Our Weekly Schedule for a Classical and Charlotte Mason-Inspired Homeschool
First, let me say that if you are here because you are looking for an example of a Charlotte Mason timetable for your homeschool, you may walk away disappointed. Personally, I would love to have our homeschool flow through a Charlotte Mason timetable day in and day out. That’s exactly how I’m wired.
But…
For that has never worked well for my kids and the way they are wired. Add in the fact that they go to an enrichment program one day a week and a co-op one morning a week and I’m a work-from-home homeschooling mama... I’ve had to make adjustments.
There are a few things I’ve done to keep my sanity while also making sure everything gets done—whether it’s homeschool, working, cleaning and chores, cooking, or extracurriculars.
First, different days have different themes, if you will. Mondays and Wednesdays are core subject days. Fridays are our “feast” days. I schedule electives and all of our Charlotte Mason “beauty” subjects on Fridays. (In fact, I wrote my own Charlotte Mason-based curriculum over the summer exactly for this. It’s called Feast of Ages: The Medieval World. This year, our history cycle is the Middle Ages.) On Tuesdays, my boys go to an enrichment program and Thursday mornings we all go to a co-op. This year, both enrichment and co-op are science focused.
Second, I use mealtimes for read alouds. Most breakfasts and lunches will also have a scheduled read aloud. Bedtimes don’t have anything scheduled, but I will regularly use them if we need to catch up on either read alouds or independent reading. Bedtimes are great for catching up on memory work, recitation memorization, poetry reading, and even composer study.
Third, I have to stay a bit minimalist when it comes to the feast Charlotte sets in front of us. We don’t do afternoon occupations in their truest sense because that is my work time. My boys usually want to play at that point instead of doing something more formal (even if it is a handicraft or nature study). So they generally play while I work. I encourage them to go outside, weather permitting. When the weather is bad, they will typically play well with their toys in their playroom. Otherwise, they might follow along to a video drawing tutorial, draw or create on their own, or play a game.
A little off-topic, but I have found that when we play board games or card games or put puzzles together as a family, my kids are more likely to do the same in their free play. And if the weather is bad and we are all cooped up indoors for longer than usual, I have a list of documentaries they can watch, based on what we’re learning during the school year and their own interests. (This list is great for sick days too!)
Of course, I have my own morning schedule before we begin our homeschool day.
Mondays & Wednesdays
We generally start breakfast between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. It really depends on when my husband leaves for work.
Over Breakfast:
Read half a chapter aloud from The Story of the Bible: The New Testament on Mondays
Read a chapter from The Blue Fairy Book on Wednesdays
Read daily scripture from Seeking God’s Face
After breakfast, my boys brush their teeth. They also get dressed and make their beds if they haven’t already.
Between 9:30 and 9:45 a.m., we start core studies. I keep these in short, 10-15 minute blocks for my kids. They get a 2-minute movement break between each block. This really helps with their focus and attention. One child will work with me while the other does something independently:
My oldest does spelling with me / my youngest practices piano
My youngest does math with me / my oldest practices piano
My oldest does math with me / my youngest reviews flashcards
My youngest does Latin and grammar with me / my oldest does independent math practice
My youngest does spelling with me / my oldest reviews flashcards and starts grammar
My oldest does grammar and Latin with me / my youngest does independent math practice
It looks complicated, but we’ve worked through this schedule for about a month now and it works. It puts the more thought-intensive subjects earlier on and also does a good job at alternating between being instructed and doing an independent task. For my oldest, doing his independent math has always seemed to work best right after the lesson. For my youngest, giving him some time between the lesson and his independent practice works better. I’ve really catered to each of my kids here. I do have an index card on each of their desks with this rhythm written down, as well as a whiteboard for me. I also use the timer. Each block gets 10 to 15 minutes. When the timer goes off, they get 2 minutes to move around. When the timer goes off again, they each get a punch in their punch card if they worked hard in their previous block and returned promptly to start the next. These have been a game changer for our high energy, neurodivergent kids. It makes their progress during the day much more tangible and concrete for them.
Core studies are usually done by 11:15 or 11:30 a.m. (The additional breaks do add a bit of time in the overall time block, but it’s how they get through it.) They get an outside play break until noon.
12:00-12:45 p.m. Over lunch, I will typically open with a lesson from Getting Started with Latin. Then I’ll read our literature read aloud while my kids eat. After everyone has eaten, we’ll clear the table but stay there for a French lesson.
12:45-1:30 p.m. This is quiet and independent work time. My kids do their independent reading, work on memorizing their recitations and memory work from Truth and Grace, and do handwriting. While my kids work, I’m there to answer any questions they have. I usually try to tidy up, prep anything for the next day, and start thinking about work.
1:30-3:30 or 4:30 p.m. I try really hard to end school by 1:30 p.m. on Mondays and Wednesdays. If my kids put the effort they should have in their schoolwork, then they have had a well-spent, 4-hour school day. For them, it’s off to play. For me, it’s time to work.
This block lasts until 3:30 or 4:30 p.m. depending on afternoon extracurriculars for the day. On a Monday or Wednesday, my kids could have practice for a seasonal sport, or they could have a night free. If there’s an extracurricular, chores and a snack happen at 3:30 p.m. If it’s a free night, they may not happen until 4:30 p.m.
Tuesdays
On Tuesdays, my kids are in an enrichment program from 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. I try to make the most of this time workwise. It’s the one time I have during the week (unless I’m up extra early) to get focused, uninterrupted work done. I prioritize video creation plus anything that simply takes extra mental load.
But before my kids go to enrichment…
Breakfast starts between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. I try to make it closer to 8:30 a.m. even if my husband hasn’t left for work yet. Tuesday’s breakfast looks like Monday in that we read the second half of the week’s chapter in The Story of the Bible: The New Testament. After breakfast, my kids will do a notebooking page on the week’s Bible story. Then they are off to enrichment!
After enrichment, they are usually done for the day. They have theater on Tuesday afternoons and it’s never been worth it to try to squeeze in any additional school between enrichment and theater practice.
Thursdays
Thursdays are our odd days. Two Thursdays a month, we meet with our co-op in the morning for a space science unit. The time is usually from around 9:00 a.m. to noon. But it really just depends on when we can get a room scheduled at one of the local libraries. So I don’t schedule anything before co-op. After co-op, we do math and spelling. Thursday is another theater afternoon, and math and spelling are probably my kids’ least favorite subjects. I’ve had the most success keeping Thursdays lighter academically.
What happens on non-co-op Thursdays?
That’s actually a good question. You see, our co-op also does a monthly field trip one Monday a month. So on those weeks, Monday’s schedule gets put into Thursday’s. And after the field trip, we’ll do math and spelling so that everything evens out.
On the weeks when we don’t have a co-op science lesson or field trip, I might schedule an appointment on that Thursday morning (if it’s something that would be really inconvenient to schedule in the afternoon). Otherwise, it’s a catchup day plus math and spelling. I’d also love to read a Shakespeare story aloud one Thursday a month.
Fridays
Fridays or our “feast” days. For the most part, we have all of what my kids would call the “boring” subjects out of the way. Scheduling our electives and beauty subjects all on one day has been the only way I can make giving my kids a feast of an education truly possible. I also do all of our laundry that needs folding (so clothes, not towels or sheets) on Fridays. And my husband works at home on Fridays. So while we are home all day on Fridays like we are on Mondays and Wednesdays—1. I can teach a longer day with more shorter breaks throughout, and 2. It’s waaaaaay easier to get back into a history or art lesson after being interrupted than it is to get back into spelling or grammar.
We start with our typical breakfast + read alouds between 8:30 and 9:00 a.m. as usual. On Fridays, I read Norse myths aloud followed by daily scripture.
After getting their teeth brushed, getting dressed, and making their beds, it’s time for history and geography. We usually start between 9:00 and 9:30 a.m. For this, and many of our Friday lessons, I use our very own Feast of Ages: The Medieval World. I literally wrote this curriculum for our Fridays, but it can be spread out over a week. It includes many of our read alouds (any that have to do with history), history, geography, art, sewing, artist study, poetry, and music.
History and geography usually last around 40 minutes since we’re doing it in one sitting instead of two. Then my kids get a break while I fold laundry. (Yes, I know my kids could help, but this is their time to take a break and regulate so we can come back to more school. And I take the time to catch up on a Podcast. They do put their clothes away at the end of the day, and they have other chores.)
Next, I’ll read a story aloud from Arnold Lobel’s Fables and my older son will do a 5- to 10-minute written narration. While he does that, my younger son colors and fills out a 50 states sheet to this week’s state. I take this time to gather anything for art or sewing. Next, we’ll do an art or sewing lesson from Feast of Ages.
Then it’s time for another quick play and laundry-folding break.
Then I’ll watch the Memoria Press Prima Latina lesson video with my younger son. If my older son has any independent work from the week to catch up on, this is his time to do that. Then we’ll switch. I’ll watch the Latina Christiana lesson video with my older son while my younger son does any independent work he needs to catch up on.
The boys get another small play break. I’ll fold laundry… You get the drill by now.
Over lunch, I’ll read a quick lesson from Getting Started with French (yes, French on Fridays instead of Latin). We do artist study, a poetry reading, and listen to a composer piece and medieval folk song over lunch too. You guessed it—all from Feast of Ages. It sounds like a lot but each thing literally takes 3 to 5 minutes to complete.
My kids then get a longer play break from around 1:00-2:00 p.m. At 2:00 p.m. they Facetime my parents. My oldest usually goes first and reads an American history biography to them. My youngest goes next. He reads one state from Don’t Know Much About the Fifty States. Whoever isn’t reading gets a one-on-one French lesson with me.
Recap
So there’s our week! In addition to homeschool, my kids have musical theater two afternoons a week during the school year. They also usually have a seasonal sport with practice one evening a week. If we need to catchup beyond the times I’ve built into our schedule, I do take advantage of bedtimes for read alouds, independent reading, recitations, memory work, flashcard review, and even poetry or composer study.
Of course, we can always go as late as we need to into the summer if we get behind. But I’ve found it easier to try to catch up during the school year, than to make schoolwork compete with playing with neighbor kids over summer break!
