We have jumped back into our next 6 weeks of lessons and so thankful to be back to our regular rhythm/routine! We have kept this same routine for many years so now it just comes as second nature.
Today I’m sharing a typical homeschool day for us. We don’t necessarily go by the clock, but I will put some idea of an allotted time on everything we do.
All curriculum we are using this year can be found here: Kindergarten, 2nd grade, 4th grade, 6th grade. Update post- first 6 weeks.
Morning: 6-9am
I try to be the first one up each day so I can get a little work done. I am a night owl by heart so this is hard for me, and doesn’t happen every day, but in busy seasons I try to get some work done in the morning. I’m usually up by 6-6:30am. I’ll sit at my desk and answer emails, messages, work on a post, write for my blog or work on new curriculum.
My kids trickle out one-by-one between 7-8:30am. They slowly wake up with a few cartoons and make themselves breakfast when they are hungry. I continue to work until around 8am and then read my Bible/devotional for the day.
About once or twice a week we pull out our “Morning Basket,” cuddle up on the couch, and read through the books/go over flashcards. Everything we are currently using can be found HERE. This takes us maybe 20 minutes to complete. The days we don’t go through our morning basket, the kids have time to play.
Around 9am it’s time to clean everything up and get ready for the day. Everyone gets dressed, brushes their hair & teeth, and makes their bed. We do have chores the kids complete, but they happen anytime throughout the day (take out the trash, feed & clean up after the pets, unload the dishwasher, etc.)
This year we also got a large whiteboard and I add a simple “plan for the day” so the kids can see what we have going on and know what to expect. This includes adding any extra lessons for the day I hope to get to such as history, science, Spanish, our read aloud, or any outings we need to do. This has been super helpful for all of us!
Core School Work: 9:30-12am
We try to start school work around 9:30-10am. When I say it’s time to get started, everyone grabs their own basket full of curriculum and brings it to the table. (My daughter has been doing her schoolwork in her room lately.) They pull out their checklists and get started while I grab a coffee and join them at the table.
Everyone has their own checklist of what needs to get completed each day of the week. These have been the BIGGEST help in our homeschool over the years and in homeschooling multiple kids at once. At the beginning of the year I break down their curriculum throughout a week on these templates and laminate them so they can be used with a dry erase marker over and over. You can grab the editable template HERE.
At the top of the list are work that can be completed independently: handwriting, spelling, Fix It Grammar, Explode the Code, etc. They are able to get started on these as I begin math or LA lessons with another. Then I switch between kids having one complete independent work while I do lessons with the other. My older two (4th & 6th grade) are able to do almost all their work independently. I’m nearby to answer questions or help with instructions, but they are able to complete most of their work on their own.
These checklists have made less planning for me every week and keep us on track to get everything we need to done. It has also been helpful in creating independence, staying on task, and getting things completed. As we get into our homeschool year, I edit and tweak these as needed on our break weeks.
Some kids are done quickly (like my Kindergartener) and are free to play. My boys do get small breaks in between some lessons also. Altogether, we usually have everything done by 11:30-12pm.
Afternoon: 12-3pm
We have a simple lunch everyday (leftovers, sandwiches, hot dogs, chicken nuggets, etc.) and the kids are free to play.
Around 1:30-2pm we have reading time everyday. Everyone grabs their assigned book and cuddles up somewhere to read for 30 minutes. You can see all their assigned books for the year on these posts- 2nd grade, 4th grade, 6th grade. I read books with my Kindergartener during this time or complete an activity from Me on the Map. THIS visual clock has been the best for our reading time.
The kids are free to play again after reading while I get our history or science lesson ready. This year we are focusing on just history for 6 weeks, then will focus on just science for 6 weeks. We are really loving this new schedule of blocking these lessons. It gives us more time to focus on one subject and do any deep dives without having to move on to another subject. It’s also less overwhelming for me to not have to prep & plan for everything at once.
We just wrapped up our first 6 weeks of Ancient Egypt for history and are now doing 6 weeks of science. These lessons are never more than an hour.
Extra Curricular Activities: 3:30-6pm
The afternoons are for the kids to play, be creative, go on walks, or extra curricular activities. My daughter has ballet 2x a week and 2 of my kids have CCD (catechism) on Wednesday’s. (Baseball is in the spring for my boys.) We are heavy in Nutcracker season right now too so have a lot of evening rehearsals as December gets closer. While dinner is cooking, we also pick up the house and tidy the playroom/living room.
*Meal planning is my least favorite task in the entire world (haha!) but it does help SO much during the week. I meal plan simple meals for the weekdays with this planner that sticks to our fridge. You can check out my “Food” highlight on my Instagram for lots of recipes and dinner ideas!
Evening
The rest of the evening is typical- dinner together, showers, a tv show, and my kids love to read before bed. They get in bed around 8pm and are allowed to read for 15-30 minutes.
After they are in bed, I’ll clean the kitchen and load the dishwasher, although my husband does help and does this most nights. I love to wake up the next morning with a picked up house and a clean kitchen; sets the next day off to a good start.
I don’t do any work after the kids are in bed, that is my time to unwind, shower, hang out with my husband, watch a show, and I read every night before bed. I’m usually in bed by 10:30-11pm.
6 week schedule:
If you are new around here, we complete what I’ve heard called a “sabbath” schedule. We complete school for 6 weeks and then we take a full break week off. This is our 3 year with this schedule and it is my favorite! I’ll never go back. Haha! Having that one break week is so helpful for burn out. It gives us a week to rest, take field trips, go to appointments & run errands, have play dates, catch up on household chores, projects, etc. We all look forward to our break weeks and like having that shorter end goal to get to. The week off also gives me time to plan and prep anything for the next 6 weeks of school.
4-day School Week:
We also only do school 4 days per week and take Thursday’s off. I run a small co-op that meets every other Thursday, so I don’t plan on getting any other school work done on those days. The opposite weeks that we don’t have co-op on Thursday’s, it is nice to have a day to reset, rest, or catch up on things. We don’t do all of their schoolwork, but might do an art lesson, science lesson, finish a project, etc. This is also a day we use to run errands, clean the house, or have play dates. *If you have to keep track of days of school or school hours, I still count this as a school day because we do science with our co-op.
Cleaning/Laundry:
I clean the house every Friday (or our Thursday’s off); clean the bathrooms, dust, mop, etc. All the dishes are loaded in the dishwasher every night, kitchen wiped down, and the house is always picked up in the evenings. This makes it way easier to stay on top of things.
I do ALL of my laundry on the weekends; wash, fold, and put away. I love that everyone has clean clothes ready for a new week and I get a break from doing laundry for the rest of the week. This gives me a lot more time each day to relax and focus on other things too. Of course sometimes we are out of town or have a busy weekend and I don’t get it all done, but I try to get caught up during the week.
Time for myself:
I don’t get a lot of time for myself, but I’m ok with that. This is the season of life we are in and I wear a lot of hats. I love being a mother, homeschooling, and running my business so a lot of it doesn’t always feel like work.
I do try to do something that I enjoy every day. Mostly that is just reading, I’m an avid reader, and I will read a little throughout the day and always before bed at night. I’ve also started finding other small little hobbies that I enjoy but can also include my kids. Large puzzles, paint-by-number, dot art, or diamond art are some of my favorites. I enjoy doing these things that help me relax but my kids can also join and spend time with me too.
My daughter and I currently have a large paint-by-number we enjoy doing together while we listen to an audiobook. My boys love doing dot art with me and we all love working on puzzles together.
I hope this post was helpful for you! I hope it gave you some ideas if you are needing to try a different schedule for your family.
If you are interested in seeing a visual look at some of our days, check out my DITL (day in the life) highlights on my Instagram. You can see #1 HERE and #2 HERE. These share a few different homeschool days over the years.
Feel free to ask any questions in the comments below too!
– Lindsay
This is so helpful! Thank you. We are about to embark on our homeschooling journey and have been following you for the past year. You do 6 weeks on 1 week off for the whole year? When do you have bigger breaks?
Yes we do that schedule for the whole year but we do take off all of June and July for summer break.
Do you homeschool year round with the 6 week on 1 off schedule?
No we take off June and July for summer break and start the new school year mid August.
I’ve been homeschooling for 4 years and I’m so grateful to have found your page. Your lessons and knowledge have brought so much JOY to our homeschool days! Excited to try the sabbath schedule (6 weeks on, 1 week off), I think it’s going to be such a good rhythm for us. Thank you for being so helpful and sharing so much of your homeschooling journey! It’s been a huge blessing for our family. 🙂
You’re so welcome! I’m so happy to have helped in any way! Thank you for sharing with me!
Do you take breaks from 10-12:30 when you are doing core work? If you do, for how long and what are they allowed to do? I am having a hard time getting their attention back after breaks.
Yes we do take breaks sometimes, but only for 10 minutes or so. We have a rule that if they complain or have attitude when coming back from a break, they don’t get breaks anymore. We also use a visual timer that helps a lot!