How to Plan a Balanced Homeschool Day

You’ve picked out your curriculum and you’ve unpacked your Rainbow boxes. You’ve got the fresh school supplies. You’ve cleaned off the dining room table and hung up some maps and charts. But as your start day looms closer, you panic and think, exactly how am I going to do this? (One day at a time!) Will my kids even listen to me? (Lifelong parent issue!) What are the rules? (Aside from state requirements, you make them!) What do I do first? (Keep reading!) Do I have to ring a bell every 45 minutes and switch subjects? (Goodness, no!)

Traditional classrooms divide their day into subject areas. And although homeschoolers may also do this, I want you to think of a different way of dividing your day when you’re educating at home. A way that takes into account real life, multiple age levels, and often just one adult (that’s you!) to manage it all.

There’s no one-size-fits-all, unfortunately. But there are several elements of a typical homeschool day to take into consideration as you plan your school day and school year. Your day will be filled with different types of activities!

Eating, and lots of it, is a fact of life when you’re doing school just footsteps away from a refrigerator. Every kid’s favorite school subject is lunch! Think about your eating schedule because feeding children and keeping the kitchen clean can easily eclipse your entire day. When are breakfast and lunch served? When do we start dinner prepping? How many snack breaks will you allow? Getting a good handle on kitchen duties will help set up your homeschool day for success. An easy way to start planning your day is to plan your time blocks based on mealtimes since we rarely skip those!

Homeschool days also include cleaning up many of the messes that are made! Your days will be smoother with natural rhythms of picking up and staying on top of the chaos. Not to mention, learning to clean and help with chores will be a lifelong skill your kids (hopefully) will take into adulthood. Then, the children themselves need to be cleaned! Plan for when everyone gets dressed and who uses the bathrooms when. This includes making sure Mom gets to shower, too! We’re dreaming big here!

Sorry little one, that’s also a fact of life if you’re under 4 or so. If there are nappers in the house, you know how valuable that short span of time is to your sanity. Decide what is the priority for that time. Maybe it means Mom also needs to lay down. Maybe it means you take that time to work with an older child on his most demanding subject. Many families choose to institute some type of family rest time, where everyone quietly reads in bed or something of that nature. Plan for rest so no one burns out!

One of the biggest benefits of homeschooling is spending time as a family. Some families choose to start their morning with some sort of relaxed family meeting, especially when the kids are younger. You can make a “Morning Basket” where you review math facts or memory work, read poetry, sing a hymn, or do any activity that would include all the kids and build your family culture. What are some routines you want to start your day with? This is also where you set the mood for the day and try to ward off any crankiness!  

Family time might also include reading aloud on the couch or working on subjects that you’re doing together. Family time is where you get the most bang for your buck when your kids are all engaged with the same content.  

Teach? Yes you can! Time for Mom to transmit knowledge to her students via all the lovely curriculum she purchased. Voila, just like that! This may be at the table or on the couch depending on the subject and the materials needed. But keep in mind there is only one of you, so plan accordingly. This may feel awkward at first, so give yourself time to ease into this new role. Let your child know that teaching is a new skill for you, too, and that you’re both learning to do new things.

Most curricula have elements for students to complete on their own at a table or desk. You (and your student) can decide what space this will be and how close they should be to any siblings. Then Mom rotates her time between the kids who are working independently and is available for questions like, “I don’t know how to do this!” (To which your answer will almost always be, “I showed you how to do that yesterday!”) and “I can’t find my favorite pencil” along with more requests for snacks. You can try to squeeze in some laundry in these short moments when they’re all huddled over workbooks. With each passing year, you will become a more skilled multitasker, and the eyes on the back of your head will grow stronger too. But the goal is to move your children towards independence! With practice and repetition, they will get there!

This is where many homeschool memories are made and what your kids will enjoy the most! Activity time may involve some kind of reading and writing, but it more likely involves getting up and moving around. Science labs. Crafts. Games. All those multisensory elements of the curriculum. And often, making a mess. Especially with younger kids, switching to a hands-on activity after concentrated seatwork is always a good idea!

We may be homeschoolers, but that doesn’t mean we’re always home. Leaving the house for an errand or a family outing definitely cuts into your day! There may be doctor appointments, outside classes, library day, co-op day, grocery runs… an endless list of opportunities outside the walls of your home. Some homeschool families try to limit comings and goings while others jump on opportunities to learn on the go and in different settings. We all need fresh air and a change of scenery sometimes. And contact with other adults in the community is not just good for the kids but good for moms, too!

Another reality of our modern world that makes it all the more necessary to be intentional about how and when and why our children are on screens. Screentime might be part of your instructional time if you’re using a video-based curriculum. Or it might be part of enrichment for another subject. Or it might be the lifesaver you turn to when you need your children to sit still while you take that important phone call.

If you’re sharing devices, schedule time blocks for each child to use the computer. Prepare for extra time to allow for troubleshooting tech and log-ins not working as they’re supposed to!   

Another benefit of homeschooling is working in blocks of play and physical activity as needed. We’ve all heard how recess has become shorter and shorter for public school students. The younger the child, the more physical playtime they need, both for their physical and cognitive development. Even as students get older, they still need to move their body and get physical exercise to help their mental health. Many homeschoolers incorporate ten-minute play breaks after a longer period of concentrated seatwork. Knowing playtime is coming will help little minds finish their tasks!

Getting into a rough routine will take some trial and error. If your kids are older, let them help plan how they want their day to look. Look at what you want to accomplish in a week and start to plug those activities into various parts of your day. Every family has wildly different circumstances to work around, so tailor your schedule to that. Be realistic about how many hours are in a day, and how much of you there is to go around! Then, be flexible as you see what works and what doesn’t! 

The good news is that as homeschoolers we don’t have to have kids in desks all day and change subjects only when the bell rings. We can give our kids daily lives full of learning, resting, playing, working, and growing relationships. A daily life that you and your child can look forward to every morning!

Still have questions? Talk to our consultants via phone, email, or chat, Mon-Fri 8:30-5pm CST. We’d love to talk to you!