Example schedules for three familiesExplore example schedules currently in play in three different households.

Table of Contents1. Smith-García family schedule (two parents working full-time; two kids, ages 6 and 8)2. Garrett family schedule (one parent working full time; two kids, ages 11 and 14)3. Peterson family schedule (one parent working full time, one parent working part time;

two kids, ages 3 and 7)

The Smith-García family schedulePaul García and Judy Smith are both working full time from home while parenting and teaching their children, Mark (age 8) and Lucy (6). The kids’ school is providing access to a handful of digital subscription applications, such as IXL, typing.com and Accelerated Reader, along with modest guidance on the amount of time to spend on each.

“It took Judy and me a week to land on a schedule that felt okay,” Paul says. Generally, Paul leads a short lesson in the morning and takes the kids outside around lunchtime. Judy supervises morning chores and leads an afternoon lesson. Beyond this, they try to be flexible. “We just check in each evening to tweak the next day’s schedule so we can both get to our meetings,” Judy says.

To help the kids structure their days, Mark and Lucy each get a printout of the day’s schedule (they use the same one) at breakfast time. Although it varies by day, it always includes plenty of options to ensure they have some choice in what they learn and how they’ll learn it. Each child also has a “weekly work plan” on which they plan their days and check off the work they complete. The family talks about progress on the work plans each night at dinner. On Fridays, the family previews new learning options for the next week, and the children have the opportunity to propose new topics for study and activities in which to engage. These Friday conversations shape the schedules and work plans for the following week.

Paul and Judy also goal-set for their weeks, though the focus of their goals is different. “This is a stressful time,” Paul says. “If we don’t proactively plan to decompress, we won’t do it. So we’re trying to identify a few concrete things we want to do for ourselves, either because they’ll bring us joy now or because they’ll be helpful later. This week, we plan to bake homemade bread, watch “Parasite,” get our dependent care reimbursed and ensure we do all of our laundry before the start of the weekend.”

Here are resources from the Smith-García family:● Appendix A: The Smith-García family’s Tuesday schedule ● Appendix B: Mark’s weekly work plan ● Appendix C: Lucy’s weekly work plan

The Garrett family scheduleElise Garrett is a single parent of two children — Rose (age 14) and Sara (11). Elise works full time from home. The school has provided packets for only math and English language arts.

Elise regularly works full time from home, so remote work wasn’t a big change for her. However, given her need to be present for her girls, she worked with her manager to adjust her schedule. Now, Elise is available for meetings only during two-hour blocks in the morning and afternoon. She has also arranged to duck out of all meetings she’s attending and to close out meetings she’s facilitating five to ten minutes ahead of schedule so she can check in on Sara and Rose before the next meeting.

“This is hard,” Elise says. “My girls read and watch the news. They’re scared for themselves and for me and for their grandparents, and they can see that I’m scared too. Real talk — I’m tending to their physical and emotional health first. My work comes second. And homeschooling comes third.”

Each morning, the family gathers during breakfast to set the schedule for the day. Elise provides a few boundaries — when the girls will need to be independent, for example — and Sara and Rose propose the rest. Over dinner, they check in about their progress, share high and low points from the day and set goals for the next.

Toward the close of their first week, Elise realized she’d have to delegate a bigger portion of the household management to Sara and Rose. Laundry, cleaning, emptying the dishwasher, walking Barkley the dog and meal prep were all things they could handle with guidance. Together, they divided responsibilities and agreed on a schedule. They also decided on a family approach to planning and preparing meals, with Sara and Rose each selecting one weekday dinner they felt comfortable preparing with light supervision, and one weekend meal they wanted to prepare together.

Finally, Elise decided she wanted to be more intentional about how they would spend their evenings, so she enlisted the girls in helping her identify a few fun, low-preparation, recurring activities they could look forward to throughout the week.

Here are examples of the Garrett family’s scheduling:● Appendix D: The Garrett family’s weekly schedule ● Appendix E: Sara Garrett’s daily planning template ● Appendix F: Sara Garrett’s completed Monday goals, schedule and reflections

The Peterson family scheduleBrian and Josh Peterson are the parents of two children — Matthew (age 7) and Zoe (3). Brian works full time outside the home. Josh works part time from home. Matthew’s school is providing a couple of hours of online instruction each day, in addition to a couple of hours of independent work. Zoe’s preschool has not provided resources.

“Because Brian is out of the house for most of the day, I’m trying to meet as many of my professional responsibilities as I can while also parenting two kids who still need a lot of my time,” Josh says. “It isn’t always pretty!”

Josh’s goal is to accomplish four to five solid hours of focused work each day: two or three in the early morning while the kids are still asleep and while his partner handles their morning routines, and two more in the afternoon. Sometimes, some of his afternoon work time gets pushed to the evening or the weekend if Matthew and Zoe need more attention.

“What’s been most important professionally is ongoing communication with my manager,” Josh says. He worked with his supervisor to identify one hour each day during which he is almost guaranteed to be available — Zoe’s naptime — and they do their best to schedule critical meetings in that window. “Sometimes, though, that’s not realistic, and I have to take a meeting at another time. When that happens, screen time is my friend. We don’t do a lot of TV or tablet time in our house, so I don’t feel guilty about it. If Zoe watches an hour of ‘Sesame Street’ a couple of times a week so I can fit in a couple more meetings or make progress on my projects, that’s fine by me.”

When Josh isn’t working, his focus tends to be on Matthew and Zoe, and meeting the needs of the family as a whole by cooking, cleaning or doing laundry; typically while the kids help out or play (unless Matthew is doing schoolwork). “We usually outsource more of our housework and chores, but right now, I’m doing them. If I don’t finish them during the day when I have the kids, Brian and I share in the work after Matthew and Zoe are in bed.”

See Appendix G: The Peterso n family’s daily schedule to find out how Brian and Josh structure their weekdays.

Appendix A: The Smith-García family’s Tuesday scheduleTime Activity Support From

8:00am Get dressed and eat breakfast Mom & Dad

8:45am Check-in: What is today’s schedule? How will you make progress toward your weekly goals?

Mom & Dad

9:00am Chores: Clean up breakfast, and choose one (Mark picks first on even days, Lucy picks first odd days):❏ Wipe down the kitchen❏ Empty the dishwasher❏ Prepare lunches

Mom

9:30am Science: Introduction to density Dad

10:00am Snack and independent learning time. Choose one (or more):❏ Math: Prodigy or IXL❏ Varied: Scholastic Learning Day 7❏ Reading and Writing: Lexia❏ Keyboarding: typing.com

Independent (with Mom)

11:00am Writing: Preparing pitches for the next family book club book Mom

12:00pm Lunch and outdoor time Dad

1:00pm Screen-free quiet time. Choose one (or more):❏ Reading: Read a book❏ Art: Create an original piece of artwork❏ Other: Work on a puzzle❏ Other: Play together

Independent (with Dad)

2:00pm Social Studies: How do I play a role in government? Mom

3:00pm Snack, free play, and/or screen time Independent

3:45pm Music: Cello (Mark), YouTube Piano (Lucy) Independent (with Mom)

4:15pm Free play Independent

4:45pm Check-in: What progress did you make toward your weekly goals? How does this impact what you’ll do tomorrow?

Dad

5:00pm Dinner Mom & Dad

5:45pm Family walk, bath, pajamas, journaling, and family activity Mom & Dad

7:30pm Bed time Mom & Dad

Appendix B: Mark Smith-García’s (age 8) weekly work plan

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Math ❏ 20” of IXL❏ 20” Xtra

Math

❏ 20” of IXL❏ 20” Xtra

Math

❏ 20” of IXL❏ 20” Xtra

Math

❏ 20” of IXL❏ 20” Xtra

Math

❏ 20” of IXL❏ 20” Xtra

Math

Reading ❏ 20” of ReadWorks

❏ 20” of ReadWorks

❏ 20” of ReadWorks

❏ 20” of ReadWorks

❏ 20” of ReadWorks

Writing

Science

Soc. Studies

Art/Music ❏ 30” cello ❏ 30” cello ❏ 30” cello ❏ 30” cello ❏ 30” cello

Other ❏ 15” of Typing.com

❏ 15” of Typing.com

❏ 15” of Typing.com

❏ 15” of Typing.com

❏ 15” of Typing.com

Appendix C: Lucy Smith-García’s (age 6) weekly work plan

Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

Math ❏ 20” of IXL ❏ 20” of IXL ❏ 20” of IXL ❏ 20” of IXL ❏ 20” of IXL

Reading ❏ 20” reading❏ 20” Lexia

❏ 20” reading❏ 20” Lexia

❏ 20” reading❏ 20” Lexia

❏ 20” reading❏ 20” Lexia

❏ 20” reading❏ 20” Lexia

Writing

Science

Soc. Studies

Art/Music ❏ 30” piano ❏ 30” piano ❏ 30” piano ❏ 30” piano ❏ 30” piano

Other

Appendix D: The Garrett family’s weekly schedule

Mon Tues Wed Thurs Fri

7:00am Mom works (e.g., email, projects), Sara and Rose are sleeping

8:00am

9:00am Morning routines, breakfast, and morning schedule-setting; Sara walks and feeds Barkley

10:00am Mom in meetings; Sara and Rose are independent

11:00am

12:00pm Prepare and eat lunch together and take a family walk with Barkley

1:00pm Cleaning! Mom works (e.g., email, projects) but can be interrupted; Sara and Rose are mostly independent

Plan meals and activities for next week

2:00pm Mom in meetings; Sara and Rose are independent

3:00pm

4:00pm Mom works (e.g., email, projects) but can be interrupted; Sara and Rose are mostly independent

5:00pm Dinner prep or free time (see the daily cooking schedule)

6:00pm Family dinner and end-of-day check-in; Rose walks and feeds Barkley

7:00pm Mom works/Kids are mostly independent

Family workout and “spa” night

Game night Mom works/Kids are mostly independent

Movie night

Mon Tues Wed urs Fri

Cook dinner Sara Mom Leftovers! Pizza night! Rose

Laundry Mom Rose Sara Mom

Empty DW Rose Sara Mom Rose Sara

Cleaning: Mom cleans the kitchen, bathrooms and master bedroom. Sara cleans the girls’ bedroom (first and third weeks), dining room and den. Rose cleans the girls’ bedroom (second and fourth weeks), living room and mudroom/Barkley’s space.

Appendix E: Sara and Rose Garrett’s daily planning template

Goals: 3 academic, 1 art/maker, 1 movement ● ● ●

● ●

I plan to...

9:00am Morning routines, breakfast, and morning schedule-setting; Sara walks and feeds Barkley

10:00am

11:00am

12:00pm Prepare and eat lunch together and take a family walk with Barkley

1:00pm

2:00pm

3:00pm

4:00pm

5:00pm

6:00pm Family dinner and end-of-day check-in; Rose walks and feeds Barkley

7:00pm

Reflections: How did you do relative to today’s goals? What was today’s high point? How about the low point?

Appendix F: Sara Garrett’s completed Monday goals, schedule and reflections

Appendix G: The Peterson family’s daily schedule

Brian Matthew Zoe Josh

5:00am Run/Unload DW Sleep

Work/Breakfast

6:00am Breakfast/Shower

7:00am Morning Routine; Matthew academic goal-setting

8:00am WorkPlay outside, then play inside

Workout/ Shower/Prepare lunches/Kids9:00am

10:00am School (online) Freeplay Housework/Kids

11:00am Schoolwork

12:00pm Lunch

1:00pm School (online) Nap Meetings

2:00pm Schoolwork Nap (maybe) Work/Kids

3:00pm Help with chores, then play outside or inside; Matthew okay to video-call grandparents, cousins, Mia, or Charles

Housework/Kids

4:00pm

5:00pm Kids’ baths and dinner; Matthew clears dishes

6:00pm Matthew academic check-in, quiet play, nighttime routine Prepare dinner

7:00pm Eat dinner Sleep Eat dinner

8:00pm Chores or relax Chores or relax