How Many Hours to Homeschool: Homeschool Program Advice


Homeschooling is a delicate experience, and you need to get every aspect right, including the number of hours that you spend instructing your kid at home.

How many hours to homeschool is necessary? The number of hours spent homeschooling a child should be determined by the child’s age, grade, and pace? Younger homeschoolers can learn for two hours daily, while their older counterparts can study for up to 8 hours.

In a paper for Seton Study School, Ginny Seuffert mentions that the time spent on children in primary grades should be determined by their attention span. Middle school and junior high students can add a little bit of time after lunch and/or dinner, while high schoolers can study for 6 to 8 hours a day.

How Many Hours A Day Is Required for Homeschooling?

The number of hours a day required for homeschooling can be as little as 1 hour, or 7 hours depending on the child. It is no secret that homeschooling takes time and dedication, so be sure you have plenty of both before you begin.

In an interview with SheKnows, Jessica Parnell, who is the CEO of Edovate Learning Corp and Bridgeway Academy mentioned that homeschooled students at elementary levels should school for 1 or 2 hours daily. She also recommended 2 to 3 hours and 3 to 4 hours daily for middle school and high school students, respectively.

While this is a general guideline, how many hours homeschooling takes depends on a range of factors, including the number of children you educate, their ages and stages, the curriculum or method you use, extracurricular programs and activities, and state laws.

Children are all unique, as is your family, and one of the loveliest aspects of homeschooling is that you get to do what works best for your children rather than what works best for everyone else.

Furthermore, some families are more comfortable than others covering more knowledge in a single day. Some children can process more information in a single day than others. Due to the varying abilities and interests of different children, these characteristics have a significant impact on homeschool hours.

Before you do anything further for homeschooling, you should check out the rules and standards for your state (or country, if you live outside the United States). Homeschooling rules and standards vary by state in the United States. As a result, make sure you understand what is expected of you, including any minimum and maximum hours or days for teaching.

The number of hours of homeschooling each day varies tremendously depending on where you live and how you homeschool, so don’t be afraid to be flexible with your homeschool plan. Forget about those grade-level age charts!

Many states require you to fulfill a certain number of hours (or days) every year, and some even break out how many hours you must complete in specific subject areas. Most states do not mandate a certain number of homeschool hours each day, leaving it up to the discretion of the homeschooling parents.

Average Homeschooling Hours for Grade school and Above

Average work times for homeschoolingPercentage of average results
3-5 hours of total worktime66%
8-10 hours of total work time, average public-school time17%
No set times 17%

How Many Hours Does It Take to Homeschool a Grade?

The number of hours spent homeschooling a grade depends on the child’s age and the specific grade being considered. Young homeschoolers can study for 1 to 2 hours daily, while adult homeschoolers can spend up to 8 hours.

Do not think of a homeschool timetable as “what we do all day” or attempting to meet a specific number of homeschooled hours. Such a mindset can affect the quality of education that your homeschooled child might receive.

Instead, for better results, you should consider how you can motivate your pupil to learn! When homeschooling multiple grades, you can mix some of your studies across the ages/stages to boost the quality of the overall experience.

Your technique will have an impact on how many hours you homeschool. Also, homeschooling can take a while on some days, while on other days, the entire process might fly by. As your child grows older, chances are they will want or need less aid and will become more self-sufficient in their academics, requiring only occasional assistance.

The pleasant thing about homeschooling is that you have the freedom to personalize it to what works best for you, your children, and your family’s schedule. There are a lot of schedules and curriculums that are available, and you can always select one that works for you and modify it accordingly.

Depending on the age of your homeschooler, you can allow them to sleep in and finish their homework in the afternoon if that is what they prefer. While one homeschooler naps, you can focus on other children and even work on outside activities with them later.

Also, keep in mind that homeschooling preschool and kindergarten will take far less time (and focus more on free play and motor skills) than homeschooling third graders who require a lot more attention and direction, combined with a defined curriculum.

Likewise, children at elementary school levels have a wide range of learning abilities and attention spans, and it is sometimes challenging to recommend a specific time range to educate them daily. Parents will need to be intuitive to decide when it’s time for a timeout and when to return to their studies.

More energetic children are not likely to sit still for lengthy periods, so you need to teach in brief batches of time. Also, some children are more eager to learn than others and might carry a book on their own and begin learning independently.

In addition, middle and junior high students may need to put in more time after lunch and even catch up on reading after dinner. High school students, however, can easily average six to eight hours of study per day, including evening reading.

How Long Should a Homeschool Day Last?

A homeschool day can last anywhere from 1 hour to 8 hours depending on the number of students that are being attended to and their individual ages, grades, interests, and academic abilities.

The length of a homeschool day varies widely due to several factors. As a result, you must be willing to be adaptable enough to design a personalized homeschool schedule that works for your family.

Unofficial learning activities such as sports, art, nature hikes, field trips, and music practice can help fulfill a child’s physical education. Also, depending on your state, some subjects are determined as necessary by the Department of Education, and they add to a parent’s weekly or monthly homeschool hours.

To give you an idea of homeschooling hour requirements, imagine you are homeschooling three children: preschool (age 4), middle school (age 12), and high school (age 16). For preschool kids, your schedule will mostly contain basic activities like handwriting, phonics, reading, and some outdoor play.

Middle school kids on the other hand will be kept occupied by additional activities like vocabulary, geography, literature, and history. Finally, high school homeschoolers can get involved in similar subjects with middle school, but on a more complex level.

Remember that one of the advantages of homeschooling is that you are free to personalize the learning process to suit you and your kids’ needs. This flexibility in schedule means that you can homeschool with a unique curriculum. Also, your homeschool day can last for fewer or more hours than recommended above.

Homeschool Hours by Grade

Kids in early grades can spend 1 or 2 hours homeschooling each day, middle schoolers can school for 3 to 4 hours, while high schoolers can spend up to 8 hours a day.

Due to the uniqueness of each grade, the amount of time ideally required for homeschooling varies. Below is a detailed breakdown of how long homeschooling a grade could take.

  • 1st to 3rd Grade: Approximately 2 hours per day

Based on most established homeschool setups, you should homeschool your kids for about two hours per day from the first through third grades. Most parents with a 5 or 6-year-old will find that homeschooling for 2 hours daily is the most effective path.

In a survey performed by How Do I Homeschool, a mom suggested that the daily number of hours spent by homeschoolers in their early years should directly correspond to their grade level. For example, a Grade 1 kid should school for one hour per day, Grade 2 for two hours per day, and Grade 3 for three hours per day.

  • 4th to 6th grade: Approximately three hours per day

If you have kids that are in 4th to 6th grade (ages eight to eleven), you should stick to 3-4 hours per day as this time range has been found to be most effective.

  • 7th to 9th grade: Approximately four hours per day

You should target spending 4-5 hours per day for students in the 7th to 9th grade (ages twelve to fourteen).

  • 10th to 12th grades: About 6-8 hours per day

Students that have gotten to high school levels are often mature and able to study for extended periods. Accordingly, you should spend 6-8 hours per day educating students in the 10th to 12th grade (ages fifteen to eighteen).

You should also bear in mind that since older kids may have a part-time job, they may not study every day of the week. This may necessitate a day in which they study for additional hours or lead to them learning on the weekends. Many home educators limit their children’s paid employment hours to prevent interfering with their studies.

How Much Time Per Subject Homeschool?

On average, it is advised to spend about 45 minutes a day on each subject when homeschooling. The specific time spent can be more or less than 45 minutes depending on the student’s grade, attention span, and academic progress.

In general, homeschooling takes far less time than public school, and you might not need to homeschool your children for so many hours every day. Remember that you are homeschooling a few children rather than a whole class of 20 children like in public school (which takes way more time).

An average of 45 minutes for each subject per day is ideal for homeschooling. However, this could mean that you complete 30 minutes of arithmetic on Mondays and an hour on Tuesdays. You should be adaptable and let your child’s pacing and rhythm guide the lessons.

Furthermore, keep in mind that those 45 minutes for each subject do not have to be entirely spent on book-based study and practice. Field trips, games, and activities relating to the subject can all contribute to the 45 minutes of each subject.

Rather than imposing a strict daily schedule, it is best if you allow your child’s interest, speed, and attentiveness to guide you to find a working average.

If your child is performing well academically, you might want to avoid increasing class times or adding higher tasks since this might subconsciously feel like a punishment for performing well. Instead, reward your child with specific projects or activities that allow them to pursue their personal passions while improving their academic skills.

When deciding on a particular project, consider your child’s interests and desires. Make a note of when your youngster makes curious inquiries and utilize those topics to inspire special projects. Allowing some children to work ahead on topics may also feel like a reward.

How To Calculate Homeschool Hours?

You can calculate homeschool hours by simply adding the total number of hours spent on a subject. The homeschool hour value can be calculated individually for each subject or for all subjects put together.

Homeschool hours are the number of hours you spend on a particular topic or subject. For instance, if you spend 1 hour on Tuesday and 2 hours on Friday for a particular course, then your homeschool hours for that week are 3 hours.

Homeschool hours are computed differently and are typically recorded by high school homeschool students to keep track of their GPA for college applications or transcripts.

Homeschool hours can also vary depending on the type of course (for example, lecture versus lab time). One course credit is typically equivalent to 120 – 180 hours of training. This entails taking a one-hour class every school day for a school year that contains 120 – 180 days. This is referred to as the Carnegie Unit.

The number of hours you need to study varies for each credit, but it is usually around 2-3 hours of student participation and studying per week.

Also, keep in mind that grades are how schools convey to parents how well they are doing with their child’s education. It is a metric that determines how well your youngster is functioning in the academic system.

Recent Content