s/o Waking Children Up / School Start

[Diana B]

Am I allowed to create my own s/o? :D

 

So I'm curious, a fair # of you let your child wake up when they want and/or wake them up eventually if they don't get up on their own.

 

So I'm curious... do you plan on starting school at a specified time or do you just play it by ear each day based on when your child wakes up?

 

What does the morning (from wake up ---> school start time) look like for your family? Specifically interested in elementary age. I'm starting to hand my son more responsibility, but most of his schooling is not independent.

[kwickimom]

I play it by ear for my K'er, 4th grader and 3YO. We do not have a set start time. I go by what time they went to bed, what we did the night before and how well they slept to deciding if I wake them up at a certain time. My kids aren't very good sleepers though so 90% of the time they are up by 7:30-8 a.m. regardless of the time they went to bed. If I wake them to school, it does not go well :) On days that we have something to do and we have to be somewhere I just put them to bed earlier. About 2 nights a week bedtime is 8:30 pm. Otherwise usually 9:30.

 

Almost always my boys are up first of course. I just let them snuggle or play or I read to them until my 9YO gets up. Once she is up I read a chapter or two to her from a book and then we either take a quick walk or do chores and eat breakfast. I then make them get dressed and brush teeth and we start our day. I read to them over breakfast and we work on memory work and Awana verses then too. We usually then school 8:30 to 2pm. On days they wake up later we just school later. My DH does not get home until 5 or later so we do not mind schooling until 3 or 4. Usually the end of the day is projects/fun stuff anyways.

 

My dd's first subject is Math and we do Math Mammoth so sometimes I wake up and find her at the table doing her work already. She sometimes sets her alarm to get up early so that she can be done early.

 

We have structure to our day, just not a set start or finish time.

[Pretty in Pink]

My kids wake up on their own between 6:30 and 7:00 a.m. each day. They never sleep in. Oh, I wish they would sometimes!

 

We do a quick breakfast, brush teeth, and then they linger with toys or books until around 8:00. During that time I take a shower and dress and such. We start lessons right around 8:00, but it's not set in stone.

[gaillardia]

I really don't like it when I start a thread and it looks like I'm not going to get any replies, so I'll bite.

I didn't see the thread on waking children or letting them sleep.

 

I've got two teens who get up at 5/5:30 to go to our church seminary program which lasts almost an hour. They come home around 7/7:15 and usually go back to sleep. I start waking them up anywhere from 8:30-9:00. If they aren't up on their own by 9:30 I fuss at them. If I know they were up late for a legitimate reason I let them sleep until 10. Sometimes they don't go back to bed, in which case they get started on their math.

One of the younger children (almost 12yo) is almost always the first one up, by 8. The other one would sleep until 10 or 11 if left undisturbed, and I won't allow that.

I try to have a devotional with them by 8:30/9 and then we get started on school. This especially applies to the two younger ones, 10 and almost 12. They like to take a break after every subject, but I only allow it for a short time, like 5 minutes. If I lengthen the break, I lose them and it's hard to get them back into focusing on studying, etc.

Sometimes I have them do a chore instead of running off to play.

We get math and language arts finished in the a.m., and do the rest of it in the afternoon. Sometimes I take as long as 90 minutes for lunch. We don't do every subject every single day.

Does this answer your question?

[QuirkyKapers]

My kids wake up sometime betwee 6:30-8:30. Although, 8:30 rarely happens unless there was a late night.

[happyhomemaker]

Ds is usually up by 7:30 or so. I usually end up waking dd around 8:30. The kids get dressed and walk the dog while I fix breakfast. We eat, do devotions, and then start school around 9:30.

[Dustybug]

We generally are up before 7....usually right after 6:glare:. We get up, we all pile in the recliner and cuddle while I catch a few minutes of the news or let them watch a few minutes of television. Then I make breakfast, the kids eat, and I clean up the kitchen. I give my 5 and 3 year olds their clothes and send them off to get dressed while I change the baby. Then we brush teeth and I fix my DD5's hair. If I didn't shower the night before, I do so then. Around 8:30-9:00, I wake up my DH and put the baby down for her morning nap. I generally start school right after that. My goal is to start by 9 AM. If I can start then, I can be finished by around 11:30-12. My DH works second shift and we have our large family meal at lunch time, so I need to prepare the meal starting around that time. It's easier if school is done by then, but sometimes I even start cooking WHILE I'm still schooling. lol. I school my preschooler first and that usually doesn't take longer than 45 minutes, and then I do my Kindergartener. Hers usually takes between 90 min-2hours depending on what we are doing that day. If I MUST, we break for lunch and then I put the younger two down for naps and she and I finish up while they are sleeping.

[jillian]

For us we usually start at 845 (sometimes earlier) but that way even if she sleeps as late as she normally does (8) we still have time for breakfast and morning chores.

[swellmomma]

We play it by ear. Last year when I was working it was different, we had to be at work early in the morning so we started school when we got home from morning shift. This year I am not working out of the home. None of us are morning people, we are all naturally night owls, so we sleep in in the morning, take it easy and putz around for a while and then start school just after lunch and work until supper and then again in the evenings on the nights we don't have outside activities. It works well for us. Normal wake up time around here is 915-10am.

 

So for us get us sometime between 915 and 10am. Head for the closest electronic source lol. I get online, ds13 gets on his computer(no internet on it), dd12 and ds8 get on their DSis and dd4 pops on a video. We barely say more than a grunt to each other. We do that for 30-60 minutes while we all fully wake up and become functional human beings. Then those that want to eat something do, and everyone starts getting ready for the day. They play or read or I put on an educational movie. Then it is lunchtime. We all eat and once we are done we start actually doing schoolwork and chores. None of the kids do independant school work. We still get tons accomplished we just do it in the afternoon and the evening. The days we tried to start school in the morning left us all tense and angry by lunch time, we are just not morning people at all.

Edited October 7, 2011 by swellmomma

[jenL]

My boys wake up at different times because they both require different amounts of sleep. My youngest wakes up around 7, and he usually comes to my bed to cuddle, watch a PBS show, and/or have me read to him. My oldest gets up between 7:30-8:00, sometimes later if he was up late the night before (he doesn't sleep past 9 though). He's the one I school the most, so once he's up, he gets about 30 minutes of play time with his brother, breakfast, and then he gets dressed/brushes teeth. In between all this or before the boys get up, I'm showering or getting myself dressed/ready for the day.

 

We usually start school between 9 & 10 each day (depending upon wake-up time). Although our mornings aren't structured, once we start school, the day becomes structured and we follow the same routine in terms of time for lunch, snacks, and breaks. Extracurricular activities and/or playdates come after schoolwork has been completed. Our actual school day can end as early as 11:30 or 12 if ds is focused and he wants to get to taekwondo or a playdate, or it can end as late as 5:30 PM which happened the other day - that was not fun for any of us - those days are not the norm, thankfully.

[Nestof3]

This year, I plan for them to start their independent work at 9:00 am. I make sure they are up in time to get ready for the day and sometimes play a little first. I personally hate diving in without a little enjoyment first, so I try to respect the same for the boys.

 

When they are older, they will have to set their own alarms. I remember Aaron setting his for 7:00 am and starting on his own.

[6packofun]

I aim to start by 9. At this point, anyone who doesn't know that the sooner we get started, the earlier we can finish is probably beyond help. LOL

 

Also, I think that our kids have always kept up a regular bedtime, even though it's not something we enforce. They know that they're tired by a certain time and we all love our sleep, so this helps us all to get up at a fairly regular time, too. But I'm OK with starting 30 minutes or an hour later every now and then if we all want more rest.

[joannqn]

My kids are almost always awake before I am. They have some minor chores to do (10-15 minutes worth) and must be dressed before school starts at 9am. I do my best to drag my bottom out of bed in time to start school by 9am, but they can start without me if needed. Our biggest problem, as you can see, is me. If I could only fall asleep and stay asleep, we wouldn't have any issues.

[the evolving homemaker]

My kiddos tend to get up sometime between 730-830. i am hoping to keep to a schedule of doing school right after breakfast and be done by lunch 5 and 7 yo. it hasn't worked out exactly yet...lol...but i am trying! they would be happier to finish for the day i think and have the rest of the day for their classes and play. i am just not that organized yet...

[swellmomma]

I aim to start by 9. At this point, anyone who doesn't know that the sooner we get started, the earlier we can finish is probably beyond help. LOL

 

Also, I think that our kids have always kept up a regular bedtime, even though it's not something we enforce. They know that they're tired by a certain time and we all love our sleep, so this helps us all to get up at a fairly regular time, too. But I'm OK with starting 30 minutes or an hour later every now and then if we all want more rest.

 

 

What time do yours go to bed? Mine have a set bedtime and still sleep until 9-10am. My little ones are in bed and asleep by 830 everynight except Thursdays(we don't get home from kids church until 9), and the bigs at 9 (except for thursdays) so they are all getting 12-13 hours of sleep a night.

[Farrar]

They get up around 6. They used to watch TV, but now I have no clue what they do. Sometimes they go play, sometimes they watch TV, sometimes they play on the internet. They get some juice and some cereal and a fruit bar.

 

I drag myself up around 7:30. I come downstairs, make them put on pants if they haven't yet, cut them up some fruit and then start school. If I get a few minutes in between, I do the dishes and get dressed myself so I'm not teaching in my pj's.

[nukeswife]

I let my kids get up whenever. I don't plan to start at any specific time. After they get up they have something to eat, brush their teeth and do a dirty dish check (look for any dirty dishes around the house) then I grab the nearest kid and we start.

[Tess in the Burbs]

lately we have been waking up when we wake up. we are moving though and are taking a break from school. but it's been nice to just sleep in. they wake up on their own between 7-9am.

 

when we do school 9am is my latest start time. if they wake up early enough we start sooner. basically once up they have an hour to eat, dress, brush teeth and get to the school room.

 

if we have things that day early then I might get them up at 7am to do school at 8am. but honestly, I am not pleasant until 9am :lol:

[lionfamily1999]

They're up by 9 at the latest. School starts by 10 at the latest.

 

You don't really want to know what my day is like :p The later we start, the later we finish and sometimes, reading is done at bedtime :lol:

[TeachingTwins]

We're on a pretty regular schedule. I get up at 6:30 am and the kids get up right after that, when I turn the hallway light on. That's their signal, and they are really good about getting up right away.

 

We eat breakfast at 7 am, and usually do an hour of school (starting with a read-aloud while they eat), then take a break to clean up, etc. It's nice to get an hour of school under our belts pretty early, then take an hour break, and get started again.

[KarenNC]

Up until this week, I've pretty much let my daughter (and myself) get up when we get up unless there was a specific place we had to be in the mornings that was out of the house. This year (she's in 6th grade now), I am instituting that we both get up at 7, with school starting at 8 so that we can get the work she and I need to do together done in the morning. Anything that is not direct instruction or a test, she is now doing independently to work on time management skills. What she doesn't finish before we have to leave the house comes with or gets done when we come home. It's the only way I can see to accomplish what we need to do at home as well as do some of the fun social things our hs group does during the afternoons, now that her academics have ramped up considerably. "Going with the flow" for scheduling has become too frustrating for both of us.

 

That's not to say the switch is easy. I'm definitely not a morning person! She actually does better than I do, but if I sleep in, it's too irritating to get her in gear for schoolwork. This week we are 3 out of 4 so far (this morning didn't go as planned---both she and the cat were too warm and snuggly and she and I both fell back asleep:)). Tomorrow is back to the grindstone!

[NorCalMom]

We don't have a set start time, but it's usually around 9 am. DD has very long and late ballet classes 3x/week, so I let her sleep in the following mornings. DS and I will snuggle up on the couch reading while we wait for her to get up.

[Ellie]

We played it by ear, but dds usually got up around the same time each morning, so we usually started around the same time.

[jelbe5]

We are usually up by 8:00 am as we like to listen to Adventures in Odyssey while we eat. If we have had a late night the night before we cancel that if we feel more sleep is needed.

[KristinaBreece]

We play it by ear. Last year when I was working it was different, we had to be at work early in the morning so we started school when we got home from morning shift. This year I am not working out of the home. None of us are morning people, we are all naturally night owls, so we sleep in in the morning, take it easy and putz around for a while and then start school just after lunch and work until supper and then again in the evenings on the nights we don't have outside activities. It works well for us. Normal wake up time around here is 915-10am.

 

So for us get us sometime between 915 and 10am. Head for the closest electronic source lol. I get online, ds13 gets on his computer(no internet on it), dd12 and ds8 get on their DSis and dd4 pops on a video. We barely say more than a grunt to each other. We do that for 30-60 minutes while we all fully wake up and become functional human beings. Then those that want to eat something do, and everyone starts getting ready for the day. They play or read or I put on an educational movie. Then it is lunchtime. We all eat and once we are done we start actually doing schoolwork and chores. None of the kids do independant school work. We still get tons accomplished we just do it in the afternoon and the evening. The days we tried to start school in the morning left us all tense and angry by lunch time, we are just not morning people at all.

 

You day sounds ideal to me. Only.... DS wants to do his "school time" first thing in the morning in a VERY intense way. And he doesn't want to take breaks and do other activities-- even when he CAN'T concentrate another second, he still doesn't want to take a break. He's as focused as a 4-y-o can be... Crazy kid!

 

We are usually up by 8:00 am as we like to listen to Adventures in Odyssey while we eat. If we have had a late night the night before we cancel that if we feel more sleep is needed.

 

Where might one hear Adventures in Odyssey? I didn't know you could still listen to those! I have very fond memories of listening to AO with my mother, and watching the cartoon videos at my grandma's as a kid. (Along with McGee & Me videos... :001_smile:)

[swellmomma]

You day sounds ideal to me. Only.... DS wants to do his "school time" first thing in the morning in a VERY intense way. And he doesn't want to take breaks and do other activities-- even when he CAN'T concentrate another second, he still doesn't want to take a break. He's as focused as a 4-y-o can be... Crazy kid!

 

 

 

Where might one hear Adventures in Odyssey? I didn't know you could still listen to those! I have very fond memories of listening to AO with my mother, and watching the cartoon videos at my grandma's as a kid. (Along with McGee & Me videos... :001_smile:)

 

 

We borrow adventure in odyssey cds from the library all the time. As for your driven 4 yr old, good luck with that :lol: My dd loves to do school but thankfully isn't that driven yet. Though she was mad at me today because we took dd12 out to sell her girl guide cookies this afternoon instead of doing math, which my 4 yr announced she needed to practice because she wasn't good yet.

[chepyl]

DS is up by 8:30 or 9 most days. I let him sleep in if he needs too. DD is rarely up before 10. If she does wake up early, I put her in my bed with a video and either snuggle with her until she falls asleep again, or I leave her to rest. We have to be at coop by 9 on Thursdays. That is the only day I wake the kids up.

 

DS will play legos, Wii, or watch netflix when he wakes up. Sometimes he gets his own breakfast. When I get up, usually around 9; sometimes as late as 10...I get breakfast and we chat. I might clean, we might play a game, or we might start school. We start no later than 11:30, we are generally done by 1. Then we make lunch.

 

We play for the afternoon. I go to the studio between 3:30 and 5:00 most nights. I get home between 8:30 and 9:00. We eat dinner at the kids are in bed by 11 pm. I try to get to bed by midnight.

 

We have a very abnormal schedule, but it works for us. :D

 

As the kids get older, we will start school earlier, but at this point (and for another 1.5 years) I only have 1 that is doing a full load of school. DD won't be in K for a while. Her school is on an as requested basis - which tends to be daily :tongue_smilie:

[warneral]

my ds usually gets up before 7:00 and starts reading. We are starting to get dd up around 7:00 and starting school around 7:30. They had to be at the bus stop at 7:00am last year so it isn't too bad :) This way, we get lots of work in before we take a mid-morning break.

[KristinaBreece]

We borrow adventure in odyssey cds from the library all the time. As for your driven 4 yr old, good luck with that :lol: My dd loves to do school but thankfully isn't that driven yet. Though she was mad at me today because we took dd12 out to sell her girl guide cookies this afternoon instead of doing math, which my 4 yr announced she needed to practice because she wasn't good yet.

 

I'll check out our local library-- I was thinking they were still on the radio somewhere. lol...

 

We're into DS's kindy year, and so many people told me that I shouldn't start him on K yet. (My stepmother actually said, "It's stupid to start him on this stuff now, when he's never even been to preschool. Send him this year, and he can start K next year." They totally ignore the fact that I've chosen to homeschool him...) He'll be 5 October 15 and our district cut off date for PS K is September 30. But he's ready NOW, and I've seen what happens to kids who are bored in school because they're made to move too slowly. They become discipline problems, either because they're too active, too talkative, or too distracted to pay attention when they're bored. Ok... Rant over. :rant:

[chepyl]

I'll check out our local library-- I was thinking they were still on the radio somewhere. lol...

 

We're into DS's kindy year, and so many people told me that I shouldn't start him on K yet. (My stepmother actually said, "It's stupid to start him on this stuff now, when he's never even been to preschool. Send him this year, and he can start K next year." They totally ignore the fact that I've chosen to homeschool him...) He'll be 5 October 15 and our district cut off date for PS K is September 30. But he's ready NOW, and I've seen what happens to kids who are bored in school because they're made to move too slowly. They become discipline problems, either because they're too active, too talkative, or too distracted to pay attention when they're bored. Ok... Rant over. :rant:

 

I did the same with my ds last year. His birthday is Sept 23 and the cutoff here is Sept 1. When I decided to continue hs with first grade this year, my parents did not understand. When I explained what he was working on and capable of vs what he would be doing in K this year, they started to get it.