Why is beavers so late?

[TwentyTwenty20]

I'd love to put my son in beavers but it's from 6:00 until 7:15. By the times he's got home, had a bath, had a bedtime story and wound down and actually fallen asleep it'd be 8:15/8:30. Feels quite late for a 5 year old who is usually in bed by 7. Does this feel a bit late or is this the norm for beavers? Anyone else's kids cope OK? He has to be up for 6 so would only get around 9.5 hours sleep. He usually gets 11+

Just don't get him up at 6 the following morning 🤷🏻‍♀️

It would have been too late for my children at that age.

Our local one is 4-5pm.

Find an earlier one?

The 6am wake up is clearly for breakfast club so his parents can work.

The time is probably set by the availability of the leaders, who are all volunteers with their own jobs and families to work around. I would consider skipping any of the bedtime routine that is no absolutely necessary (eg. no bath unless very messy, very short story etc). However, as a pp has mentioned, if you are only considering joining you may find there is not space immediately so your child would be a bit older when he joins anyway. Our waiting list is always at least 6 months. If you are offered a place but think he is too young still you could ask to wait another term- we would happily do this as there will always be someone else happy to move up the list. I would speak to the leaders before waiting too long though- where I am there are rarely any places in cubs for children who were not in Beavers (as they are prioritised).

Parents in our group often tell us that they sleep really well after Beavers, as we tend to be outside and very active- so unless your child needs to be up early to leave the house you might find he just wakes up a bit later.

Like a lot of people have said its usually from age 6 (I think some can Starr at 5 years and 9 months) so by that age they can stay up a bit later. My DS is 5 and has swimming until 7pm one night which is a later bedtime than normal (also up around 6am) and he's fine with that so it's probably worth giving it a go.

Our 6 year old DS has beavers that finishes at 7.30. We make sure he’s bathed as soon as he gets in from school so when he gets back from beavers it’s just teeth and straight to bed. He’s usually asleep for about 8-8.15 which is later than he usually goes to bed but not hugely so (usually around 7.30). Maybe bath before so he can be straight to book/downtime when he gets in?

The main reason is because it's run by volunteers, who have day jobs. My son is 6 and copes OK so you could always give it a try.

Oh yes cos she's waking him up at 6am just for a laugh and not at all because that's what time he needs to get up in order to get to his childcare provider so she can work 🤦🏼‍♀️

@TwentyTwenty20 as pretty much everyone has said it's because the volunteers who run it have paid jobs that they need to finish. Just skip the bath.

He doesn't need a bath. Have one before if needs be. Bedtime story can be very short and the journey home can be a bit of wind down time too. Sadly, people are too busy to volunteer for these things earlier in many cases. Most volunteers are working I think.

Hi Op, yes ours was 6 to 7 and my dd was used to bed at 7 and being crashed out within minutes. She loved beavers though and managed the one night a week being a bit later, she just got used to it and adjusted. We did only live 5 mins away so no travelling.
I will say though, be aware that if camps come up there will be a v late night for them as they all muck about. Mine just crashed with everyone going nuts around them apparently! She didn't manage the panto at night either but still won't manage that in cubs with a 10 pm home time.
She's almost 8 now and more likely to be asleep by 8 but found a club that finishes at 8 just too much, she was good for nothing the next day.

I think 6.00 or 7.00 is a normal time for it to start. Could you change your hours so you are using afterschool rather than breakfast club?
Might be worthwhile considering it, for the long term as well as Beavers

Oh and we didn't bath her or anything after Beavers. Snack on the way home , face and teeth and bed.

Ours is similar. Scouts running 7-9 for my 10 year old is also a stretch but he’s coping. I’m laughing at the idea of delaying him a year. We’ve got a waiting list of children larger than another full group (but I know that may not be universal).

Thanks everyone, I was just wondering if it was the norm which it seems it is.

He's up at 6 because I start work at 7.45. I work flexible hours so I can pick him up from school, have tea with him, and take him to clubs. The other option would be to put him in after school club which is £10 a day as opposed to £4 and would mean I don't spend as much time with him. He goes to bed at 7 so it's not a problem.

Is 6 really that early for a 5/6 year old?

Yep it's normal, ours is 5.45-7.00pm

As others have said, you usually have to be 6 to be a Beaver? Our son started in the sept after turning 6 in July, it did seem a bit late for him but he managed fine. Get in 7.15pm, quick snack, teeth, face, story, bed. Skip the shower unless he's super muddy/sweaty, in which case it would just be a quick shower.

He's now 7 and just completed his first year of Beavers. He reads in bed til 8.30pm every night now and Beavers doesn't feel too late at all any more 🤷🏻‍♀️

It's definitely worth it, Beavers has been amazing for him 🌟

The reason will be because the Leaders - Volunteers who provide the activity for your child - have set a time that they can get there for. You know, after getting home from their own work, or collecting their own children and getting their tea for them.
Times vary, but 6 - 7.15 is pretty normal. My dc's Beavers was 6.30 - 7.45.
Beavers is for 6 - 8 yrs olds, and 6 - 7.15 is not usually too late for that age group.
If you want him in bed earlier, then, as others have said, he doesn't need a bath and / or a bedtime story. Routines can change as dc get a bit older.

If you want an early Beavers, run it yourself . Suspect you have a job, though, much like the volunteers running your troop....

That's not late by anyone's standards. Leaders and parents have jobs, they'd have next to nobody there if they started an hour earlier.

Ours are 5.30-7pm (as are our Cubs)

Any earlier .. its a struggle for working parents and leaders.
Any later... late home to our own families.

DHs Scouts finish at 9.30!!

Age 6 is usually the starting age for Beavers.

Just swap your routine around - no bath, just a quick flannel wash and straight bed on Beaver evenings.

Is 6 really that early for a 5/6 year old?

We are all different, but none of mine got up that early.
Breakfast club here started at 7.45, a 6 or 7 min walk away, so no reason for mine to have been up before about 7.15.

I think a 6am start is pretty early for a 5yo who has a full day of school ahead of them, but if it means you get plenty of time with them in the afternoons and they can get to bed early I don't see an issue.

What time would you like it op? Kids need to get on from school, eat, people need to get in from work. I don't work but most of my colleagues do, o still need to hand over my kids to their Dad. There's isn't much scope time wise and they may well have cubs or scouts afterwards

The leaders tend to have jobs as do the parents taking the dc so anything before 6 is pretty unrealistic. It's definitely the norm so generations of children will have coped and the ones that didnt probably left or tried again on a year or so

Its normal in areas where there are not many non/part time working parents to run it. Where i live its run by parents who aren't working so its at 4.30 which is a better time for the children but means less children of working parents attend.

We didn't do beavers but either way i wouldn't have done any activity as late as 6pm on a school night with a child of 5.