Considerations For Creating A Homeschool Timetable

Today, I’d like to share some thoughts on creating a homeschool timetable. Whether you call it a routine, a schedule, or a rhyhtm, the heart of it comes down to thoughtfully considering how to allocate our time in the homeschool day well.

Not every homeschool family needs a timetable, but for many—especially those just starting out or trying to navigate the flow of a day with multiple children, subjects, or ever-changing needs—having a clear plan can be incredibly helpful. If you’re feeling uncertain about how to structure your day or looking for ways to improve your homeschooling routine, a timetable can provide much-needed guidance.

There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to homeschooling, and that’s the beauty of it! But I’ve learned over time that the most effective planning tools and resources are the ones we actually use. So it’s vital to put thought and time into how we foresee ourselves managing our homeschool days, which looks different for every family. Remember, it’s okay if things look different from season to season, year to year, or even every day to some extent. As our children grow, we get the incredible opportunity to steward and adjust our plans to suit the needs of our children and the rhythms best for our families.

In my own homeschool journey, I’ve had to embrace the ebb and flow of adapting to new challenges, staying flexible, and sometimes humbly learning to be more disciplined with my time. It hasn’t always been perfect, and I certainly don’t have all the answers, but I hope these considerations will offer some helpful insight as you create your own homeschool timetable.

Consideration No. 1

A homeschool timetable doesn’t necessarily need set times for each subject. While I do recommend tracking how you spend your time for an entire homeschool week or so, as this can provide valuable insight into how your day unfolds, a strict timetable with set times for every task may cause more stress than it’s worth. This is especially true if you have a child who needs a little extra time to finish a book, if a narration goes off-course, or if a baby’s nap time gets interrupted and school time suddenly stops.

Instead of feeling confined to a rigid schedule, consider only tracking your time to get an idea of how the day flows each week, and then decide if and where there are pockets of time that need to be better allocated, with in mind of course, realistic expectations of both you and your children.

Consideration No. 2

If you’re in the majority that find timetables unsuccessful in your homeschool, I recommend time blocks instead. Time blocks are a more flexible approach by grouping only some subjects into a block of time, for example, during a “morning block” and/or an “afternoon block.”

With time blocking, you can move more freely from one subject to the next without the stress of keeping track minute by minute. Instead, time blocks allow you to focus on just a handful of subjects in a bigger block of the day, making it feel more manageable and less overwhelming than juggling the entire list of subjects all at once. Common time blocks range anywhere from 2-4 hours, normally broken up between natural breaks in a day like meals.

Consideration No. 3

Understanding how much time is needed for each subject is key to creating a homeschool timetable that works well. I came from a public school background where 7-hour school days were the norm, and we spent about an hour on each subject. However, homeschooling is different, and trying to replicate the traditional school schedule in our home quickly proved to be a recipe for frustration. Thankfully, I learned this lesson early on in our homeschooling journey (bless my oldest child for being the guinea pig of it all—we’ve come so far!).

For those following the Charlotte Mason method, short lessons are a key component. Depending on your child’s age and grade level, a subject can take anywhere from 5 to 45 minutes. If you’d like a more detailed breakdown of Charlotte Mason’s recommended timetable for different grade levels, you can find examples on Ambleside Online’s Scheduling Page. However, even Charlotte Mason’s timetable was imperfect, and I love this article for why. This was very helpful for me to see when starting out with Charlotte Mason’s homeschool methods, all while realizing that even her timetable wasn’t perfect for everyone. Even if you don’t homeschool the Charlotte Mason way, shorter lessons have been known to help children improve the habit of attention, getting the most out of the time.

In our homeschool, subjects vary from 7 to 30 minutes. Math and history readings take up most of our time, so I break these into separate time blocks to avoid feeling rushed.

If you’re struggling to keep your lessons under 10-30 minutes per subject, I recommend setting a timer at the start of each lesson. Over time, this practice will become second nature, and you may not even need a physical timer anymore. I’ve found that having a visible timer helps my children stay focused, as they can see the end in sight, but at the same time, it helps keep everyone focused on the lesson paired with a little habit training of attention.

Lastly, if you’re unsure how to implement Charlotte Mason’s method of short lessons into your homeschool, I highly encourage reading Charlotte Mason’s Volumes 1 and 6 (begin with 6) for a great starting point. Reading with a book club can provide even deeper insights. A Delectable Education has a fantastic podcast with episodes focused on teaching specific subjects at different grade levels. Also, Simply Charlotte Mason’s website is another helpful resource for demonstrating Charlotte Mason-style lessons.

(In a later blog, I’ll be sharing my top resources for getting started with Charlotte Mason, so be sure to check the blog in the coming months for that!)

Consideration No. 4

This might seem like a simple point, but it’s easy to overlook: make sure to include margin in your schedule. Life happens, and it’s important to allow for flexibility. When creating your homeschool timetable, take time to think about your family’s needs, meal times, naptimes, out-of-the-home errands or activities, and even what subjects need more effort for your children and yourself.

Breaks between subjects don’t need to be long—just 5 minutes can do wonders. It’s enough time to step away from the lesson, grab a quick snack, unload the dishwasher, switch the laundry, hydrate, or simply reset (whatever you want/need to do in that time!). These little breaks help us stay refreshed and focused as we move on to the next subject. They also allow room for the other many responsibilities we have outside of homeschool that may need to be squeezed into the homeschool hours of our days.

Here is another example of where you might practice the habit of attention, and use a physical timer to help keep everyone moving along in the day. If you know you have 5-10 minutes to tackle a task before everyone reconvenes at the homeschool table, you’re more likely to set your attention solely on that task (say, switching that load of laundry and refilling your water bottle), and then move on.

By building in moments of expected margin, even if “margin” just means a mental break and you’re tackling a small chore, you’ll find that your day feels less rushed, and everyone stays in a better mood, including you! It’s a small adjustment that can make a big impact on how smoothly your homeschool day flows.

Consideration No. 5

Schedule your homeschool day around meals. Meals are natural anchors in everyone’s day—everyone has to eat, after all! If you’ve been home with your children for any given amount of time, you probably know what time everyone typically eats their meals, so this is a great starting point. You can plan to tackle lessons before lunch, around snack time, or even during breakfast, or all of the above, creating a rhythm that feels more natural to sit and be together. If you have a group of subjects you’d like to do as a family, mealtimes would be a great place in your timetable to implement them.

Consideration No. 6

Figure out how many subjects you are doing with each child and what subjects will be done independently, in a group, or as a family. If you have all younger children, chances are you are reading all the books and guiding them through math and reading lessons 100%. If this is the case, you might consider combining as many subjects as possible, even the math lesson itself, and then spending one-on-one time in a second block of time going over the subjects (narration, reading lesson, math practice) with each child. If you’re part of a co-op, what does this mean for the remaining days in the week for your desired timetable?

If you have a range of homeschool students across different grade/age levels, you could consider scheduling the independent student’s subjects during the subjects you need to be more hands-on with the younger grades. A good example of this would be having one student do copy work/handwriting while another is doing math, or one is doing their chores while the other is doing a lesson.

Not all subjects need to be done every day, and creating a loop schedule, and having different subjects on different days can be very helpful in balancing lessons. If you’d like an idea of how to begin with loop scheduling, I’ve written a blog article on our typical subjects on a loop schedule here.

Consideration No. 7

If you could name a handful of subjects you desire to get done every day, what would you say those are? Consider these your core subjects. They may be better scheduled in the forefront of the day when your kids are less tired, have a full belly from breakfast, and their minds are most awake. This is (most of the time) the case for mothers, too! If there is a subject a child isn’t particularly a fan of, try scheduling it between two of their more enjoyed subjects. This will give them a bit of a mental “brain break,” especially if you don’t want the least favorite subject to be the first thing on the schedule, but also not the very last.

Consideration No. 8

It’s okay if things don’t go as planned—routine habits are built in small steps and it takes even more effort to leave behind unwanted habits of our home and school time. You’ll discover what works best over time, and even then, it’s okay to make adjustments. Your timetable is only a helpful guide, not a master.

When interruptions occur, just do the next thing. If something is repeatedly getting missed or delayed by the same thing (or by someone) every time, consider pushing the lesson back or forward and making room for that “interruption” to become part of your timetable, however temporary it is. If you’re going through major life changes such as a new baby, a big move, or perhaps everyone is sick with the seasonal illness that’s been going around, it’s ok to set aside the timetable completely to rest and reset. It’s also ok to cut the timetable in half and only do those core subjects we talked about in consideration no. 7.

I guess what I’m trying to say here is to be prepared for the unprepared plans because as we are aware, they will come. Have your “perfect” or “ideal” timetable, and pursue it, assuming you’ve considered your children, their needs, your needs, and your home life with faithfulness— but also have a plan B, C, and D for whatever else will come your way because whether we realize it or not, planning for the lesser ideal days is also being intentional, and stewarding your time well.

Ok, I know this post was a long one, but I do hope these considerations have been helpful for you in how you might create a homeschool timetable for your family. If you have any questions, feel free to leave a comment!