A homeschool schedule template is used by the parents for making a pre-defined lesson schedule for their children. Most parents select the homeschool education system for their children against the mainstream system. According to school laws and guidelines, you have to provide full education to your homeschooling child that fits for his/her age.
Is homeschooling advantageous?
Homeschooling provides you many benefits if you have a daily homeschool schedule. Furthermore, you can teach your child in a friendly, flexible environment. Some of the advantages of homeschooling are;
- Homeschooling is legal and you don’t break any law if you not take your child to a mainstream system.
- You have ample time for outdoors like playing, walking, molding, and doing experiments.
- Your child gets full attention because there is no competition for one teacher against several students.
- Your child gets an education within the family set up. He/she is away from bullies in the mainstream system.
- You can create a flexible schedule in favor of your family’s needs and set up.
What is the importance of a homeschool schedule?
Below are the reasons why a homeschool schedule is important;
- A schedule assists the children to do the same things that are done in a normal school because they are taking a different curriculum than the students who are attending a normal school.
- Most children feel comfortable if the learning environment is at home but it also contains a lot of distractions. But, when the child is aware of the time schedule of his or her academic activities, these distractions can be eliminated.
- The children pay more attention to their studies by keeping a homeschooling schedule.
- Proper implementation of the homeschool learning curriculum becomes possible due to the homeschool schedule.
How to create a daily homeschooling schedule?
Here are some steps that will help you in creating an effective homeschooling schedule;
Draw a template:
At first, draw a template and divide your template into workable blocks. Then, give each block name. For a day, create 5 blocks assign them name as early morning, mid-morning, midday, after lunch, and checking out. In this way, you can have an overview of how the daily activities will be like. After naming your blocks, fill in your subjects according to your child’s learning style. For example, some child understands math better in the morning, language in the evening, etc.
Space your subjects:
If you compact several subjects together, your child will get bored. So, rather compacting space out the subjects to avoid burnning. It’s better to cover each subject two-three times a week.
Place them in the homeschool schedule:
Place your schedule in the editable homeschool schedule template. In this way, you can make changes anytime to adjust into the current demands. After that, you can print it and pin it in your kid’s study room.
Include your weekly schedule with the annual syllabus:
In the department of education, homeschooling is not impulsive. But it is a set of the curriculum as guided by the stakeholders. Each state has its own set of guidelines for homeschooling. Also, the curriculum is set to fit a given year. Each year has semesters so your schedule should flow smoothly with the overall semester and year.
How to divide your weekly daily schedules?
You can divide your weekly daily schedule into two parts to fit your daily life tasks and career as follow;
Compact schedules:
Compact schedules pay attention on assigning more time to a certain activity or subject or giving the activity multiple numbers of days within the week. For instance, you can assign math three lessons within the week; assign reading two hours rather than one, etc.
The compact schedule provides benefit to the learners. It assists them in recovering lost hours in case of a missed lesson so that they remain within the curriculum timelines. It also allows time for activity-based subjects or experiments. With the help of this schedule, you can adjust your time for work and house chores.
Spiral schedules:
Spiral schedules don’t follow a particular linear pattern. It follows a pattern in cycles. You don’t need to assign a specific time to your subjects. However, you have to allow them to fall on schedule once their opportune time arrives. Basically, spirals are loops that go around in circles. They link your subject at specific undefined times.
A typical home school schedule:
Some states schedule number of hours for daily homeschooling. But most parents don’t stick to the state’s schedule. In regular schools, a typical day may run for 5 hours and typical homeschool day may run for three hours. However, below points can help you in overcoming the challenges of your weekly daily schedules;
- Learning should be fun and you should adjust it whenever need and challenges arises as each day brings its trouble. Your subject flexibility may include things like;
1- Changing your starting time
2- Interchanging subjects
3- Delaying some subjects and so on. - At some point, following hard rock schedules will bring frustration. If your homeschooling time starts at 11 am but circumstances may change and you may find yourself failing. Therefore, be routine minded rather than of wearing yourself out with schedules. You should follow routine patterns to fit into the current circumstance.
- May be you have more than one child homeschooling or another underage. You should consider each child during planning your schedules. Bring your children onboard smoothly and systematically. Your younger child needs more attention than older ones so give time to your younger child first.
- You should be flexible and provide time for unforeseen circumstances in your weekly homeschool schedule. On a specific day, your child may become moody so you must allow for unforeseen circumstances.
- When you have all done with your schedule, print a few copies and pin them on your study room table. You should also store some printable homeschool schedules in your computer or phone.
In addition, during preparing yourself for homeschooling, consider the following factors;
- Family needs
- Sleep patterns
- Job demands
- Outdoor lessons
- Academic cycles
How to prepare for homeschooling?
For beginners, homeschooling might be challenging. You should be prepared both in body and mind as you may get disoriented and give up. Let us discuss how to prepare;
- Family requirements: consider your family requirements such as infants, special requirements, and tasks among others.
- Sleep patterns: some children sleep in the afternoons and some wake up early.
- Job demands: you should adjust yourself for extra learning time as you might be working 40 hours a week.
- Outdoor lessons: some lessons need more practice in the outdoors as compared to others.
- Academic cycle: it would be recommended to begin after Labor Day.
How to use the homeschool schedule?
Here are the tips that you should follow to use the homeschool schedule;
- Firstly, you must have knowledge of your state’s homeschool laws. Some states need that you keep track of your homeschool schedule and attendance.
- It is important to include the time for lunch, recess, and free time. Keep in mind that kids require breaks because homeschooling is hard work.
- Homeschooling refers to learning at your own pace and considering your own interest.
- Both you and your kids enjoy learning through homeschooling.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, a homeschooling schedule template is a helpful tool for parents in order to make a pre-defined lesson schedule for their children. Homeschooling might be challenging for beginners’ parents. However, this schedule assists you in following a particular pattern for teaching your child.
