An elementary schedule would likely include grades kindergarten through either fifth or sixth grades, depending on the school district. The concept of middle school to replace junior highs takes off from there through either eighth or ninth grade. Most classes at all levels (except kindergarten) are held for approximately six hours a day of class time, plus breaks, lunch and commutes on buses. All told a child might be gone eight to nine hours a day, five days a week. That's a long time, especially for the younger ones.

This would point to another advantage of homeschooling; time savings, both for the parent and child. No more rushing to meet buses or driving kids to school. They can start their day relaxed and stress-free.

Teaching hours in a good homeschool will start out around one to two hours for the younger ones and average about six hours per day for a high school student. A homeschool teacher will have a lot of involvement with the children of younger age while they are learning to read, write, spell and do math problems. By the time middle and high school roll around, the parent is more of a monitor of the work to be done and doesn't have to be so closely involved all day.

Another facet of scheduling is looking at the school year. In public school it's nine months straight with some holiday breaks, then three months off in the summer. Students, teachers and parents all get tired with this schedule. What if you could schedule more and longer breaks in a school year? Wouldn't that be a good thing for everyone? Then consider homeschooling. It's very flexible that way. Since living and learning never really operate like a public school, why not consider altering the school year to accommodate everyone involved?

Here's example #1: Conduct school in September, October and November, then take the whole month of December off. School starts again in January and goes through March. Off again in April. Start back up in May and go through July, then off the whole month of August. There's still three months off, but they're spread out through the year to break up the school year. Might be nice, huh?

Or here's another idea: Go to school for three weeks, then off for one week; year round. This might be even better that the last one. The breaks are closer together, but it's the same amount of school and break time. You might have to alter the schedule a little around holidays depending on the year, but that wouldn't be so difficult. Has possibilities?

Speaking of holidays, I saw another schedule that tries to accommodate them. It's a little more complicated, but it might just work for everyone. You start off teaching the first of September and go through mid-October, then take week off. Start again in late October and teach till Thanksgiving; a week off. Start school for two-three weeks in December, then three weeks off for Christmas and New Years. Go at it again in mid-January until March first, take two weeks this time. Go again mid-March through April, then two weeks off again (spring break?). Then teach again all the way from mid-May through the summer, taking breaks whenever vacations, visits or special occasions arise.

As you can see, homeschooling can be tailored to fit anyone's needs. It might deserve another look for this reason and many others. If you're still worried about your elementary schedule, you can all but put it out of your mind with homeschooling.



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