2026-2027 Homeschool Checklists | What We're Doing for K_ 3rd_4th_6th_8th_10th-12th

How do you keep your kids on track in your homeschool day without constantly reminding them of what to do? I'm going to show you the simple checklist we use for each grade to help our kids move forward throughout the homeschool day. If you're tired of answering questions like what am I supposed to do next? This is going to help you give your child some freedom to work within the boundaries that you've set up together. These checklists have helped my kids take ownership of their work so they're not constantly looking at me for redirection. Now if you want to know a little bit more specifically about how I create these checklists, I've written a post on the blog, our life homeschooling.com on how to make a workable checklist. If this is your first time here on my channel, hi, I'm Sherry. I'm a Christian. I'm a homeschooling mom. My husband and I have 10 children ages 21 down to three. Our oldest two are graduates and we have another one graduating this year. This year in school we have a kindergartner, a third grader, fourth, sixth, eighth, 10th and a senior. And then we also have a preschooler. He's three and a half. So he's here tagging along, enjoying everything as all these interesting ideas are flowing down to him. If you're homeschooling or maybe you're thinking about homeschooling and you've had the thought, I really want to do this, but I just don't know how to make it work well for us. I've created a course just for you. It's called beyond school the home education breakthrough in the course. I walk you step by step through a homeschool day. I help you go from being an overwhelmed mom to a confident home educator. We talk about what really matters in home education, how to simplify your homeschool and how to build an education around your family, not the other way around. So if you're ready to stop second guessing yourself and feeling confident about educating your kids at home, click the link below and join me in beyond school. The home education breakthrough. I'd love to walk through this with you. Now, one of the things that has been most helpful for us is to start with a place to keep your checklist. This is simple. This is just a wooden box that my husband made. Um, there's nothing special about it. You don't have to use something homemade. You can use something that you find at an office supply store, but this is the box everyone knows that we keep our checklists in. So their checklist has a place and they're responsible for making sure they put it back in here. And you can do this different ways. You don't have to have your child's checklist all together in one spot. They can have their checklist where their other school supplies are. And so they're each keeping track of it within their own spaces. But this has worked well for us because I like to go and be able to look at all of my kids checklists at a glance, just search for whoever I need, pull it out and just go through and see what I'm looking for or whatever I want to check up on. Now, as I show you each of our kids checklists, I want you to understand from the beginning that this is not all that they're doing. This is just a part of their homeschool day. We have a basic four step routine to our homeschool day. The first is morning time. And in the morning time, it's a family style study. We're studying all the riches, all the beautiful subjects. Each year I create a simple morning time notebook. This is volume four that we're using this year. You can find these on the blog for $9. I try to make them very affordable for families. During morning time, we're reading a Bible story, memorizing scripture, reading famous speeches and quotes from history. This year we're doing Patrick Henry's speech, The War Inevitable. We have several other subjects that are part of our morning time as well, like hymn study, folk song, composers, picture study, geography. We have a proverb a day where we just pull out one proverb, just gleaning the wisdom from that book. We have some spelling patterns and rules, and then we're also doing a study for geography on Europe. We do some subjects daily and other subjects we loop on a schedule. The second part of our four step routine is our hygiene and household chores. This is taking the time that kids need to get their personal space in order. Get dressed, make your bed, brush your teeth, get your home in order. We each have a zone. And so I've taught the kids and spent the time teaching them each area of our house and how to get it in order. I have a list for what's expected when you're assigned to the living room. For example, I have a list of what they know to do on that day. This is a part of education. I don't look at it separately. Learning to take care of your personal space, learning order and home organization is a valuable skill. So when we start our book work, we have a clean place to work from. The third part of our day is independent work. And that's where each of our kids get out their checklist. Like I'm going to show you in a few minutes and we go through step by step. The older kids are all working on their own. And then my youngest ones like my K through second or third grade are still working one-on-one with me because they're not quite ready for a checklist yet. The last part of our day is our read aloud time. And for this, I usually just pick a fun book. First of all, one for our older kids, one for our younger kids. And then additionally, I will be reading some supplemental science and history readings. Usually I'll do two days a week of science for my younger kids. My older kids are doing, some of them are doing science on their own on their checklist. And this year we're doing the Burgess animal book two days a week with my younger kids. And then history we'll do two days a week. And we are working our way through our Island story for that. So that sums up our day. Our checklists are not the only learning we're doing, but I want to take some time to show them to you just to give you some ideas. I'm going to show you checklists for my 10th, 8th, 6th, 4th, and 3rd grader. Our senior is only taking two credits this year, a social studies credit and an English credit. She's spending so much of her time working, getting ready for graduation. We're part of a larger organization that puts on a really nice graduation for our local homeschool seniors. She's also going to be spending some time getting ready for the CLT test and for applying for scholarships. So that takes up a lot of her time. She manages her time all on her own. She has the freedom to be able to work whenever she wants to. And so she just fits her schoolwork in around that she's responsible. And then we just take the time we need every now and then to check in and talk about what she's doing. And then you're also not going to see a checklist for my kindergartner because I am working one on one with her during our independent work time. She still needs my constant direction. She's not ready to be on her own. I also last year had my second grader. He didn't have a checklist yet. It really depends how mature individual kids are. Some kids, some of my kids have been ready for a checklist at second grade, but he needed just one more year to be ready. And for the first time this year, he's going to be starting with a checklist in third grade. All right, let's go ahead and jump right into looking at our kids checklists. With each of our kids, I keep their checklist on a simple clipboard. I put it in a slip cover. So if they want, they can go through and use a dry erase marker to mark things off as they finish them. But one of the important things about this checklist is what's on the back. I expect our kids to write all the books that they're reading on their own. So they're supposed to keep up with this book list. So at the end of the year, we know what they've been reading for the year. And then I also have them write down the books that I've read aloud to them. This is just one more thing that is really great to have them take ownership of. All right. I'm going to start here with William, who's our third grader and I'm outside. So if you hear the beautiful crickets and the birds chirping, hopefully that's a nice, pleasant sound for you as you're listening to these, but this is the place where I could get the most sunlight. So you can see these clearly. All right. So his checklist is pretty simple. He has Bible reading, math, copy work, nature journal on three days a week. And then on two days a week, he's doing Satara. This is our geography program. We set a timer and the kids will just work on the geography section of the world that they're working through for 10 minutes. And when it goes up, then they're done. He has his Ambleside online reading books that he's focusing on through the year. I have those listed down here at the bottom in gray. I have a post on the blog where I share the Ambleside online must read books that we absolutely love. And so we don't do all of them, but I do have some that I really want to work on getting through with the kids. Now, a lot of these, I will have to read to him, but some of them he'll be able to try on his own. And then lastly, he'll do history. Now I have this on her here, but our kids actually do history through Veritas Press online self-paced history classes. And we do it in the evenings two evenings a week. They'll do two lessons each night. And that just works better for us because it's dark. And I like them to take advantage of the daylight hours as much as possible. So this stays pretty much the same for him throughout the week. I have down here what he's going to be doing in co-op this year, the classes he has, and also the science that we're working through. We're doing the Burgess animal book together. And then we just wrote some things he's doing for his free time. Now I do Bible story with my younger kids as part of our morning time only for the youngest kids. And he is there for it. I don't need to have a Bible reading on their checklist, but this takes them about five minutes. And I'm just trying to set them up for the habit of doing it on their own for when they won't be part of the Bible story in morning time. So I don't need to have it on there, but since it doesn't seem like it's too much, I've kept it on there. The kids know pretty much what's expected of them in math, how much I expect them to get through in a day. We talk about that at the beginning of the year and then copywork generally takes about 10 to 15 minutes. And I always go by the rule, one sentence a day for first grade, two for second, three for third. It's just a general rule that I follow. Now, if you look at the checklist, if you see that kids have a lot on there, don't let that overwhelm you because sometimes my kids that have even young kids that have a lot on their checklist, there are parts of it that are only taking them 10 to 15 minutes. So if there's a lot, each subject is short. Okay. This is our fourth grader and she's only one grade ahead, but she is, tends to be much more independent and it looks like she has quite a bit on her checklist. However, each of the things really is just very short. So she has Bible reading math that stays the same throughout the week, as well as copywork. And then she does piano. And this year I'm going to be working with her to teach her piano lessons. Our piano teacher is no longer able to do it. And this is something that I'm just looking forward to doing and getting that one-on-one time with her this year. Since I have a little bit more space in my day, we don't have a baby. And so I think that it's going to be fun. She does language two days a week around fourth grade. I usually have our kids begin a formal grammar program. And so when she does this, she does about two pages in her language book twice a week, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, she is doing typing. We do a free typing tutor program on the computer. Again, she sets the timer for 10 minutes and just does it for 10 minutes. And then this is our geography program that she does Thursday and Friday. She takes time every day to work on her Ambleside online reading. And for this, it's the same idea, set a timer for 15 minutes. And these are the Ambleside online books that she's going to be working through this year. Some of them she'll need a little bit of help, either through audio books or me reading to her. And some she'll be able to attempt on her own. She's already started listening to Robin Hood through our Libby library app. History is the same for her. She I have it on here just so that I know in my head that it's covered. Um, but she's doing that with all the other kids in the evenings. Then she has narration one day a week. This is something I also start in fourth grade before this, our kids are just giving oral narrations, but she's ready to try written narrations. So that's one day a week for her. And then we'll try to build to at least two or three a week. She's doing Spanish experiment on Tuesday. She loves studying Spanish and this program online is one where they teach through stories, which I think is a great way for kids to learn. She does nature study two days a week. I've bought these really adorable nature study notebooks for her and our third grader that they're excited about. So those are Wednesday and Thursday. And then she's also doing the Spanish experiment on Friday. The last section, this is child's history of the world. It's an Ambleside online history book. And I have her reading a chapter a day, three days a week. And this is what she'll be writing her narration on, on Monday. This is a book that I just really love for the kids to read. And she's at an age where she can understand it. It's the right level for her. And then on Tuesday and Thursday, she is going to be working on a handicraft that she started over the summer. I just want to really develop the habit of following through and staying consistent on hand projects. And so this is something we've put on here and we'll see how that goes this year. Another thing that might be helpful for you when you see our kids checklist is to know that our whole family goes to a co-op every other week. It's perfect because in the younger years, I personally just don't want the commitment of every week. I love the freedom on the off weeks. I'll often do a play date or go on a field trip. It's just really nice to have that flexibility. But as our kids get older, our high schoolers go to a second co-op, which is weekly. And this is just an extra time for them to have fun with their peers, to take some classes that give them a lot more experiences and exposure to things that they're interested in. It helps to fill in some of those higher level classes that are more challenging for us to do at home. Our kids love their co-ops. It's been a perfect fit for us. And so that's something else that's happening during our school week as well. This is our sixth grader. He has on his schedule Bible reading, math and copy work pretty much the same every day. And then one, let's see, two days a week, Monday and Friday, he's doing language and Wednesday is typing. He's already typing pretty much independently. So I just didn't feel like I needed to have it on there any more than that. He works on either piano or guitar every day. He's taught himself how to play guitar just by YouTube and also learning some things from my husband who also plays the guitar. He is doing his Ambleside online reading list. And these are the works or the books that he's going to be working on accomplishing this year. He also does history in the evenings. And then this year in science, he's working on Apologia himself. Last year he did this with, um, land animals of the sixth day. This year he's doing chemistry and physics with Apologia. He does the readings and the notebooking journal all himself. And he loves doing it this way. And he's learned so much. So I have enjoyed giving him the freedom to do that. He loves learning German. This is just a personal interest of his. So he does it a little bit online. Some of it, um, from some books that he got at a local bookstore. He listens to stories. He's just got a couple of things that he's working through. Honestly, not all of my kids are this driven or motivated, but he loves learning really about everything. Um, and so he's one of ours that just is kind of a go-getter and he is fascinated with German for co-op. He has a science class, which is just exploring some more chemistry ideas and experiments. A literature class and a gym class. He is old enough to join the volleyball league that our older kids have done. So that's something that's really fun for him that he does with all of the older kids. And then he also works out with my husband two days a week. And he loves basketball. My husband's able to go to a men's basketball league two mornings a week. So he goes with him to that. And then lastly, we have our older kids. And it's really hard to put on a checklist. Everything our older kids are doing, they're involved in a volleyball league. They help play music for the band at co-op for morning worship. There's just a random list of things that they're involved in. But this is, um, what we've put down for a checklist for them. So our eighth grader is working on Bible reading. My older kids do this all on their own. They don't stay for the Bible story in morning time. She has pre algebra this year, copy work two days a week and language two days a week. And then this is a co-op day for them. This is their high school co-op. She's taking a writer's workshop course at co-op and environmental science history. She is doing on her own. And I have that over here this year to count for a credit of history. She's reading two volumes of story of the world, the first and the second, and then history lives has five books. So I have them try to get about halfway through that series. And then a second credit of history for another year would be story of the world, volumes three and four, and the rest of the list history lives books. And then I have her do a weekly narration on that. This daughter of ours plays the piano very well, but she also has taught herself to play the flute. Um, basically using YouTube. I learned to play very basic flute when I was young. So I was able to teach her a couple of the notes, but she's really taken off with it. So she practices one of those two every day. And then I have just a section on here where she's working on some other, some additional co-op work just so that it's on there. So she can just check and make sure she has everything done that's due for that week. And then for her AO reading, these are the Ambleside online books that we have put together that she wants to work on for this next year. Other co-op work she has, she's taking a logic class in the fall and a drawing class in the spring, a people skills class and entrepreneurship class and a book club class. So when she gets to this section here on her checklist, these are the things she's going to be checking. Some of them are work that she doesn't necessarily need to do every day. And so that's why I did it this way. So she can just look here and decide which ones she still has work that she needs to cover. And then lastly is our 10th grader. And I'm just realizing that I forgot to put her name. So I'll probably go back and change that. I usually make up these checklists and then there's always something that I need to tweak here or there. She's involved in a lot of things, um, like volleyball. She has her own bake stand that she does every weekend. So she spends a lot of Friday baking for that. She manages that all on her own. Um, she plays in the band for co-op. There's just a lot of different things that aren't on here, but this is what we have for her this year. She starts with Bible reading geometry. Typically my kids have taken this at co-op, but the co-op we, we've switched our high school co-op this year to one that's closer to home, which I'm happy about, but they did not offer geometry this year, which was a little disappointing. So we are attempting it at home with Nicole, the math lady and Saxon math. And we'll see how that goes. She is taking an English credit, which is kind of a couple different things. Um, one of them is a book club class at co-op. And then she's also taking a literature, poetry, and writing class at the second co-op. So we're just combining things to make an English credit for her. She's taking a biology class at co-op. She has started playing the violin this year. She has a teacher. And, um, so, and she's proficient in piano. So she's either working on piano or violin every day that she's not at co-op. She's interested in Russian. And so far she's just been studying this on her own. She's getting a sociology credit through a class at our co-op. She has logic in the fall, which is going to be a half of a credit for her. Some other work that we're counting as credits this year is volleyball. And then the half a credit of drawing that she's doing in spring. And then an entrepreneurship class as well. These are the Ambleside Online books that she wants to work at this year. And honestly, my older girls read so much. They read way more than is on this list, but this is just something for them to work towards. And then over here, I have some of the things that we're counting to make up her English credit. I hope this has been helpful. One thing I really want you to take away is to look at what I have for our kids as inspiration, but also don't compare what you're doing. If you are in a completely different place from what I'm doing, I've been homeschooling for 17 years. We have this down to something. I don't have to even really think about it. These routines have been in place for so long. So it's easy for us to be able to do what we do. You may still be in the foundational years, the early years where you're putting in so much work and your kids just can't do that much on their own. And that's okay. Take the ideas that will work for you and structure your day and your checklist to meet your individual family's needs. I'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment. What is going on your kids checklist this year? Is there something you saw that just sparked some interesting question or maybe something you didn't see? Let me know what you're thinking. I'd love to help you as you create a workable checklist for your kids so they can move towards independence. Thanks for watching. I do one video a week on homeschooling encouragement for everyday moms. I'll see you next week.