What does a homeschool timetable look like? Does it resemble a strict time slotted regimen or is it more easy and flowing with daily life?


Many new homeschoolers ask the question: “How do I organize my day?” Effectively they want to know about a homeschool timetable and a daily schedule.

When we start homeschooling the only model we have to draw from is our own experience at school. As our children emerge from a lifetime of homeschooling they will have a new paradigm to live by.

But we are faced with our own childhood school days, ringing bells, age segregation and other forced environments so that we now have to find a new way of “doing school”. Any homeschooler who has homeschooled their children for more than a few months will tell you that importing the school’s way of doing things into the home does not work.

The home is a much larger living organism which does not always fit into neat time slots. Therefore, a timetable, while it can be planned, will not always run to the clock.

Homeschool Timetable

While some more relaxed homeschoolers baulk at the thought of any form of timetable to govern their schooling times. I have found even just the basic outline to be helpful even if you lean towards the unschooling side of the homeschooling spectrum.

Charlotte Mason recommends two things when considering your timetable:

1. Limit your lesson lengths to 20 – 30 minutes in the elementary grades.
2. Alternate a harder lesson with an easier one (e.g. Maths followed by poetry)

A basic timetable for elementary grades can follow this format:

Early morning:

Bible study – 20 minutes

Maths – 30 minutes

Read Alouds – 20 – 30 minutes

Mid morning:

Snack Break

Language skills – 20 minutes

History, Geography, Science (on rotating days) – 30 minutes

Late morning:
We use our late morning time (a time slot of about 30 – 40 minutes) for a rotating topic choosing from one of the following:

Art and craft

Notebooking

Nature Study

Art Appreciation

Music Appreciation

Hands on Studies

This is followed by lunch and chores then free play. If you would like to know how to fit your timetable into a daily schedule, then be sure to read Homeschool Daily Schedule.

Other pages you may be interested in are:

Ultimate Homeschooling Mom’s Planner
4 Part Planning Ecourse
Chores for children
Diligent Mom

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