Do you have a set "start time" every day?

Hello! I’m just curious about what type of schedule other families have. Do you start school at a certain time everyday? Or are you more laid back about it? My oldest is almost 7. I’ve been pretty laid back and just kind of let them start school leisurely. In the morning my oldest gets up and showers, then eats breakfast, then we usually start. Sometimes I let him play for awhile first. My husband thinks he should be getting up by 7:45 every morning to get ready and start by a certain time. I am more of the mind that I don’t care if he sleeps in until 9 as long as he gets his work done. I know every family is different but just curious what others do. Thanks! :smiley:

We are laid back here. We try and start by lunch hahaha!

I have tried making a schedule and I am too grumpy not having my house spotless before we start school. So after house is cleaned up from the morning activities we start. I wish I wasn’t so crazy about that, but I know what works for us I guess! The kids like the schedule too. It would be nice having the afternoon open though!

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While I’m new to homeschooling (starting this fall!) I think my kids would do better on a set schedule. My son has SPD and is on the spectrum and he does so much better on a set routine. the beauty of doing homeschool is the flexibility! If something comes up in the morning then you can start whenever :slight_smile: I’m excited to read what others do!!

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We start about 9am. My daughter needs routine. I like structure so, while we have some flexibility, there is a predictable flow to our day. Start at 9, lunch at noon, then finish up and do other things afterwards. :smiley:

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We start at 9am on the dot. They need to know that there are certain things they have to be on time for. They have to have their chores done, be dressed, teeth and hair brushed and breakfast ate by 9 am.

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We also start at 9 am. My son does most of his work independently so he starts while I am getting dressed and doing chores. He finishes his morning work typically by 11am then he can play until noon. He eats lunch and is back to school when he is done eating. The afternoon is when we do things together like read aloud or take tests. He is typically done by 2:30. It is important for both of us to have a routine and helps the grandparents know when we are working as well.

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I’ll be starting homeschool this Fall & right now I know I want school from 9-2pm! In that time, there will be lunch & a few brain breaks :wink: Chores (Home Economics) will be after school ends…then free time (mommy time) from 3-4:30pm! Then start on the dinner & family time!!! Kids do one more round of clean up before getting to bed at 8pm!! That way we don’t wake up to yesterday’s mess :slight_smile: Hope this really happens!!! :slight_smile:

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This is my first year homeschooling. We get started right after breakfast and go til around noon. Then lunch and fun learning!! If we don’t start right after breakfast then we don’t get what we need done!! Seems the kids get busy doing what they want and don’t want to do school. So schoolwork first then free and fun time!! Seems to work for us.

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We start at 9:30 everyday. We pray, say the pledge of allegiance and get started! We work until lunch. After lunch the kids play for roughly half an hour and then we continue working until we are done around 2:30-3:30. Then we do chores and I get ready for the next day of school and then start dinner. I wish we started earlier because sometimes I feel like its a rush at the end of the day to get everything done that I want done. But… I’m not willing to sacrifice more sleep and I hate rushing around in the morning!

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We start between 8:30 and 9:00 most mornings. However we are in ministry and sometimes a midweek Bible study runs late, or we have guests, or something means that bedtime had to be later so on those mornings I give a little flexibility and we start when we get started, but usually no later than 10. If we get started any later than that it’s hard to have a productive day.

We start between 8-8:30. My kids all get up early and go to bed early. I get up at 5:15 so I can get my coffee, read my bible, answer email, exercise, shower, start laundry, and water my goats before school.

We are usually done with our work around lunchtime. That leaves the afternoon free for appointments, errands, and playtime!

I have tried it both ways (set time and whenever time). I know that having a set time makes an enormous difference. Not just in homeschooling but in our entire day. Sometimes, I think that being relaxed and taking care of other things in the morning will work out but it really never does. I find myself behind all day and at the end of the day I am thinking about all the things that I wanted to get to that I didn’t. I read the Maxwell’s book “Manager’s of Their Homes” and it got me making a daily schedule. Basically everything you do during the day (breakfast, prayer time, cleaning, homeschooling etc) at a scheduled time. My days went so much smoother then. I think I need to go pull it off my shelf and start using it again.

I recommend a set start time for school.

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I try to start at around 7 am when the kiddos get up. I work full time and leave around 10:30 on days I work, so I need to get the most done in that time frame.

We have a set start time, but we don’t always make it LOL! We normally start around 9am, but that can vary. It really depends on how chaotic our morning is. But I do think it’s good to have a schedule lined out, so that you can have a plan. And so you’re not just flying by the seat of your pants. We did that the first year, and I felt like our days were too crazy and chaotic!

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I have a schedule made out for my homeschooling and with my children being older I like to stick to it. They are eating breakfast at 8am and school starts at 8:25am

We generally start around 8:30-9 as well. Our days do vary a bit (my kiddos are still little) but we do have a basic schedule we follow. I hope to stick to it more firmly in the fall with my oldest starting 1st grade. Right now though we adjust for plenty of outside time and often do our main school work around a 2 year old’s nap time! :blush:

I plan to start between 8 and 8:30 each morning. I have found that starting later than 9 is not a good idea, I don’t know why but if my kids have not started a schoolwork routine before 9 the whole morning goes haywire.
We are early risers (sadly) so an early start works for us. I would love to start by 8 every day but things never seem to go that way, something about four kids have four different opinions/wants/needs just keeps that form happening.
But starting by 8:30 allows us to get at last an hour in before any social commitments we may have.

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My daughter is doing K-4 and we have several days in the week where we have scheduled activities, none of which are at the same time of day. The only two days that are typically unscheduled are Thursdays and Fridays. A set schedule does not work very well for us, especially since my daughter may wake up on her own at 7:00 some days or at 10:30 other days. I let her sleep until she wakes up because I want her to be rested and happy when she gets up. (Not to mention that gives me more time to get things done while she sleeps!)

When I can, I do at least a little bit of school first thing in the morning (after her “morning chores” of getting ready for the day, feeding her cat, and eating breakfast), but there are days - like today - when we may not get to do school until the afternoon. On a highly successful day, we do three sessions of school; however, the average (I’m satisfied with this) would be two sessions.

One of our activities that I have recently begun is a self-defense class on Tuesday mornings. It’s across town at the church where we also attend MOPS. I have begun to also visit the library that is on the way back (which we prefer over the library closer to us) and doing my grocery shopping after that. Even though this takes out a good chunk of my day, I know that at least I don’t have to fit any of that in the rest of the week.

What time would say you usually finish up your homeschool activities if you do get started at 9:00? Thanks! Kristi

We were starting around 9am, however my son decided last week that he wanted to start earlier. He has been getting up and starting school around 7:30 on his own. He likes getting things done. My girls are a different story. They take a long time to get going in the morning and we are doing well to get started by 10:00. I tried a strict schedule, but it just didn’t work for us.