Spinoff Question...

[Michele]

Do you have a specific start time to your school day for your teens? A specific bedtime? When my oldest daughter was in high school, the other four were little. Now I have four teens (one is only in 7th grade) and it's quite different !
Thanks again for your time and input.

[Joy in Alabama]

Mine get up at 8 and start school at 9. They don't have a specific bedtime, but they both go to bed before 11.

[ann e]

My dd has to begin by 9:30, no later. She usually goes to bed at 9:30/10:00pm, but stays up in her room. She's not a great sleeper. But I cut her no slack if she's stayed up when she should be sleeping. Something she constantly pushes me on. Having said that, she's not a morning person either, so she goes later; something I'm thinking of changing.

[Robin in Colorado]

I target starting by 8, but it rarely happens that way. We have a lot of sleep issues in our household, me included, and so often our start time is 9 or 9:30. However, we have so much to get done during the day, we really need to get rolling by 8 so we can finish earlier.

[Heather W]

My husband wakes everyone up when he leaves for work- usually about 8:45 or so. I have a kid with a chronic illness and mornings are not kind to him. I have one who has sleep issues and migraine activity and takes a med that has a lovely side effect of making him sleepy. His mornings are slow as a result. I have one who is just a plain night person not a morning person and I have one who is a morning person.

We started school in earnest by 10:30 or 11. My morning guy starts earlier. And they work until they are finished which is later in the day. My migraine kid is known to do his best work at night after he's in bed. He is currently reading Principia, Isaac Newton's original text and he works the math in there. I have learned to take narration from him in the morning and I document all the things he does and learns at night.

All that to say, we are not conventional. And I'm not worried about it. My husband was similar and had difficulty with early mornings in college for lots of reasons and now works in academia where his schedule is flexible. Also, when he has to be up, he can do it. The key is getting them to manage their own work and time. Once that is a success, that is a skill that they can transfer no matter how early their day needs to begin.

Honestly, we have so many bigger fish to fry in our lives right now that I count it all as good!

I hope you find something that is workable for your teens!

[Rebe]

This is not a battle I'm willing to fight (too hard) by the time they're teens. I do try to get them up and going by 9. I'm a morning person, so to me, the morning is half-gone at 9, but others in my family don't see it that way.

With my oldest, we tried for 9 or 9:30. My dd is extremely motivated and self-driven, but she's a night person who needs a long time to wake up. So I cut her some slack. She always gets the work done. My current 15yo is in school and is experiencing the joy of catching the bus at 6:50 a.m.

If they're mature enough (not all are), they can regulate themselves and get the work done no matter what time they start. I think it's different with every child. I still have to tell my 15yo when to go to bed every single night.

[Paige P]

I like to shoot for "up at 7" and schooling by 8, BUT this year that has gotten off track Typically, it's up by 8 and schooling by 9. However, on days when we have lessons in town (Wednesday = lessons, Friday = coop), we do get up earlier (7ish) and get started by 8 so things can get accomplished before we leave for town.

As for bedtime -- all the kids typically head upstairs 8ish on an early night (rare), and 8:30ish on most nights. The boys go right to sleep, and the girls will read or continue school work or chat and giggle. Sometimes we have to tell them to be quiet when it gets late, but, typically, we have no idea when they turn out their lights Most nights, I'd say it's between 9:30 and 10-10:30. I don't monitor it They just have to get up and get moving by 8 the next morning.