Homeschool Schedule for Multiple Grades

Homeschooling a large family can be a challenge, but it is doable. This is my daily homeschool schedule for multiple grades for my five children.

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I have homeschooled my six children since my eldest was was in Pre-K, and I have now graduated two of the six. When I first started homeschooling, I had two school age children and one newborn. Those days were not as challenging as homeschooling with a toddler, but a schedule was definitely a must.

When considering homeschooling children in multiple grades, there are a couple of options to choose from.

One option is to school all the children together. This has benefits and drawbacks. On one hand, the children can learn from each other and enjoy group activities. On the other hand, it can be difficult to keep everyone on task with so many different ages and interests, and to cover all of the subjects needed at each level.

Another option is to stagger the school day so that each child has individual attention. This can be done by scheduling different subjects at different times of the day or dividing the day into blocks where each child works on one subject at a time.

A mixture of the two ideas is what has worked for my family over the years.

My Homeschool Schedule for Multiple Grades

My schedule has definitely changed over the years as my family has grown and our needs have changed, but the basic format of our days has stayed the same. Each of my children has a weekly homeschool assignment calendar that helps to keep them on track. You can download a free copy here.

Bible and Group Work

We always start our day with Bible reading and “group” work. This as always seemed to be the simplest way to begin because all of my children are already gathered at the table for breakfast. Then we move into our group work.

Group work consists of all the things that are common to all of my children no matter the age. This is made easier by choosing a multi-age curriculum and that offers something for all of my children, like My Father’s World. Our daily group work is made up of:

History and Geography
Narration
Science
Vocabulary
Penmanship/Copywork
Music Appreciation/Nature Study/Poetry
Math Drill or Math Copywork
Read Aloud

I know that list may look like a lot to cover in a school day but, each little piece, with the exception of History and Science, take just a few minutes a day. For instance, penmanship consists of copying only one sentence. This portion of our day takes about an hour and a half.

Individual Time with Each Child

After our group work is finished, I begin my individual time with each child. The amount of time this takes varies depending on the child, their daily assignments, and the day of the week. During this individual time with each child we work together on:

Reading
Spelling (until middle school)
Composition Writing
Latin
Math Questions/Corrections

What are other students doing while you work with an individual child?

While I am working with an individual child, my other students are working on their own individual tasks that are listed on their daily assignment sheet. They also do any kind of music lesson practice or practice their martial arts katas.

What do you do with babies and toddlers while you homeschool?

There are lots of things to do with toddlers while you are homeschooling like including them in the lesson to some extent by giving them a related coloring sheet or including them in narration or read aloud time. Read aloud time can be especially good for bonding with babies. Here is a list of great books to read to babies.

My Daily Homeschool Schedule by Hours

7am – Wake up and pick up

7:30 – Breakfast and Bible Time

8:00 – Group

9:30 – Individual (Son 1)

10:30 – Individual (Son 2)

11:30 – Individual (Daughter 1) – she often needs a break in the middle

12:00 – Lunch and Current Events

12:30 – Individual (Daughter 2)

1:30 – Individual (Daughter 3)