Set Your Own Daily Schedule: Homeschool Morning, Afternoon, or Night

a peach colored alarm clock stands beside a vase of gerbera daisies
Setting your own daily schedule is a wonderful luxury homeschooling brings. We’re not scrambling to get kids on the bus at 7:30 in the morning. Breakfast becomes a leisurely meal instead of a frantic race against the clock. The shift into and out of Daylight Savings Time hardly impacts us.

You have time to welcome the morning, spend time with your children, and enjoy a slow start. You determine the course of your day by setting your own daily schedule regardless of what the school does or what your other homeschool peers are doing.

Homeschool in the Mornings

Many of us enjoy homeschooling in the mornings. We can start the days with a brief morning time of poetry recitation, great literature, music, and art. The children tackle math when they’re fresh and able to think carefully about the problems. We get the business of our day—school—taken care of as first priority so we can do more frivolous pursuits later.

After homeschooling in the mornings we have the afternoons free. We’re able to explore the town and go on field trips. Children can enjoy their favorite activities or play with friends. We can take long nature hikes and see the flowers bloom, leaves bud, and geese return.

Evenings can be spent watching documentaries, enjoying read-alouds, or simply spending time together as a family.

Homeschool in the Afternoons

Set Your Own Daily Schedule: Homeschool Morning, Afternoon, or Night

Just because many homeschoolers sit down to educate children in the mornings doesn’t mean you can’t homeschool in the afternoons instead. Sometimes it works best to spend the mornings sleeping, relaxing, working at home, doing chores, or simply enjoying the day.

If a slow start suits you best, consider homeschooling in the afternoons instead. That’s the beauty of homeschooling. You set the daily schedule to fit your family’s needs.

Enjoy a slow morning together, eat lunch, and then gather your school supplies. Run through math, English, and science. Curl up on the sofa to listen to the latest book you’re reading aloud. Spend the afternoon doing science experiments or history projects.

Homeschool in the Evenings

Despite the flexibility homeschooling brings, most people believe you still need to homeschool during daylight hours, and that’s simply not true. Remember, you set your own schedule. This means you can spend the morning on nature hikes, long bike rides, and exploring the town.

Afternoons can be spent in activities, field trips, or time with friends. You can spend the day exploring the world and using up your children’s energy so they’re ready to sit and study quietly in the evenings.

Begin your formal homeschool day at dinner time. Engage in long history and science discussions at the dinner table. Teach children to read in the living room after dinner. Work on math together.

Each parent can take a child to run through schoolwork together. Discuss math, teach phonics, and write during the quiet evening hours.

As you think about your ideal schedule, remember that homeschooling is flexible, and there is no right or wrong time to homeschool. Consider carefully your family’s routines and lifestyle before setting a daily schedule for your homeschool. Non-traditional homeschool hours may be best for your family.

And you may find that one season of life fits morning learning while another season of life is better suited for evening homeschooling. Younger children tend to rise earlier, and teens love to sleep in, so adapt with their preferences by adjusting your daily schedule too. Or use a hodgepodge of times for your children. No one says that all your children have to study at the same time either!  

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