Taking Back Our Evenings

Kids’ lives are busier than ever, filled to the brim with organized activities. Even though they spend about seven hours a weekday sitting in a classroom, kids are sent home with loads of homework. Between all the extracurriculars and academic work, there isn’t much time in the evenings for families to be together.

Because we homeschool, my kids don’t have homework. Or is it the opposite - is all their work homework? Semantics aside, my kids finish all the work they need to do during our school time. That means no late-night homework sessions, no fighting over math assignments after dinner, and no “Hey Mom, I forgot about this project that’s due tomorrow. I have to write a 20-page report and create a diorama.”

Like other families, we still have sports practices, dance classes, and church groups, but we have a lot more time every night to ourselves to do whatever we want to do. I’m sure this idea is so foreign to many people that it sounds too good to be true, but ask other homeschoolers about it, and I imagine you’ll hear the same account.

The combination of slower mornings and freer evenings puts us in control of more of our day than many might think. Sure, I’m taking time to educate my kids during the day, but I’m not sacrificing as much time in the mornings and evenings as I would if they were attending a traditional school. That means I have more time than most parents to work in the mornings and evenings, which is how I’m able to juggle multiple projects while homeschooling. The secret’s out.

Up next: picking our own vacation days.