What’s my first step to homeschool?

Organize and de-clutter your home! This is my #1 tip for all parents, including those considering homeschool. Children learn and play better independently with less clutter and fewer options. Your mental health as a parent will improve significantly as you spend less time cleaning (or reminding your kids to clean up).

How much time should I spend each day on homeschool?

The act of learning is an all-day, life-long endeavor! As far as structured homeschool tasks, this post gives a great approximate time frame by age. Do not replicate the amount of time spent at traditional public school, as that is overwhelming and unnecessary. Remember that children under 7 learn best with hands-on engagement, so don’t feel the need to complete endless worksheets as your “school”. Homeschool allows you to impart a LOVE of learning and acquiring knowledge, so don’t feel the pressure to complete tasks to fill time. Reading books aloud, listening to a famous composer, observing a butterfly, cooking, measuring items around the house with a ruler- those are all homeschool activities in addition to structured academic tasks.

What is your homeschool rhythm?

We spend about 2-3 hours on purposeful learning tasks each day, always with extra opportunities to learn in less structured ways throughout the day! Learning at home doesn’t mean we are completing worksheets for that entire time frame. Reading aloud, writing a note to a family member for copy work, researching the bird we saw outside, and measuring ingredients for a recipe all factor into our time. Here is a sample of our schedule:

7-8am: Wake up, make bed, get dressed

8-9am: Breakfast. While sitting around the table, we usually read our devotion, practice a scripture, read poetry, and listen to our chapter book from Sonlight (with history/geography/map connections from chapter book).

9-9:45: Table chores and free play, piano practice

9:45-10:15: Math and handwriting/phonemic awareness

10:15-11:30: Play outside with neighbors, complete sensory tasks (mud kitchen, kinetic sand), art, or a nature walk.

11:30: Cooking with a recipe (talk aloud about doubling ingredients, measurements, etc)

12-1: Lunch and read aloud from nature/science book

1-2: Table chores, read aloud practice for 2nd grader, free play

2-3: Quiet time (read books, build with Legos, etc)

3-3:30: Chores (laundry sort, clean rooms, etc)

4-5: Play. We often play a card game for math practice!

5pm: Dinner prep

6pm: Dinner. Spanish lesson with dad around the dinner table.

Our family loves reading great books together and this is a primary form of learning throughout the day via great living books! The tales we hear often inspire hours of creative play and family jokes. Some of our favorites have been The Apple and the Arrow, 20 and 10, and the Little House Series.