Homeschool Schedules

How do you schedule class time?  Here are examples of daily schedules for all grades.  At our house, we have a fourth grader and a ninth grader.  The fourth grader, Paul, needs more structure than the ninth grader, Lacie.  Every day, Paul does three to four hours of work.  He does his work in this order: Math, Science, History, and English.  Paul has additional activities before and after core lessons: experiments, coding, cooking, and PE, guitar practice.  Math and Science take about one hour each daily.  We vary the History and English activities.  Most of the time he reads in History; occasionally he does mapping exercises or a time-line.  Paul reads an assigned book every day.  I assign grammar lessons with diagramming three days a week.  He does at least one hand-writing exercise each day.  We are adding vocabulary and spelling.  After, he finishes Holes we are watching the movie.  Then, Paul is going to learn how to write a compare and contrast paper of the book and film.  Previously, Paul wrote a brief book report.

Lacie has more of a block approach.  For example, today she is doing Algebra 1.  She spends the entire day on math, completing several lessons and the test.  Over the weekend, she works on writing papers for Literature and Theology.  Lacie spends three or four hours writing.  Each day, she blocks time for two or three subjects, finishing all her classes each week.  She and I talk daily about her goals and assignments.  Lacie spends about thirty hours each week on her lessons.  How much time should you spend on task?  It depends.  Math takes several hours each week.  Chemistry requires about six hours each week.  This week Lacie plans to study for tests on Pride and Prejudice, Theology, and History.  Last week she invested several hours organizing and preparing her notes into study guides in preparation for her tests.

What schedule should you follow?  Younger children typically need more structure.  Lacie thrives with more autonomy.  Other teens require more structure and need detailed daily syllabi.  You are the parent.  You know your child.  Experiment with the schedule.  Most children learn best between 9 am and noon.  Dedicate mornings for the core subjects.  Many teens like to create their own schedule.  Work it out together!