Homeschooled Mom

Homeschooled as a kid. Homeschooling my kids.

Homeschooled Mom

This week’s lesson III.34 · Schedules & Rhythms

A Homeschool Sleep Unit: Teaching Kids Why Bodies Need Rest

A five-day homeschool science unit on sleep for ages 6 to 10: why bodies need rest, the two clocks, sleep cycles, and a bedtime your child works out themselves.

A homeschool unit on sleep takes about a week of short lessons and needs almost no equipment. Teach four ideas: what the body and brain do during sleep, the two systems that make us sleepy, the cycles a night is built from, and how many hours a child’s age calls for.

Begin the lesson →

By Bethany Ellison

New to homeschooling? Begin with How to Start Homeschooling: How to Homeschool, Step by Step I.02

The course catalogue

The second-generation homeschool field guide: how to start, choosing curriculum without panic, real schedules, and kitchen-table teaching that works.

  1. The First Reader

    Getting Started

    How to start homeschooling with clear eyes: first steps, deschooling, finding your state’s rules, and what the first year really costs.

    All 8 lessons in Getting Started →

  2. The Second Reader

    Curriculum Corner

    Choosing curriculum without the overwhelm: honest comparisons, picks by grade, secular and faith-based options covered factually.

    All 16 lessons in Curriculum Corner →

  3. The Third Reader

    Schedules & Rhythms

    Homeschool schedules that survive real life: sample days, loop scheduling, morning baskets, and teaching around a toddler’s nap.

    All 34 lessons in Schedules & Rhythms →

  4. The Fourth Reader

    Teaching Days

    The actual teaching: reading at the kitchen table, everyday math, science without a lab, and learning that happens on errands.

    All 13 lessons in Teaching Days →

  5. The Fifth Reader

    Homeschool Life

    The rest of it: socialization answered honestly, burnout, record-keeping, holidays, and what being homeschooled taught a second-gen mom.

    All 10 lessons in Homeschool Life →

Required reading

Homeschooling With a Toddler Underfoot

Homeschooling with a toddler underfoot: nap-anchored lessons, table-time boxes, big-kid buddy blocks, and how to protect the quiet hour school runs on.

III.01 · Schedules & Rhythms

Bethany Ellison, Homeschooled Mom author

About the author

Bethany Ellison

I’m Bethany — homeschooled K–12 in rural Wisconsin back when the jean-jumper jokes were aimed at my actual family, and now homeschooling my own three (8, 6, and a 2-year-old who still naps, which is why anything gets done). In between I went to a state university and spent years as a library programs coordinator, so I’ve seen this from the student’s chair, the teacher’s chair, and the story-time carpet. My husband teaches public school, which keeps this site permanently un-preachy. Curricula are tools, not tribes — we’ve already run this experiment once, and I remember what stuck.

More about Bethany →