Kindergarten Homeschool Schedule (includes a free printable)

This Kindergarten Homeschool schedule is ideal for most families. It’s short and simple to follow, It doesn’t require a full day of teaching. Homeschooling kindergarten can be done in less than three hours a day and that includes a short break and circle time.

What follows is a daily kindergarten homeschool schedule idea for you to follow. I’ve also included a free printable if you’d like to download one for yourself. There are also ideas for creating a flexible homeschool schedule in this post too.

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Daily Kindergarten Homeschool Schedule

7:30-8:45am-Breakfast & Chores

Whatever time your kindergartener has breakfast, keep it set at the same time everyday (at least during the school week). This is a good start time allowing your child to have breakfast and if this applies to you, this is also a good time to do some religious reading to your kids a the kitchen table.

After breakfast your kindergartener could complete some simple chores such as making the bed and wiping the kitchen table and chairs. It’s not about perfection. It’s about responsibility and order. You could assign 1-2 chores daily (the same ones each day of the week for consistency).

This may be the perfect time to put any dishes away that were in the dishwasher from the night before, clear out breakfast dishes, and take out any frozen food from the freezer if needed for dinner.

9:00-9:30am-Circle time (calendar, weather, read aloud)

Circle time is great because if you have more than one child, you could include all the kids in circle time. You can make it real simple and do the calendar (today’s date, yesterday, and tomorrow), and then talk about the weather. Finally, include a read aloud that could be enjoyed. Most Kindergarten kids don’t mind repetition, so it’s okay to read the same book more than once in the same week!

9:30-10:15am- Language Arts – (Reading/Phonics Lesson)

Reading, Writing, and Math are the core of any kindergarten curriculum so it’s ideal to do this first in the day. You never know if things come up that will derail you from your schedule. Keeping the core subjects as early as possible works best for most families. I do discuss alternatives later on in this article.

You want to be sure you have a reading component here. I discuss what I use in my article, best kindergarten homeschool curriculum.

10:15-10:30am-Snack Break (15 minutes)

A quick bathroom break, snack, and stretch, is usually all that’s needed to recharge before getting into the next subject.

10:30-11:00am-Math

A quick lesson (if there’s a new concept in the day’s workbook), and working through two pages of math can be done in half an hour or less. I don’t recommend doing more than two pages of math at the kindergarten level. It’s just the right amount of work for most kindergarteners. We use Horizons Math for Kindergarten.

11:00-11:15am-Handwriting Practice

This part of the day could be done somewhat independently. This time is dedicated to practice forming letters properly. You could even have an older child oversee this part to free this time up for you. If you have other kids, you could use this time to help them with another subject too.

11:15-:11:45am-Social Studies, Science , or Art

For the subjects of social studies, science, and art, it’s best to alternate between the subjects. This means you don’t do social studies and science every day. You pick one and do it that day. For example, Monday and Tuesday could be social studies, Wednesday and Thursday could be science, and art could be on Fridays.

This is what I would recommend for Kindergarten and you don’t need to spend more than half an hour at this level.

Reading a good book on a particular topic and writing a summary sentence would be sufficient. I have some more recommendations in this post.

12:00pm-Lunch

Done with homeschool for the day! This is one of the joys of homeschooling. For the little ones, you could really be done by noon.

Afternoon Free-Play Activities

If the weather permits, after lunch would be a great time to get outdoors and have the whole family get some physical activity time. Whether it is just in the backyard, or a nearby park, or even to run some errands, getting outside daily is important, even for a short while.

After lunch, I tend to prefer having some quiet time activities first for an hour or so, and then go outside if the weather permits.

The afternoon is great for kindergarteners to do some puzzles, play games, listen to nursery rhymes, play music for dancing , play with playdough, coloring, drawing, and any sort of imaginative play.

If your child is the type that loves to do school all day (some do!) and would like to do some type of worksheet, choosing a logic activity from this workbook is an excellent idea.

But really, this is the time for your kids to mostly play!

Flexible Kindergarten Homeschool Schedules and Tips

Time of Day

While I have presented a kindergarten homeschool schedule that is ideal for most families that homeschool, you don’t have to stick to that one exactly as it is. This is the beauty of homeschooling!

If you prefer to start a little later in the day that is okay too. Just know that that will mean, you will finish later too.

Perhaps you prefer to break up your homeschool schedule in two parts- morning work and afternoon work.

Whatever works best for your family.

Keep in mind that most homeschool families have a preference for homeschooling in the morning because kids are most relaxed and not tired out from the day yet.

How Many Days a Week Should I Homeschool Kindergarten?

Many homeschoolers, including myself, homeschool 4 days a week. Others do choose to homeschool 5 days a week. If you are homeschooling a Kindergartener year-round, 3 days a week could work too.

Homeschoolers often choose to homeschool 4 days a week so that the 5th day could be used for getting together with a homeschool group for half a day..

If you haven’t already looked for one, start researching in your area for a homeschool group your kindergartener could be a part of at least once a week.

Should I Homeschool Year-Round?

Some families prefer to homeschool year-round while others prefer to follow a traditional school year. I personally prefer a year-round schedule but with a few short winter breaks and a summer break.

What is best for your family?

This is something to think about when creating and deciding on a kindergarten homeschool schedule.

Tips and Tricks For Staying on a Set Homeschool Schedule

set a timer – If you know that certain subjects can easily drag on, for example math, set a timer for when you should be ending that part of the day. You may instead just want to set your timer at the start time for homeschool if you find it helps to make sure everyone starts on time.
get older kids to help younger ones –Think about what tasks in your homeschool day could be delegated, if any.
schedule independent work for older kids – while working with your kindergartener, if you have older homeschoolers, schedule homeschool subjects that they could do independently such as handwriting, typing, grammar exercises, or memory work.
stay consistent as much as possible – especially for little ones, the more you can establish a routine of following a homeschool schedule, they better it will be for your kindergartener and you too! Kids thrive with a routine because they know what is generally expected of them.

Free Printable Homeschool Kindergarten Schedule

If you’d like a template to map out your own homeschool kindergarten schedule, I’ve made a template that you can download for free! You don’t have to sign up for anything to get it either. Simply click here to view and print!

Final Thoughts

Your homeschool kindergarten schedule does not need to be long, complicated, or rigid. A short and simple schedule that allows for flexibility will do wonders for your homeschool! By focusing on the core subjects of reading, writing and math, with some occasional additions in other subjects, your kindergartener can still find lots of playtime in their homeschool day!