Here are some do’s and don’ts for the new Home School Family on the topic of scheduling.

DON’T be tied to the public school schedule in any way not required by law.  As long as you cover the material needed you can do it according to a schedule set by YOUR family!

DO decide as a family how you want to divvy up the days off from school.  For example: you can take off special religious days even if the public schools ignore them.

DO be creative in your decisions on how to schedule. For example: You can plan for a working parent’s days off to be different so as to take advantage of the second adult at home.

DO decide as a family when you will do half days and what the essential subject areas and the supplemental areas so you know on a bad day when you have done enough and can let some stuff slide. For example, the time leading up to Christmas is generally very busy with gatherings and this is a good time to change to the shortened schedule to take some pressure off.

DON’T be tied to the public school schedule as to how to split up the subjects over the day or week.

DO make your own special schedule. You know what material needs to be covered but you may find different patterns serve your family better.  For example, science may take more time at a single stretch and so might history, so why not alternate days or MWF/TTh?

Home Education is for the family.  The goals are well educated adults who have the social skills and character to be an asset to themselves and their society;  while state regulations need to be observed, they do not have to be observed in the same pattern as the public schools or even other home school families do.  Customize your schedule and don’t be afraid to try something different.

You can make your home school schedule work for your family in ways a public or private school schedule simply cannot.  Enjoy the journey!