Homeschool parents, what time do you usually get your kids up for "school"?

Question

and what time do they go to bed. also, how old are they. i'm going to be homeschooling 5 of my kids this year (ages 16, 14, 14, 12, and 11) and was just wondering what time would be good to get started.

Answer 1

I start as soon as I get out of bed.  Sometimes this could be 7am and other times it could be 10am.

Answer 2

My 2 are 12 and 13, and the younger one takes longer at school than his sister.  When I need to get a lot done, and it is the stuff we do together, then I get my daughter up at 8.  [My son is an early riser.]  We finish about 1.  If we don't need to get a lot done then I don't get her up till 9, and a few days/wk I will work with my son on math & spelling starting about 8, then I'll get her up at nine.  They go to bed about 9:30 or 10, although they are campaigning to not have a set bedtime.

I have hs friends who get their kids up at 6 and are done with school by 10.  I also have hs friends whose kids start school whenever they happen to roll out of bed, and are still doing school at supper time.  

It really depends on what works well for YOUR family.  Since it looks like you will be teaching 4 grades, you might need to stagger things a bit by starting the early risers earlier and letting the ones who want to sleep in a bit follow their natural rhythms.  However, that is completely up to you!  Doing things that way might not work if the late-risers are also the slow-workers!  In my case it works because my late-riser is my speedy one.

Added on edit: Wow, I just went and looked at your profile and your other questions - I am so sorry about the loss of your wife, and if there is anything I can do to help with the hsing thing, please let me know.  Also, I had looked at the question about anyone dating a man with 14 kids - at every church I have been at there have been NICE ladies in their mid-30's who have never been married, and I think that none of them would have hesitated to date a man with 14 kids!!

Answer 3

my son is almost 14 goes to bed at eight thirty gets up at 730 starts 8 or 830

Answer 4

When we first pulled the kids out of school, in sixth grade, we got them up at 8am and started at 9am. We've gradually been starting later, as they became teens and prefered staying up later and sleeping in. Now my son prefers to do most of his work in the evenings, after 9pm, and sleeping in until 11 or noon. It doesn't matter to me as long as he's responsible to get it all done.

My daughter gets up between 9-10am.

I actually really enjoy the 2-3 quiet hours I have in the mornings before my teens get up.

Answer 5

We unschool so we don't follow a set timetable etc. My parents have never got any of us 'for school'. They get us up to do our chores...or they would if they didn't have us all so welltrained from birth! It's a standing joke that my mum put us to work as soon as we could crawl, let alone walk, lol!

I'm 14, get up about 6am, study from around 8am until I'm done (depending on my mood, what else is happening/needs doing round this place etc) and I usually go to bed between 10 and 11pm.

Answer 6

Wow! So you decided to try it! Good for you!

My kids usually get me up around 6:00 AM whether I want to get up or not!   :-)

But then thats because the two who wake me are ages 5 and 7.  My teen would sleep until 2:00 in the afternoon and stay up until 3:00 in the morning if I allowed it.

Our goal is to start school every day by 8:30, that is what works well for me, but everyone has their own schedule.  In order to start by 8:30 I have to get my teen up at 7:30.

My younger kids go to bed at around 8:30 PM

My teen goes to bed at around 10:00 PM during the school year.  Whenever she gets tired during the summer.

You are homeschooling more kids, but the oldest three will probably do most of their work on their own, and the younger two will do some of it on their own.

God bless you... I hope everything works out for you.

Answer 7

I actually don't get my kids up for school, but my 6yo is usually up on his own around 6:30 and my 9yo is usually up on her own by 7. They are usually in bed by 8 with lights out at 8:30. My 6yo falls asleep almost immediately at that point, but my dd usually doesn't fall asleep until close to 9.

If we haven't started on school stuff by 8:30, then we definitely start at that point.

You have mostly teenagers, though. Their natural sleep cycles may be very different and you will have the opportunity to respect them. It's not uncommon around age 13-15 for the sleep cycle to change and the natural pattern to be something like 12am to 8:30-9am rather than a more typical 10-6:30 if they were in school. Some high schools have actually changed their hours to accommodated this documented changed in sleep cycle. Basically, though, kids around age 14/15 usually need about 9 hours of sleep.

If your younger ones are ready sooner, that'd give you a chance to work on more of a one-on-one basis before the others are up, then they could go off and do more independent work. The beauty of homeschooling is that you can structure things for what works best for the individuals involved.

Answer 8

I  have a 10 and 6 year old and we are usually up by 9. I try to have them in bed by 9 as well. I think it depends on whether they are a morning person or not. If you have one that likes to go to bed earlier and get up earlier and get done with work then let her and if there is one that likes to stay up a bit later and sleep a bit later but do work later then go for it. That is the beauty of homeschool. Of course you are Dad and whatever you say goes!

Answer 9

I tell my kids I'm done being a parent at 8:30 its time for bed. OK so I'm never done with being a parent but it becomes time for mom and dad. Mine are 9,4 and 15 months. They are usually up for 8:30-9 and we start when they are dressed fed and basic chores are done like the counters cleaned (need a surface to work on) and then we get started usually done in a few hours. If we have to go some where like drs appointments (any where they'll be sitting for a while) they bring it with them. So they can do it any where. You get a lot of courious parents and even a few critical ones but oh well your not educating their kids. Good Luck and stick with it!

Answer 10

Hi,

Let me first congratulate you on your decision and wish you luck for the coming year. Remember to just hang in there on the days you come to doubt your decision to home school.

In answer to your question, the one benefit of homeschooling is that you can schedule your day to work for you.

I have one 13 year old boy.  We maintain a very flexible schedule, but to answer your question, we usually start our day between 8:30 and 10:00.  

Bedtime is just as flexible, depending on what we've been doing during the day.

Anywhere between 9 and 11, there are occasions when there are really good programs on Discovery channel or the History channel  that we'll stay up and watch because we can "sleep in"  the next morning.

Again, our day is easier to schedule because I'm only dealing with one.  It may be a bit more tricky for you dealing with 6 internal clocks and trying to coordinate them.

Just remember there is no "right" or "correct" answer to the question.  You really have to do whatever works best for you and your family.

Good Luck!

Answer 11

my son gets up at 7:00 and starts school around 8 a.m.

Answer 12

We all get up between 6 and 8:30 AM, I allow them to make the choice, but all need to be done with personal grooming, and chores by 9:00 AM.

Not all are morning people, and some take a bit longer to get going, personally I need several cups of coffee, and a half an hour to myself too before I tackle the morning routine.

This provides them with the opportunity to get ready without the grumbles.

We first get the one on one time in; each child takes about an hour, and then they do their work independently.

In the afternoon, or evening we will do a project/subject together.

During the day they learn by reading, working on on ongoing project, being out doing an activity, attending a club meeting, class, or they go to work.

In the evening we also read aloud together, and often they will go to bed, and read some more, listen to a book on tape, or write in a journal.

Lights out are between 9:00 and 11:00 PM, although our teen is a night owl, and does much of her writing, and art work after the rest of us have turned into pumpkins.

Answer 13

My 9.5yo gets up between 8:30 and 9, and is ready for school by 9-9:30.  If something went late the night before (baseball game that he played in, something in astronomy that we stayed up to see) I let him sleep in and we just push things back for the day.  He's a night owl, so he's in bed around 9:30-10:30.

If your kids are going to be fairly independent in their studies, I would suggest sitting down with them and having them help determine their schedules with the understanding that they need to be responsible for those schedules.  As long as they show good attitudes and work ethics, and their school work is done on time, it's ok to leave more of it up to them.  If the school work or attitude starts to slip, feel free to draw the reigns in and mandate bed/wake times.  (Tell them that this is part of the deal beforehand, they tend to work better inside a pre-set structure.)

And good luck with the homeschooling - you won't regret it!

Answer 14

well as a student it is very hard to concentrate before like 830. So if you start class at nine that should work well.

Answer 15

My kids are 7,5, and 3. Course at this age they are up at the crack of dawn and I would love it if they slept in! But when they do hit the stage of actually sleeping, they will be in bed between 9:00 and 10:00. (Depending on their ages, older of course later.) and I would have them up and starting the day no later than 9:00 a.m. and starting school by 10:00 a.m.

   Even at 10:00 they won't be doing school all day.  That is one advantage to homeschooling, you can make your own schedule and hours. So cater it to your family and what works best for you!

Answer 16

My boys are both morning people and are generally up before I am (I'm the sole night owl in our family).  The 12yo goes to bed between 9-9:30pm and the 7yo goes to bed between 8:30-9pm.

We start whenever we're all up and ready, done with breakfast, showers/dressing, and chores (usually by 9am).

Answer 17

We start school at 8 AM only because I only have few hours to 'teach' after the bus route and before the cafeteria job.  If I were at home all day, we would probably still start early because I am a morning person.