Do you wake your kids?

[angelmama1209]

I guess this may be a spin off of sorts from the morning basket thread. I am intrigued by this idea and it sounds so lovely and peaceful, but we just do not have the time for it in the morning. I feel one of the beauties of homeschooling is not having to wake up at a set time, but my 7yo can sleep until 10! We also tend to be very busy and usually leave the house around 9:30 2-4 times a week. I do try to do a family reading time before rest, but we aren't always home to do that either, and my middles can be very distracting during this time. :/ We've been having trouble fitting everything in and I keep thinking I should wake her each morning to get our day started, but part of me balks at that. So, do you wake your kids? If not, How do get them all at the table at once? Mine eat as they wake so the middles are usually done by the time my oldest wakes up.

 

Sorry so rambly...

[fraidycat]

No. I sleep later than them. They generally don't wake me, either. They like to take advantage of me sleeping so they get some t.v. time in before I get up and make them turn it off. :)

[lotsofpumpkins]

A couple of mine usually wake up somewhere between 7:30 and 8 and come to get me because they want breakfast. The others will usually wake up when they hear me in the kitchen, but if not, I do go and wake them up. If some of the children are up, I want them all up, so we can get going with our day. Several times lately we've been able to start schoolwork by 9 am and it's wonderful getting so much done before lunch.

[Farrar]

If I wanted to wake my kids up, I'd have to be up by 5 am. So, no.

[chepyl]

Only if we have to be somewhere. I want my kids to get the sleep they need. As they get a little older, they ate starting to get up earlier on their own. I only have two, and only one to do school with daily so time is not an issue.

[Haupia]

I try and have school start no later than nine, but I want more out of school and a clean house. So this year I am going to try and wake early. I would love to hear what others do. I am with you, I have fought early mornings for years, but I have also been constantly pregnant or with a baby...so I was exhausted.

[2queens&1princenmyhouse]

I let my kids sleep until they wake up themselves. They are some seriously cranky kids when I wake them-and I see no reason to invite drama into my life. :tongue_smilie: DS usually gets up about 7:30, DD9 about 8:00 and DD11, well she sometimes sees 10! That said, I do like the idea of the read aloud around the table and all that the morning basket provides (I also was intrigued by that thread). I've been thinking about doing something similar during lunch, since we are definitely all around the table during that time.

 

We may be a bit different in that we don't have a gathering in the morning. I start getting daycare kiddos at 7:00, so their demeanor plays a big factor in how the day goes. I have a 3mo, 5mo, 8mo and 2yo, and 2.5yo. Usually, the girls just wake up and grab their own breakfast, take their stuff and go off and do it. If they have questions, they come and ask. DS works with me in the afternoon while the daycare kids are napping. He does so willingly so he doesn't have to nap. :lol:

 

We do our read aloud before bed, so maybe we could make that in a more formal time. I'm interested in what others do.

[SilverMoon]

No. I'm usually encouraging them to stay in bed until at least 7, because I don't enjoy being woken up before then. :tongue_smilie: In spite of being homeschooled their entire lives, my kids don't know how to sleep in.

[justamouse]

As summer comes to a close, I start waking them up around 7. That way I'm not waiting for stragglers. If we want to have a leisurely day, we have to have a common starting point.

[Targhee]

Typical morning dS (7) wakes at 6:00 and knows he cannot leave his room until 7:00. At exactly 7:00 there is loud noises and dd (5) awakens. Dd (9) complains loudly about the noises and siblings in on her upper bunk bed, then goes back to sleep. I do wake her back up about 8:00. Me, I have a nursing little who wakes me every so often from 3:00 am on so I squeeze every minute of sleep I can until I force myself out of bed around 7:45 and go start breakfast.

[spaceman]

I do. But gently.

 

I'm up at 6, and at 7 if the kids aren't awake I start opening doors and playing Vivaldi at a moderate volume. Breakfast is at 7:30 so we can eat together before my husband leaves for work. The kids need to be up and finished with their chores before then.

[j3mom]

I do wake up my DS (8) usually around 7am. I feel that if we start our schooling activities by 8-8:30 we can be done by lunch, and our day is much more productive. If for some reason we don't start early, everything seems to take twice the time. My son loves his undisturbed quite time after lunch for couple of hours, so he is motivated to finish early.

[edeemarie]

I am not one in favor of waking a sleeping child unless it is absolutely necessary. Vacation Bible School last year was enough to convince me we could never get up and go to school every day- I would lose my mind and have very cranky kids! My kids go to bed at around 9 (or 10 depending on how late we read) and they are up at about 8 or 9. We are usually ready to start the school day by about 9 or 9:30, although sometimes we are still in our pajamas! My husband works 2nd shift and sleeps in until about 10 so it is best for our kids to sleep in because the only way for them to be quiet is if they are sleeping!

[Gentlemommy]

Never. Lol. Well, I have to when we go to farm camp, but other than that, no way. Dd(1.5) wakes the earliest, at 7, followed by dd(7) at 7:30, and my straggler is dd(4), who will usually sleep until 9. I try to get the toddler nursed and then her breakfast ready so that when dd(7) gets up, I have a few precious moments to start her VT and reading. If nothing else gets done, those two things do.

I also just read the morning basket thread, and I love love love the idea....practically though, I don't know if it will work for us. The toddler is just too distracting and destructive right now. :tongue_smilie: I might try to have two baskets, maybe the morning one can be the calendar work followed by audio stories or poems, and then the read alouds can be during the toddlers rest time...of course then I lose MY only chance to sit down and eat...:confused:

 

How do you guys make the MB idea work if you have toddlers?!:001_huh:

[Classically Minded]

It depends on if she got enough sleep. At her age, the recommended is 10 hours, so if she has slept that, I will most of the time wake her up. I try to get 8-9 hours of sleep and our day always goes better (and faster!) when we both have had the right amount of sleep! ;)

[tammyw]

No. I'm usually encouraging them to stay in bed until at least 7, because I don't enjoy being woken up before then. :tongue_smilie: In spite of being homeschooled their entire lives, my kids don't know how to sleep in.

:iagree:

 

Actually, if I happen to wake earlier than they do, then I tiptoe around in hopes I get a little quiet/free time :)

[LindaOz]

We have a 'before 8:30 rule' in the mornings. This means that everything each child needs to do before we start the 'formal' part of our day has to be done by then. This includes:

 

-up and dressed

-personal Bible time

-make bed

-morning chores

-breakfast

 

If I see that one of the kids is sleeping too late to get that done, then I have to wake him/her. The reasons I do this is because, firstly, I try to work around dh's work day somewhat. He starts work early, but sometimes he can be home before 4pm and I would like for us to not be still doing schoolwork when he does. Secondly, when we do start schoolwork, we start together in the lounge room for Bible and memory. If we don't have a set starting time then the dawdler takes forever to do her morning things and everyone is hanging around waiting. I had to set a boundary. I also think that getting up and organised in time is a life skill - but that's just me.

 

Some of my kids also get some of their schoolwork done before 8:30 but that is their choice - I don't require it.

 

When 8:30 rolls around it's actually quite restful because we've done our busy things and we get to relax, read, and talk. :001_smile:

[Amy Jo]

I've started waking mine. I've been playing Sugar Free Allstars "Gotta Get Up" song and it works great for rousing them (DS6 was out of bed <10 seconds after I started it today!). Now if they have a late night, I wake them later (or not at all). But I'm trying to get us on a routine, and get an earlier start.

 

I do enjoy my "me time" in the morning, but there are only so many hours in a day.

[sagira]

Yes. I wake up ds at 8.

[ChandlerMom]

My kids go to bed at 7p (8p latest in the summer) and are up by 6a. They fall asleep in minutes on their own, stay down all night, and get up perky on their own. (I'm the one dragging my tail, esp if I've stayed up too late like tonight, :lol:).

 

Sleeping until 10a sounds excessive. When is your kids' bedtime? How many hours a night are they sleeping?

 

 

Some kids are morning larks and other night owls, but I'd do what I could to encourage a normal sleep rhythm. Do they watch tv or play with electronics or rough house right before bed? Do they play in their bedrooms? Changes to develop a healthy sleep pattern and sleep associations might help. Make sure dc is getting cues to gear down for bedtime, associated their bedroom with sleep instead of play, falls asleep quickly, and hopefully wakes within a couple hours of sunrise.

 

Sleep is really important, to mood and learning. I um, better go to bed myself. :D

Edited July 21, 2012 by ChandlerMom

[Paintedlady]

I usually wake mine at 8 because they need to eat, brush teeth/wash face, and do chores before we start school at 9.

[MrsBanjoClown]

No. I sleep later than them. They generally don't wake me, either. They like to take advantage of me sleeping so they get some t.v. time in before I get up and make them turn it off. :)

 

This is what happens in our house too. My kids are usually both up by 7.

[zenjenn]

If my kids aren't up by 8, I'll wake them so they can eat and enjoy their "morning show" (something off the DVR) and still safely get started on schoolwork no later than 9 am.

 

If they are up early they start school early.

[chepyl]

My kids go to bed at 7p (8p latest in the summer) and are up by 6a. They fall asleep in minutes on their own, stay down all night, and get up perky on their own. (I'm the one dragging my tail, esp if I've stayed up too late like tonight, :lol:).

 

Sleeping until 10a sounds excessive. When is your kids' bedtime? How many hours a night are they sleeping?

 

 

Some kids are morning larks and other night owls, but I'd do what I could to encourage a normal sleep rhythm. Do they watch tv or play with electronics or rough house right before bed? Do they play in their bedrooms? Changes to develop a healthy sleep pattern and sleep associations might help. Make sure dc is getting cues to gear down for bedtime, associated their bedroom with sleep instead of play, falls asleep quickly, and hopefully wakes within a couple hours of sunrise.

 

Sleep is really important, to mood and learning. I um, better go to bed myself. :D

 

My kids.go to bed anytime between 10 pm and midnight depending of the time of year and what we have going business wise. If we are in production week for a musical, they go to bed later. Right now, they are in bed by 10:30 because we have nothing going on and my teachin schedule is light. When DH is in.Christmas light season and I am teaching until 9, we often don't eat dinner until 10, the kids go to bed later.

 

We have a routine that works for us. After dinner the kids get pjs, brush their teeth and they get to watch something on Netflix in our room. We either clean the kitchen or rest or finish pir dinners in peace. Most nights we read a story, sing a song and they go to sleep. If we do our routine, it does not matter what time we put them in bed, they go to sleep. Last weekend DD was going to bed at midnight. Between the 4th, a baseball game, and family stuff she had been out late. I put her to bed at 11 one night, 10:30 the next, and 10:15 the last two nights. She will sleep for 12 hours no matter what. If in bed by midnight, she is up around noon. DS.sleep for 8-10.

 

I do not think everyone needs to operate on an early morning schedule. My job and our busoness do not operate on that schedule. I believe sleep is important. We sleep based on pur work schedules. That is also part of why we homeschool.

[Laura Corin]

When I was home educating I used to put the boys to bed really early so they woke up in time. I did wake them if necessary, but I rarely needed to.

 

Laura

[queenie]

My girls seem to always wake up at 7 no mater what time they go to bed! Our normal routine is in bed by 7:30-8 but sometimes they are up until 10ish and they still wake up at 7 like clockwork. I wish they would sleep in a little on those days!!

[Hoot]

I don't wake DS13. He is a morning person so he's up anywhere between 5 and 7am every morning. Our morning basket time takes around an hour. After a shower, we start with our Bible DVD during breakfast, which takes about 15 min., and then move to the couch to read. Once school starts we'll add Latin and Grammar onto the end and then he'll watch a 10 min. kid's news show as well.

[fourisenough]

There is no need to wake everyone. I find that in late-August/early-September when we're re-establishing a school-year routine, I have to encourage an earlier bed time, to ensure an earlier wake time, but once established, they pretty much all wake between 7-8 and are prepared to begin working by 9.

 

This fall will be different since DD1 will be going to PS/high school for the first time. DH or I will need to leave the house by 7:30 to get her to school by 7:40. Though this will be hard on dark winter mornings, I hope to embrace the need to be up & out early. We plan to take turns (alternate days) going to the gym to exercise after dropping her off at school. So long as I'm home/out of the shower by 9, I can sit down at the table with the others (12, 7, & 3) to begin our morning time.

 

All of this assumes an 8p bedtime for the two littles and a 10p bedtime for the two big girls. I wish even the big girls could be asleep earlier, but their swim practice runs until 9 and it take some time to get home and wind down.

 

All this to say that if we couldn't all naturally be awake and ready to begin work by 9a, I WOULD wake everyone because 9-12 is our most important, productive working period of the day and I wouldn't want to miss it.

[...................]

No. My son gets up at 6:15 and my dd between 6:45 and 7:00. They have an 8:00 bedtime which we keep very faithfully, including weekends, vacations, and holidays. I believe consistent bedtimes are extremely important for growth, and physical and mental health for children, teens, and adults.

 

 

My husband and I also are very faithful to get to sleep by 10:00.

[Kelly1730]

My guys usually wake on their own by 7am. Sometimes earlier, sometimes later but I rarely have to wake them unless we have to be out of the house early in the morning for co-op etc. then they sleep in:001_huh:.

[KarenNC]

I didn't until this year (6th grade). If we want to be able to do outside-the-house activities with our homeschool group (so with her friends, some of which she's known since age 4), we have to have our at-home bookwork done at a reasonable hour. That means starting at about 8am, so I am rousting her out of bed normally between 7 and 7:30 so that she can eat, feed the cats, clean the litter boxes, etc. I don't insist on getting dressed most mornings. This schedule worked really well for us this past year, but will need to be tweaked to the demands of next year.

 

Part of my goal is to get done in a reasonable time so that she has free time rather than homework when her father gets home, friends come over, we need to run errands, or she just wants to hang out around the house. If we don't start early, it seems like we accomplish nothing else that day but school. It's also helped me feel like we aren't always rushed or playing catch-up. Another part is to gradually be getting her ready to deal with a more typical weekday schedule as we move to more outside classes and even look at the possibility of public high school. She gets to sleep in when we have a day off of school as long as she wants, and on Sundays can sleep in until about 8:30. Saturdays, she and my husband leave the house by 7:45 for aikido.

[bamagirl]

I only wake mine if we are leaving the house and have to be some where early. Otherwise, I let them sleep..IMO that's one of the major perks of h'sing! My DS is up usually by 7 anyway, but DD sleeps until 9 or so some mornings.

[mom24cuties]

I let my 2 and 4 year old sleep as long as they want. My 9 year old is usually awake by 6am with his dad, and my sometimes I have to wake my 7 year old up becasue she will sleep until 10am or later if I let her. If we don't have to go anywhere during the day I will let her sleep until she is ready to wake up.

[Homemama2]

I use to let mine sleep in, but last year we started waking them up if they weren't up by 7. We have an early bedtime, so they get plenty of sleep.

[heritagelearningacademy]

I let mine sleep in when I can. They are usually up by 7:30 or 8 at the latest. The youngest one, she is 5, sleeps in until 8:30 when she is really tired. I try not to wake her. I can start with the older boys ahead of time.

 

We usually start by 8:30 or 9 for school. If people need to sleep in longer, I know that makes our school day go longer. But, sometimes, that is the reality based upon our sports season.

[Sahamamama]

I am not one in favor of waking a sleeping child unless it is absolutely necessary. Vacation Bible School last year was enough to convince me we could never get up and go to school every day- I would lose my mind and have very cranky kids! My kids go to bed at around 9 (or 10 depending on how late we read) and they are up at about 8 or 9. We are usually ready to start the school day by about 9 or 9:30, although sometimes we are still in our pajamas! My husband works 2nd shift and sleeps in until about 10 so it is best for our kids to sleep in because the only way for them to be quiet is if they are sleeping!

 

 

:lol: This cracked me up, because last summer's morning (9 am) VBS was enough to make me say the same thing. :D My girls are all in bed by 8 or 9 every night, unless we are doing a night time VBS. They sleep until 7 or 8 and are never, ever cranky when they wake up naturally. They are so adorable when they are sleeping, WHY would I want to wake them up? ;)

 

My husband's schedule is ALL over the place, plus he travels. Whether he is home or gone, I am so glad to not have to get out the door every day for school. We do still get our school work done, we just do it differently.

 

I couldn't homeschool in my pajamas, though. :sleep: I would want to crawl back in bed all day. Zzzzzzzzzz. To me, pajamas are a visual sign that says: (a) I am tired, so let me sleep; or (b) I am on vacation/it is Saturday, so let me relax; or © I am sick, so nurture me. :lol: To me, pajamas do NOT say, "I am ready to WORK, so bring it on!" :001_huh: But different strokes....

 

We are like hobbits. We get up, have First Breakfast (something small), make our beds, I work out (1/2 hour) while the girls play & read, we take showers, get dressed (sometimes in "uniforms"), do some chores, have Second Breakfast (eggs & coffee), do some more chores. Then we are ready to start, usually around 10 am or so. We start with Morning Chapel -- Bible chapter reading, prayer, Bible story read aloud, hymns, Scripture memory work, God's Names, and a weekly felt Bible story. After that, an hour of Math for everyone at once, then a break/snack, then English block... and so on, until the afternoon, when everyone takes a quiet time/nap. We read aloud some more in the evenings.

 

I admit that as I look at the work ahead for this upcoming school year (2nd Grader & K-twins), I know our leisurely summer mornings will have to give way to a more determined effort to get the mornings "going." But for now, I'm enjoying the lazy pace!

[prairiegirl]

My oldest uses her alarm to get up at 7:30. My ds usually wakes up on his own before then and I usually have to wake up my youngest at 7:30. I don't like waiting for stragglers. I like us all to start school at the same time. When we start all together early then our day is calm and goes at a leisurely pace. I know, for me, that if I had them starting at different times or if we waited for all of them to be up, I would be too stressed to enjoy our learning time.

 

We have sleep-in days on Fri.(we have a shortened schedule for this day) and Sat.

[MicheleinMN]

I have to wake my teen boys. They can literally sleep until noon or later if allowed to do so. I usually sleep until 8 during the summer and try to get up by 7 - 7:30 during the school year.

[Classically Minded]

My kids.go to bed anytime between 10 pm and midnight depending of the time of year and what we have going business wise. If we are in production week for a musical, they go to bed later. Right now, they are in bed by 10:30 because we have nothing going on and my teachin schedule is light. When DH is in.Christmas light season and I am teaching until 9, we often don't eat dinner until 10, the kids go to bed later.

 

We have a routine that works for us. After dinner the kids get pjs, brush their teeth and they get to watch something on Netflix in our room. We either clean the kitchen or rest or finish pir dinners in peace. Most nights we read a story, sing a song and they go to sleep. If we do our routine, it does not matter what time we put them in bed, they go to sleep. Last weekend DD was going to bed at midnight. Between the 4th, a baseball game, and family stuff she had been out late. I put her to bed at 11 one night, 10:30 the next, and 10:15 the last two nights. She will sleep for 12 hours no matter what. If in bed by midnight, she is up around noon. DS.sleep for 8-10.

 

I do not think everyone needs to operate on an early morning schedule. My job and our busoness do not operate on that schedule. I believe sleep is important. We sleep based on pur work schedules. That is also part of why we homeschool.

 

Glad I'm not the only one! Due to our schedule and activities with church, we have late nights a lot, most of the time we aren't in bed until 11 or later and wake anywhere between 9-11am.

[thefragile7393]

My problem is I work 12 hour shifts and desparately want to sleep until 9 or even 10 on days I don't work. On days I do work I need to be to work at 7 am so I have to wake them always on those days....my son appears to need a lot of sleep and he easily could sleep 12 hours. On the days I don't work I try to have everyone up by 8 or 9 depending on the day.

[Karen in CO]

I think it is important to have a regular routine. I have frequent migraines and one of the major recommendations is good sleep health which includes going to bed and getting up at the same time. I also work, so I am up every morning at 6 so I can have a walk, coffee and a shower then read my email before the kids get up around 7:30. They go to bed early so that this can happen. Now that it is summer and the days are longer, I'm letting them stay up about an hour longer and get up an hour later - :D I'm flexible that way.

[Mommy_of_4]

No! All of my kids wake up about 6:30am by their selves.

[Ellie]

My dc naturally woke up 7:30-8 a.m., which was fine with us during the week most of the time. We woke them up on Sunday for church, or on the few other occasions when we had to leave the house early.

[acablue]

I only wake them up if we have to go somewhere early. On a typical morning, the boys wake up around 7:30, but Molly sleeps until 9/9:30. I don't mind because I get some things done with the boys before she wakes up. Anything that we do together can wait until later in the morning.

[AngieW in Texas]

My 14yo and 16yo have always been earlybirds and usually get up before I do. If either one of them is sleeping late, it's because she needs the sleep. I won't wake up either one of them unless we need to leave for an appointment of some type.

 

My 19yo has always been a night owl. When she was still hsing, I had many problems with her staying up until 2 or 3am and then wanting to sleep until noon. Since the reason for her being asleep late was that she was goofing around re-reading books for the 15th time or doing sudoku or whatever, I woke her up. I couldn't wait until after noon to start doing school with her. I had things to do. She did manage to get up for all her classes when she went to college. Now she has shifted earlier again.

[deerforest]

Yes. I am the first one up every day, and I wake DH and DD up between 6am-7am. I'm usually up between 5am-6am.

[Tarreymere]

If they are about to sleep through the nice hot cooked breakfast I made, then heck yeah I wake them up. Cold cereal is no way to start a day unless it is already too hot to cook at that hour. I make dh a nice breakfast every day before he goes to work and the kids would complain if they didn't have a chance to have some of it too. Sometimes that means that they get woken up.

Edited July 21, 2012 by Rainefox