daily Homeschool Routine
After our morning homeschool routine is through, the kids will go off to play while I prepare lunch.
The baby takes another nap in the afternoon, so we do “quiet time” after lunch. Quiet time can be either working on a computer lesson, playing quietly with toys in their room, reading a book, nap time, or working on a quiet activity.
When it’s tolerable weather, the kids like to go outside and play, too.
Afternoons are also reserved for extracurricular activities outside the house. We often get together with our homeschool group, take classes at the local nature center, and play sports.
You can read more about how I spend my time in the afternoons with my weekly homemaking routine!
What is a good schedule for homeschooling?
A good schedule for homeschooling is one that works for you!
There really are no rules when you are developing a daily homeschool routine. You just want to make sure you have a general idea of the subjects you need to get done, and the time frame that works best for your schedule.
The rest can vary widely depending on your personality type and goals for the day.
One of the greatest pros of homeschooling is that you can be flexible with your schedule. If it’s not working for you, you are allowed to change it! Don’t get stuck in the mindset that school needs to have a fixed schedule for it to be successful.
The easiest way you can make your homeschool successful is to schedule it in a way that works for you and that you will want to stick with consistently.
Leave a Reply