How to Make a School Schedule for Online Students

July 14, 2022 byAllison Brubaker

5 min to read

A learning coach helping his daughter create an online school schedule

If you’ve wondered what a typical day of virtual school is like, you’re not alone! In fact, many families ask us about how to make a schedule for online school. With online school, families get more flexibility with scheduling, as well as other benefits. In fact, one of the most delightful things about online public school is that there doesn’t have to be a typical day!

With online learning, parents and Learning Coaches (adults who support the student’s learning at home) have the flexibility to arrange daily school schedules to fit children’s needs and the family’s lifestyle. Naturally, there are some limits, such as regularly scheduled online classroom sessions and teacher conferences. But the ability to create a daily school schedule that works for you and your student is a primary benefit of enrolling in an online school.

From elementary school through high school, having a more flexible daily schedule might work to benefit your student. It’s true that in online high school, where courses can become more challenging, the number of fixed-schedule online classroom meetings increases. However, even with additional scheduled meetings, distance-learning families enjoy freedom from the typical “bell system” of traditional schools.

In this article, we provide elementary, middle, and high school schedule examples to give you a starting point to create your student’s customized school schedule—plus a free schedule printable to use for your student.

Download a daily schedule template for students

1. Elementary School Schedule Examples

For some online school families, one lesson for each class per day works well. Here’s how one elementary school student uses this type of distance-learning schedule:

Aniyah, fifth grader

8:00 a.m. Breakfast, chores
9:00 a.m. Language Arts
10:00 a.m. Rotate lessons for Education Technology, Music, or other elective course
10:30 a.m. Social Studies
11:30 a.m. Flexible time, used for projects or learning activities
12:00 p.m. Lunch/Relaxation/Play
1:00 p.m. Math (extra time allotted)
2:30 p.m. Science
3:30 p.m. Science Sleuths: Weird Science Club (Thursdays)
4:00 p.m. Free time until dinner

2. Middle School Schedule Examples

For an online school student who is dedicated to performing arts, music, or other challenging extracurricular pursuits, the Learning Coach might reserve chunks of time for lessons or practice during the school day, when the student is fresh and alert.

A student attending traditional school would need to squeeze their extracurriculars into an already crowded afternoon and evening schedule—along with dinner and homework—leaving little time to relax, play, and unwind. Conversely, a schedule for virtual school days might look different, allowing the student to intersperse music, art, or language learning practice into their school days between classes.

An example of an online school daily schedule may look like this:

Melody, concert pianist, online middle school student

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

7:00 a.m. Breakfast
7:30 a.m. Piano practice
9:00 a.m. Math
10:00 a.m. Spanish
11:00 a.m. Flexible time for school projects or skills practice
12:00 p.m. Lunch/free time
1:00 p.m. Language Arts
2:00 p.m. Science
3:00 p.m. Social Studies
4:00 p.m. Piano practice
5:30 p.m. Free time until dinner

Tuesday, Thursday

8:00 a.m. Breakfast
8:30 a.m. Math
9:30 a.m. Social Studies
10:00 a.m. Piano lesson
12:00 p.m. Lunch/free time
1:00 p.m. Language Arts
2:00 p.m. Sign Language or other elective
3:00 p.m. Science
3:30 p.m. Rotating lesson/catch-up time
5:30 p.m. Free time until dinner
Evening Piano practice

3. High School Schedule Example: Sports or After-School Job

A virtual school student who takes part in competitive sports or has an afternoon job might schedule their days to start and finish school early. This type of online daily school schedule also works well for kids who are naturally early birds.

An online high school schedule example could look like this:

Jared, a virtual high school competitive athlete

6:00 a.m. Breakfast/workout
7:30 a.m. English
8:30 a.m. Introduction to Criminal Justice
9:00 a.m. AP Calculus
10:00 a.m. American Government
11:00 a.m. Chinese II
12:30 p.m. Lunch/free time
1:15 p.m. AP Chemistry (extra time allotted)
2:45 p.m. Soccer practice
6:00 p.m. Dinner

4. Online School Example: Four-Day School Week

A distance-learning family that is very involved in community service might plan to do extra lessons four days per week in order to have one day mostly free for volunteering. While not all Connections Academy-supported schools allow a four-day schedule, for those that do, this arrangement could also work well for virtual school kids who have regular doctor’s appointments or other weekly commitments.

An example of a daily school schedule can look like this:

Kahlil, third grader

Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday

8:00 a.m. Breakfast/free time
8:30 a.m. Social Studies
9:30 a.m. Language Arts
10:30 a.m. Math
11:30 a.m. Recess
12:00 p.m. Lunch
1:00 p.m. Science
2:00 p.m. Rotating extra lessons
3:30 p.m. Art or Music
4:00 p.m. Free time until dinner

Friday

8:00 a.m. Breakfast/free time
8:30 a.m. Finish any remaining lessons for the week
11:00 a.m. Volunteering with family
4:30 p.m. Free time until dinner

5. Online School Schedule: Block Schedule for Deeper Subject Focus

Some homeschool or distance-learning students prefer to focus on one subject for a longer time period, while other students may struggle with frequent transitions between activities. For these elementary school students, creating a block schedule can be a solution.

Reserving a block of time in which to complete multiple lessons for one subject can be a satisfying and motivating option that allows students to concentrate and delve deeper into their studies.

Here’s an example of how a block schedule works:

Casey, fifth grader

8:00 a.m. Breakfast/free time
9:00 a.m. Language Arts
10:00 a.m. Rotate lessons for Education Technology, Music, or other elective course
10:30 a.m. Math
11:30 a.m. Flexible time, used for projects or learning activities
12:00 p.m. Lunch/Relaxation/Play
1:00 p.m. Time Block (Science, 3 days per week, Social Studies, 2 days per week)
3:30 p.m. Art Club (Tuesdays), Tennis lessons (Thursdays)
4:00 p.m. Free time until dinner

With so many ways to customize the daily online school schedule, you’re sure to find one that enhances your child’s learning and makes family time a priority. Download our free online school schedule template below, and find the flexible schedule that works best for your student!

Download a daily schedule template for students