Homeschool Schedules

Parents who send their children to public school often ask how we manage our homeschool schedules. I wonder the same of them.

I can't imagine waking 3 children while it's still dark outside, packing lunches, serving breakfast, dropping the 2 oldest at different schools, waking the baby to pick them up, signing permissions slips, supervising homework, etc.

When educating at home, families can design their own homeschool schedules. Single and working parents can schedule the bulk of their teaching time for weekends. Night owls can complete their assignments after dinner. Early birds can complete their schoolwork before lunch.

Homeschooolers don't lose 6 valuable daytime hours sitting in desks and waiting on others, only to spend their evenings completing assignments. Because they are not tied to a school holiday and vacation schedule, they can do the bulk of their schooling in the winter when it's too cold to go outside or in the summer when it's too hot for anything but the pool.

They can carschool on the road with dad when he travels or stay up late to accommodate mom's work schedule. This flexibility also serves the needs of atheletes, missionaries and entertainers.

How Much Time is Required?

Most people assume homeschoolers sit at the kitchen table doing workbooks for 6 hours per day. While that may be true for some families, I taught my son kindergarten reading and math in 1 hour per day as opposed to the 6 hours he would have spent in a traditional kindergarten classroom.

Homeschooling generally only requires a fraction of the time spent by public schools, as public schools must spend time:

• Taking attendance
• Passing out papers
• Bringing the class to order
• Getting children to line up
• Taking restroom breaks
• Addressing discipline issues
• Changing classes, and
• Waiting on others to finish their assignments.

Add to that lunch and recess, and you see that little classroom time is left for actual instruction - no wonder they assign homework.

Homeschoolers spend their time in the real world, and what's more, while the other kids are in school we get the parks, museums and swimming pools to ourselves.

Tips for Planning Your Schedule

Follow this link for information about creating a homeschool schedule.

To see sample home school routines or share your own, check out our collection of homeschooling schedules.