Plan the week, not the year
The most common homeschool planning failure is a beautiful year-long plan abandoned in week five. Plan the week in detail, hold the term loosely, and use a rolling catch-up slot instead of pushing missed work forward indefinitely.
The two-block homeschool daily routine
Almost every workable homeschool schedule template reduces to two focused teaching blocks with independent work between them.
- Block one, morning: maths and English, hardest first
- Independent work: reading, practice, self-paced program
- Block two, afternoon: science, history or a project
- Daily reading aloud, whatever the child's age
- Friday: catch-up, review and one outing or co-op
How many hours a day should you homeschool?
One-to-one teaching removes queueing, transitions and admin, so the honest answer is far less than a school day.
- Ages 5-7: 1-2 hours
- Ages 8-10: 2-3 hours
- Ages 11-13: 3-4 hours
- Ages 14-18: 4-6 hours including exam preparation
Homeschooling tips for working parents
Move the blocks rather than shrinking them: early morning before work and late afternoon is a full homeschool day for most ages. Use self-paced programs and online tutors for the middle of the day, and batch all planning into one hour a week.