Our High School Homeschool Routine (with Self-Directed Teens)
- Sarah
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
If I had to sum up our homeschool routine for high school in one word, it would be f.l.e.x.i.b.l.e. With high school comes many scheduled classes and learning opportunities, more time spent with friends, plus changes such as kids driving independently, getting jobs, taking dual credit classes at the university, and more! Our routine has needed to flex every semester, and sometimes even every week, in order to accommodate the plethora of things going on.
Our homeschool routine is not a mandate; some days or weeks, I let it go completely to support my teens in following their own interests and passions. However, most of our days and weeks do fall back on our routine.
My daughter recently graduated from homeschool, but here is a snapshot of how our homeschool routine has worked well for the last couple years with both teens. I'm sure it will shift yet again in the Fall when I will be homeschooling only my 16yo son!
If you're homeschooling younger kids, here are a couple posts about the routines we used when my kids were in elementary and middle school.
Our Weekly Homeschool Routine for High School
Our weekly high school homeschooling leans on three areas of emphasis:
Smith Family School time all-together 3 days/week
10-15 hours of self-directed scholar time throughout the week
Daily accountability check-ins and weekly planning meetings
Family School Time
Our Family School time generally lasts ~2-3 hours, 3 mornings per week. For a little while there, we lost our groove and were floundering trying to find time to fit this time in. I finally realized I had to shift our priorities to make sure that it happened 3 days per week, regardless of what else was going on. So, every week, we've made happen, even though that has often meant starting school bright and early at 7am, in order to finish before my daughter needed to leave for her university class or work.
During this time, I sit with the kids and work alongside them. Our homeschool just works better if I make the time to learn alongside the kids and lead out to demonstrate that learning is a worthy lifelong pursuit.
We usually study and discuss history or science for about an hour together, each work on a few independent math problems, and do a little writing. Sometimes we watch The World from A to Z together and discuss current events. When the kids work on their math, I work on my own math. I'm refreshing myself on Algebra, as it's been awhile! When the kids practice spelling and writing, I write out quotes and reflections from books I've read in my commonplace book.
Self-Directed Scholar Time
Besides our Family School Time, my teens have independent study time, aka Scholar Time. They choose when and how to fit in their Scholar Time every week, typically aiming for 10-15 hours each. Although *I* would have a set schedule and push to get it done Monday-Friday, both of my kids often choose to spread their Scholar Time over all 7 days of the week instead.
During Scholar Time, my teens are free to choose what to work on including reading, math, writing, individual projects, music practice, physical exercise, etc, as negotiated in their Scholar Contracts for each semester. Quite a bit of their Scholar Time is spent in completing the 2-books-per-month readings for my teens Liberty and Leadership class (I'll share more about that in a future post). Per our technology rules, cell phones are to be placed in the living room during Scholar Time so there will be fewer distractions.
My teens are supposed to keep a Scholar Log of their daily activities, including what they worked on and the duration of each activity.
Daily Accountability Check-Ins and Weekly Planning Meetings
For my family, self-directed high school cannot work without having accountability.
Once a week, usually on Sunday afternoons, I meet with each teen individually to review their Scholar Log for the prior week, make recommendations for any needed course corrections, and hash out learning goals for the week such as:
how many Scholar Time hours to aim for
writing and math goals (with due dates when needed)
special projects
The goal of this planning meeting is to help my teens set and meet their own goals, not to impose my own agenda on their learning time. This can be hard, but I keep reminding myself my aim is to mentor them in learning how to be independent.
My daughter built the habit of keeping her Scholar Log years ago and has no issues with it, such that we only need to discuss her Scholar Time once a week during our weekly planning meeting. My son will *forget* to write down what he worked on unless we have daily check-ins, so I try to make sure we have a brief daily check-in most evenings.
For both of my kids, math has been a subject they tend to procrastinate on. They would make math goals for the week and then often miss their goals. I purposely gave them the freedom to fail at this for awhile, in order to demonstrate the need for greater accountability. Then, I broached the topic and we came to mutual agreements on how to proceed. Both teens ended up choosing to have due dates for their independent math studies throughout the week, reporting back to me for accountability.
Leaving space for kids to fail can be one of the hardest parts ❤️🩹 of self-directed high school, but in the end it helps the kids learn how to me more self-sufficient and independent. Just as with any new skill, there may be some failure along the way, but we gotta trust the process towards greater growth...
We also plan our 3x/week Family School Time on Sundays, based on everyone's schedules for the coming week.
Daily High School Homeschool Routine
There is so much variability in our schedules that it is difficult to really pin down what our routine looks like, but our here is a peek into our general rhythm on days when we don't have field trips or other activities (usually Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays).
Early Morning: Quiet Work Time.
I spend the early morning hours from ~5am-8am working and hopefully squeeze in a walk or yoga.
My daughter often sets her alarm for 6am to do university homework, household work, and/or self-care prior to our Family School time.
My son usually sleeps as late as humanly possible 😜 until it's time for Family School or other activities.
Morning: Family School Time.
This begins somewhere between 7-8:30am and lasts 2-3 hours, depending on everyone's schedules for the day.
The kids eat breakfast during this time, as well.
All together, we do history, science, math, and/or writing. See the weekly routine section above for more details on what we do during this time.
Late Morning: Self-Care and Household Chores.
We each get dressed and handle our household chores.
My daughter empties the dishwasher and washes breakfast dishes, then gets ready for independent study, work, or university classes.
My son handles the household laundry and morning chicken chores before settling in to independent study time.
Afternoon: Work, Independent Study, University Classes, and Band.
I generally work from late morning through the afternoon, squeezing in time for a lunchtime walk with my husband and a short quiet time in the late afternoon.
My daughter often has work or university class, followed by band class 3x/week in the afternoon.
My son has independent study time followed by band class 3x/week.
Evening: Dinner, Classes, and Free Time.
My kids are each responsible for cooking dinner for the family one night per week. I handle dinner the remaining nights.
We have a sit-down family dinner together for whoever is at home most nights. We often discuss current events during this time, or talk about things we've been reading or learning about.
My son has robotics 2-4 times per week from ~5-8pm.
My daughter may have evening lab or other classes such that she may not be home in the evening a couple nights per week.
After dinner, everyone does their own thing.
Often, the kids will work on Scholar Time or have some downtime after a busy day.
My husband and I will often walk or workout together after dinner, then move onto reading, music practice, discussions, etc.
My son and I have his daily Scholar Log check-in during this time, as well.
Before Bed: Read-Aloud And Connection.
A few nights per week, we have family read-aloud time before bed.
We read classics out loud, taking turns each night so everyone in the family gets to practice reading out loud and learning how to clearly project their voices.
The kids and I often hang out on the couch to connect before bedtime. This is when I can learn how they're really doing, give guidance on problems they are facing, and be a shoulder to cry on. This can be hard because I'm tired at the end of the day, but it's worth it. There are more tips for parenting adolescents here: Parenting Adolescents and Teens with Understanding and Support
We aim for lights out by 10pm.
This is just a snapshot of our homeschooling rhythm, to give you some ideas. I hope it helps you in crafting your own weekly and daily rhythm for high school homeschooling!
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