Why We Start Our Homeschool Day Later

For several years, I had it in my head that we should start our school day by 9 am. I’d often read or hear about how to have a magical morning, how to make our mornings more productive, and how to approach the day with vigor by tackling math first thing in the morning. It also didn’t help that we live near an elementary school and could hear the morning bell at 8:55 am every weekday morning. Bell! School’s starting! Quick - butts in chairs!

But here’s the thing. I’m not a morning person and my kids don’t like doing school work that early. They enjoy having time to play (together - gasp!) and to work on their own projects. So every day, when I would announce at 9 am, “It’s time to start school!” they would argue and whine. Sometimes I’d have to send them to their rooms, followed by more arguing, more whining. An hour later, we’d finally be ready to start the school day. I’d be mad and frustrated, feeling like I could have been using that time to do more productive things. The kids would be mad and frustrated because they felt like their opinions and activities didn’t matter as much as my agenda.

I’ll admit I held on to the mythical official 9 am start time for too long. I knew it wasn’t working and I didn’t make adjustments, because so many people claimed the benefits of getting more done before lunch. This year, I decided no more.

The simple fix? We aim to start at 10 am now. I know, it’s only an extra hour, but the result? Harmony. I have more freedom to get work done before the school day, because there is a bigger chunk of time before I need to focus on school. The kids feel like they’ve had a their own personal time in the morning and are ready and willing (for the most part) when it’s time to start school work.

I love the easier mornings, and we’re still getting our work done in a timely manner with the added perk that we’re all in a better mood. Victory all around!

Up next: save me from the morning frenzy.