Today I’m sharing our rough homeschool schedule for the coming year for our multiple ages family.
So many newbie homeschoolers this year! With the extra time at home, I’ve been posting more frequently to help encourage and equip you all for the coming year.
Today, I thought it might be helpful to show you our actual homeschool schedule for multiple ages.
We’ve been schooling now for a solid month, so what I’m sharing is not a pie-in-the sky idealistic schedule but what is truly working for us!
First a few scheduling principles…
Homeschool scheduling basics:
1.Schedule in blocks not subjects
I see people scheduling each subject individually. Personally, I find this a lot to keep on top of. I also don’t mind letting the learner have a bit more say of what gets done when.
Instead, I schedule things in blocks like:
- Independent work: math practice, handwriting practice
- Seat work with Mom: math lesson, handwriting lesson, phonics instruction, memory work, etc.
- Group work: religion, geography, read alouds, etc.
2.Let older students dictate their schedule (with some guidance)
I usually schedule my 8th grader’s work in 1.5 hour blocks. I let him work on what he wants to when he wants to for the most part.
We do have a scheduled one-on-one time where I can help him with anything.
I also tell him any work that I need to correct (math, Latin tests, etc.) must be done before lunch. This is because I know if I don’t have a set time for corrections, they might easily be forgotten!
3.Schedule the bulk of the work before lunch
I don’t necessarily consider myself a morning person, but I lose steam throughout the day and know we need to start strong in order to have a good day.
A couple of years ago, we were able to finish all our school work before lunch. When our oldest hit middle school, I found we needed some afternoon time for lessons.
The youngest 3 are done before lunch and I am also mostly done. I’m there to support our oldest when he needs it and also make corrections.
5.Excel is your friend
I love creating schedules in Excel (actually we have the free OpenOffice version). I can move things around easily and merge cells for things we do together.
It’s also easy to edit if we find we need to make a few tweaks and changes (which we usually do).
6.Be flexible
We are expecting (yeah!) in early October this year, so I know there may be changes to this schedule as we welcome that little one into our home.
The schedule is the guideline and gives us a goal to shoot at!
Note: We are in a bit of a later to bed, later to rise schedule right now as we try to enjoy the remainder of the nice weather for the summer/fall. Our schedule will likely shift earlier during the winter.
5:30 am My Morning Routine: Wake-up, prayers, a bit of work (for me). As I get into the tail end of my pregnancy, I find myself tiring easily so I’m only shooting for this early wake up time about 3 days a week now.
7 am Breakfast block: The kids usually come down around 7 am. We are on a later schedule right now for the summer, so this will be earlier in about a month. The oldest is on breakfast duty in our house (breakfast rotation in the schedule).
7:45-8:30 Get ready block: The kitchen is cleaned, beds made, teeth brushed, and rooms picked up as we get ready for our day. My 2nd grader gets some of her school work done when she’s done with her chores because she likes to get done ahead of schedule.
8:30-8:45 Rosary Decade and devotion: We went for lots of walks during this time slot this summer, but we just simply don’t have time to go for a walk in the morning if we want to finish the bulk of our school before lunch. So now, this is a family Rosary decade and a family devotion/prayer time before getting to work.
8:45-10:00 School Time :
- Group work comes first for the youngest 3. If I leave it till last, it sometimes just doesn’t get done. This includes Bible story/narration, states and capital memorization, religion studies, history read aloud, and science read aloud.
- Work with Mom/Independent Work: I then get the 3rd and 2nd grader started on some independent work (math practice, handwriting practice, etc.). I encourage them to do what they can on their own and I’ll help them later. Then it’s one-on-one time with the youngest. When that’s done I work with Clare (2nd) before snack time. (Sometimes I get to John Christian in this block too!)
- Oldest works independently
10:00 Snack Time: You can see this is super easy and we have a rotating schedule for snacks too! It helps us recharge a bit and gives me time to do a quick household chore or make a quick phone call if needed. It also helps us keep working through the morning until a later lunch time.
10:15-11:45 School Block:
- Work one-on-one with John (3rd) then Isaiah (8th): We go over math lessons and whatever else they may need help with.
- Free time for the youngest 2. The 3 youngest get 15 minutes of learning time on their Kindles for finishing their school (as long as they have a good attitude!). When they are done with that, I encourage them to get outside!
11:45-12:15 Pick-up and Lunch Prep: I prep lunch and the three youngest take a bit of time to tidy the house. It doesn’t look perfect when they are done but helps control some of the mess! The 8th grader is still doing school work a this point.
12:15 -12:45 Lunch: Sometimes I’ll read aloud to the kids but sometimes I just sit and enjoy my lunch and their company! You can learn more about creating a meal rotation for easy homeschool days here. We all work together to clean up the kitchen.
After lunch schedule
12:45 – 1:30 Free Time: Our afternoons are much more flexible. I don’t mind the oldest getting outside for a bit with the younger kids before he sits down to complete his work. I may take this time to catch up on emails, phone calls, my to-do list, spend time with the kids, or read to the kids.
2:00-3:00 Quiet Hour: We all need time apart from eachother and time to recharge in the afternoons. This is where I get the bulk of my “work” done. My independent readers all have time to read and my non-readers listen to audiobooks. They usually read from a book list.
4:00 Teacher Wrap up / Free Time: The kids have free time (play outside/inside, etc.) and I take time to correct anything that hasn’t been looked over and do any book work, filing, or prep for the next day (mostly just on Friday).
4:30 Chore Block: This is where we all work together to get the house spiffed before Dad gets home (normally, though he’s been working from home this year). Then we can kick off our shoes and relax together as a family in the evening.
- Mom: General tidying, vacuum downstairs, miscellaneous, start supper prep
- Isaiah (13): Wipe downstairs bathroom, recycling/garbage, sort laundry, fold towels
- John Christian (9): Pick-up, put away clothes
- Clare (7): Pick-up, put away clothes
- Elijah (5): Straighten shoe rack, pick-up, put away clothes
On Thursday, we do a deep clean of our bedrooms.
Fridays are our downstairs focused cleaning day and a good vacuum of the entire house (I vacuum the downstairs about every other day but the upstairs just once/week).
5:15 ish Supper: This is whenever Dad gets home from work. Right now he’s working from home. Again, we all try to work together to pick-up the kitchen, although sometimes Husband and I kick the kids out and clean up ourselves so we can spend time together.
After supper:
- Fill orders: I fulfill any Etsy orders with the help of the 13 year old. This usually just needs to be done a few times a week and doesn’t take very long (except during the busy months!).
- Family Time: This is our time to play a game (indoor/outdoor) and relax and spend time together. Both Husband and I avoid tech use during this time. Occasionally, we may have a project going, but most of the time it’s relax time!
7 Bedtime routine: Around 7 (more like 7:45 right now) we start rounding up little bodies for tubbies and encourage the kids to get ready for bed and spiff their rooms. I check my planner and do a bit of planning for the next day so I can hit the ground running.
Then I read aloud to my kids, we pray together, and the littlest 3 go to bed around 8 (more like 8:30 right now).
8:00: Husband and I try to reserve this time for each other, but half the time the teen joins us and that’s okay with us too! Around 8:45 we pray Evening Prayer together and then head up to get ready for bed.
9:30 pm: Right now I’m aiming for 8 hours of sleep so it’s lights out at 9:30.
Hope you find this schedule helpful as you create your own!
You may also enjoy:
Homeschool Sanity Saver: Lunch Rotation
Printable Catholic Homeschool Planner
