Looking for a functional daily homeschooling schedule? Look no further! Today I’m sharing our basic daily routine with you!
While each day can bring on a chaos of its own, we do have a basic routine that we try to stick to. Obviously things don’t always run smoothly around here, and some days are crazier than others. But I like to at least have a basic guideline to get me through the day. Hopefully it will help you out as well.
- Download the BLANK Printable Homeschool Schedule here
- Download the PRE-FILLED Printable Homeschool Schedule here
Did you know I have FREE HOMESCHOOL SCHEDULES for each grade too?
- Kindergarten Daily Schedule
- 1st Grade Daily Schedule
- 2nd Grade Daily Schedule
- 3rd Grade Daily Schedule
- 4th Grade Daily Schedule
- 5th Grade Daily Schedule
- 6th Grade Daily Schedule
- 7th Grade Daily Schedule
- 8th Grade Daily Schedule
- 9th Grade Daily Schedule
- 10th Grade Daily Schedule
- 11th Grade Daily Schedule
- 12th Grade Daily Schedule Coming Soon!
Help by Grade Level
Stop by my “Help by Grade Level” page for more information on your specific grade!
Here is our schedule in a little more detail….basically…provided nothing unexpected happens…like life.
- 8:00 am – Devotion/shower/get dressed
- 8:30 am – Breakfast & Kitchen clean up
- 9:00 am – SCHOOL STARTS! We usually break for lunch around noon-ish, then finish our group studies like history, geography, art, etc. after lunch.
- 2:00-3:00 pm – SCHOOL ENDS! (Well you know, technically it ends…realistically my kids are subject to my constant pop quizzes all day long.) At the end of each day I re-fill workboxes while the kiddos clean up their areas and make sure the school room is all nice and pretty like it was when we started.
- 3:30 pm – Chore time: Everyone does what they can from their chore chart assignments or whatever I ask them to do. We all take turns doing daily chores like folding laundry, emptying the dishwasher, taking out trash, etc.
- 4:00 pm – I usually work a little bit, check email, blog, etc. The kids get some free time.
- 4:30-6:30 pm – Dinner Prep, Eat, and kitchen clean up. Some nights we have sports and extra-curricular activities, so we work our dinner around those.
- 6:00pm – Dad enters & asks “So, what did you do all day?” I say “Not much, just lounged around and ate bon-bons.” Dad quizzes kids to make sure I’m kidding.
- 7:00 pm – I usually try to exercise or go on a walk during the calm between dinner and bedtime. I find that it helps my mental state tremendously to get out and get some fresh air! When it’s too cold, I hit our elliptical trainer, however I usually get bored on that, so I prefer outside I whenever I can.
- 8:00 pm – 10 Minute Tidy & Bed Time! – This is where I set a timer and everyone runs around like maniacs cleaning up anything can they find so mom doesn’t blow a gasket at the mess we’ve created in just one day. Oh, and since our laundry room is upstairs now, I toss in a load of laundry, then swap it to the dryer when ready. Then yes, I let it sit overnight until we do chores the following day. Crazy I know, but that’s just how we’re rolling this year. A little bit wrinkly
- 8:15 pm – Bedtime Prep (Clean up rooms, put away laundry, take baths, brush teeth) Yes, our older kids go to bed around this time as well. They usually read, take showers etc. If they have any homework to do, this is the time to get that done too!
- 9:00 pm: Free time for mom and dad….sit down for first time today and sigh…blog…make cool printables to share…check emails etc. and praise God we made it through another homeschool day without burning down the house!
Hopefully after seeing our daily schedule you’ll be gracious with me. If you’ve emailed me during the day, you probably won’t hear back until the evening! Please be patient with me, I really do try to get back to everyone by the end of the day, but there are a lot of you and one of me ;o)
Some of the tools I use to help keep me organized:
- Chore Chart
- Monthly Meal Plans
- Homeschool Tracker
- 10 Days of Homeschooling Enrichment (A 10 day series of how I get started, pick curriculum, and get organized!)
More Resources
If you are new to my website, I offer a ton of free resources, help by grade level, and tips on how to get started homeschooling. I also have a very helpful Homeschooling 101 book and several eCourses on homeschooling. I also have a store where my book and many other useful resources can be found.
I love this schedule! I like to have a set time for school each day, but I really dislike the idea of setting subjects at certain times. I like that you give yourself some freedom by just setting ‘school time’.
I am amazed! I always took about 1 hour to cook, include preparation time. How did you do it?
Erica, I woke up yesterday morning to this post and was – as always – inspired. Yours is one of the few blog updates I let through my email filter. Your wisdom and example have made a big difference in our home and I am sure that is true in many homes. You are amazing and so much more organized than me, but remember to be kind to yourself. You don’t have to be perfect to be an inspiration to others.
BTW, I finally did a daily schedule for myself and put it in my outlook calendar. Now sticking to it, we’ll see:-)
Thank you for sharing your schedule. I have loved your website for a while now. You are a very efficient person. I wonder if you can give more detail on how you get some things done in such a short amount of time. It might be beneficial for someone like me who isn’t very efficient. For example how do you start school by 8:30? It would take me two hours to shower, get ready, fix breakfast for the fam (I only have three kids) clean up, and then help the little ones get ready- do their hair/teeth, dress the toddler, start a load of Laundry or some other small chore…. What about your swimming/family devotions/bedtime routine… how do you squeeze all of that into such a short time? When do you do things like returning phone calls, run errands, take care of life’s paperwork/details, appointments, or even getting together with friends/play dates? I’m trying to learn how to be more efficient. Any insight would be appreciated 🙂
Thank you.
Hi Katrina,
On swim nights we don’t always do the family devotions just because it’s pretty hectic. Also, I don’t always start at 8:30am on the dot, like I said its our guideline for the day. I do most of my mom chore stuff in the afternoons after school is over, we run errands, call for appts, have kid playdates, etc.
It’s kind of a balancing act and our days don’t always run smoothly, but having a schedule is a good start :o)
This is SUCH a useful and helpful post!! Thank you!!
This is a really helpful schedule. I am trying to re-work our schedule because, well…it’s not working. I am going to use yours as a guideline to help us out:)!!
Hi! Do you know of any families homeschooling children with special needs? This would be of great encouragement for me, Thank you.
Erica,
I was just talking to my husband today about being more on task with my fourth-grader. I have some what followed a daily schedule and have realized that I need to have a more detailed one in order to keep her motivated and less distracted. Thank you so much for your blog. I have found it to be very helpful in the journey of homeschooling 🙂
QUESTION! Do you have your schedule posted in your room? If so, do you have a printable of it 🙂
I haven’t started homeschooling yet and I’ve read and loved your workbox post. What I’m wondering though, after reading about your daily schedule….how/where do the workboxes fit into this schedule? thanks for helping!
I’m wondering the same thing! I was just hired as the principal/teacher of a one room K-8 schoolhouse. We have – last I counted – four students enrolled so far; two kindergartners, a first grader, and a third grader. I’m required to have a full-on schedule like this written on the board, but I’m also planning on using workboxes. How do you combine a semi-strict schedule with the workboxes?