Do you have an ‘evening plan’ on school nights?

[Jackjack]

Just wanting to try to get my kids into a better routine of balanced relaxation & home work after school. How do you manage yours?? Ds1 yr 12 & DS2 yr 10. Thanks in advance.

my dd is going into year 11, and ds year 9. they come home, have a snack, do their homework, have around 30 mins of chill time, then dd goes upstairs to revise, has dinner and then revises for about an 40 mins to an hour before having a shower etc

Yes. We had a great plan. Lasted about a week.

The stress,the arguments, the resistance was unbearable plus with work we weren’t there to police it every night.

It’s so so challenging. Good luck.

We are in Scotland and ds (13) is in S2. I collect him from school, a 40 minute walk, to give him a bit of extra time. On 3 days a week he’s home by 4pm so has a snack and drink and then music practice and homework/study until dinner (around 6pm). The other two days he has an orchestra and a music group so isn’t home until 5:30pm so has dinner, practices one instrument and does any homework outstanding for the next day. The rest of the evening is his own to do as he pleases apart from Monday when he has a piano lesson.

DS is going into Y10. He makes his own way home and we normally go for snack followed by homework, then dinner. After dinner finish off any homework or read until bedtime. On a couple of days he has activities after school. No gaming during the week.

DD (6th form) is pretty similar but she fits a lot of her homework into study periods at school so generally has less to do at home (but a longer day/commute).

I've told them that there'll be no gadgets in their bedrooms after 9.30/10pm from this school year onwards. Fingers crossed they don't resist!

Mine usually go out after school to friends. Years 11 and 9. 30mins of revision but my routine is flexible. They dont have a bedtime x

I didn't, I trusted mine to know what worked for him. He'd generally eat dinner when he was hungry and slept when he was tired. He'd study and game. He did great in his GCSEs. Now he's on 3.5 days a week on a BTEC so he's got to suss out a new routine for himself.

wow, people do alot of homework. I don't have a routine. they do homework if/when it needs doing and do whatever they like the rest of the time. yr10 and yr4

Thanks everyone, I think we’ve probably on the right track but I do find it tends to slack off a bit as time goes on. Xx

Same here pricedrop. DS now going into Y12 at 6th form college but he's done what he likes really. If he got rubbish grades from school or got a detention for not doing homework on time/at all, I'd know. It was up to him to get his work done and standing over him would not have helped, especially with revision.

imo, half the battle is establishing your own work pattern. it's no good having one imposed on you. it just causes stress and ineffective work time. but I think this because I myself work best at night

Sorry to say but I’m in the “Homework Parent Clan” 🙈
I have a (new) Year 7 and a Year 3.
We typically get in about 4:00pm, quickly followed by a snack. Then do homework til about 5/5:15 when the husband gets in. We have dinner as a family and then my Year 7 DD spends the rest of the evening on the phone with friends till her 9pm bedtime. My Year 3 DS, will often walk the dog with me in the evening after dinner and/or play on the Xbox/watch telly til his 8pm bedtime. The routine might change if they have clubs, but the clubs only replace the homework time “slot” - so the days they have clubs = no homework. Which is 2 days of the week.

I have to say that we have had this routine for almost 2years though. So in my opinion, where my children were still young, it was easier to manage. I get a bit more of resistance from the Year 7 now - but I expected that as we approach the teenage years. Hopefully she’ll settle down a bit once she finds her feet at her new school and she’ll adjust her routine to fit around the extra homework she may get.

Mine dont do home work every eve.

Ours is pretty random as we all go out to play sports/exercise most evenings. Homework, relaxation and dinner is therefore at a different time every night.

I should probably say that ds3 is currently being assessed for ADHD/ASD and likes routine and plans. He is also very forgetful and disorganised and would not get anything done without prompting. Leaving him to sort himself out wouldn’t work but it really does depend on the child. Ds1 (ADHD) also needed structure whereas ds2 has always organised himself.

My DCs (17 and 12) laugh at me cos I'm always saying "Early Tea is the Key to a Productive Evening" !!!!
They get in about 4 ish and relax until tea at about 5:30 ish.
Then it's homework and bags ready for next day, then their time is their own until bath time.
If someone's out at an activity, we don't wait for them- they just get theirs (reheated if they're lucky) when they get home.
Suppose i'm 'fortunate' in this respect to be a widow. No waiting for husband to get home from work so that means we can eat early.

Snack, homework, dinner, then balance of homework and then chill.

Same re early dinner, it’s 5.30 here too!

DD (Y8) has a long walk home and collapses in front of the telly when she gets home. She has a schedule that says homework at 5pm. I normally nag her to actually do this by about 5.30. Dinner is 6-6.15.

We rarely all eat together during the week, DD and I get in at roughly the same time every day (4.30), DH and DS are 6ish but variable (DS stays at school for sport or homework club). Then we are all off out again at random times most nights. So each week is roughly the same but each weekday is completely different.