Homeschool moms often tell me how difficult it is to squeeze every subject into every day. This is especially true when it comes to families with multiple children or families on the field, where ministry can take up a chunk of each day.

And I tell their worried hearts that it’s ok not to do every subject every day. But I also tell them that there are certain subjects they do need to do every day — namely math and language arts. These are skills subjects, which means that every successive lesson builds on the lesson before it. You can’t skip anything in an attempt to make forward progress.

In contrast, lessons for content subjects like science and history can be switched around or spaced out (within reason), and children can still grasp the lesson. With science and history, a child also has the assurance of studying that particular area again. They’ll be introduced to different eras in history and different sectors of science in elementary school, then again in middle school, and once more in high school. If they miss something the first time around, they have plenty of time to return to the subject and learn it later.

But if you only do math three or four times a week, that will eventually catch up with you, and your child won’t be ready for upper level math when the time comes. That’s because you can’t really “double up” on math. A child’s brain needs enough time to understand and digest new concepts, and a single lesson a day is pretty much their max.

But if you study history only three or four days a week and science only two or three, your children will still be exposed to new ideas, and those ideas don’t build on one another in earnest till high school. 

[Word to the wise: You can teach history, science, and art to your children as a group for a long time. Each child does not need an individual history or science curriculum until at least middle school.]

So five days every week, your children need to do math. Even if the lesson is too long and too hard to finish in one day, they still need to practice math every day. Consistency is key here. And since review days are great for helping concepts stick, be sure to schedule in a few of those too.

While young kids might be able to stop after twenty or thirty minutes of mathematics study, by the time they enter junior high and high school, they’ll probably be studying math about an hour every day. The good news here is that in junior high and high school you don’t have to sit next to them for that entire hour.

In addition to math, your children need to study language arts every day. When they’re just learning to read, they need consistency in instruction and the daily reminder of phonics rules. After they’ve learned to read, they still need to read every day — for practice and for fun! They continue to build fluency and comprehension for a long time.

But reading is only one strand of language arts, and it can feel overwhelming to add spelling, vocabulary, grammar, phonics, copywork, dictation, and handwriting every day. In the early years I really stressed myself out trying to choose the best version of each of those subjects, and honestly I didn’t need to worry that much — or waste that much time.

So take a deep breath. You don’t have to teach all strands of language arts to each child in a single day. One option is to loop those subjects, an approach I learned from Sarah MacKenzie of Read-Aloud Revival. Another option is to group them into units, which is what we tended to do — once I settled into a more realistic approach, that is.

When a child was younger, I would assign a phonics lesson every day in addition to their reading practice. When they finished the series of phonics books, I would begin spelling lessons. Then we might do a spelling lesson on most days for the next few years. 

After that, when they had a better handle on the spelling rules, I would introduce grammar lessons. I might sprinkle in a vocabulary workbook here and there once they were pretty solid in their reading skills, but vocabulary workbooks are usually optional, so you don’t have to assign them.

[A note regarding grammar: I tended not to introduce grammar too early, as the various rules can be quite complex and overwhelming for a young child. I did, however, tend to keep assigning daily grammar lessons all the way through 10th or 11th grade in preparation for standardized tests.]

With my “unit approach” to language arts, you don’t have to chase five or six different language arts workbooks for every child every day. You only need a reading lesson plus one additional language skill. 

It’s also important to note here that your children should practice some form of writing every day. That could be handwriting practice or some copy work in the younger grades (we used hymn lyrics a lot) or a written narration in the older grades (usually drawn from a history or science lesson). Thankfully, none of these tasks requires much time investment from Mom, and the written narration is a two-for-one deal, covering both the writing requirement and a content subject.

So when time is tight, what subjects should a busy homeschool mom prioritize? In the end it comes down to the proverbial 3 R’s: reading, writing, and arithmetic. 

And since those subjects all do best with a fresh brain, if at all possible, try to get them done in the morning. This might require some creativity on your part if you’re a ministry family or if you have a lot of young children. 

But whether you finish them in the morning or the afternoon, math and language arts are your daily non-negotiables, skills your children need to be making steady progress in. Even when there are disruptions and you can’t get to everything, I advise moms to try and at least finish these subjects.

There’s one more thing I always recommend, and that’s to read aloud as much as possible. Reading aloud with your kids becomes this beautiful pillar of family life. It creates your own unique family culture — a shared language, shared memories, shared inside jokes. You’re building something fun together, and Mom isn’t just a homeschool taskmaster. She’s also participating in the joy of life, experiencing epic, suspenseful, and even silly stories with her children. 

[Whenever possible, try to do the accents. This adds greatly to the fun.]

My kids are nearly grown now, and we still talk about the days when we read aloud together almost every day after lunch, and we still talk about specific stories we read together that were particularly funny, sad, or impactful. But you don’t have to read aloud every day to be a read-aloud family. You just have to read aloud regularly. Maybe you do it after lunch like us, or maybe you read in the evenings, or after breakfast. 

And maybe you don’t have time to read for thirty minutes to an hour. That’s ok too. Fifteen minutes still counts. Fifteen minutes here and fifteen minutes there still add up to a finished book in the end — probably lots of finished books.

The beauty of read-aloud time is that you get to choose what kinds of stories to encounter with your kids. You don’t have to read what the other moms are reading. You don’t have to burn yourself out by following a predetermined list. You can use books to create your own family culture, one that reflects your loves, desires, and dreams.

So teach a math lesson. Have your kids read and write something on their own. Then read aloud with them. These are the foundations of a successful homeschool, and even if you’re busy with ministry or a gaggle of young children, my guess is that you can probably still make them happen every day. 

When you get a chance, sure, add history or science or art. You could even put them on a loop. But you don’t need to stress if they’re not getting done every day in those early years. As long as they’re getting done some of the days, you’re still building a sturdy education. And that’s good news for an anxious homeschool mom.

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MY NEW BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE!

The Hats We Wear: Reflections on Life as a Woman of Faith addresses six different aspects of being a woman of faith, with sections on theology, emotions, and embodied living, as well as marriage, motherhood, and homeschooling. Available in ebook, paperback, and audiobook forms.

Also stay tuned for some homeschool high school help, coming soon!