Curious what a schedule for homeschool looks like? Read below for ours!
Our schedule for homeschool includes direct teaching, online activities, video calls, experiments and more! This homeschool schedule is just an example and can be edited to meet your needs. This schedule is from when I had a 5-1/2 year old in Kindergarten and 3-1/2 year old twins in preschool, all of which I teach at home.
Schedule for Homeschool Preface
Our kindergartener is open enrolled in a school district 30 miles away because they already had a well established online program whereas our local school district was in the process of piecing one together in the 2021/2022 school year. We’ve been very happy with the program this school year and plan on continuing next year unless we suddenly feel safe sending our son to school in person in the fall.
Though it’s an online program, I do the teaching. The program picks the curriculum, sends us the materials, gives us a schedule to follow, and he has an online class that he gets to do video calls with 2x a day including his teacher. There are some activities he does online but mainly it’s me sitting next to him teaching him.
We typically have 4 to 5 subjects to cover including math, literature and composition, handwriting, language skills, phonics, science, and social studies. In addition, there are daily physical education tasks to complete, weekly art lessons, and a biweekly music lesson. There are learning apps the students are supposed to do as well including Raz Kids, Epic, and IXL.
My husband is a web developer and started working from home in March 2020 when COVID first hit the United States and everything closed down for a while. We’ve been lucky enough to have him working from home ever since. He used to commute 45+ minutes each way everyday so with him working from home we get an extra 90+ minutes a day with him which is great for all of us!
As you can tell since you’re reading this, I have a blog that I work on daily as well. I work on my blog in little moments throughout the day, as well as evenings and weekends as I’m able.
Morning Routine
5:00 a.m. My husband wakes up, gets ready for the day, and fills up the kids’ water bottles, etc.
6:00 a.m. My husband gets our twins up, they get ready, and I get up to get ready.
6:20 a.m. My husband gets our twins and himself breakfast.
6:40 a.m. I join them on the main floor and eat breakfast, after which I start to set up the classroom for the day. Generally, I just need to sign into my kindergartener’s K12 program on his iPad, set it up on his desk, ensure I have water, coffee, etc.
6:50 a.m. Our 5-1/2 year old kindergartener gets up, gets ready, and comes down to join us on the main floor. If there is time, he plays for a bit before breakfast.
7:00 a.m. My husband goes to his office downstairs to start work.
7:30 a.m. Our kindergartener eats breakfast while I teach the twins preschool. We have a curriculum for this that I’ve used with all 3 kids and really enjoy. We don’t do preschool every day since even with the curriculum they get through it all pretty quickly. They have been learning along with their big brother so they’re pretty smart!
8:00 a.m. I start teaching our kindergartener once I’m able to get him to come to the classroom and sit down. I often will set something up for the twins to play with or they will ask to be on their iPads. They have educational apps they enjoy and oddly enough, they love just looking at Apple Maps and ‘driving’. We do limit screen time but me being able to teach our kindergartener without the twins fighting is very helpful.
9:30 a.m. Our kindergartener has a video call with his class where they have their Morning Meeting. I take this time to check in on the twins, make some more coffee, and check in on my emails and blog.
10:00 a.m. Our kindergartener is done with his first call and I’m back to teaching him. Typically, if he stays on task enough we’ve completed the core subjects before his first call and during this time he can work on subjects like art, music, or one of the many learning apps he’s supposed to take part in as part of his schoolwork.
10:45 a.m. Our kindergartener is on his second call with his virtual class, this time for reading group. During this time I prepare lunch for all 4 of us and check in on the twins again. They’re always in the next room or in the same room as us so it’s not like they’re far away. I typically can tell what’s going on even without being right there.
11:00 a.m. Lunchtime, I have all 3 boys go potty before lunch, and then sit down for lunch. Often I have them separate so they don’t start arguing with each other. Honestly, not sure what there is to argue about but they always find something. I eventually eat during this time as well and will check in on my blog, work on creating pins for the day, and other activities.
Afternoon Schedule
12:00 p.m. We try to be done with lunch by noon and the kids can play a bit before quiet time. This also gives their bodies some time to digest their lunch and often at least one ends up pooping before quiet time which is ideal.
12:30 a.m. We start quiet time in their rooms or different levels of the house. See below for the progression of quiet time over the years. During this time, I make coffee and take some in our master bedroom to myself, often working on my blog, watching some TV, or listening to podcasts.
2:00 p.m. By this time we are done with quiet time and back to working on school work if we still have some to finish, otherwise free play time. As it gets nicer out we hope to make it outside in the afternoons.
3:40 p.m. My husband is done with work and he comes up to be with the rest of the family. Often he will think of an activity to do with the kids or take them outside if it’s nice out.
4:00 p.m. Depending on what is for dinner, I generally start making dinner by this time. My husband and I trade off with cooking depending on what I put on the meal plan. We both have our strengths with different meals and often I don’t mind cooking as it gives me a break from the kids.
5:00 p.m. Our dinner time is always at 5pm because the kids go to bed rather early. We try to be done with dinner by 5:45 p.m. but that doesn’t always happen.
5:45 p.m. If it’s a bath night which currently is about every other night, then bath time starts at this time.
6:15 p.m. We all head upstairs for the bedtime routine, which my husband takes care of with them (bless him!!) I do join them for story time on bath nights and snuggle in the chair with one of the kids on a rotating schedule.
7:00 p.m. Twins are in bed and my husband is chatting with our oldest before he goes to sleep.
7:30 p.m. All kids are in bed and my husband and I spend time together, time apart on our own hobbies, or quality time together. I often work on my blog during this time and other hobbies.
10:00 p.m. Bedtime for my husband and me.
Progression of Quiet Time
It used to be that the twins would nap and our oldest would be in his room doing quiet time. Then it was everyone in their rooms for quiet time with toys and books, but one of them really didn’t like that after a while.
We have three floors of our house so we started having one kid in their bedroom on the top floor, one kid on the main floor, and one kid downstairs. All three levels have toys and they could bring toys to different levels if desired. Often we play music for them on our Sonos Speaker.
We have them separate because when together they tend to fight before long. Just sibling stuff but doesn’t make things very quiet for quiet time.
Lately though, they’ve shown more and more that they really don’t want to be in their rooms at all, even with toys and books. Now we are letting two kids be on the main floor and one downstairs. It hasn’t been going great so far but it’s new so we’re giving it time.
I should mention, we do have cameras on all levels so we can check in on them. When I’m upstairs in our bedroom during quiet time I can see the main floor and downstairs on our Wyze cams so I know what’s going on and if anyone needs my help. I typically just check in a couple times or if I hear something loud. My husband works downstairs in the office so he’s down there as well if anyone needs something immediately but typically he keeps his door closed so he can focus on work.
As the years have progressed, they no longer do quiet time, and we’ve adapted things quite a bit though a lot of our schedule remains similar.
Before I close, as a former school psychologist, I want to share a resource with you for anyone who has children with cerebral palsy to help you be aware of services available to them whether they are homeschooled or not. The Cerebral Palsy Guide guide was written by Amie Kroessig, a Patient Help Advocate and she requested I check it out and add it to my blog. I think this is a great resource that’s worth taking a look at.
Classroom Furniture and Supplies
Looking to set up your own homeschool classroom? Below is a blog post I wrote about many of the great things we have in our classroom that help keep us on track and organized.
Homeschool Planner
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As a mom of identical twins and a son two years older, I have gained invaluable experience in the realm, and chaos, of parenting. With a Master's Degree and Education Specialist Degree in School Psychology, I spent years as a school psychologist, helping children navigate through their educational and emotional challenges. Now as a stay at home mom and professional blogger, I combine my areas of expertise to help you in your parenting journey.