What do families do all day? As most families will tell you, there is no typical day. Homeschooling children learn through reading, through conversation, through play, through outside classes, through volunteer work and apprenticeships.Typically children will have some time on their own at home (to read, play, build, draw, write, do a science experiment, work on math), and some time with their parents, to get help with any of the above, to talk, to do some kind of focused project together, and some time with others outside the home (In music class, in Scouts, in a homeschoolers’ group, in a volunteer job).

Some families set aside a part of the day for focused academic work; others do not. Often this varies for each child and the family often adapts its schedule as the children grow and their needs change.