Are you on the cusp of a fresh school year with an excited 1st grader? Or perhaps you are a few weeks into it and tirelessly looking for homeschool schedules that work.
Either way, I hope to steer you toward a 1st grade homeschool schedule that suits and serves your family—not one that dictates your every action.
If that type of plan sounds refreshing, keep reading.
Sample Homeschool 1st Grade Schedule
When you sit down to create a homeschool schedule for your first grader, it’s hard to know where to start.
As students transition out of kindergarten, they are ready for more book-style work but still need plenty of free play.
How do you strike that balance?
Gain Clarity. Plan Your Week Quickly & Easily.
We want our students to embrace good habits early on, but at this age, we also want to be careful to avoid overwhelm.
A strict, hour-by-hour schedule may be too much for some children. That’s why we recommend a block schedule in elementary school.
This type of schedule provides just enough structure to encourage productivity but allows the freedom to observe your student’s learning style and adjust accordingly.
Let’s look at a sample schedule for a first grader and glean some ideas for how to implement it.
Our sample day begins at 9:00 a.m., but an earlier or later start may work better for your family.
I encourage you to use this schedule as a springboard and make it your own.
Breakfast and Bible (9:00 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.)
An ideal 1st grade homeschool daily schedule should ease your child into school with a transition from waking to formal learning.
Introducing Bible lessons during the first block of your schedule can provide a smooth transition.
Choose a length of time for the block that allows him or her to eat breakfast, practice a memory verse, or read a Bible story.
In our sample schedule, we suggest 30 minutes; however, your child may need more time to start the day without feeling rushed.
Morning Chores (9:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.)
The next time block includes age-appropriate morning chores for a 6-year-old.
You may not immediately relate morning chores to “school,” but chores are a wonderful way to teach life lessons such as responsibility and consideration, while training your child to become more independent.
Suitable first grade chores include making the bed, helping clean up breakfast, straightening common areas, and putting away clean clothes.
A 30-minute block is the perfect container for chore time. Thirty minutes is typically enough time for 2-3 simple chores.
Alternatively, you could establish an hour-long block from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. that encompasses chores, breakfast, and Bible before settling into daily school subjects.
Bookwork (10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.)
“Bookwork” is the time your student devotes to primary subjects included in a first grade homeschool curriculum.
Most curriculums at this age emphasize math, writing, reading, and early science.
You can break blocks down by subject or simply create one larger block devoted to general academic focus.
Time blocks like these help children know what to expect and when—along with what is expected of them.
In a typical homeschool schedule for 1st grade, it’s helpful to spend shorter, more frequent time periods on what may be consider “harder” subjects such as math.
Balance these with longer sessions for subjects that include creative, play-based activities.
In this block schedule, we’ve allowed two hours to rotate among your child’s core subjects.
However, that doesn’t mean two hours straight with no breaks. For first graders, it’s helpful to include breaks for physical activity between subjects to help them “get the sillies out” (or “wiggle her waggles” away!).
If you are new to homeschooling, you will find that even lessons within the same subject can vary greatly in how long they take to complete.
At this age, it’s not unheard of to fly through a day’s worth of lessons within an hour and be done with “bookwork” for the day. Other days, reading and writing alone make take an hour.
Block schedules are ideal for such days as it removes the pressure of finishing by a certain time (and feeling “behind” if you don’t).
Creative, Elective, or Extracurricular Time (12:00 p.m. to 12:30 p.m.)
A shorter block after bookwork provides room for extra activities such as puzzles or coloring in your homeschool schedule.
These serve almost as a “reward” for working hard during “bookwork” time.
Including a 30-minute block in the afternoon also gives you a chance to catch up on anything you need to do before lunch.
Lunch and Play (12:30 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.)
Next up is a good-sized block for lunch and free time.
Your child probably doesn’t need 90 minutes to eat (although my own have been known to dawdle), but a longer block leaves plenty of time for cleanup and play.
Finish Anything Leftover from Morning Bookwork (2:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.)
If there’s anything left undone from that morning’s bookwork time, this block allows you to finish up.
If he or she worked quickly or didn’t have as much new material to learn, you can fill this time with free reading, crafts, or whatever you like.
You can even end the day at lunch, which is fairly common for first graders.
Afternoon Chores (2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.)
After the formal-education part of the day ends, wrapping up with afternoon chores transitions your child again by signaling an end to the “school” day.
It also teaches him to clean up before moving on—an invaluable life skill to have as he gets older.
Items You May Want to Incorporate Into a 6- or 7-Year-Old’s Schedule
The homeschooling 1st grade sample above is a loose idea of a regular school day for your 6- or 7-year-old.
It’s not meant to be all-inclusive, and it’s not meant to give the impression that learning ends at a certain time.
Learning happens in all sorts of ways. One of the beautiful aspects of homeschooling is the freedom to pursue a living education, or to put it another way, a lifestyle of learning.
Here are a few ideas to keep your first grader busy and learning, even after the formal school day is “over.”
Fun Reading
Making reading part of playtime is a simple way to create a lifelong reader. Let your children choose what they want to read (from pre-vetted options).
Besides quiet reading time alone, try reading aloud as a family or encourage an older sibling to read to a younger one.
Arts & Crafts
When I was reminiscing on the fun homeschool schedule ideas we tried in 1st grade, crafts was at the top of the list.
The lull between school and supper lends itself well to less formal arts and crafts. We always kept a box of art supplies nearby and let the kids freestyle it, but you can certainly coach them through special projects as well.
Arts and crafts time is an excellent way for your child to unwind from bookwork while still engaging the creative part of his or her brain.
Chore Time
We’ve incorporated chore time in the sample schedule above because teaching life skills is important.
However, once the day’s schoolwork is done, there is still usually “life” work to do.
Dinnertime presents a great opportunity to learn and do chores alongside you. Children can set the table, prepare a simple course (buttering rolls or mixing salad ingredients), or rinse dishes for you as you work.
Field Trips
Some days you may only follow parts of the sample homeschool schedule above (maybe just the breakfast, Bible, and chores blocks) and choose an outing as an alternative to the rest.
Field trips have a unique way to capturing a first grader’s attention, making school even more fun.
It’s amazing how much students soak in from a trip to your science center, library, or zoo
Learning Games
Another way to mix it up and keep your first grader engaged is by folding learning games into the mix.
Include them during bookwork time, before dinner, or enjoy a game night with the whole family.
Tips for Creating a Homeschool Schedule That Works for Your First Grader
Still not sure how to create a homeschool schedule that achieves all of your goals for your first grader?
Here are a few more points to consider:
Gain Clarity. Plan Your Week Quickly & Easily.
1. Start with the “3 R’s”
We touched upon including core subjects, but let’s examine that further.
Some people refer to the main subjects as the 3 R’s—reading ,writing and arithmetic.
These three subjects have always been the foundation of education. They comprise the base upon which all other schooling is built.
I’d venture to say that most homeschooling families include lessons from each of these key areas every single day to keep their children in constant practice.
2. Don’t Forget to Check Your State’s Homeschool Requirements for 1st Grade
Reading, writing, and arithmetic are always required subjects no matter where you live, but your state may include others as well.
Be sure to check with your state for other benchmarks your first grader needs to hit to meet your state’s educational requirements.
We provide resources for every state in this post about how to start homeschooling.
3. Work in Other Subjects as Time Allows
Once you’ve covered the core subjects and your state’s requirements, prioritize any remaining subjects by their importance to you and your goals.
What do you want your child to glean from his or her homeschool experience? Is music important to you?
Do you want your students to stand firm on a biblical worldview? Then make those a priority after the core subjects.
Choose your electives wisely, then work them into your schedule as you deem best.
4. Make Time for Play
No matter what your priorities are, it’s important at this age to carve out time for play.
It’s tempting to schedule every second in an attempt to avoid cries of “I’m bored!” but boredom is where creativity begins.
Give your child plenty of opportunities to use his imagination and explore the world around him. Incorporate blocks of time when children are free to choose to do as they please (within reason and predetermined boundaries).
This is a wonderful time for activities like:
- Creating make-believe games
- Playing house
- Crafting clover necklaces
- Molding playdough
- Studying the clouds
- Climbing trees
How Long Should a First Grader Spend on Each Subject?
Most first graders have short attention spans. (I bet you already knew that!)
Observe your child’s learning style and peak learning times, and schedule bookwork accordingly.
Start with small increments of “sit down” learning time and gradually expand it, increasing it a little more each week if necessary.
For 6 to 7 year olds, large chunks of hours spent at a desk is not necessary.
How Many Hours a Day Should a 1st Grader Homeschool?
In public school, first graders typically spend 6-7 hours per day at school. However, they don’t spend that entire time learning core subjects.
They have periods of transition, lunch time, snack breaks, and creative subjects such as art and music.
Also, because they’re in a classroom with 15-30 other students, they’re not learning directly from a teacher the entire time.
Since your child is at home with one-on-one learning, you can accomplish the same goals in less time.
In fact, some families do a 4 hour homeschool schedule, which provides time to cover all the main subjects plus creative activities and electives.
In our sample block schedule, we suggest a maximum of 2.5 hours of bookwork with other types of learning built in around it.
This generally results in a 4-hour total homeschool day.
By intentionally blocking out time for specific tasks throughout your day, you can accomplish the same academic goals as a traditional teacher without the rigid structure of a classroom.
I hope these tips help you craft a 1st grade homeschool schedule that serves you well. If you need a planner to simplify your homeschooling planning, try our Homeschool Mom Life Planner:
MAKE HOMESCHOOL PLANNING PAINLESS!
Organize mom life and school days quickly & easily with a custom, printable planner.
