lea_lpz Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I actually recent posted about wanting to finish school by noon to reinstate quiet time, lol, but with the holidays baby has been going to bed later and waking later so if I want to change our routine nows my chance. Anyhow, I think the main issue was by breaking our school day into two sessions with a long break I felt the kids were unfocused in the afternoons. So, if baby actually keeps up with a long after lunch nap for three glorious hours, I am pondering, would doing our chores in the morning, having breakfast, working out, and then coming home for lunch and putting down for nap and starting school AFTER lunch in one good 3 hour stretch work? I would probably do just an hour with my k'er and then send him up to nap and finish with my 2nd grader. If you do school after lunch how does it work for you and what do you do in the AM? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arcadia Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 My night owl 5th grader sometimes sleep until noon. He has brunch then get his work done. He finish around dinner time. For me, I have one to one time with my 4th grader in the morning. He needs supervision while older is independent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
birchbark Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 We do the bulk of our academics in the afternoon. I find it is a more productive time since the kids have their wiggles out from lunch break (they are required to go outside), and it is SO QUIET with the littles napping. Mornings are chores, breakfast, music, and maybe a little Circle Time. My 8th-grader does some independent work as well. Of course, there is the occasional afternoon activity and then we need to be flexible and get 'er done in the morning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamindy Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 I actually recent posted about wanting to finish school by noon to reinstate quiet time, lol, but with the holidays baby has been going to bed later and waking later so if I want to change our routine nows my chance. Anyhow, I think the main issue was by breaking our school day into two sessions with a long break I felt the kids were unfocused in the afternoons. So, if baby actually keeps up with a long after lunch nap for three glorious hours, I am pondering, would doing our chores in the morning, having breakfast, working out, and then coming home for lunch and putting down for nap and starting school AFTER lunch in one good 3 hour stretch work? I would probably do just an hour with my k'er and then send him up to nap and finish with my 2nd grader. If you do school after lunch how does it work for you and what do you do in the AM? I just posted a similar question. I hope some other respond. It has been a difficult transition for me, since the afternoons used to be mine for housekeeping/cooking, that sort of thing. And I'm a morning person - much more productive with school things if they're knocked right out. BUT, I also have littles that NEED me in the morning. I feel like we've been less-than-productive with our mornings and I'm curious what others do. I've considered doing library story time once a week since that's what I did when I only had littles. My bigs can read a book. But I would like most our activities to be stay-at-home ones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coco_Clark Posted December 29, 2014 Share Posted December 29, 2014 We did that last year. Morning out of the house (errands, the park, the library, ect) for the most part, then lunch, and then school from 1:00-2:30 while the babies (last year there were two to three young toddlers in the house on a given day) napped and the preschooler played quietly in his room. It worked for us because I was only schooling one child, myself and that child are both slow to get going in the mornings, and it got everyone else out of our hair. This year we are doing two sessions roughly 9:00-10:30, and 1:00-2:30. There were several reasons for the change. We are taking a break from inviting extra kids into our house at the moment, so I only have one toddler and he's fairly independent. I have two students now, and doing one right after the other in a big 3-4 hour block makes ME impatient with whoever is last. My 1st grader is very much craving independence, so getting his skill-based lessons with me in early let's him decide for himself when he finishes his independent work. And my new kindergartner is a bright and shiny early in the morning kid. By 9am he's already been up for four hours and by naptime he's pretty much done thinking for the day. I do miss the easy breezy mornings, though. And its true that the big middle break makes it hard to recollect everyone. We keep the afternoon for enjoyment subjects, for the most part. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SorrelZG Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 I have seasons where my oldest doesn't begin his schoolwork until after lunch. During those seasons I am usually spending the mornings reading aloud and working one-on-one with the younger children. He could theoretically be getting the independent part of his workload done in the morning, but he prefers to have me close by and attentive (and to listen in to the younger ones' read alouds). If he isn't listening to read alouds or doing chores, he is reading or working on his own projects during the morning. After lunch everyone is down for naps/quiet time for a good two hours so he is far more effecient in this time slot with me at his side than at any other. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckens Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 We don't specifically start after lunch. However, we do have the philosophy:"When is the best time to do schoolwork?" I ask. "When the baby is sleeping!" is the proper answer. It's a double win: the baby is not ignored, and older dd gets the help she needs for schoolwork without having to wait for me.I don't care whether that is morning, noon, or night. Traditionally in our household, this has been that I wake older dd earlier and we work until the baby wakes. She can watch tv when the little one calls me for wake-up breastfeeding. Likewise, nap has always been school time.At this point my little one is 4yo. She doesn't sleep a lot later than her sister, and naps are a rare occurrence. However, we try to use the time my little one is down for things that are "high intensity" for the older dd: Piano lesson, spelling lists, Chinese, some parts of math. ETA: These are things that dd can't do by herself (like giving herself a spelling test). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted December 30, 2014 Author Share Posted December 30, 2014 ^^and I think the unpredictability us tough! This baby doesn't have the most predictable schedule so sometimes she taking less naps or shorter more frequent naps. Or now all of sudden she's sleeping in until 8:30 when she used to be up at 6-6:30. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garga Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 Now that my kids are older we can't wait until after lunch or we'd be schooling until 7. Schooling after lunch never worked for us because their little brains couldn't focus in the afternoon. Things that we could knock out in the morning would drag if we waited until after lunch. But, I have heard of people who work better in the afternoon. So, I say, if it works for you and the kids are able to focus in the afternoon, then what's the big deal? School whenever you feel like it. Back in the olden days, about 6 years before I even thought I'd have kids of my own and most certainly was not thinking about homeschooling, I had a friend who would school in the late afternoon. Her husband worked nights and they'd all get up in the early afternoon and go to bed in the wee hours of the morning so that they had family time around her husband's work schedule. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SevenDaisies Posted December 30, 2014 Share Posted December 30, 2014 We schooled in the afternoon as long as I had one that napped in the afternoon. Now that oldest is in fifth grade, she works the better part of the day and that isn't really possible. However, it worked for us for several years. While this worked, I worked-out at a leisurely hour, did laundry, went ice skating on the morning public sessions (when no one else was there), went to museums, did crafts or read books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jnaj Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I have tried a few different ways, but it seems my 1st grader does her best work in the morning. It ends up working out so that our afternoons are free for different things. I might try a different schedule after the new year though- still trying to work it out to see what might work best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca in KY Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 We do both. Sometimes I go to a 12 noon workout class; in that case, we try really hard to get school done in the morning before we leave. But I also enjoy some 9am workout classes. When I do those, we only have time to get dressed and eat breakfast before heading out the door, and we don't get home until 11:30. Next we eat lunch and have a bit of free time, then we buckle down to schoolwork. For us, the biggest thing that sets us up for success is setting proper expectations. I make sure to tell DS each day when we're doing school, going to the gym, having free time, etc. If he knows what to expect, all is well. If he doesn't...well, those days are pretty yucky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LaMere Academy Posted December 31, 2014 Share Posted December 31, 2014 I only have two teenagers left, both love to stay up late, as do I. By the time they get up and going it's time to eat lunch or close to it, so I wait until they've eaten to start school. On a really good day it may be 11, but more likely it's around noon. I enjoy the time to read before we have to get going. We school until around 4-5PM depending on what we're doing. It works for us. We've never been early risers, but now that it's just my last two we are even more relaxed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted January 1, 2015 Author Share Posted January 1, 2015 We do both. Sometimes I go to a 12 noon workout class; in that case, we try really hard to get school done in the morning before we leave. But I also enjoy some 9am workout classes. When I do those, we only have time to get dressed and eat breakfast before heading out the door, and we don't get home until 11:30. Next we eat lunch and have a bit of free time, then we buckle down to schoolwork. For us, the biggest thing that sets us up for success is setting proper expectations. I make sure to tell DS each day when we're doing school, going to the gym, having free time, etc. If he knows what to expect, all is well. If he doesn't...well, those days are pretty yucky. This is exactly why I am thinking of the switch. I want to go work out at 9:30 and so I do not think we'd get much school in before that and probably be home around 11:00 am. I think I might be the issue. I tend to get afternoon slumps and so it's easy to not end up doing school in the afternoon if it's not going well, but I am hoping working out can help me with that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 We did afternoon school for a brief period last year when my youngest quit taking a morning nap. It didn't work well for us, my energy level tends to crash in the afternoon so I didn't have much patience. You could always try it for awhile and see how it works for you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted January 2, 2015 Author Share Posted January 2, 2015 ^^^this! I always get an afternoon slump but I am hoping working out regularity in the AM will change that ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamamindy Posted January 2, 2015 Share Posted January 2, 2015 ^^^this! I always get an afternoon slump but I am hoping working out regularity in the AM will change that ;) Ahhh, the afternoon slump. I know it well. To combat it, I am trying a refresher of sorts in which after I put the babies down for their afternoon nap, my big girls play a game alone for 20 minutes or so while I "reboot". I am hoping it will help!! That and maybe more coffee?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted January 3, 2015 Author Share Posted January 3, 2015 Ahhh, the afternoon slump. I know it well. To combat it, I am trying a refresher of sorts in which after I put the babies down for their afternoon nap, my big girls play a game alone for 20 minutes or so while I "reboot". I am hoping it will help!! That and maybe more coffee?? :) I am trying shirt cat naps and it helps, followed by afternoon coffee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lea_lpz Posted January 5, 2015 Author Share Posted January 5, 2015 Update ---tried it today before we start school but trying to do the schedule! Worked out ok thus far! I really enjoyed getting out in the morning, the work out went surprisingly well considering how long it's been since I worked out regularity, and baby did a good long nap while we worked on organizing our "school cupboard" and played a board game. I am thinking this could work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In2why Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 We do the majority of our homeschooling after lunch. My son is not a morning person and prefers to do independent projects in the morning. He does things in the morning though....chores, reading, research, playing. As for me I do the same. Run errands, clean, work on my own projects, read, or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momto2Cs Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 I work outside the home in the mornings, so we always do our lessons in the afternoons. My kids are 11 and 13, and use their morning time to work on personal projects, occasionally watch movies, cook and/or do fun projects with my mom a couple of days a week...plus they get to sleep in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommy_of_4 Posted January 6, 2015 Share Posted January 6, 2015 We do our lessons on the afternoon when the baby naps. I am not a morning person at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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