Over the years our daily rhythm has fluctuated and changed quite a bit. Our seasons with newborns or babies, looked very different than it does now with our youngest being in preschool. But, I think it is incredibly helpful to see how others arrange their day since it gives such a practical glimpse into how homeschooling is done.
Our Preschool Homeschool Schedule
Our youngest child is three this year and we are following the Let Them Be Little Preschool with her, so here is what a typical day in her life looks like:
6:30am
She usually is one of our first kids up and comes into our room to snuggle. She will fall back to sleep for another 30-60 minutes, which is so special! Our older two are not as cuddly anymore, so whichever parent is still in bed just soaks this up!
7:30am
By 7:30am our whole house is up and going so she meanders down to the breakfast table and we eat together and do morning time. Every day during morning time we do our Bible reading and some other reading (our book club read aloud, poetry or kindergarten literature).
Then we rotate recitation, hymn study, artist study, poet study and solfa/folk song work. As a preschooler, the only part that she really participates in is our Bible study and hymn study. The rest she can choose to listen to or play quietly on her own nearby.
8:30am
After breakfast she brings her bowl to the counter, gets dressed for the day and works on the chore of the week. This week she's working on learning how to coordinate an outfit and dressing appropriately for the weather!
9:00am
After our morning time, if we don't have anything scheduled for the day (ie: BSF, swim lessons or co-op) she will have free play as I clean up the kitchen and do lessons with my second grader. I will pull out books or toys for her to look at, or she will play with our five year old.
10:00am
At 10am we gather for morning snack time. She loves to help in the kitchen, so often she will prepare a snack with me. At morning snack time I will read her picture book for the day and do our circle time activities, which include discussing the date, weather and plans for the day.
10:30am
Then I spend about 30 minutes doing a letter play and number play activity with my preschooler. These are all found in my "Let Them Be Little Preschool" and some days take even less time.
11:00am
At 11, I typically will have my preschooler do some more free play while I'm working with my kindergartener and second grader. I've found it super helpful if I can set up an activity for her and have her playing nearby. This is the part of the day where we're working on subjects like history, handcrafts, nature study and sign language so it's not unusual that she might listen in but not always.
12:30pm
After this it's time for lunch. We often listen to an audiobook or music during lunch or finish up any readings we have left for our schoolwork. Then we head outside for outdoor play. If our special study of the week is an outdoor craft, this is when we do that as well.
2:00pm
By 2pm we're all totally shot! I'm tired, my kids are tired and we could all use a little break. My preschooler doesn't nap any longer (maybe 1 or 2 days out of 7) but we always take a rest time. She will gather books or a special toy or game to look at and spend an hour or so resting in our guest room.
3:00pm
If I still have work to finish up, usually the kids will watch a short cartoon (our go-to's right now are Little Bear on YouTube or Elinor Wonders Why or Wild Kratts on the PBS Kids App). Before cartoons though the kids complete a Blessing Hour, where we all work together to clean up our space.
My preschooler usually helps pick up trash and papers or a specific toy. They have to have each of the rooms they rested in cleaned up and our main areas (kitchen, school room and living room) picked up.
It's not uncommon that we leave one space messy (like the basement or playroom) because we will play there as a family and clean that later. After cartoons, we might use this time to go on an outing to the park or a short field trip, like the library or for playing in our yard and prepping supper.
5:30pm
Dad gets home around 5:30pm and we try to have supper ready by the time he arrives home. We eat and then clean up and play as a family. We read, wrestle, go on a walk or play a game!
6:30pm
Our preschooler will change into pajamas, brush her teeth and toss her dirty clothes down the laundry hatch.
7:00pm
We read a few more picture books together and then sing and pray. She has a lamp on in her bedroom so she can look at books until she's sleepy (usually 20 minutes or so) and then she turns off the light. She's usually asleep by 8pm.
And that's her day as a homeschool preschooler!
As a first time mom who is interested in homeschooling one day, I just want to say I SO value the content you’re sharing! Love the topics of your blog posts, especially ones about managing homeschool with preschoolers!