Here are my suggestions for creating a schedule when homeschooling.
Sample Public School Schedule
I asked a few of my teacher friends who taught the same type of learners, in public schools, if they wouldn’t mind sharing their schedules. I wanted homeschool parents to see an example of what a school schedule looks like. Most of the schedules were the same and they were all subject to the approval of that teacher’s principal. These bring me back to my days of being in a classroom. Honestly, I was overwhelmed by these rigid schedules then and I am overwhelmed by them now.
Benefits of Homeschooling
One of the benefits of homeschooling is that we have flexibility. I will always stress that no one knows your child better than you, so they are in great hands. Maybe your child needs a rigid schedule like they use in public school with every 15 minutes mapped out. All my students struggled with these strict scheduling guidelines when I was in the classroom, but this is homeschooling. You are the boss.
Routine
Routine is important! When a child knows what to expect, they are more comfortable. Stress and anxiety can be reduced this way. Set school hours. My homeschool hours are 9:00 am to 2:00 pm. During our scheduled school time we have various therapies and academics. Academics are scheduled around the therapists.
Organization of time
First create your schedule with the things you cannot move around, like therapists. Then fill in the rest of the time with academics or whatever you plan on teaching your child. I will have math on my schedule for an hour, but during that hour, I am rotating the boys or doing group work with them. I give the ones I am not working with simple independent tasks related to math that they can work on and won’t need my help so they can learn how to work independently. This is not an easy skill for all kids. Your schedule doesn’t have to be strict. Do the best you can. You can always change it, if it isn’t working.
Therapies
If your children receive therapies such as speech, occupational, physical, music, art, or ABA therapy, that goes on your schedule and is a part of your school day. Start with these when building your schedule. Your therapists can also be teaching academic subjects. Our speech therapist works on reading and ELA. Speech therapy includes language therapy and reading is part of language therapy. It is all communication. Our occupational therapist works on writing, math, executive functions, and so much more! Baking is math and we love to bake! Our PT even worked on academics when she was working on gross motor skills. The boys are on the floor working on a floor puzzle that aligns with social studies. They are building strength, balance, and coordination and learning about the 50 states too. This will help hold attention longer! We also have music therapy and she is amazing at working with me to include academics in music therapy. I show her what the boys are working on in school, and she has a way of teaching it with music. So do not worry, I promise you your kids are learning a lot during those therapy sessions!
Conclusion
Creating a routine is important so your child knows what to expect. Always remember if you do not get to everything you planned, every day, it is not the end of the world. Tomorrow is a new day. Schedules teach planning skills and also help you stay organized. Another thing to remember if your homeschool day is not as long as a school day is that are not teaching as many kids as they are in a classroom. Your kids are getting more individualized attention and one-on-one instruction. The most students I ever taught in one special education classroom was sixteen. At home, I teach three. We get a lot more covered this way and I can make sure everyone gets the instruction they need.
Let me know if you have any questions!
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Thank you! This was really helpful! Love the visual schedule!
Thanks for reading 🙂