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Once the classes are chosen and course plans are received, we recommend that you set your schedule for a typical day. There is a lot of flexibility when schooling at home, and each parent and each child is different. We hope to offer you some tips and ideas, but in the end, it is what works best for your family and your students. Sometimes you must try one thing out for your child, and if it does not work, try something different - molding and changing to the needs of each child and your family. Please see the Elementary and Middle School Planning and High School Planning articles for more detailed suggestions on scheduling the school day.
People are creatures of habit. Children particularly need the structure of knowing what is coming up for that day or week. It is good to have some regularity in the daily schedule to give that sense of responsibility and routine to the students. It is well and good to have field trips and mix things up sometimes, but the goal is to have regularity in your routine.
Although this seems to be the opposite of “Routine” addressed above, there is also a degree of flexibility in homeschooling. Parents are able to teach at the student’s optimal speed, spending more or less time on a subject depending on the student’s need. They may want to spend more time on the math lesson if the student is not understanding it, or let the child go outside and look at plants to enhance the daily science lesson instead. If the student loves their literature book, the parent can allow them to keep reading while the parent helps another student. Many parents worry about following the course plan exactly, but the beauty of schooling at home is being able to make changes based on students’ needs.
Along this line, Kolbe Academy hosted a Parent Partnership Meeting called Curriculum is Your Tool, Not Your Master that will be especially beneficial. It went over various ways to tailor our K-12 curriculum to your family's needs. If you are a registered family with Kolbe, please contact your advisor for a link to the recording.
It is always good to put subjects at the time of day when the child’s brain is ready for it. By putting Math, Reading, and Writing (or harder subjects for the particular child) first thing in the morning or right after a break, the mind is ready to dive in. Right after lunch, though, is often when children start getting tired so it may not provide a good time to do heavy brainwork.
The time per subject depends on the interests of the child and their achievement and attention on that given day or in that given subject. Language Arts and Math are typically done every day and cover about half the day at the elementary level. These take more time to go over than Science, History, or Foreign Language, for example, which can be done a couple times per week.
In early years, English and Literature should take two blocks of time since many topics need to be covered: Phonics, Grammar, Spelling, Composition, Literature, Vocabulary, etc. Generally elementary students may have difficulty focusing during class periods longer than 45 minutes, but attention spans tend to increase as students get older.
In high school, instead of covering every class for about an hour per day, you could try to do only a few courses per day, such as a block schedule, but make them an hour and a half and rotate the classes each day.
Combine Students Into One Class
Subjects like History, Theology, Foreign Language, Science and Religion can sometimes be combined across grade levels. For Math and Language Arts this can be more challenging. You could start off one morning with a group theology lesson and let the students discuss with one another. They can learn even more from one another in discussion than they may learn from reading and writing independently.
From all the heavy brain work, children need time to play and enjoy themselves. Recess or lunchtime to go outside provide an opportunity to help them be ready to learn something new. By giving them time to play with their siblings, make something in the kitchen, or play the piano, they are more likely to be refreshed and ready for the next lesson. Keeping the children active every day with physical education and keeping the mind stimulated with music or art is a good addition. Adding those activities at opportune moments during the day will help students get back in the mood to study.
There are many different ways to stay organized as the parent and then try to teach these skills to your students. By telling them what needs to be accomplished by the end of the week or day, you can make sure they are on track. You can give them each a Kolbe planner to stay responsible and check off when assignments are completed. The parent too can keep a planner and gradebook or develop a method of organization to track assignments and grades. A file can be kept for samples to be submitted at the end of the semester or quarter.
Last, but not least, is to remember your reason for choosing to educate at home. Each family has their own reasons, and sometimes we get stuck in the details so much that we forget to look at the bigger picture of what really matters: time spent with your children to form them into the person God created them to be. Keep on going when it is tough - these moments and times only happen once. We at Kolbe are rooting for you and you can call us anytime if you need our help!
