I’ve received a lot of questions about what a typical homeschool day looks like for us so here it is! I’ve written out our homeschool daily rhythm but keep in mind, my kids are Pre-K and Kindergarten ages so it’s fairly simplistic. It’s recommended to spend about 20min-1hr for Pre-K and up to 2 hours for elementary students. This may not sound like a lot compared to a typical 6 hour day in a public school but when you think about it, children aren’t listening to academic instruction for all 6 hours. Recent studies have shown that the average teacher spends about 7 minutes teaching new subject matter in a single class period. The rest of the class time is spent collecting and reviewing homework, dealing with disruptions, etc. This isn’t wasted time by any means but it isn’t all teaching time.
We try not to pack everything into two consecutive hours but instead like to take spread things out and allow breaks for playtime, snacks, and other enriching activities.
Our homeschool daily rhythm
- Wake up & self care (chores, get dressed, brush teeth, make beds etc)
- Breakfast and Morning Basket (Tiny Theologians Bible Basics lesson, Memory verse, Hymn)
- Clean up breakfast
- Use Peaceful Press Nature Guide- we do the selected reading and the activities listed (crafts, baking, simple phonics, large and fine motor skills, etc). I usually choose a large motor skill activity first to help get the kids up and moving and get all the wiggles out before we move into the other activities.
- Snacktime
- Emma and I sit down for math while the others work on handwriting and then we swap. (I sit for a simple math lesson with James and Addie and Emma works on handwriting).
- Play time outside! If it’s a rainy day we’ll do some Cosmic Kids Yoga on Youtube or some other excercise!
- Lunchtime
- Naptime for James and Addie || Emma does Language Arts assignment for the day and a short reading lesson (We use the Dash into Learning reading program). When she finishes we are usually done for the day. I like to save these lessons for last because she needs more focused one on one time to complete them.
- We finish any activities (if needed) after Adeline and James wake up and then I let them play independently until dinner.
It’s a fairly simple rhythm and I just adjust as needed. I don’t go off of hourly schedules so there is flexibility in case we’re having an “off” kind of day. That way if something isn’t working, for example, James cannot sit still or reeeeealllly is struggling to focus on a particular lesson- we skip it and move to something else and come back to it later.
So there you have it! Our basic homeschool daily rhythm! If you’re curious about why we homeschool or what curriculum we are using, check out my last blog post and if you have any questions leave me a comment below!
