The catalog is not your first assignment
If you just decided to homeschool, the internet will try to hand you a four-year plan, a shopping list, and a panic. Homeschool groups are full of new parents asking the same question: I don't know where to start.
Start with a week, not a year.
The legal steps still matter — look up your state, withdraw in writing if your child is enrolled, and file any required notice. That checklist is in how to start homeschooling. This page is the other half: what to actually do on Monday.
The only plan you need for five days
Pick three things:
- Math at the level your child can do today
- English — reading and a little writing
- One content subject — science or history (or an elective they already want)
That is the week. Everything else is optional.
A simple Monday-to-Friday shape
Use this as a starting stencil and shrink it if you need to. Times are suggestions, not bells.
Before you sit down. Eat. Get the pages (or the fillable PDF) and the answer key in one place. Put phones out of reach if they tend to swallow the morning.
Start (5–10 minutes). A comic, a riddle, a daily fact sheet, or a short video that actually goes with the page. The goal is to sit down without a fight.
Math (20–40 minutes). A short set with a clear last problem. If it is a slog, the level is probably wrong — not your child's attitude.
Break. Snack, stretch, a chore, a walk around the block.
English (20–40 minutes). Reading they can discuss, plus a short written response or grammar page. A library book counts.
Content subject (15–30 minutes). One science or history page, a diagram to label, or a short reading with a few questions.
Check the work together (10 minutes). Use the answer key. Let your child find a mistake first when you can. Jot a score and the date.
Attendance (2 minutes). Mark the day present. If you want a ready-made log, download the sample attendance log.
Stop. Even if you imagined a longer day. A finished short day beats an unfinished long one.
Afternoons can be outside time, art, cooking, a game, or rest. For a more detailed middle-school layout you can steal from later, see our middle school homeschool schedule.
Tuesday through Friday: change almost nothing
The magic of week one is repetition, not variety. Use the same shape every day. Change the pages, not the routine. By Friday you will know whether the sessions are too long, whether math is mis-leveled, and whether you need a later start.
Friday is also a good day to save one dated work sample per subject and to notice what felt easy.
How to place the work on Sunday night
You do not need a formal assessment. Sit together for one math session and one reading session. Start slightly easier than you think, then move up if it is all correct and fast. Our what should my child know checklist can help you spot gaps.
If you have more than one child, keep math and reading separate and share the content subject when you can. There is a full guide to homeschooling multiple kids at different grades.
If you want the pages already made
Homeschool Packets was built for this exact moment: you know you need a simple day, and you do not want to invent the pages tonight. A homeschool dad made the first ones for his own kid. Packets are personalized with your child's first name and interests, they open with a Max & Nib comic, and they include a full answer key. You get a printable PDF and a fillable version. Plans are $7 / $25 / $40 a month for one, four, or all eight subjects, cancel anytime. Attendance logs and report cards come with the plan.
Tell us about your learner and ask for a free sample, or print something from free printables so Monday already has a page on the table.
You will still have choices to make later — curriculum, co-ops, electives, funding. They do not all belong in week one. Get through five finishable days, keep your records, and then decide what to add.