Creating a Homeschool Schedule by Grade
Creating a homeschool schedule by grade, by your fave homeschool style, or simply based on your own preferences – the options are endless. Here are some important things to consider when planning the perfect one for your family!
Going on five years on our path of homeschooling now, we’ve implemented different routines and homeschool schedules by grade because (duh!) that is what we were used to. My husband went to public school his whole life, and I was in Catholic private school K-12. So of course when planning our own homeschool (read how we got started HERE) we naturally categorized our 3 kids into their grade level and mimicked a homeschool schedule similar to what they followed in public school. The good news is that you can do the same! The other good news is you can also create a routine that is completely unique.
This post is all about creating a homeschool schedule by grade.
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Creating a Homeschool Schedule by Grade
1. Know your State’s Homeschooling Laws
Before you begin your homeschool at all, you’ll definitely want to be aware of your state’s homeschool laws so you’re not missing any requirements. Check out the Homeschool Legal Defense Association HERE to find out what you need to know. Then you can plan accordingly!
2. Set your Homeschool Goals
Ideally, how would you love your days to look and feel? That may sound strange, but as homeschoolers, we have so much more time freedom! We get to create a life we love around work priorities, trips, errands, events, or whatever we decide. It’s ok to NOT follow a school schedule like you may be used to, or have grown up with.
PSA: You get to design your days in the way that works best for the people in your household, and you get to be flexible when things don’t go according to plan.
The Homeschool Handbook
For a beautiful, printable guide that covers what you need to know to homeschool
PLUS myth-busting, goal-setting and resources, go HERE.
3. Know How Many Hours a Day to Homeschool
If you’re figuring out your homeschool schedule by grade level, please know that in the homeschool world, the time frames for structured work might be seriously shorter than you’d think! This can be hard to wrap your head around if you’re used to a traditional all-day school schedule.
Some people choose to not even begin formal lessons until age 7 (one source as to why found HERE). This is obviously a different school of thought from the standard “start at 5 years old in full-day Kindergarten” that occurs in many areas. It’s all dependent on the individual child and family!
HOMESCHOOL HOURS BY AGE CHART
| GRADE LEVEL | ESTIMATED AGE | SUGGESTED TIME per DAY | SUGGESTED DAYS per WEEK |
|---|---|---|---|
| Preschool | 3-5 years old | 15 – 30mins | 4 days |
| Kindergarten | 5-6 years old | 30 – 45mins | 4 days |
| First – Second | 6-8 years old | 45mins – 1.5hrs | 4 days |
| Third-Fifth | 8-11 years old | 1-3hrs | 4 days |
| Sixth-Eighth | 11-13 years old | 2-4hrs | 4-5 days |
| High School | 14-18 years old | 3-6hrs | 5 days |
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These times are subjective based on what I’ve researched + our own experiences. Obviously everyone’s needs are going to vary. Plus… they’re just a baseline – not all learning comes solely from structured bookwork.
TIP: Map out your own plan with a Printable Weekly Homeschool Schedule, Available HERE
4. Know What Counts as Homeschool Hours
If you’re feeling overwhelmed – like you don’t even know how you’ll fit all that your child needs to learn into your homeschool schedule – you’re gonna love this info:
LIVING YOUR LIFE WILL COUNT TOWARDS HOMESCHOOLING.
How?? Break it down and think about all that you do with your kids, and what they’re learning from it. For example:
Making dinner can be a science, math, cooking, and food / knife safety lesson.
Going shopping becomes a money / life skills / planning lesson.
Visiting the zoo or a nature trail gets to be a science lesson, and then you can expand on that topic with related books, games, activities on their favorite animals or parts of nature they experienced.
These are just some examples! Here are some more ideas that could count towards homeschool hours in your everyday life:
- Field trips to anywhere
- The history behind the places you’re visiting
- Artwork
- STEM / Lego building
- Puzzles
- Board Games
- Crafting
- Utilizing library resources for events, museum admission, and more
- Planning + growing a garden
- Exercise / sports / yoga / dance
- Animal care
- Music lessons
- Community involvement
- Acts of service
- Studying the weather
- Reading
- Podcasts / audiobooks
- Cleaning + chores
- See post HERE for more ideas on Field Trips + Experiences
Not to mention the topics you can find on YouTube, Teachers Pay Teachers, and Outschool! Kids learn all throughout the day, so don’t forget to take note of their real life experiences. And then as parents, we can help guide them on making connections, seeing how things relate to each other, and where to find resources for further learning!
5. Hone in on Your Curriculum Choice (or Lack Thereof) to Help Create Your Routine
Some homeschooling families don’t use a curriculum, or follow a specific homeschool schedule either…because they’re using a child-led approach.
If you do choose to use prepared homeschool curriculum, take advantage of that company’s guides + resources. The Good and the Beautiful provides this in the beginning of their course books, which is really helpful when setting a homeschool schedule by grade! It gives you an idea on roughly how many weeks it will take to complete a unit or entire the course book, and suggests how much time you might want to spend each day on the lessons. So check out your curriculum’s website for further insights!
Even if they don’t have recommendations – or you’re using curriculum from various places – just take note everything you want to incorporate and roughly how much time you plan to spend on it each week.
For curriculum resources, check out this post: 11 Inspiring Types of Homeschool
Here are some homeschool schedule samples for inspiration and ideas on how to create your own homeschool schedule by grade! Remember you can always shorten, modify, and customize these as much as you need to fit your own family. Not everyday has to look the same!
SAMPLE HOMESCHOOL SCHEDULES BY GRADE
Homeschool Schedule Preschool:
Homeschool Schedule for Kindergarten:
Homeschool Schedule First Grade:
Homeschool Schedule Second Grade:
Related post: How to Homeschool Your Kids Confidently
Homeschool Schedule Third Grade:
Homeschool Schedule Fourth Grade:
Homeschool Schedule Fifth Grade:
Homeschool Schedule Sixth Grade:
Homeschool Schedule Seventh Grade:
Homeschool Schedule Eighth Grade:
The Homeschool Handbook
For a beautiful, printable guide that covers what you need to know to homeschool
PLUS myth-busting, goal-setting and resources, go HERE.
Homeschool Schedule for High School:
CONCLUSION
We’re a homeschooling family, not providing legal advice, but sharing what has worked for our family in hopes it helps yours too. There’s no “right” or “wrong” way to create your homeschool routine. Just use what works and leave the rest!
What we’ve found is that a loose homeschool schedule is good for us in this season of life, AND we have to keep it flexible. Because our family and our kids’ wellbeing comes first. We might not get to every thing on the agenda each time. There are days where we need to pivot and put the work down and take a break. And when we return to it later, everyone’s in a better headspace so it gets completed much faster and they can retain more anyway.
As you find your own homeschool rhythm, it will naturally evolve…you just have to start!
Printable Homeschool Weekly Schedule Available HERE
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