what do your school aged kids do after school?

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My oldest is now at school and goes to after school club. Not sure what I pictured but it just feels like such a repetitive juggle during the week. One of us picks up DC from the after school club at 5pm, quick homework, a bit of play, bath, 15mins cartoons, dinner and bedtime routine, lights out at 7.30. Ok thats only four days a week but just seems really humdrum and a bit dull. Is everyone else's the same?

I apologise so very much but I thought I made a new post, new to mumsnet forgive me please.

DD in reception.

ASC on Mondays and Thursdays until 4.30, and I pick her up in the car those days so we’re home by 4.45pm. Play (outside in summer), dinner at 6pm, bath at 6.30pm, reading homework, stories and bed.

Tuesdays she has ballet at 4pm (1 hour) so we’re home by 5.15.

Thursdays she has swimming at 4pm (30 mins) so we’re home by 5pm by the time she’s changed.

Fridays she has gym at 4pm (1 hour) but it’s a 30 min drive away so not home til 5.30pm. We usually grab a quick tea that night (pizzas bunged in the oven or fish and chips on the way back)

Weekends she has dance on a Saturday morning, and we chill the rest of the time!

At 4 mine was bed at 6:30 lights out 7pm latest.
I carried this on until at least yr 3.

Life is pretty routine, especially with young children. What are you expecting?

Mine have reading/homework, extra curricular clubs, friends over, tea, watch TV/play games (outside in Summer), baths and bed.

Yep ASC makes the evening very short - they watch tv while one of us cooks, then eat, then bed.

On the days I finish early to pick them up at 3.15 they either have clubs or we do spellings / homework. No chance of anything like that on an ASC day. And mine are Y3 and Y5 so a lot older, they're still exhausted especially by this stage in the term.

9 years old DSD has sport club or ASC three days a week. On those nights it’s home, shower, a little tv, dinner and bed at eight (story)/eight thirty (no story). Takes quite a bit of focus to get it right especially as neither she nor her dad are big into watching the clock 😀.The week goes fast!
Those days seem super intense but I think she gets lots of unstructured play at the ASC and on weekends. I’d love her to have more time to get her nose in a book though.

Literally laughed my head off at that comment.

Endless homework and reading and projects and apps to log into for schoolwork, and then some more homework, times tables, spelling, homework.

My older ones, even more homework. Even more apps to log in to. Some angst about homework. Some tears about homework. A slammed door or two, related to homework. Followed up by revision, and some homework. Then some reading.

DS2 is 15yrs..... so he spends most of his time in detention....🙄

I think this is just life once they start school. I really feel nostalgic about the old days when neither were at school. Everything was simple and calmer.

My DC are 8 and 5.

The 8 year old does two after school activities Monday and Tuesday until 4.15pm (at school), then picked up at 4.15 by me or grandparents. Then he has two days at afterschool club until 5.15pm, and Fridays I pick up at 3.15. He also has Cubs on Tuesday evenings.

The 5 year old doesn't do the after school activities, so it's three days afterschool club for her, and pick up at 3.15 on the other days.

Both kids have swimming lessons on Saturdays (at different times in different places), and often there is a birthday party/playdate or some other event at the weekend.

Mine both really enjoy after school club, and I don't think it would be easier for me to pick them up right after school then either have to entertain them at home or ferry them to clubs.

But what I would say is that I love our Friday afternoons. It's the one day we have nothing on, just come home and relax, have an easy dinner, no clubs etc. They can have a playdate if they want. Would recommend keeping a day like this.

Just to add, once we're home our routine is pretty hum drum. TV/playing while me/DH make dinner. Eat, showers/baths, reading, sleep.

Mine are 4 and 8. Both in after school club two days a week when I work later shifts. Oldest also does swimming and karate once a week. Youngest does nothing extra yet.

I find mine need a fair bit of downtime at home after school playing, watching TV, drawing, reading, just chilling out basically. 4 year old is in bed by 7.30, 8 year old by 8.30 most nights.

I like our days when we come straight home and have nothing scheduled after school. We're all knackered during the week so enjoy being able to have a few quiet evenings in with no plans and the pyjamas get put on early 😆

My daughter is 5 (year 1). We get home from school at 3.30pm.

Generally she has a snack at 3.30, dinner at about 5.15 and in bed by 7. In between she will play, draw, watch TV etc. We usually do her reading in the mornings after breakfast as she's more awake. They don't get much other homework.

Yes its repetitive and boring but they need that routine and down time really. She falls asleep instantly at 7 and sleeps all night so it's not too early.

Routine is slightly different on Mondays and Thursdays because:
Mondays she has swimming from 4pm to 4.30
Thursdays she has Rainbows from 4.30 to 5.30
We were thinking of an after school sports club on Wednesdays but I don't think we will, it's too much for her with the other activities.

We are usually home by 4.30
change out of uniform and snack
homework until 5.45 usually (good bit of reading spellings tables etc )

they tend to watch a bit of the or kick a football about or draw pictures and bedtime is about 8pm (chat to dh when he gets his dinner or come shopping for groceries and in the summer football but mostly chill out )

If your kids are in after school clubs then when do you fit playdates in with their friends from school?

My oldest is in year 1 and we’ve never had a play date. We had a LOT of class parties in reception though which was great.

Im on mat leave now but last year my DD did 3x after school club sessions until 5-5.30pm, after those we came home and she played or watched TV. Sometimes we’d go out for dinner and to the shopping centre nearby (open til 9pm type place) which has loads there, soft play, cinema, playground plus she’s at the age she likes to look round the shops.

One of the days I worked (I’m mainly WFH) I picked her up at normal home time and she played and watched TV until I finished. Friday was my non working day and after pick up we’d go do something with her cousin and my sister, whether that was at someone’s house or at the shopping centre for dinner etc.

Now I pick her up four days a week, kept ASC for one day so she was used to going for when I go back to work. We do a mix of at home time (play, TV, crafts etc) or dinner out, shopping, late soft play session. In the summer we’d go to the park after school, we have one near us that has a brilliant water play so swimming costumes at the ready!

I have zero guilt for any TV time she has even if it’s a lot one day like when she was off sick recently. She’s amazing at independent play and spends hours crafting and art so I’m happy with the balance. I basically don’t have a usable dining table as it’s full of craft junk 😂

Children that age don’t really need play dates in term time - they are with each other all day.

On after school club days there's not much time, so similar to you really. In reception bedtime was sometimes 6.30/7am but mine go to breakfast club so that's early. It's a push to fit in dinner and a bath, and we have to save homework for the weekend. It does running on a hamster wheel sometimes

Dd and Ds did a lot of activities.

DD really didn’t need to go to school her ECA is now her profession.

In reception after school I would pick dc up after school and then drop them at an activity. Then as they got older they did more and more activities.

DD especially would go to different activities each evening until 10pm
Then it was back home, shower food and bed then the same again.
Homework was done on the tube.

By the time Dd was 16 she was a qualified teacher in one of her activities and by 18 was nearly qualified in 2 more.

It was a lot of driving around on my part and trying to get dc into lessons in different parts of town.

She even has enough UCAS points to get into university if she wanted to

GCSEs were never going to cut it.

It all sounds exhausting!
My 2 finish at half 3. Tuesday is sport at school for one of them and choir for the other, till 4:30. Nothing else the rest of the week.
At home they chill out, play games, draw etc.
Bedtime at 8 on a week day and 9 at the weekend.
We go out both Saturday and Sunday doing different activities.
I seriously couldn't cope with such busy schedules.

3.15 pm - Home
3.30 pm - crafts of some sort / baking / colouring
4.30 pm - homework / spellings / reading
5.00 pm - iPad
5.30 pm - dinner
6.00 pm - bath
6.30 pm - playtime
8.00 pm - bed

very repetitive but it’s now we get through.

Wow that's full on

Sounds normal to me....a bit of a slog during the week but that's what comes with having two working parents I guess?

After school club days it's home, bit of TV while I make dinner, play for a bit and up to bed.

One day a week I pick up at 3.10pm and there's time for homework and DD's hobby club.

More homework and catching up with people at the weekends. Any playdates are weekends or during school holidays.

DD6 - after-school x 3 a week until 6pm. Home, dinner, we watch telly together and have a cuddle, catch up about the day, play game, read together, bed around 8pm. Two days a week picked up at 3.30pm, my DH tries to take a late lunch on those days and take her to park with her school pals for a bit, then will generally play in her room whilst we finish up work, today for example, I was in meeting WFH so she did some crafting in her room and played on her keyboard. All pretty chilled. We tend to have lots of family time together at weekends doing fun stuff together.
For those that asked about play dates in the week - most of my DDs friends go to after school club so she is playing with them then.

DS10 and DD7

Mondays: I pick them up. They often have a friend to play.
Tuesdays: DD does a school sports club till 4.30. DS walks home himself. DS has cubs at 6.30.
Wednesday: ASC till 5 followed by quick dash to DD's dance class with snack on the way.
Thursday: DS in school sports club, then ASC along with DD till 5.
Friday: DH picks them up. DD has brownies at 5.30.

When they're at home they do homework, then screen time whilst I cook. After dinner we have a blanket no screens rule so they usually read in their bedrooms for an hour or two.

School clubs 3 nights a week, sports training 2 nights a week, occasionally visit gparents, homework, chill time (usually involving screens), dinner, bath, TV series together, read together then bed.