Starting schoolwork in the afternoon

[Annie N]

I am seriously considering starting doing schoolowrk in the afternoon. Does anyone else do this, or am I completely out of my mind?

 

There would be time in the morning and evening for the older children to independent work in the morning, but what I find are two things: 1. I am very forgetful and become extremely nervous and distracted if I have other things to do (like call to make doctor's appointments, bills, etc.); 2. our schedule is generally very crowded in the morning and evening, with these blank aimless periods in the afternoon; and 3. I am not a morning person to begin with.

 

I have heard that it is best to do schoolwork in the morning because one is more alert then and because it is best to do the most important things first.

 

So I just hoped that maybe some people would have more experience than I in this and be able to help me out in thinking this through.

 

Thanks!!!!

[Tammy]

LOL...just kidding.... I think it is best to do schoolwork how/when/where it works best for your family!!!!

 

I don't do schoolwork in the mornings....since we sleep in also... We seem to have the most free time at night....so there ya go!!!

 

.

[Erica in PA]

I am seriously considering starting doing schoolowrk in the afternoon. Does anyone else do this, or am I completely out of my mind?

 

There would be time in the morning and evening for the older children to independent work in the morning, but what I find are two things: 1. I am very forgetful and become extremely nervous and distracted if I have other things to do (like call to make doctor's appointments, bills, etc.); 2. our schedule is generally very crowded in the morning and evening, with these blank aimless periods in the afternoon; and 3. I am not a morning person to begin with.

 

I have heard that it is best to do schoolwork in the morning because one is more alert then and because it is best to do the most important things first.

 

So I just hoped that maybe some people would have more experience than I in this and be able to help me out in thinking this through.

 

Thanks!!!!

 

Well, here's how it breaks down for us: doing school in the mornings is better for the kids (better attention, more energy, etc.), and doing school in the afternoons is better for *me.* I can get so much more done in a day if I do the hard stuff in the morning (which for me is cleaning, organizing, making phone calls, etc.), and then do school with the kids in the afternoon. But I can't do that every day, because the kids really do better at their schoolwork in the mornings, and obviously that is very important. So, we usually have school in the mornings, but when things have built up that I really need to do, or if I have a big project to tackle, we bump school up to the afternoon that day so that I can have the morning to get my stuff done. I'd say I do that once every other week or so, depending on what I have going on. It works really well for me!

[Plucky]

I could never pull it off. We have music lessons and activities in the afternoon. If you think it will work, I say try it. You can always switch back.

[mommaduck]

Hubby used to be on second shift and that is how we started schooling. Then he went to first and it was rough. Thankfully, he is finally going back to seconds and we are back into what works for us. I also like to have my home clean before school.

[happyWImom]

I think that if it works for you & your kids, do it. We had many activities in the morning also, and it was always my intention to do school in the afternoon on those days, but... I was always too tired by then, so I ended up blowing it off. Not that I'm a morning person, or am thrilled doing it right away, either. We generally start between 9:30 and 10:00, and then after lunch do read alouds, crafts, etc.. I think that's the beauty of hsing-you work it to fit your schedule, and your family.

[elegantlion]

We don't start our real schoolwork until 11:30. We read from 10:00 to 11:00 and then break for lunch. It works great for us. Ds' most alert time is afternoon. Neither of us are morning people. We started this on an experimental basis last year. It was a life saver for us.

 

I say try it for a week or two to see if it clicks. I know a few people who school later in the day and it works great for their family lifestyle.

[Gretchen in NJ]

It has never worked for my family, but I think it is worth a try or two. All families/homeschools are different. It may work for you.:001_smile:

[Annie N]

Thanks everybody! It is really helpful to know that it works for some and why it doesn't work for others so I can know what to watch out for!

 

I am trying to figure out how to make this all work without getting burned out. My husband recently went to work out of town and I find I am a lot more tired in the evenings than I used to be (which means that instead of being out of it for 1/4 of my day, I am out of it for almost half :( ). I know I need ot make some changes, but am not sure what! But I think that this is definitely worth a try!

[Carol in Cal.]

My DD (12) has only recently moved away from being so much more effective in the morning than any other time at math, grammar, and writing that it was not really even worth it to try to do them in the afternoon. Content work has always been fine later on, but for the skills stuff, 45 minutes of work in the morning would translate into 2 1/2 hours of work in the afternoon, with arguments, and not well done in the end. For a child like that, an afternoon start time would not work at all.

 

However, I have a good friend whose son is just the opposite--working best in the afternoon.

 

And some friends don't really observe a pattern in their children.

 

I do think that for tough skills acquisition, your children need to have at least some of that work done during their 'sweet spot' timewise, or they will struggle a lot; but not necessarily all of it.

 

My sister, who is a public school teacher, says that through at least second and maybe third or even fourth grades, kids can't learn any significant skills after lunch.