How many hours a day is homeschool?

For my three kids, from third to sixth grade, a typical day runs from about 9:00 to 1:00 — four or five hours of concentrated work. With a kindergartener, an hour and a half to two hours of focused work is plenty, and the rest of the day's learning is play-based.

Why does homeschool take less time than a school day?

In a classroom, much of the day goes to managing the room — lining up, getting settled, recess, lunch, bathroom breaks. At home you sit right beside your child, neither of you is distracted, and you move through the material more efficiently.

How do you homeschool multiple ages at once?

Language and math are done at each child's own grade level. Reading guides, history, science and art are studied together as a family, and then each child responds in a grade-level way.

What if a homeschool day doesn't go as planned?

You have not failed — you've been present with your kids. A toddler's nap or meltdown will interrupt some days, and that's normal and okay.

What a Homeschool Day Actually Looks Like

The first thing almost any new homeschooler tries to do is recreate their version of school at home.

For most of us growing up in the 80s or 90s, that looked like eight hours a day, sitting down, staying in line, being quiet. Homeschool can look very different — and it’s a wonderful thing that you get to do this for your children.

Let’s take it one step at a time.

The two ditches

When people think about homeschooling, their brains tend to fall into one of two ditches.

Ditch one: it has to be school at home. Eight to three, chairs, desks, quiet, the whole thing.

Ditch two: homeschool isn’t a real education. What do homeschoolers even do? They’re done by 11 — they can’t possibly be doing the work.

I think we can meet in the middle. So let me just walk you through what a typical day actually looks like for me and my three kids.

How long it really takes

You’ve heard me say it before: stick to a rhythm, not a set schedule.

Our days start around 9:00. We have a slower morning — breakfast, and everyone finishes what we call their morning chores:

Get dressed
Brush your teeth
Make your bed
Eat breakfast
Give Mum a hug

Once morning chores are done, we’re ready to start. And we’re typically finished around 1:00 — even with my sixth grader working through pre-algebra.

So homeschool doesn’t take as long as a traditional school day. Why?

Why it’s shorter (from someone who’s taught both)

I’ve been a classroom teacher, and I’ve been a homeschool parent for years now. Here’s the difference.

In a classroom, so much time goes to managing the classroom. Lining up. “Oh, that didn’t go right — let’s go back and try it again.” Practicing the disciplines over and over. All of that takes time away from actual instruction.

My second graders would come in from recess and everyone would be getting settled, and then — “Mrs. A, I have to use the bathroom.” There’s always someone who needs something. It could take five or ten extra minutes just to get everyone settled enough to start the lesson.

Add up the lining up, recess, the lunch hour, any pull-out subjects… and it takes far more time than sitting side by side with your own child.

And when my kids sit down to do school, they work. They’re not distracted by a classroom neighbor. I had kids in my second grade class who could make a toy out of anything — ripping an eraser into little bits and focusing on that instead of the teacher.

In homeschool, you sit right next to your child. They’re not getting distracted. You’re not distracted. You work more efficiently and more effectively through the material. That’s a beautiful thing.

We spend about four or five hours, without many breaks. We break for lunch, and there are natural breaks — while I’m doing math with one child, the other two might go play Lego. But it’s concentrated work time.

When the day doesn’t go as planned

Here’s what I need you to hear: when the day doesn’t go as planned, you have not failed. You have been present with your kids.

We’re all humans with real emotions and real things we’re dealing with. Maybe you’re homeschooling your kindergartener and you also have a two-year-old at home. The toddler needs a nap. The toddler needs to have a meltdown, and you go help them.

That’s okay. You have not failed just because the day didn’t go exactly the way you planned it.

Our actual day, in order

After morning chores, around 9:00, we start with language lessons.

We use The Good and the Beautiful for language, and it’s really integrated — geography, art, literature, grammar, a lot of different things woven together, with video elements too. We have one computer, so we do a round-robin: the kids take turns with their language lessons while I sit there with them. They read novels during that time, and we do read-alouds. That usually takes about an hour.

From there we move to history or math. Because I have those middle-aged kids right now, we’re working through a US government curriculum — the Constitution, the founding of the nation, and how the nation is governed now. It’s been a really rich study for my children.

Here’s how we handle the difference in ages: language and math, the kids do at their own grade level. But our reading guides, history, science, and art — we study those all together. We have the discussion as a family, and then they respond in a grade-level way. My sixth grader might write a couple of paragraphs. My fifth grader, one. My third grader, a few really good sentences.

Then we usually finish with math. I use Math with Confidence, by Kate Snow, with my boys. It has games built in, which is perfect for two boys who turn anything into a little competition. My daughter uses The Good and the Beautiful math. It’s beautiful to look at, it captivates her, and it makes math more engaging for her. With an elective or two depending on the day, that takes us to about 1:00.

If you’re starting with a kindergartener

Your day will be even shorter.

When my son was in kindergarten, we did an hour and a half to two hours of really concentrated work — and the rest of his learning was play-based throughout the day. Figuring out how to put Lego together. Making a Hot Wheels ramp and working out why does this car go faster than that one when I let it go?

Life school

A lot of what we did then, and a lot of what we do now, I love to call life school.

Even those morning chores are teaching my kids how to be responsible humans, and setting them up for success later on. And isn’t that the point of education — well-adjusted, educated people?

One last thing

Homeschool is meant to look different than traditional school. So don’t be discouraged when your days don’t look like a classroom.

You’re doing a good job. Keep it up.

If you’d like help knowing what to do as you’re starting, grab my free Starter Week — it gives you a set rhythm to follow for those days when you feel like you don’t know what you’re doing. 💛