EMPOWERED HOMEFRONT
Your First Week of Homeschool (Without the Overwhelm)
90 Minutes. That's All It Takes.
The Working Parent's Guide to Starting Homeschool Even If You've Never Done This Before
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Eric & Lori Howell | empoweredhomefront.com
HOW TO USE THIS GUIDE
How to Use This Guide This Week
You don't need to read this whole thing before you start. We know you're busy, and we respect your time. Here's your shortcut to making Week 1 happen without drowning in information or second-guessing every decision.
01
Print the checklist (page 5)
Go to the First Week Checklist on page 5. Print it. Put it on your fridge. This is your daily anchor point—the one thing you look at when you feel lost or overwhelmed.
02
Pick ONE schedule template (A, B, or C)
Choose the one closest to your work schedule. Don't overthink this. None of them are perfect, and all of them work. You can always adjust next week.
03
Do 90-120 minutes of school. Then stop.
That's it. You're done for the day. Seriously. More isn't better when you're just starting. Consistency beats duration every single time.
04
Read the rest when you're ready
The research and belief-breaking content is there when you need it. But don't let reading delay doing. Action beats information every time.

The Goal of Week 1
You didn't quit. Your kids learned something. You found one thing that works. That's winning. Everything else is bonus.
BEFORE YOU START
Your First Week Plan
Before you dive into your first day, take 30 minutes to set up these four foundational pieces. This isn't busywork—these steps prevent the common pitfalls that derail most families in Week 1.
Pre-Week Checklist
  • Look up your state's requirements at HSLDA.org/legal
  • Pick ONE curriculum to start (see page 7 for options)
  • Clear the kitchen table (or wherever you'll work)
  • Tell the kids what's changing
Don't skip the last one. Kids handle change better when they know it's coming. Give them 24-48 hours notice, keep it simple, and answer their questions honestly.
Pick Your Schedule
Circle the one that matches your work schedule. You're looking for compatible, not perfect. The schedule that works is the one you'll actually do.
TEMPLATE A: Morning Shift
Work 7am-3pm
School: 5:30-6:30am (before work) OR 3:30-5pm (after work)
Best if: Kids 8+ OR you have help during work hours
TEMPLATE B: Evening Shift
Work 3pm-11pm
School: 8:00-9:30am — THIS IS THE EASIEST SHIFT
Best if: Any age — you're home during peak hours
TEMPLATE C: Night Shift
Work 11pm-7am
School: 3:00-4:30pm (after you wake up)
Best if: Kids 10+ OR you have morning help
What a Day Looks Like
This is your default daily structure for Week 1. The times shown here assume you picked Template B (morning school). If you picked Template A or C, just shift these times to match your chosen window. The subjects and duration stay exactly the same.
Adjust the start time to match your schedule. The subjects stay the same.
Week 1 Success = This
✅ You didn't quit
You showed up every day, even when it was hard.
✅ Your kids learned something
It doesn't have to be groundbreaking. Progress is progress.
✅ You found one thing that works
One thing. That's all you need to build on.
✅ You identified one thing to fix next week
This is how you improve. One adjustment at a time.

Week 1 Will NOT Be Perfect. That's Normal.
Kids will resist. You'll doubt yourself. Something won't work. You'll want to quit.
That's not failure. That's Week 1.
The goal isn't perfection. The goal is not quitting.
PRINT THIS
First Week Checklist
Print this page and put it on your fridge. When you feel overwhelmed or lost, this is your anchor. Check off each box as you go. These simple checkboxes will keep you moving forward when everything else feels uncertain.
BEFORE WEEK 1
  • Look up state requirements (HSLDA.org/legal)
  • Pick ONE curriculum
  • Clear your workspace
  • Tell the kids
EACH DAY THIS WEEK
  • Math (20-30 min)
  • Reading (20-30 min)
  • Writing (20-30 min)
  • Stop. Done for the day.
END OF WEEK 1
  • You didn't quit
  • Kids learned something
  • Found one thing that works
  • Identified one thing to fix
✓ Week 1 Complete
YOUR BONUSES
Your Bonuses
Extra tools to help you through Week 1. Click to view. These aren't required reading—they're here when you need them. Save them for moments when you need extra clarity or reassurance.
Time Comparison Chart
See exactly where 7 hours of school time goes — and why 90 minutes of homeschool equals a full day.
Schedule Templates
Three ready-to-use schedules for morning, evening, and night shift workers.
What To Say Scripts
Word-for-word answers for the 6 questions you'll definitely get from family and friends.
Legal First Moves (Printable)
Step-by-step checklist for your state's requirements. Fill it in, print it, done.

These are yours to keep. The Legal First Moves checklist is printable — download it and put it with your state research.
Legal + Curriculum: Quick Start
LEGAL: Yes, It's Legal in All 50 States
  1. Go to HSLDA.org/legal
  1. Look up your state
  1. Do what it says
That's it. Most states require very little — often just a notification. Some require more paperwork, but it's all straightforward.
You do NOT need a teaching degree. You don't need special credentials. You just need to follow your state's process, which is almost always simpler than you think.
CURRICULUM: Where Do I Start?
Pick ONE. Don't overthink it. You can always change later, but you need to start with something. The best curriculum is the one you'll actually use this week.
Want done-for-you (free):
Easy Peasy All-in-One Homeschool (allinonehomeschool.com)
Complete K-12 curriculum, 180 daily lessons. Completely free. Just follow the daily assignments.
Want flexibility:
Costco/Amazon workbooks + library books
This is how Lori started. It works. Choose grade-level workbooks for math, reading, and writing. Supplement with library books.
Kid struggles with reading:
All About Reading (Orton-Gillingham method)
This is what worked for our son Jaxson. It's structured, multisensory, and designed for struggling readers.
You don't need expensive programs. You need to start. Some families spend thousands on curriculum before they teach a single lesson. Don't be that family. Start simple, see what works, then expand.
THE RESEARCH
Why 90 Minutes Is Enough
The Research Behind Your New Schedule
Your child spends 7 hours at school. They're "learning" for about 90 minutes. The rest? Transitions. Waiting. Lunch lines. Test prep. Classroom management. Interruptions. Announcements. Busywork.
This isn't an opinion. It's documented research. A landmark study by Stanley and Greenwood found that 4th graders engaged in actual learning behaviors — reading, writing, or discussing content — for only 67.5 minutes out of a 400-minute school day. That's the reality of institutional education: the system itself consumes most of the time.
When you homeschool, you eliminate the system overhead. No transitions. No waiting for 29 other kids. No interruptions from the intercom. Just focused learning, one-on-one or in small groups, with immediate feedback and personalized pacing.
16
Minutes
Learning per hour in traditional school
2.5x
More Effective
Homeschool vs public school
90
Minutes
All you need to equal a full school day

The Bottom Line
In 90-120 minutes of focused homeschool, your child can learn more than they do in an entire public school day. Not because you're a better teacher. Because you're not wasting 5+ hours on everything else.
Where Does the Time Go?
Let's break down a typical 7-hour public school day. This table shows where the hours actually go—and why so little of it involves real learning.
Now add in classroom management issues—dealing with disruptive students, waiting for everyone to get quiet, repeating instructions for kids who weren't paying attention. Add in assemblies, fire drills, standardized testing days, and the last week before every holiday when basically nothing happens.
You can skip the waste. Just do the 90 minutes.
When you homeschool, your kid isn't sitting in a desk for 7 hours. They're learning intensely for 90 minutes, then they're done. The rest of their day? Playing. Reading for fun. Helping with real-world tasks. Pursuing interests. Being a kid.
EXPECT THIS
The Bad Habits Are Coming Home
Your kids have been trained by a system for years. That institutional training doesn't disappear on Day 1 of homeschool. It comes home with them, and you need to be ready for it.
What to Expect
Raising hand to pee
They'll ask permission for everything. "Can I get water?" "Can I go to the bathroom?" They've been conditioned to believe they need approval for basic needs.
Resisting working for you
The authority shift is hard. At school, teachers have authority. At home, you're "just Mom" or "just Dad." Kaylee fought Lori for months on this.
"That's not how we did it at school"
Expect pushback. They'll compare everything you do to their former teacher. This is normal. It fades.
Wasting time
They've been trained to stretch 10 minutes of work into 45 minutes because that's how you survive a 7-hour school day. Now they think that's "normal."
Eating out of boredom
Kids may say they're "hungry" when they're really just bored or trying to avoid work. Breakfast, lunch, dinner—that's enough. Snacking all day isn't necessary.

The Deschooling Rule
1 month of decompression for every year in public school.
It's real. It's necessary. It passes. Don't rush it. This adjustment period is part of the process.
The Mindset Shift (For You)
OLD THINKING
  • Learning = desk
  • Success = grades
  • Teach for tests
  • 7 hours = serious
  • Kids need constant snacks
NEW THINKING
  • Learning = everywhere
  • Success = capability
  • Teach for life
  • 90 minutes of focus > 7 hours of waste
  • Kids need meals, not grazing
If nutrition, morning routines, or building healthy habits is something your family struggles with, we go deeper on this inside our Empowered Health community.
REAL STORIES
This Worked for Our Family
These aren't hypothetical success stories. These are our actual kids. We lived this, and we know you can too.
Kaylee's Story
When Kaylee was in public school, they wanted to hold her back a grade for reading. We did everything "right"—read to her at home every night, bedtime stories, meetings with teachers, extra practice. Nothing worked.
Within 6 months of homeschooling, she was reading FOUR GRADE LEVELS HIGHER than where she started.
The problem was never Kaylee. The problem was 7 hours of school for 90 minutes of learning. She needed focused attention, at her pace, without the chaos and shame of falling behind in front of her classmates.
Jaxson's Story
The school wanted to put Jaxson on ADHD medication. They said he couldn't focus. He was disruptive. He was behind in reading. The solution? Ritalin.
We said no.
Instead, we dug deeper and found his real issue—vision problems. Vision therapy combined with the right reading method (Orton-Gillingham) did what Ritalin never could. He didn't need medication. He needed a different approach.

What If My Kid is Already Behind?
Good news: Homeschool is BETTER for struggling kids.
  • No shame in front of 30 classmates
  • Work at THEIR pace, not the class pace
  • Focus on understanding, not passing tests
Kaylee wasn't "behind"—she was in the wrong environment. So is your kid.
If Week 1 Felt Possible...
Here's How We Install Your Full Homeschool System in 30 Days

Founders Launch: 20 families • $197 • Live 4 weeks • Then doors close.
This guide gets you through Week 1. But what about Week 2? Week 10? Next year? The Working Parent Homeschool System gives you the complete blueprint to homeschool confidently for years—and we walk you through installing it live over 30 days.
By the End of the 30-Day Install, You'll Have:
Legally compliant in your state (paperwork done, not guessing)
Your custom daily rhythm and yearly plan locked in
A homeschool style and method that fits YOUR family (not copying someone else)
A curriculum and resource plan that matches your kids and your budget
A simple funding plan so homeschooling doesn't blow up your finances
Your first month actually done, not just planned
Confidence that you CAN do this long-term
What's Inside the System:
  • Module 1: The truth about homeschooling (myths destroyed)
  • Module 2: Your state's legal requirements (step-by-step)
  • Module 3: Find your homeschool style (quiz + method breakdown)
  • Module 4: Set up your homeschool (space, schedule, routine, organization)
  • Module 5: Launch your first month (day-by-day companion)
  • Module 6: Fund your homeschool (smart ways to pay for curriculum, co-ops, and extras)
You get lifetime access to all 6 modules. The 30-Day Founders Launch is how we implement it together, live. Plus templates, checklists, and a community of parents doing this with you.
Ready to Install the System?
If you want us to walk with you through your first month while installing the full Working Parent Homeschool System, you can see all the details here:
empoweredhomefront.com/homeschool
"We pulled our kids from public school when everyone said we were crazy. Now we can't imagine doing it any other way. You're not crazy. You're paying attention. And you CAN do this."
— Eric & Lori Howell
© Empowered Homefront | empoweredhomefront.com
You're Not Alone in This
Thousands of working parents are homeschooling successfully right now. They work full-time jobs. They have tight budgets. They started with zero teaching experience. They felt the same doubt you're feeling.
The difference? They started. They didn't wait for perfect circumstances or complete confidence. They took Week 1, then Week 2, then built momentum one day at a time.
Start This Week
Don't wait for the "right time." There's no perfect moment. Week 1 is about showing up and building the habit of consistency.
Join the Community
Connect with other working parents who are building their homeschool systems alongside you. Support, accountability, and real answers.
Build Long-Term
This isn't just about surviving Week 1. It's about creating a sustainable homeschool rhythm that works for your family for years.
Your kids don't need a perfect homeschool. They need you—showing up, trying, learning alongside them. That's what homeschool really is. Not perfection. Not expertise. Just presence and persistence.

Ready to Begin?
Start with Week 1. Then, when you're ready to install the full system, we'll be here to walk you through it.
Eric & Lori Howell | Empowered Homefront
empoweredhomefront.com