3 Simple Steps To Create A Homeschool Time Log For Busy Moms That Have Zero Extra Time

One of the best parts of homeschooling as a working mom is taking full advantage of the fact that homeschooling is flexible. You can homeschool any day or time. 

The challenging part is keeping track of those homeschooling hours. 

If you live in a state or province where you are required by homeschool law to track homeschool hours, you know how frustrating that can be. 

A homeschool time log can help.

Disclosure: I may receive commissions for purchases made through links in this post.

What Is A Homeschool Time Log

Whenever I think about a homeschool time log, I get this mental picture of a mom using a stopwatch while teaching her kid, which would be a complete pain in the butt if you ask me. 

In reality, a homeschool time log is a tool used to track the hours you spend homeschooling. This “homeschool time log” can be a chart, a piece of paper, or an online tool, and it must include the date and time used for homeschooling.

How To Find Out If You Need To Track Homeschool Hours

Of course, before we begin, you need to figure out if you need a homeschool time log or not.

Not every homeschooler is required to track homeschool hours. Homeschool requirements change based on the country you live in and your state/province.  

Some areas are super strict, and some are super casual. 

It is important for you to find out what homeschool records you need to keep. I am not a lawyer, nor is it feasible to give you the law for every country or state. However, I can tell you how to find the homeschool law where you live.  

There are three main ways to do this:

1. Google your state/place of residence + homeschool law
2. Visit your area’s department of education website and search for homeschool law.
3. Visit the Homeschool Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) online. (You can visit the page for the United States, Canada, or International.)

3 Simple Steps To Creating A Homeschool Time Log

As a busy working mom who is also homeschooling, I know the last thing you need is something extra on your plate. That is why I’m going to share with you 3 simple steps for using a homeschool time log for your homeschool.

1. Track your homeschool hours. I’ll be answering questions such as what counts as homeschooling? What do you write down in your homeschool time log? What if your child is doing non-book work? And more.
2. Pick the Homeschool Time Log that suits you. Do you need a paper homeschool time log? An online homeschool time log? What if you are homeschooling multiple children? I’ll share tips on how to decide and what options are available for you.
3. Fill in the log each homeschool day. Now that you know what tool to use and how to track your hours, the last step is keeping on top of the task, so you don’t fall behind.

Now that you know the 3 simple steps to create a homeschool time log let’s talk about why you might want to keep a homeschool log even if it is NOT required. (Hint: reason #2 below) 

Why Is It Important To Have A Homeschool Time Log?

There are two reasons why you would want to keep a homeschool time log. 

One reason is to comply with your homeschool law in your area. Some states and provinces require that you homeschool for 180 days or 900 hours. 

For example, Kansas Homeschool State Law says, “The time required for public schools is at least 186 days of not less than 6 hours per day, or 1116 hours per year for grades 1-11.” 

That’s a lot of days and hours. Using a homeschool time log makes tracking those hours easier and keeps them organized all in one place. 

A second reason would be to make sure your high school program equals a “credit.”  

How many credits will your child need? You’ll need to know:

• what is required to graduate under your local homeschool law
• what your child is planning on doing after homeschooling

If your child plans to attend college or university, you’ll need to figure out what courses and credits they need to meet those requirements. 

You’ll find having a homeschool time log makes creating a homeschool transcript much easier when it comes to credits.

For more information on homeschooling high school, I highly recommend the low-cost ebook Cure The Fear. It was one of the best tools I ever got my hands on for homeschooling the high school years. Read my review here. 

Cure the Fear of Homeschooling High School: A Step-by-Step Handbook for Research & PlanningTaming The Transcript: The Essential Guide to Creating Your Teen’s Homeschool Transcript from Scratch (without overwhelm)Save Your Sanity While Homeschooling High School: Practical Principles for a Firm FoundationFor the Record: How to Give Grades and Organize Documentation while Homeschooling High School

 

What is a “credit”?

There seem to be conflicting views around what equates to a high school credit and what doesn’t.

The best advice I have found is from Let’s Homeschool High School, where they say 120-180 hours of work = 1 full credit and 60-90 hours of work= 1/2 credit. For more detailed information, please check their site.

Quick Reference:

• 1 full credit = 180 days or 180 hours of work
• 1⁄2 credit = 90 days or 90 hours of work

Why Tracking Homeschool Hours Is Hard

“Your kids are always learning!”

How many times have you heard that? You hear it so much because it is true. 

While this fact makes working and homeschooling much easier, it makes tracking homeschool hours a nightmare. 

Homeschooling looks completely different from public school. 

For example, all throughout the day, my children are learning. When they help me cook, they learn about math, science, reading, following directions, teamwork, nutrition (or the lack thereof!), and life skills. 

When we are outside, they learn about plants and animals around us, the weather, exercise, and more. 

Even running errands, counting bottles for the bottle exchange, and appointments provide a ton of learning opportunities. The problem is, NONE of these LOOK like traditional school, yet they count.

What Counts As Homeschooling?

Step 1. To create a homeschool time log, you need to understand what counts as “homeschooling.”

I’m going to warn you that if you ask on social media, be prepared to dodge the nasty comments. I’m not sure why homeschool moms like to flip their lid on this question, but they do. 

How else are you supposed to find out if you don’t ask? Don’t worry. I’ll adjust my “Queen of Questions” crown, and let’s dig in. 

What do you write down in your homeschool time log?

While I am not required to track homeschool hours by homeschool law, I do use a homeschool time log to make sure my high schoolers are getting a credit in each course.

Thankfully, some online programs track the time spent learning in their reports. Below you can see an example of the CTCMath program. As you can see, it shows when she logged in and logged out. 

However, because I require at least 1 hour of math a day, that is how I track it. If she goes over, I’ll add more time. But if she does a 45-minute math lesson in 20 minutes, I count 45 minutes. 

In other areas, I’ll estimate the time. For example, if she reads before bed, I’ll count one hour as homeschooling. If we go for a hike on the weekend, I count the time we spent hiking for Physical Education. 

What else can you count on your homeschool time log? 

• Creating arts or crafts
• Music playing or listening
• Watching performances (live and recorded)
• Cleaning and chores 
• Helping with the car or house repairs 
• Time spent on hobbies 
• Field trips 

One quick and easy way to figure out if something can be counted or not is to think back to when you were in public school. Did you go on field trips? Did you create arts and crafts in class? Did you attend a music festival? Did you help at a local animal shelter? 

If the public school can count these things as learning, you can too!

Choosing The Right Homeschool Time Log

Step 2: Pick the Homeschool Time Log that best suits you.

Choosing the best homeschool time log for your family is similar to choosing the right planner. 

The best one is the one you’ll use. There is no point in creating or purchasing a beautiful homeschool time log and not using it.

If you do your homeschool planning at home and use a paper planner, a paper homeschool time log makes sense. If you work outside the home and use a digital planner, using an online homeschool time log would be the way to go. 

Paper Homeschool Time Log Tools:

If you use a paper planner for homeschooling, I recommend creating a simple printable tracker using the outline above and adding it to your planner. 

Many printable planners include tracking pages. The Homeschool Planner For Working Moms, Deluxe Homeschool Planner and Tina’s 7 Step Planner (step 5) all include homeschool time logs. 

If you are using a paper planner, you’ll need to check to see if homeschool time logs are included in the planner. Amazon reviews often show photos inside a planner and include a list of pages/layouts.

I am using a Happy Planner, which does not include a homeschool time log, but I can add bullet pages and create my own and pop them in. Super simple. 

Online Homeschool Time Log Tools:

One of the easiest ways to create your homeschool time log is to use online tools because they will often count those hours for you. Because they are online, you never have to worry about leaving your tracker at home. 

Having a bad day and decide to hit the playground instead of hitting the books to burn off some energy? Add the time spent to your homeschool time log as physical education as your kids run around and you chill. 

A few online time logs you can use are:

• Homeschool Planet 
• Flexible Homeschool
• Cozi
• Homeschool Tracker
• Trello (You’ll need to create your own tracker, but moms love this planning tool!) 

How To Keep A Homeschool Time Log For Mulitple Children

If you are homeschooling more than one child, you will need a homeschool time log for each kid. 

The best way to keep a homeschool time log for multiple children in the paper format is to color code it.

Add a key to the top of your log with each child’s name and designated color. Just don’t mix up the colors, and you’ll be fine. 

Another option is to print off a homeschool time log for each child and keep it in their homeschool planner or binder. 

Most online homeschool time logs will be associated with each child’s profile, keeping a time log for multiple children easy! 

Here is an example using the Homeschool Time Log printable I created for Coffee Club members. It is color-coded for each child and super simple to use.

How To Track Your Homeschool Hours Using A Homeschool Time Log

Step 3: Fill in the homeschool time log each homeschool day.

One of the best ways to track your homeschool hours is to use a time log. I like to keep things as simple as possible. 

Now that you know what counts as homeschooling and what homeschool log best suits you, you need to actually write it down.

We are going to loop back to what is required of you by your homeschool law. If you track your homeschool hours due to high school requirements, follow the same outline as below.

In your homeschool time log, you could create a simple chart with all your possible subjects.

Possible subjects might be:

• Math
• Language arts
• History
• Science
• Geography 
• Physical Education
• Health
• Art
• Music
• Computer

At the end of the day, just jot down activity and time spent under the subject it best qualifies for. 

While my province does not require you to track hours, they label their subjects completely different.

They are:

• English Language Arts
• Mathematics
• Social Studies
• Science
• Other Programs/Activities

Again, I encourage you to check your local laws for how/if they want it documented. That will tell you how specific you need to be.

I recommend filling out your homeschool time log at the end of each day. If you skip a few days, you’ll soon see how annoying it can be to go back and get those hours.

Homeschool Time Log Scenarios:

Everyone’s homeschool routines, programs, curriculum, etc., are unique to their family, which is how it should be. That means I can’t list every single homeschool scenario and show you how to count your homeschool hours.

But I can provide a few examples that will give you a guideline to help you out.

If your child is involved in “off the books” programs such as dance, gymnastics, swimming, horse-back riding, etc., you can log those hours on your homeschool time log under Physical Education.

Is your child learning to play a musical instrument? You can log the hours spent practicing and the lessons with an instructor under Music.

One mom told me they take the month of December off of homeschooling because her daughter is involved in several shows of the Nutcracker. However, she can log the hours spent practicing for auditions, auditioning, rehearsals, and shows. She can also include the hours spent on field trips to plays, musicals, and operas under Drama on her homeschool time log.

What about homeschool co-op classes? The hours spent at the co-op learning, the hours at home on the course work, and the hours spent reading or researching the topics can all be counted on the homeschool time log.

Keep It Simple With A Homeschool Time Log

When you first learn you need to track 1116 hours, you might freak out a little, I don’t blame you. As a busy mom who works full-time and is homeschooling full-time, the key for me is to keep it simple!

Take a deep breath and remember, keep it simple. 

1. Track your homeschool hours.
2. Pick the Homeschool Time Log that suits you, either paper or online. 
3. Fill in the log each homeschool day. 

Now all you need to do is add your homeschool time log to the rest of your homeschool record keeping and you are good to go! 

Take care,

Jen

PS. If you are getting started with working and homeschooling, I encourage you to read how you can successfully work and homeschool here.

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