When you’re new to homeschooling, you may be wondering about homeschool hour requirements and probably have questions like, “How many hours should homeschooling take?”
I think you’re going to be surprised, especially if you grew up in a traditional school setting (like public school).
Let’s take a closer look at homeschool hour requirements and how much time does it take to homeschool.
How many hours a day do you have to home school?
How many hours homeschooling takes will depend on factors like: how many children you homeschool, age and stage of the children, the curriculum or method you are using, outside classes and activities, and the requirements for your state. Many states have a minimum number of hours (or days) you must meet each year, and some states even break down how many hours you must meet in specific subject ares. Most states don’t require a specific number of homeschool hours per day. In general, homeschooling takes much less time than public school and you won’t need 8 hours every day to homeschool your children! Most home school parents find that they can effectively homeschool their children in around 2-3 hours each day for 4-5 days each week. However, one of the benefits of homeschooling is that you can tailor learning to meet your needs and schedule, so you may homeschool for fewer or more hours than this based on your needs.
Check here for homeschooling requirements by state.
Sample Homeschool Schedule
To give you an idea about homeschool hour requirements, let’s pretend that we are homeschooling three children: preschool (age 4), middle school (age 12), and high school (age 16).
Here’s what a sample homeschool schedule may look like for this family of three children:
8:30-10:00 a.m. Chores/breakfast/quiet time/quiet play or reading
10:00 a.m. Group Bible study time
10:30 a.m. Preschool quiet play/coloring; middle school math (assist); high school math (online self-paced course)
11:00 Read books to preschooler (assist); middle school keyboarding (online self-paced course); high school art (online, self-paced course)
11:30-12:30 Group nature hike at park/lunch picnic/finished for the day
And then, the next day, you cover other topics.
When you homeschool multiple ages, you can combine some of your studies and other studies will be individual.
Also, remember that homeschooling preschool and kindergarten will take a lot less time (and be more about free play and motor skills) than maybe a third grader who needs more direction with a specific curriculum.
As your child gets older, chances are they’ll need less help and they will become more autonomous in their studies and only need assistance here and there.
The great thing about homeschooling is that you have the flexibility to tailor homeschooling to what works for you and your children and the home schedule.
If the high schooler likes to sleep in and complete their work in the afternoons, then let him/her!
You can focus on the younger kids while your high schooler sleeps and then maybe work on outdoor activities with them later.
Don’t be afraid to switch things around and figure out what works best!
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One Last Note on Homeschool Hour Requirements
Before you do anything else for home school, you must check your state (or country, if you are outside of the United States) laws and requirements for your area.
Every state in America has different laws and requirements for homeschooling.
So, be sure you understand what is required of you, including if there are any minimum hour or days of instruction requirements.
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