How to make a homeschool schedule

Start from what your state counts, give each child a realistic day, then plan the week, not the minute. Sample days for one child and for several, below.

Updated October 20, 2026 · By the Homepen team

Start with what your state counts

Your schedule has one hard limit: what your state asks you to count. Everything else is your choice.

Days. 10 states set a number of school days for their main way to homeschool (172, 175, 180, 186 days): Colorado, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Maine, North Dakota, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont.
Hours a year. Kansas, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Washington, Wisconsin count hours instead of, or as well as, days.
Hours a day. Colorado, Georgia, Kansas, North Dakota, Tennessee also say how long a school day should be.
Neither. 33 set no days or hours for their main way to homeschool: you choose the calendar.

Not sure? Find your state, then use the hours calculator to turn its rule into days and hours a week.

How long a homeschool day really takes

One-to-one teaching is fast. A homeschool day is usually much shorter than a school day because there is no lining up, no roll call and no waiting for 25 other children. Here is how long each day of our Starter Year takes, on a 5-day week:

Grade	About a day
Pre-K	1 h 30 m
Kindergarten	1 h 45 m
2nd grade	2 h 15 m
4th grade	3 h
6th grade	3 h 30 m
8th grade	3 h 30 m
10th grade	4 h 45 m
12th grade	4 h

Homepen's own starter plan (lessons × minutes per subject), not a state rule. Reading on the couch, baking and field trips add to it, and they count.

Pick a rhythm before you pick times

Most families settle on one of four rhythms:

Every weekday. Math and reading daily, the rest two or three times a week. The classic start.
A 4-day week. Four lesson days and one day for co-op, trips or catching up.
A loop schedule. Subjects like art, music or history rotate: you do the next one on the list, whatever the day.
Year-round. Shorter weeks, more of them, with breaks when you need them. Count the days or hours your state asks for over the whole year.

A sample day for one child

A 3rd grader, starting after breakfast. Times are a guide, not an appointment:

9:00	Read-aloud together (20 min)
9:20	Math lesson (30 min)
9:50	Snack and outside break
10:15	Reading and spelling (30 min)
10:45	Writing or handwriting (20 min)
11:10	Science, history or art: today's turn (30 min)
Afternoon	Free reading, play, chores, errands: life learning

The core is done by lunch. That is normal, not too little.

A sample day with several kids

With more than one child, teach the shared subjects together and stagger the rest, so you work with one child while the others work alone:

	Together	Older child	Younger child
9:00	Read-aloud, poetry, a history story
9:40		Math on their own	Phonics with you
10:10		Math with you	Puzzles, drawing, audiobook
10:40	Snack and outside
11:00		Writing	Math with you
11:30	Science or art together

Subjects done together are ticked once for everyone, and they count for each child.

Plan the week, then let lessons wait

A schedule fails when one sick day turns into a pile of overdue lessons. Two habits prevent that:

Plan by lessons, not by dates. Decide how many lessons a subject has this year and on which days you do it. If you miss a day, the next lesson simply waits.
Keep one buffer. A light Friday, or a catch-up week each term, absorbs the weeks that don't go to plan.

Keep the record while you go

If your state counts days or hours, the schedule is also your record. Tick lessons as they're done, mark sick days and field trips, and add up as you go. A printable attendance and hours sheet works on paper; Homepen does it for you from what you tick.

Let Homepen plan the week for you. Each child's lessons, days that count, and the hours your state asks for.

Free on iPhone, iPad and Android.

Questions parents ask

How many hours a day should you homeschool?

It depends on the age, not on the school day. Our Starter Year takes about 1 h 45 m a day in kindergarten and about 3 h 30 m in 8th grade. If your state counts hours, the hours calculator turns its rule into hours a day.

Do I have to start at a set time?

Your state page says what your state counts: days, hours, or neither. Within that, the time of day is yours: mornings, afternoons or evenings all count.

Can we homeschool year-round?

Yes, as long as the year still adds up to the days or hours your state asks for. Spread them over 12 months with breaks when you need them.

What if we fall behind?

Lessons wait. Skip the guilt, pick up at the next lesson, and use a lighter day or a catch-up week to close the gap.