Homeschool Schedules -7 Important Details You Need to Think About5 min read

Introduction

Because of the adaptive nature of the homeschooling schedule, the lessons also vary as much as the families that create them. However, there are various details to consider.

We wish we had some magic formula for creating a wonderful homeschool day, but we don’t. All we know for sure is that no two homeschool days are alike and that no matter how well you plan, things rarely happen as planned.

Yes, having a strategy in place is critical. If we don’t, we’ll be paralyzed by the enormity of the task before us. So here are our top seven suggestions for making a daily schedule that motivates you to get things done.

7 Details that you must keep in mind

1. Create a routine, not a schedule

At last, only a few of us will be able to stick to a timetable in the real world. Most people will find that time slots on a chart will frustrate them as life happens and they are continuously thrown off schedule.

Instead of a rigid schedule that says you’ll start math at 8 a.m., reading at 8:45 a.m., and spelling at 9:10 a.m., aim to start your first work block between 8 and 8:30 a.m., and then have one thing following another until you’re finished.

2. Work in chunks

We’ve noticed that people tend to refer to distinct periods of time as “blocks.” It becomes much easier for them to arrange their days in blocks rather than individual subjects. You can view several examples of timetables on the internet. Make a strategy and go for it!

Micro scheduling within the blocks is not recommended. While you accomplish the blocks in the same sequence every day, the order of the blocks inside a block often varies depending on what you’re working on for that subject that day.

If both spelling and Latin demand a lot of writing on a given day, for example, you should aim to sandwich the reading lesson in between them. If you’re utilizing letter tiles for both reading and spelling, you shouldn’t do them back-to-back unless you want to break up the repetition. It’s possible that the order will change the next day.

3. Leave a margin

You’ll never be able to cram five hours of schoolwork into a five-hour period. Something will happen — the washing machine will overflow, the dog will leap over the fence, and someone will decide that today is the perfect day for a stage-four math meltdown. You’ll almost certainly fail to complete it, and you’ll become frustrated as a result. In a five-hour block, fit 3.5 hours of schoolwork. You will thank us later. Trust us!

4. Schedule the siblings

Surprisingly, the most crucial part of your calendar is probably the thing where you don’t have any classes at all. When planning your routine, the infant to preschool age group should be prioritized, as this will aid in the creation of a smooth-running routine.
Some ideas that you must definitely include are:

• You can also include toddler care and fun in the school day for older children. While you work with one, the other’s job may be to play with the younger sibling and attend to their needs for a set period of time.
• Prioritize pre-schoolers. A little one-on-one attention from mom and dad can often go a long way toward the young one happily playing alone for a bit. Before you start with the older kids, schedule story time and a fun exercise for your twos, threes, and fours.

5. Don’t try to do every subject every day

You may have heard from your teachers that you should try to finish every lesson (related to each subject) on the same day. However, the majority of researchers believe that youngsters should not attempt to complete all subjects at the same time. Instead, the task should be divided into smaller chunks or planned to be completed on a regular basis, such as every Monday, Friday, Saturday, or any other day.

On the other hand, if you want to educate your children on some language skills, it could be one of the best choices you’ve ever made!

Spelling, writing, grammar, literature/reading training, and handwriting are all covered under the umbrella term “language arts.” Tell your children not to attempt to complete all of these subjects during each class time. Don’t even tell them they have to complete all of them in one week. To fit in all of your subjects, feel free to alternate days or use an alternative scheduling approach such as blocks or looping. Everything must be done on a regular basis, not on a daily basis.

6. Hang priorities on hooks

Do you want to make sure something gets done every day? Then hang it on one of your day’s natural hooks. A meal (we all eat), a nap, or a breastfeeding session are all natural hooks. Use these pre-determined times for activities you know you’ll perform as hooks for crucial aspects of your routine, such as prayer, reading aloud, memory practice, and painting. Move directly from your hook to your subject, and it will become second nature.

7. Draft a plan

To plan your days, use the Daily Plan form from any relevant and reliable planning chart. Don’t worry, you’ll be able to discover it quickly on the internet! For the first draught, we recommend sitting down with this form and a pencil. It’s perfectly OK if you have a lot of erasing to do since you’ll be able to work things out.

First, decide on the blocks for your day, keeping the concepts above in mind. It doesn’t matter what you call them.

Start filling in the blanks with subjects once you’ve got your blocks in place. Consider what your family naturally associates with one another.