Homeschool Schedule for Beginners: Sample Days and Weeks by Age

The first week of homeschooling usually goes one of two ways: a timetable copied from school that collapses by Wednesday, or no plan at all and a creeping sense of panic by Friday. Neither is necessary. A home schedule can be much shorter than a school day and still cover a lot, as long as it has a clear rhythm. Here are sample days for three ages, a weekly plan, how to manage siblings, and what to sort out before you start.

First, check the rules where you live#

Home education law varies enormously between countries, and within some countries between states, provinces or regions. In some places you simply inform the local authority; in others you need to register, follow an approved curriculum, keep records or have your child assessed; and in some countries home education is only permitted in exceptional circumstances.

As one example, the UK government's guidance on home education in England explains that from age 5 a child must get a suitable full-time education, that you don't have to follow the national curriculum, and that your local council can make informal enquiries about your child's education. The rules in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are different again, and so are the rules everywhere else.

Before you plan anything, find the official guidance for where you live, usually from the national or regional education department, and check:

• whether you need to register or ask permission,
• whether a particular curriculum, number of hours or assessment is required,
• what records you're expected to keep,
• what to do if your child is currently enrolled at a school.

How much time homeschooling actually takes#

The most common surprise for new homeschoolers is how little formal teaching time is needed. In a classroom, a teacher divides attention between thirty children, and a lot of the day goes on transitions, register, queues and classroom management. At home, one-to-one, a ten-minute explanation can do the work of a whole lesson.

Many families find these rough amounts of focused, sit-down learning work well. They are guides, not rules, and every child is different:

On top of that comes everything else that counts as learning: reading for pleasure, cooking, outings, building things, sport, music, helping with shopping, conversations at dinner. Don't feel you need to fill six hours at a desk to "keep up" with school.

Sample days by age#

Here are three sample days. Use them as starting points, then move things around until they suit your family.

Age 5 (Reception or Year 1 in England, kindergarten in the US)

For a younger child, the rhythm matters more than the content. Our post on a daily learning routine for preschoolers covers this age in more detail.

Age 8 (Year 4 in England, grade 3 in the US)

Age 12 (Year 7 in England, grade 6–7 in the US)

• 8:30 — plan the day together (5 minutes), then independent maths for 45 minutes
• 9:15 — check the maths together and go through mistakes
• 9:45 — break
• 10:00 — English: reading, discussion or extended writing, 45 minutes
• 10:45 — snack
• 11:00 — science or humanities, 45 minutes
• 12:00 — lunch
• 1:00 — languages, a long-term project, or a course or class outside the home
• Afternoon — sport, clubs, hobbies, time with friends

At this age, children can do much more on their own. Your job shifts from teaching every lesson to planning, checking and discussing.

A sample weekly rhythm#

A weekly rhythm stops you trying to fit every subject into every day. Do the basics daily, rotate the rest.

Two things make a weekly rhythm work. First, one lighter day: Wednesday in the example above, when outings happen. Second, Friday as project day: a longer piece of work that pulls the week together, such as a poster about the animals you studied or a recipe that uses the fractions from maths.

Teaching more than one child#

With siblings of different ages, the trick is to separate subjects into "together" and "one at a time".

Together subjects: reading aloud, science experiments, history and geography stories, art, music, nature walks, cooking. Pitch them at the older child and let the younger one join in at their level. A seven-year-old and a ten-year-old can both investigate why ice melts faster in the sun; one draws what happens, the other writes it up as an experiment.

One-at-a-time subjects: maths and early reading, where children need different levels. Stagger them. While you do 20 minutes of maths with one child, the other does something independent: a puzzle, a worksheet they already know how to do, reading, or a drawing lesson. Then swap.

Toddlers and babies are the hardest part. Plan the focused work for nap time or when another adult is home, and keep a special "school-time box" of toys that only comes out during lessons.

Resources to build your week#

You don't need an expensive boxed curriculum to start. Many families combine a few core resources with free materials.

• Maths and English: a clear progression matters most here. Our grade pages, such as maths for age 8, show the skills for each year and link to printable practice.
• Reading: a library card and a mix of picture books, chapter books and non-fiction. Reading aloud every day, even to older children, is one of the most useful habits in home education.
• Everything else: printable worksheets, puzzles, colouring and drawing lessons for topic work. Our homeschool printables are sorted by age and subject.
• Real life: shopping, cooking, gardening and travel cover a surprising amount of maths and science. See our ideas for everyday maths at home.

When the schedule isn't working#

Every homeschooling family hits weeks when the plan falls apart. Some common problems and what tends to help:

"Every lesson is an argument." Shorten the sessions, move the hardest subject to the time of day your child is most settled (often straight after breakfast), and give a choice of order: "Maths or reading first?" If arguments are constant, take a lighter week and come back to it.

"We never get to the fun subjects." Swap the order. Put science, art or a project first one day a week, so they don't always get squeezed out by maths and English.

"My child finishes in twenty minutes and wants to stop." That may be fine, especially with younger children. If the work is too easy, move on faster rather than adding more of the same.

"I'm exhausted." You're doing several jobs at once. Lean on independent work, audiobooks, library sessions, clubs and online classes you've checked. Building in a day each week with no formal teaching is reasonable, and children learn plenty on those days anyway.

"I'm worried we're behind." Compare your child with where they were three months ago, not with a school year group. If you're genuinely concerned about progress or development, talk to your doctor or a specialist, and check what support is available locally for home-educated children.

The first month: start small#

The families who settle in best usually start with less than they planned.

Children who have just left school often need a period to unwind before they settle into learning at home, especially if they were unhappy there. That's normal, and it's time well spent.

Your first step this week: find the official home education rules for where you live, then write a one-page weekly rhythm with reading and maths every day and one outing. Everything else can be added once that feels steady. For printable materials to fill the plan, browse the Crayonbird library.