This post is all about how we use loop scheduling in our homeschool.
How can loop scheduling work for you in homeschooling? In a Charlotte Mason style education, there are so many subjects to be covered, that you can easily feel overwhelmed. At least I did.
After researching and seeing how real life moms implement some of her philosophies, I knew I wanted to dip into the pond. However, the deeper I looked, it seemed it was a never ending ocean of studies to go through.
So, I decided we were going to use her philosophy, but only to the extent that it served us well. This is how I stumbled upon loop scheduling, and how we can fit in studies that were valuable, but just didn’t fit into our daily lessons.
Loop Scheduling: What is It?
Loop scheduling in homeschool is merely a way of scheduling to accomplish the subjects you would like cover. As opposed to scheduling a particular subject on a particular day, you keep a list, or loop, of subjects to be completed during the scheduled loop time. It makes your wish list a lot less overwhelming, while still providing an educational feast. Not only can it be efficient for school subjects, but other areas of home life, which I’ll touch on later.
Loop Scheduling: How to Start?
Let’s see if creating a loop schedule would be beneficial to you. Let’s say you already have your morning time, math, language arts, and history scheduled for 4-5 days a week. Now, let’s imagine that you also want to include science, art, nature study, and nutrition in your school year. How and where can you fit this in without dropping the ball? A loop schedule may be for you!
Start by creating a list of the subjects you would like to cover with your child. Let’s create a sample in the next section (I’ll use the above example), but you can easily replace with the subjects you choose to use.
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Loop Scheduling: Sample
Subjects we want to loop:
On Monday, we were able to complete a piano lesson. On Tuesday, we accepted an invite to a spontaneous afternoon playdate. So, we skipped the loop schedule subject. Then on Wednesday, we pick back up right where we left off with art. On Thursday, we have time to get to nature study, and if you take school off on Friday, you can cover nutrition on Monday. The schedule just continues on, or loops around and around, no matter what day it is so that the subjects you want to complete are not forgotten.
Our Current 2023-2024 Loop
Currently, we are looping the following subjects for elementary:
- Art History
- Piano
- Procreate or drawing classes
- Foreign Language
- Watercolor School
Here is what we are looping for high school:
- Guitar
- Foreign Language (dual enrolled at a local community college)
- Finance and Teen related read alouds with me
- Watercolor School
- Adobe Illustrator classes
Additional Uses
Loop scheduling can be used creatively in a variety of ways to suit your needs besides just homeschool subjects. I’ve seen moms use it for things like:
- Morning Basket Loop
- Meal Planning Loop
- Cleaning Loop
- Chore Loop
- Art/Handicraft Loop
Another resource is this video workshop from Pam Barnhill of Your Morning Basket. I have not taken this course, but trust Pam’s wisdom from being a follower of her helpful podcast.
This post was all about how you can use loop scheduling in homeschooling.
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- Charlotte Mason Inspired Resources
- Supplemental Homeschool Subjects and Resources
- Review of Beautiful Feet Book’s Around the World with Picture Books
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