📝 Homeschool Schedules: Sample schedules for Kindergarten, Elementary, and Secondary

As we explain in our section on childcare, families can homeschool well with two full-time jobs, with multiple siblings, as a parent with a part-time job, as a stay-at-home parent working on a degree, or with a newborn. We’ve provided use cases for all these scenarios. 

As tempting as it is to imitate what others have done, hopefully, these schedules will instead serve to inspire you to curate a plan that works well for your own family. If you do get into a rhythm that works, please let us know, and we’ll share it with other families to inspire them too! 

Here are some sample schedules we’ve set up for families at Modulo.

We’ve color-coded them to help give you a sense of the different modules.

1. Kindergarten (age range 3-6)

In preschool and kindergarten, children will typical need more 1-1 time with parents. They will likely have difficulty focusing intently for more than an hour at a time, so 30 minutes of focused 1-1 time for each core subject (Math and Language Arts) is plenty for that age group. If there’s a local forest school in your neighborhood, that can be a great way for kids to get out in nature, make friends and give parents some time for self-care. Reading daily to children in this age group will encourage pre-literacy and literacy skills.

2. Elementary (age range 6-12)

As children get older, they will start to develop more independence and can start to build in more independent study and take more ownership over their learning. They may start to feel more comfortable participating in activities that involve longer periods away from mom and dad. Enrolling for a day in homeschool co-op (or starting one in your area) is a good way to make friends, get some childcare and build community.

3. Middle (age range 11-14)

In middle school, kids can generally take a great deal of ownership over their own learning. If they’ve been doing modular learning since early childhood, they may be leading their own mastery learning, only asking for support as needed. Kids who left traditional school to pursue homeschooling may have difficulty getting used to the level of freedom in the beginning and might need more guidance from parents and caregivers. This group is more mobile, so they can take advantage of local offerings, such as volunteering opportunities, internships and museums. For this age group, community college classes will start to become a great resource for learning more advanced subjects.

4. High (age range 14-18)

By the time kids are in high school, they are typically highly independent and ready to pursue college-level work. Getting a part-time job and taking classes at local community colleges are common activities for this age group, and will help cultivate responsibility and make them strong candidates if they decide to pursue a college degree. It’s becoming increasingly rare that high school students have work experience, something colleges value a lot, and this can really “pop” on a college application.