Our Simple Daily Homeschool Routine for a 2nd Grader and Kindergartener
Are you wondering how to set up a Daily Homeschool Routine that is realistic with multiple ages and babies and toddlers in the mix? If so, this post is for you!
I believe establishing a daily homeschool routine is one of the most powerful drivers of homeschooling success. In our home, our whole family and our household thrive when we function with a routine during our homeschooling week.
Having a clear daily homeschool routine provides a host of benefits, including:
- Creates stability in a sometimes fluid environment
- Reduces decision fatigue
- Supports kids thriving
- Allows for flexibility within parameters
- Builds habits that lead to long term success
Our four children are ages seven, five, two, and just turned one. I do schoolwork with the oldest two.
Developing our real life daily homeschool routine has provided us with valuable structure. And it allows us to successfully engage in intentional learning. We also get to cultivate relationships and connection within our home education environment.
Are you wondering what is “normal” for a homeschooling family with children my kids’ ages? Or are you in a similar season of life with young learners and littles? If so, I hope this post and a peek into our daily homeschool routine provides you with some practical ideas to adapt to your own home.
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Our Homeschool Approach
Our homeschooling philosophy is a bit eclectic, but our philosophies do impact our daily homeschool routine. We’re primarily influenced by Charlotte Mason ideas (lots of reading living books and a focus on moral character). But we also incorporate some aspects of Montessori and Waldorf into our homeschooling.
We utilize a pre-designed curriculum (The Good and the Beautiful) for several subjects. And we also do our own thing for a few subjects.
I try to accomplish a reasonable amount of progress each week in our core subjects (math, language arts, science, history, and bible). While still allowing for flexibility, chasing down educational rabbit trails, lots of outdoor play, and day-to-day life-skills learning.
I aim for 3 lessons of math and language arts each week. We also shoot for 3 science-focused learning opportunities, 3 history-focused learning opportunities, and 3 days of bible readings.
Sometimes we get all of our scheduled schoolwork done for the week by Wednesday. Then we get to choose some supplemental activities for the rest of the week. Other times, things come up, lessons drag out, and we finish our 3rd lesson of the week on Friday afternoon.
I’ve learned to follow the motivation as much as I can. (When kids want to do extra, we let them!) But I also try to hold the line of being reasonably disciplined with our daily homeschool routine. So we don’t skip a core subject two days in a row if the work isn’t done for the week.
What Does a Typical Homeschool Day With Multiple Ages Look Like?
7:30 am – Everyone gets up and we start morning chores
Our kids usually wake up between 7 and 7:30am. The three older kids are free to play quietly or look at books in their room until their sound machine goes off at 7:30am.
The one year old’s schedule is a bit more in flux. He is usually our earliest waker. So I will often grab him and bring him out of the kids’ room to nurse him and change his diaper before 7:30.
Once the sound machine goes off, everyone comes out, and we greet them. The kiddos usually cycle through the toilet, come for cuddles, and chat about their night.
By about 8am, it is time for our family to do the pre-breakfast chores. This is the first part of our daily homeschool routine. As part of our homeschool routine with little kids, we have chosen chores for each child at their capabilities. We have taught them and worked with them on those chores until they can do the chore on their own (usually!). We have a chart on the wall that the kids can reference with the tasks they are responsible for.
The chore chart includes things like making their beds (ie: working together to fold up their blankets – we don’t use top sheets). And moving the clean clothes out of the washing machine and into a laundry basket to be hung or dried. This is also when they unload the dishwasher, feed the chickens, and help with breakfast.
My husband and I oversee the chores, providing help and encouragement and support as needed. And usually one of us is spearheading breakfast.
Sometimes I’m also doing a little dinner prep, especially if we are going to cook something in the crockpot.
8:30 am – Breakfast for the kids and the start of our daily homeschool routine
As the kids are eating breakfast, the official part of our daily homeschool routine starts: read-alouds.
I pull out some of our readings, including our daily bible read, our science devotional read (which is one half of our science curriculum), and the story we’re on from one of our children’s storybook bibles. I like to get these read while the kids’ mouths and hands are busy with breakfast.
Gabe usually packs himself a breakfast to eat a bit later, and I set aside some of the kids’ breakfast to eat later. Gabe and I like to maintain a 14-16 hour overnight fast most of the time. So we usually don’t eat breakfast at the same time as the kids.
9:15 am – Kitchen clean up and set up for hands-on schoolwork
Once breakfast is finished and those first readings are done, we pause to load dishes into the sink or dishwasher, wipe up the surface where we ate, get hands and the floor cleaned up, and then get the boys set on some kind of activity or toys of interest.
9:30 am – Focused morning schoolwork block in our daily homeschool routine
Once the boys are engaged in something (usually we try to direct them toward separate activities), it’s time for the table work.
The girls get their math and language arts books out, and we get started with the more workbook focused time of the day.
The Good and the Beautiful usually has their lessons divided into two sections, including a teaching point at the beginning of the lesson which at this point I usually need to read and explain, and then an independent practice section at the end of the lesson.
For my 2nd grader, we have her do a lesson through start to finish. For our kindergartener, she starts with the independent practice part of the previous lesson, and then she moves on to the next lesson to do the teaching point, but stops for the day before the independent practice part.
By staggering where in the lessons they start, I can give my 2nd grader my attention when she needs it at the beginning of the workbook time, and my kindergartener has something productive to focus on and keep her busy for the first few minutes.
10:30 am – Mid-morning break (essential for homeschooling with babies and toddlers!)
Sometime mid workbook time, I need to pause working with the girls and put the baby down for his first nap. Usually, this is also when I need to transition our toddler to a different activity.
If the toddler has been playing with toys up until now, I may get some water painting ready for him. Or I might pull out the wooden train set and throw a blanket on the deck for him to build a track outside.
Often, by this point, the girls can wrap up whatever else they have to do in their workbooks on their own. Or, if concentration has been a struggle and the girls need a wiggle break, I encourage them to go outside and jump on the trampoline, do some cartwheels, hopscotch, ride bikes, or run around the house.
This pause in our daily homeschool routine when the kids are occupied with a brain break is also usually when I eat my breakfast. Then I finish any kitchen clean up I need to do and start the dishwasher for the morning dish load.
If there is any dinner prep that is time sensitive and needs to be done so it can cook in the slow cooker or thaw or marinate, this is my time to get those things done.
11:00 am – Finish the schoolwork
If we haven’t finished the workbooks for the day, I will usually reconvene the girls about 11am to do the final stretch of the schoolwork.
I usually wrap up any workbooks that are still in progress by 11:30am. I figure if it hasn’t happened by then, we’ll pick it up tomorrow. And this is also when I try to get the baby up from his nap.
And then we will either do one of our science lessons from The Good and the Beautiful (the second half of our science curriculum) or I will often read our history readaloud while the girls play or color or work on their handwriting practice until we need to get lunch going.
12:30 pm – Lunch, afternoon reset, and quiet rest
By 12:30 or 1pm, we have lunch made. I’ve usually unloaded the dishwasher from the morning dishes, and the kids either sit at the counter to eat or go outside to eat on the deck if the weather is nice.
After lunch, we clean up our eating location, clean up hands, and clean up the kitchen and reload the dishwasher.
I have our toddler use the toilet, and then get him down for 45 minutes of quiet rest (sometimes he naps, sometimes he just plays) about 1:30 or 2pm. This is usually when the baby is ready to go down for his afternoon nap, too.
Sometimes I will have the girls sit on their beds with a book or quiet toys or a podcast to listen to. Other times, I let them head outside to play. It depends on how tired they seem, and if I sense that they could use some introverted time, or if they are engaging well in collaborative play.
2:30 pm – Free time (a priority our daily homeschool schedule with multiple ages)
Between 2:30 and 3pm, I get our toddler up from his nap (the baby will usually sleep until 3:30 or so), and let the girls know they can get up if they have been down for quiet rest.
The afternoons are typically open for play, more reading (if there is anything we didn’t get to, or if the kids want to read more of something), arts and crafts, running or biking outside, a dip in the hot tub, a family walk, a kids youtube workout, or a play date with friends.
5:30 pm – Dinner and evening routine
We do dinner together as a family around the dining room table, complete with candles and sometimes even cloth napkins (our girls love to put into practice the “fancy table-setting” we’ve gone over a few times!) And then move through our evening chores, the kitchen reset, teeth brushing, and showers if anyone needs them.
If all of that goes smoothly, we will try to play a card game or read another chapter of our family read aloud.
Then it’s time to nurse the baby, tuck the kids into bed and say prayers, and tell them goodnight and shut off the lights by about 8pm.
Not every night, but a few nights a week we’ll turn on the Sleepy Bookshelf podcast (we’re currently working through Anne of Green Gables) and the girls will listen for 20-30 minutes while they wind down. The boys usually fall asleep!
What does our Weekly Homeschool Schedule with Toddlers and Babies Look Like?
I try to use my Sunday afternoons to do household administration and set up our week so I can focus intentionally on homeschooling when Monday morning rolls around.
Because of this, Sunday afternoon is when I meal plan, make my grocery shopping list for the week, and look ahead at the calendar for appointments or play dates. I put all of this in my Homeschool and Life Admin Planner, which I designed to fit my life! (This product is COMING SOON to order as a print, coil bound book for yourself!)
I try to mentally run through what needs to happen during the week and plan out how best to keep the flow of the home going. What day will work well for bread making? Would it be best to use a freezer meal any days? Do I need to do any bulk cooking?
Usually, I’ll try to sit down with Gabe for 5-10 minutes so we can see the week’s layout together and divvy up any responsibilities that are outside our usual workloads.
Gabe typically does the weekly grocery shop on Tuesday evenings after the girls’ dance class, so we briefly go over the grocery list together so he knows if there is anything unique or special he needs to grab.
Then, when Monday rolls around, we jump into our homeschool week. In general, our week unfolds like this:
- Monday – Bible + Math + Language + Hymn Study + Science
- Tuesday – Bible + Math + Language + Science + History (+ Dance Class in the afternoon)
- Wednesday – Bible + Math + Language + Science + History
- Thursday – Catch-Up + History
- Friday – Errands or Catch-Up if needed + Prep food for Weekly Sabbath + Prep house for Sabbath
- Saturday – Sabbath (Rest and Family Time)
- Sunday – Church + Set Up for the Week
My Strategies for Keeping our Toddler Busy during our Daily Homeschool Routine:
These days, our toddler and baby are usually not a huge challenge to getting homeschooling done.
However, when we started our homeschool year in 2024, keeping our toddler occupied was one of the hardest parts of the day! I shared about what that was like in a bit more detail when I wrote our Daily and Weekly Routine post for Autumn 2024.
It took awhile, but I finally figured out some strategies, and on days when he isn’t so interested in solo play, I often go back to some of those strategies.
He likes to listen through the science and bible readings in the morning (and he really likes breakfast, so that also keeps him occupied!) Then typically, I let him know it is time for me to do schoolwork with the girls, and I give him 2 choices of what to play with.
He is usually very happy playing with his cars or magnatile or duplo. I will get him set up with whatever his choice is after breakfast in the kids’ room, and put the baby gate up across the door so that the baby can’t crawl in and destroy his play.
Or, if the weather is nice, sometimes he opts to head outside to the deck to ride his balance bike.
At the morning break, Lazlo is usually ready to go play for a few minutes with the girls. And then I will set him up with a sensory play activity near us while we finish up schoolwork: playdough, water paint (this brand is our favorite – the colors are vibrant and the card stock holds up well), and coloring in his construction coloring book are popular choices.
My Strategy for Keeping our Baby Busy During Our Daily Homeschool Routine:
Baby Thad still naps during the morning, so I time his nap for when I most need to focus on the girls and what they are doing. We probably have a few more months of that schedule, so I’m enjoying it while it lasts!
When he isn’t napping, at the moment he is absolutely absorbed exploring our house the vast majority of the time!
I have intentionally set up a couple “unload-friendly” stations around the house. These includ:
- our food storage lids and containers in bins at the bottom of our cube shelf
- pots lids in one of our cupboards
- mixing bowls and our vegetable steamer in another cupboard
- a shelf in the living room with disposable diapers
- his board books shelf
- a tray under our couch with his baby-friendly toys
During sunny days, I often will leave the sliding doors open into our living room. Once he’s unloaded all of his usual spots in the house, he’ll crawl out onto the deck and get started on outdoor things.
If I close the bathroom door, my bedroom door, and put a baby gate on the kids’ room door, I can keep him contained to my line of sight. And I let him just enjoy himself.
Yes, the food storage containers get spread all over the kitchen floor, and the mixing bowls and steamer and pan lids come out (sometimes I have to relocate him outside with loud, crashing play options). But he’s happy, he’s practicing all kinds of fine and gross motor skills. And I can keep an eye on him while working with the girls.
At the morning break, when he goes down for a nap, the older 3 kids will help me do a blitz tidy and we can clean up Thad’s messes in about 2 minutes.
8 Things That Help This Daily Homeschool Routine Work:
- Time blocking a daily rhythm. I’ve listed approximate times, but our routine is flexible. Certain things will need to happen (breakfast, Thad’s morning nap, and lunchtime). We slot in what we can around those structural parts of the morning.
- Reading during breakfast. Breakfast reading allows us to get through SO much more reading! It also keeps hands and mouths busy getting food into tummies!
- Staggered lesson starting points. This was my husband’s idea. So our kindergarten age daughter could be occupied at the table with independent work while I focus for 10 minutes on the 2nd grader. It has worked beautifully.
- A mid-morning break. Having an extended mid morning break allows me to attend to some non school before lunch. The kids usually concentrate fine until this point. But it is helpful to preemptively take the wiggle break before things get dicey.
- Having a plan for the toddler and baby. Having an easy-to-set-up, go-to list of a variety of ideas for Lazlo helps me find activity solutions for him quickly. And setting up the house so the baby can safely explore where I can see him also works well for us.
- Knowing our daily priorities. Getting through bible, language arts, and math are the top priorities at the start of the week. Science and history are subjects we can do a week’s worth of lessons in one day. So they are second priority until we finish the other subjects.
- Staying flexible and planning catch-up days. Not every day goes smoothly. That’s OK. We have room in our weekly plan for that.
- No morning snack. I find snacks to be stressful. So we don’t do them during school time! I try to make sure breakfast is filling, and then everyone is usually hungry for lunch.
My Encouragements if You’re Building a Daily Homeschool Routine:
If you are in the process of dialing in your daily homeschool routine, remember:
- Some moments and some seasons are hard. If you feel like you’re in a hard season and your daily homeschool routine isn’t working for you, take a deep breath. You’re not alone, and it’s OK to find those times and moments frustrating and difficult. The moment will pass – I promise!
And if you can manage to keep your own cool and regulate yourself, the moment will pass more quickly! You’ll be able to get clarity on whether the daily homeschool routine is failing you and you need to adjust it, or if you just are having a hard moment. - Some moments will be so, so sweet. When your toddler and baby are laughing together, when your oldest is encouraging and helping the second. When kids ask with pleases and wait patiently while their siblings needs are met. There are beautiful moments – celebrate them and enjoy them!
- Having a plan helps, but hold it loosely. A plan takes away a lot of the moment-by-moment decision making. That helps reduce your mental fatigue and gives you the ability to focus more specifically on what is happening in front of you.
So try to plan your meals, plan your errand running day, and plan your catch up day. Plan when you will get housework done. You don’t have to stick to anything that isn’t working for your family. But I’ve found having a plan helps me prioritize my time and energy. And plan for when you’ll do catch up work, too!
Happy Homeschooling!
I find our daily and weekly routine to be a perfect balance for our family of structure and flexibility. It has brought us a lot of joy and simplified our life in many ways to have a plan for the day and the week.
I hope you are able to figure out and develop your own customized-to-your-needs daily homeschool routine. And that maybe this post has been helpful in some way for you on that process.
If this post was beneficial, would you consider sharing it on pinterest? Or with a friend who is in a similar season of life?
Also, if you are interested in some of my other posts about routines and systems in our home, these blog posts are along the same lines:
- How to Begin a Restful Sabbath Practice: 5 Simple Tips
- Slow and Simple Weekly Summer Routine with Young Kids
- How to Make a Peaceful Evening Routine
- Slow, Simple Daily Summer Routine with Little Kids
- How to Create a Peaceful Morning Routine
- 15 Ways to Practice Slow Living with Young Kids
- How to Embrace Simplicity as a Family of Six
- First Year of Homeschooling: Term 1 Daily Plan + Easy Weekly Routine (Grade 1 and Preschool)
- How to Minimize Time in the Kitchen as a Mom