What time do you start "school" each morning?

[praisefor3]

I"m not talking about getting up, getting dressed, or doing chores - even though I know that is part of "school" for many. What time do you actually start subjects on most days?

[Truscifi]

I work online from 8 to 9 in the morning, so we start school as soon as I get done.

 

Ds is supposed to do chores while I'm working, and sometimes he actually does. Other days I have to remind him to do chores when I get done with work, so we start school a bit later.

Edited August 4, 2009 by Truscifi
more info

[PeterPan]

Our goal is 8 am. We don't necessarily hit that, but that's what we're shooting for. :)

 

I suggest you find a time you can comfortably and consistently get up at, add to that the amount of time it takes to get your particular number of children up, dressed, fed, and basic chores done, then you'll have your own, personal start time, something that fits YOUR family.

[Emmy]

When we are up and started at 8, we rock the morning. We nearly always finish with the big stuff by noon and then just do fun stuff in the afternoon. Unfortunately we only make our goal of an 8 start time about 25% of the time. 9 is much more realistic for us.

[Mommy22alyns]

9 am is a good goal for us. Gives the girls time for breakfast, gives me time to thoroughly wake up, etc.

[Hsmomto4]

We start at 8:30 so I put closest to 9. I find that the earlier we start the MORE we get done.

[bugs]

My kids are teens now and falling asleep later and sleeping in later. It's easier for me to go by their clocks (but 9:30 is THE LATEST) because it's tough to teach a kid who is still asleep. And anyway, this gives me 3 -4 hours of morning time to myself for Bible study and exercise.

[LivingUnderGrace]

Between 8:30 - 9:00 am.

 

:001_smile:

[Stacy in NJ]

9 am on Tue/Thu, 9:30 on M/W/F because we run first thing.

 

We run/shower/dress/breakfast before school begins. I cannot stand being in pj's or sweats during the day.

[MsAlimar]

Keep in mind that last year we were only doing preschool. :)

 

We started around 11am. It only took us about an hour and then the kids could play while I got lunch ready.

 

We tried several different times and this seemed to work the best. We are not early risers and my dd needed some playtime before she could settle down for seat work. It was also late enough that my toddler was ready for a small snack that kept her busy during part of the school.

 

This year I'm going to try and start earlier.

[Matryoshka]

The past few years we've started instrument practice at 9, then "regular" school at 10. This year with two 6th and a 4th grader, I'm thinking we might need to back it up a half an hour - especially since even though we aim for those times, we often miss by half an hour or so, and then if we have an afternoon activity (most days) I'm all stressed trying to get things done on time.

[homeschooltoone]

9 am is ideal for us. We have lunch at 12 noon and come back at 1pm to finish.

[Narrow Gate Academy]

As close to 8:00 as possible. Every day we're late starting, the entire day seems to drag on forever.

[nukeswife]

At this point I'm the single vote for the "Whatever suits us" option.

 

We pretty much fly by the seat of our pants. We don't have a regular start time. Whenever we're all up and ready to go then we start. My kids are not good if you push them to work before they are fully awake and my oldest son (turned 10 in May) is like me and NOT a morning person. If any of us are up before 9am that's a very unusual day.

 

Lately we've been starting about 11, but sometimes it's not until after lunch.

[hsmamainva]

We're on Week 3 now and we're starting at around 9:00.

 

When my youngest goes back to public school next month, it'll be around 9:30 (that gives me time to take her to school and return back home).

[TCoppock]

I had to choose other because 8:30 is our SCHEDULED time to start but it really varies in actuality.

[ncmomo3]

As close to 8:00 as possible. Every day we're late starting, the entire day seems to drag on forever.

 

:iagree: Yep--same here. 8:00 makes all the difference in our day.

[Free Indeed]

In the summer close to noonish so the kids can play in the cool of the day. At other times of year around 8 so the afternoons are mostly free.

[Tidbits of Learning]

We are supposed to start at 8:30, but the truth is that it doesn't happen. We have been getting later and later. It is my fault. I am not a morning person. It definitely makes a difference in our day when we are up, ready, and starting on our schedule on time.

New School Year Resolution-there is no such thing as the snooze button.

[babysparkler]

Dh teaches a class for ds from 8-9am just before leaving for work, so I also start the other kids at that time too. It is nice having the accountability of my husband's schedule, otherwise we probably wouldn't start until 9:30-10am. :)

[ladydusk]

We're doing K4 and PK3 this year (and tossing the 2 yo in for good measure LOL), so we have "Music and Movement" which usually involves riding trikes or taking a walk (hmmmmm ... maybe it should just be movement, there'll be more music in bad weather) Anyway, if that is part of "school" we start at 9, if not we start at 9:30.

[Ester Maria]

We start around 8 am, most of the days. They get up around 7, which gives them enough time for the morning hygiene and breakfast, so 8 is a reasonable time to start, since they're awake, but not focused on other things yet.

Sometimes we postpone the start till 8.30, even 9, but that's rare, and usually for a good reason.

[Mom22ns]

Ds likes to do math when he first gets up which is 6 am! It is NOT my choice :lol: After that he takes a break for breakfast and gets dressed. Math requires a lot of concentration for him and he really likes having a break afterwards to recover. My dd will be joining us for the first time this year and she is planning to start after breakfast at 7:30.

[ElizabethB]

We usually do school in the early afternoon, we go to the park when it is done, that's when the park is starting to fill up with children coming home from regular school.

 

We only do school in the morning if we have errands to run.

[David]

My eighth-grade son starts math at 8 a.m. virtually every morning, even if once in a while I'm not quite ready. The day goes smoother with the early start, and the routine makes everyone's life easier. Besides, he's old enough to learn that the world continues with or without him, so he needs to be ready.

[elegantlion]

We started at 11:30 one year, it was very nice. 10am last year and 9:30 this year. I imagine 9:30 will the be the earliest we ever start. We are not morning people.

[emmsmama]

Our first year hs'ing we were completely unstructured. Last year we were more structured, but still often didn't start school work until around 10am. This year I'm making a concerted effort to start school by 8:30am at the lastest, at least with ds. My plan is to start the day off with reading with ds since he is usually up very early anyway. While I'm reading with ds, dd can get up and eat breakfast at a leisurely pace since she usually sleeps in a bit more.

 

I found that last year a lot of things were falling by the wayside that should have been done and could have been done more regularly if *I* would have been more disciplined by reading over stuff and planning the night before instead of sleeping in and then surfing the net while eating breakfast and just overall wasting a lot of time; by the time *I* was ready to get started with "school" with the kids, they were off doing their own thing and then I had to pry them away. I'm going to implement a workbox-ish type of idea this year so that the kids and I are held more accountable on our school days.

[Pamela H in Texas]

I put 8, but...

 

Ds starts a bit before that (after morning chores). The littles will start at 8:30.

 

However, this is pretty new. The last few years, I would have put 6 or before.

 

Our sleep habits have changed a bit as have our needs.

[beezus]

It's probably been closer to 10 for us in the past, because my 12yo is not a morning person, but we tend to lag later in the afternoon, so I am planning to try and get going by 9 when we start back on a regular routine in September.

[radiobrain]

I have an oddball situation (imagine that)....

 

My husband gets the kids up at 7:30 reads them an Italian folktale then they make their beds have breakfast etc. then he gives my 9 yo his reading lesson while my 10 yo does copywork for him.

 

I usually get around to starting stuff at 9-9:30

 

I try to get as much stuff done as possible before noon.

 

Later in the afternoon, we finish stuff up and then my husband does another reading lesson.

 

So we are herky jerky but the am/pm stuff with my husband are the bookends to our "school day"

 

why I had to choose... other

[patchfire]

wow, we're the only ones that start closest to 7?

 

Dd's alarm goes off at 6:45 and she has ~25 minutes to dress, attend to personal hygiene, and work on penmanship. If she finishes those before breakfast is ready, she's to start on the next subject. We start breakfast at 7:10 and then we're all at work by 7:30.

 

This schedule lets us "git 'er done" and still do lots of outside the house activities.

[lisasaysto]

I voted "other." We try to start by 12:30 p.m. but sometimes it's 1 p.m. before we start.

[cajun.classical]

8:30 am promptly.

[kewb]

The goal is 8:30. The reality-closer to 9.

[Brindee]

We will be starting around 8am this coming school year. For a couple of years we got the kids up and had worship with Daddy before he left for work at 6:40, then we'd do exercise, then breakfast and the rest of the schoolwork. We were done before noon most days, and had the rest of the day to run errands, play, read, etc.

 

But..... We have friends who are night owls, parents AND kids, so they sleep in, run errands, then do school in the afternoon/evenings/nights. That's what works for them. Another family I know works at night, since Daddy has a night shift. When he comes home they eat breakfast, spend some time together, then they all go to bed and sleep.

 

So, the question asks what time do you start in the morning---but some people DON'T start in the morning! :D (I know, that's why there's the "other" category!;))

[jenL]

My goal is to have us begin by 9. Some mornings it becomes 9:30 though since I have a 2yo.

[MamaT]

My goal is 8:30, so I voted closest to 9. If we don't go full speed in the morning, I feel behind the rest of the day.

[mommyrooch]

We also start at 9:00. If I don't make sure we have started by then we just don't seem to get everything done. We break for lunch at 12:00. We start back up at 1:00 and are always done no later than 2:50. That way the kids and I have the afternoons free to play and do whatever before Daddy gets home around 5:30.

[Rainbows]

Im only h'sing 1 child (but may add in my youngest for some pre-k stuff this year)

I voted 11 am.....they are late sleepers and I let them wake up a bit, eat some breakfast, then we get started on school stuff. But honestly we don't have a set time....sometime we do stuff earlier, sometimes we don't start until the afternoon. This year we are doing more so I'll probably try and schedule it a bit more

[Rainbows]

We have friends who are night owls, parents AND kids, so they sleep in, run errands, then do school in the afternoon/evenings/nights. That's what works for them. quote]

 

This is more like my family....we are sooooo not morning people lol. Dh has to stick to an earlier schedule due to work and my older kids go to ps (although we drive them in the mornings b/c the bus comes super early and its an hour ride)....but the littles and I are definitely night owls (as are the older guys on the weekends/summer)

[Night Elf]

Other - 1:00pm. We don't do well with schooling in the mornings. :)

[mycalling]

We've been starting by 11, but I want to try starting by 10. No sooner. We eat breakfast, do our morning routines, then the morning chores. We're in no rush.

 

Right now they get free time before school and that's what will change, though I don't really mind it. I just want to be done with the younger ones by lunch.

[Sasharowan]

Ds8 is usually up and starting school by 8 at the latest, dd usually starts between 8 and 9 and ds13 pushes it as close to noon as he can.

[eternalknot]

Sometime between 9am and 10am.

 

I have a motivated student who is also a morning person (unlike myself), so he will usually start on his independent work before I awake. I show up around 9am, give or take 30 minutes on either side, to begin new teaching.

[ubermomto5]

we are late risers at my house. i get up at 7-7:30 and none of the kids are awake yet. the kids usually play a bit before we do jobs which must be done before breakfast and we're usually done eating by 9:15 or so. then it takes a while to get teeth brushed and whatnot. so we generally start between 9:30 and 10. though my oldest will sometimes have math finished by then because she wants it out of the way!

[WTMCassandra]

I haven't had time to read the responses. I chose closer to 9am, but really, we start every day at 8:30am.

[chaik76]

Other. We start school at 1pm every afternoon.

[Elizabeth Conley]

We start at 7 AM. The first hour of the day is for reading and reflecting. We loaf about reading our literature, history and science, and discussing how the material we're reading relates to the written/typed work we will produce later in the day. Then at 0800 the pencils and paper come out or the computers are fired up.

 

Our typical breakfast consists of breakfast sandwiches, fruit and water, so we generally munch as we read and loaf. That hour from 0700-0800 is productive, but not very lively!

[afeminame]

I have to agree with Deborah in WA, I find the closer to 8 we are the more gets done. Then the rest of the day is full of fun. When we start late, it seems as if everything drags. Maybe cause we're all morning people. I am curious are there any HMSCers that do their teaching in the late evening and find that it works well with them?

[Chris in SC]

We start at 8:30, but my youngest is usually at it by 6:00 doing anything he can get done independently. He likes to see how early he can finish the school day. Many days he has done all his handwriting, math problems, reading, and spelling before I am back from my walk! Then we start in with the math lesson, grammar, history and Latin... We break fro lunch at 11:30 and are usually done with the day by one or two.