As the head of the home, how do you effectively set up and manage a family altar? What is the suggested frequency and time?

Answer:   
The first step to having an effective family altar is to have a set time. This is because there is a tendency to go beyond time whenever you do a teaching of the scriptures. When this becomes a common occurrence, the children especially would begin to avoid the family altar because it goes on for too long. They look for ways of escape not because they don't enjoy what you shared, but because you don't have specific time duration.

So the first thing to do is to attach a specific duration to your fellowship time. The time could vary between 30 minutes to one hour depending on the daily itinerary of the family and how much time they can afford to give to the family fellowship. Ideally, family devotions should be a daily affair but again, the timing should be flexible enough to accommodate everybody in the family, hence it could be done in the mornings or delayed till evenings, just before bedtime. At this time, it is likely that everybody would be home.
Secondly, it is advisable to have a daily devotional to assist in making the Bible Study easier and faster. This way you can manage your time better.

You can also make the period more interesting by introducing testimonies and involving your wife and children in the entire process. You could put every member of the family on a roster so they also get the chance to lead the fellowship. Not only will it encourage them to pray and study, it will also increase their knowledge of the Word as well as their involvement in the spiritual growth of the family.