When high school students go to public or private school, they are handed a schedule for every day of the week. In the majority of cases, students will take a one-hour class in each subject five days a week. With some homeschooling families, I often see an opposite effect – especially with students who were once in a public or private school – that is, they have no schedule at all. (I know this isn’t your family, but you do know some families like this.) Here are some homeschool schedule ideas to keep you and your high school student on the right track daily and weekly.
Every day is a fresh start!
While students do not have to do every subject every day – in fact I discourage it – they do need to strike a happy balance and manage their time wisely. So, let’s start with the big picture. Once you determine the subject areas you will be working on for the year or the semester, you should map out how much information needs to be covered each week. It’s often as simple as counting out the number of pages or lessons and dividing it out by the number of weeks you want to spend earning the credit. Build in a little cushion because life happens or a subject gets difficult in the middle and requires more time to master.
You will then need to figure out your weekly schedule. The best thing to do is determine all of your family obligations first – like ball practice, piano lessons, church activities, etc. – then plug in your school work. (Thanks Amy!) I know that this sounds like priorities are shifted a little – but the reality is that we stop everything to go to these activities so put them into your academic schedule. Mapping out a realistic time line will go a long ways towards making sure school work gets done on a timely basis. Even if it’s not in you to write a schedule every single week, at least map out a rough timeline at the beginning of the year so that you have a good idea of how each week should progress.
In my opinion, the only subject that you really need to be doing every day is math. And I suggest you do this at your most productive part of the day – often this is the morning. You may also want to do some type of writing every day, especially if this is a weak area for your student. It can be incorporated into any of your subjects – or just keep a journal – but the more you write, the easier it becomes. For all other subjects, having to stop and start in the middle of a thought can be anti-productive. If you try to squeeze in every subject every day, you really do only have an hour to work and the beginning of that time will be spent trying to figure out where you left off. Take advantage of academic momentum and spend many hours a day on one particular subject. Think block scheduling.
Remembering that the key is to cover the required amount of material by the end of the year, students can spend one or two days a week doing their science, another day working through history, etc.
One last thought here: Your schedule should be written in pencil. Don’t just move to the next lesson because it’s time – take time to master your subject. But planning your time gives you a realistic look at what should be accomplished each week.
~to your success
Joanne
(Image courtesy of artur84 at FreeDigitalPhotos.net)
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