When do you do homework?

[jeca]

In my effort to get into a better rountine I was wondering those of you who have homework age children, when do you have them do it? Right after school? sometime in teh evening? When's the nest time for homework?

[darlindeliasmom]

jeca: totally adding a disclaimer here that this is what works for us...the important thing is to kinda know how your child/children's mood(s), energy level, etc. change through the day.

4:30!! She gets out of school at 3:15. I usually walk or bike to pick her up. On nice days, a group of kids likes to play in the playground for a while; sometimes we run some errands in town ourselves. But we usually leave there before 4.
In the winter, we'd usually come right home and in the car!!

In either case, she is ALWAYS really hungry, so we have a cup of tea and a snack when she gets home. Then we have some time for her to reacclimate, which is very important for her. Transitions will always be slow, and I can't pricture any age at which she will come home, have her snack, and right away buckle down to studying!

I don't wait later because she runs out of energy and then, even later still, gets hyped and can't concentrate. So, we do homework and then an early dinner...after dinner she usually wants to veg--that is when she gets her 1/2 hour with TV Land or Nick (we tape Sabrina the teenage witch). Or she might hang out in the kitchen with me, "helping" with the dishes.
If I waited until 8, true tiredness, which in her is marked by overstimulation of the worst sort would kick in...I do not enjoy wrestling matches with homework.

Now, she's only a first grader, and homework only takes 30 minutes, but it truly does make a difference to the quality of our night if she does it then...

Man, I talk a lot...

FWIW, when we were kids, my mom cleaned off the kitchen table for the younger ones right after dinner--6:30. That worked for us, and she had the benefit of dad being there to help supervise (there were 7 of us, so at times there were 3 little ones around the table and big guys up at their desks in their rooms).
That's what I mean about it varying according to your family/family needs.
Good luck finding your best time!!

[EFmom]

I agree that what works for one kid might not for another. We try to get it done after dh and the kids get home, around 4pm. My dd has a snack at daycare where she is dropped off after school, and then dh picks her up a couple minutes later and goes home, and they start homework. My dd is also in first grade, and she doesn't get much now, but I know it will pile on in another two years.

I find that if I let her go out and play at that point, figuring that she'll do it later, it becomes much more of a struggle, with much more struggle for all involved. Occasionally, one of us will supervise homework with her after dinner, while the other bathes our other child, but it is very hard to get dd to concentrate if we do that.

[lauren]

Our rule is anytime after school as long as it's done before dinner is ready. This usually works. He can choose whether he wants to have snack and play first or get it out of the way first. Sometimes he needs cuing to keep at it.

[lab]

Everyone is right! It completely depends on the child.

My 4th grader is the typical first born, wants to please and doesn't need to be asked. He will come straight in and do his homework without being asked! He also can do it late. Very easy kid.

My 2nd grader (who actually has more homework) must be doing homework by 3:30. We get home at 2:20 and chill for a while. My 2nd grader is a sleepy baby and doing homework after 6 is asking for trouble. BIG TROUBLE. She's not easy! She also doesn't like being told what to do, even if it is something like homework where you are explaining things to her. She is very hands off - so homework is a struggle no matter when we do it. She definately does better when she has gotten some down time.

My 1st grader is easy as well. He likes to do homework as I prepare dinner. I personally enjoy being in the kitchen, preparing food, while all 3 sit at the table and work on homework.

I think the main thing is that waiting too late is a disaster!

Good Luck!

Lisa

[AnnMarie]

Right after school otherwise it never gets done.

[darlindeliasmom]

I have to say, yesterday was a good example of why for me there's no way we could do schoolwork after dinner like I did as a child...she had spent some time at school being evaluated (I think it's part of this IQ test they're doing), and when I went to pick her up said that the support teacher had REALLY wore her brain out...
No kidding; she was unable to do the "book report" that made up her homework--sat and cried and tried to distract herself and me with everything in the room. We had talked about the book, and she knew what she was going to write, but she was just unable to bring herself to write it. After a while, we both were hungry for dinner...for the first time, I let her close the books and sent a note into her teacher saying she was just too tired...
If I waited until after dinner every night, there would have been many more such notes!!!

[Alexander]

My kids have no homework. This then is really easy!

The kids that come to our school, decide what they do for HW. If they do it, great. If not, so what.

That works great too.

a