Schedules That Work

A Schedule for a Crowded House

(Students: A kindergartner, a first grader, and a fifth grader)

Mom runs a daycare service in the same home where she’s teaching her children. She combines the two activities for reading time and when the children work on arts and crafts.

	Kindergartner	First grader	Fifth grader
7:30 – 8:00 a.m.	At breakfast, discuss the day’s K12 lessons, chores, and scheduled extracurricular activities.
8:00 – 8:30 a.m.	Gather materials
8:30 – 10:00 a.m.	One-on-one instruction
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.		One-on-one instruction
11:00 – 11:30 a.m.	Break
11:30 – Noon		Instruction
Noon – 12:45 p.m.	Lunch
1:00 – 1:30 p.m.	Story time for kindergartner, first grader, and daycare children. Distribute instructions for Language Arts/English lessons so that questions can be asked during reading and worksheets can be completed soon after.
1:00 – 2:30 p.m.		Instruction
2:30 – 4:30 p.m.	Daycare activities that include doing arts and crafts, coloring pages, free writing, working with modeling clay, and baking.
4:30 – 5:30 p.m.			One-on-one instruction

7:30 – 8:30 p.m.	This time is used when students fail to complete lessons during the day.

A Schedule That Doesn’t Take All Day

(Students: A first grader and a third grader)

Wherever she can, Mom saves time by combining subjects for her two children (she also has a three-year-old running around the house). She tries to finish school early in the day to give her time to do some housework, cook dinner, or even have a short rest.

	Activities
7:30 – 8:00 a.m.	Third grader (who gets distracted easily) works on Math while the house is still quiet.
8:00 – 8:30 a.m.	Breakfast and devotions
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.	Piano practice and religion
9:00 – 10:00 a.m.	Math and handwriting
10:00 – 11:00 a.m.	Language Arts/English, with an emphasis on work that requires help from Mom including phonics lessons, spelling tests, and literature discussions.
11:00 – Noon	Science or History
Noon – 1:30 p.m.	Saved for lunch, chores, and recess. One day a week, family has a recess play date with another homeschool family.
1:30 – 2:30 p.m.	Art or Music
2:30 – 3:30 p.m.	Children have quiet time when they can listen to music or storytelling CDs, play with their toys, etc.

A Schedule Where Every Minute Counts

(Students: A kindergartner, a second grader, and a fourth grader)

Mom has her family (which includes an energetic three-year-old) following a strict routine. School starts exactly the same way every day and her schedule doesn't waste any time in transitions from one child’s instruction to another. Mom finds ways to count most of the children’s daily activities toward their education. For example:

After lunch the children play outside for 15 minutes while Mom prepares for the afternoon lessons. This time counts for PE hours.
Sing-a-longs at her kindergartner’s bath time count as 20 minutes of Music lessons.
Bedtime reading of the story “Rechenka's Eggs” counts as History time for the kindergartner.
Her second and fourth graders read for 30 minutes before bedtime, which counts as Language ArtsEnglish lesson time.

	Kindergartner	Second grader	Fourth grader
7:30 – 8:00 a.m.	Breakfast and handwriting exercises
8:00 a.m. – 12:45 p.m.	Phonics	Language Arts/English	Language Arts/English
	Math
	Music	Math	Math
	Play
	Play
The rest of the school day	History or play	Combined History, Science, Art, or Music lessons. Also, reading for 30 minutes just before bedtime.

A Schedule That Overlaps Where It Can

(Students: A kindergartner and a second grader)

Although many of her children’s lessons are done independently, Mom uses overlapping topics for an hour of Science studies. For Art and Music, she teaches the same lesson to both children. She also has her second grader review the History work of her kindergartner.

	Kindergartner	Second grader
8:30 – 9:00 a.m.	Phonics	Independent work
9:00 – 9:30 a.m.	Handwriting	Language Arts 2 instruction
9:30 – 10:00 a.m.	Language/Literature instruction	Independent work
10:00 – 10:30 a.m.	Break
10:30 – 11:00 a.m.	Independent work	Math 2/3 instruction
11:00 – 11:30 a.m.	Math kindergarten/1	Independent Math work
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m.	Lunch
1:00 – 2:00 p.m.	Overlapping Science kindergarten and Science 2 topics
2:00 – 2:30 p.m.	History kindergarten and 2, or free time	History 2 and kindergarten review with kindergartner
2:30 – 3:00 p.m.	Art 2 (Music 1 on Fridays)