When do your kids do homework?

I'm having a bit of a tough time with our evening routine right now. The girls don't have much homework but they do have some reading words they're supposed to work on and a weekly "sharing day" to prepare for. I will say, generally speaking, I feel pretty ambivalent about homework - well, really, I'd say I probably fall on the anti-homework side of things but find it really hard to buck the system entirely. Which is probably why I'm finding it hard to get the girls to do their homework. But let's just pretend that the issue is mostly our evening routine. What I'd love to know is when do you have your kids do their homework?
 
I pick the girls up from school at 3:20pm. We get home around 3:40pm most days at which point they get food otherwise they're miserable. After snack and tidying up, I usually have to start dinner right away and so let the kids play (I also feel they need that time to do their own thing after being in school all day). After dinner, we usually start our bedtime wind down right away. It just all feels so rushed already that trying to find 10 consecutive minutes that they can sit and work feels a bit overwhelming. And in all of that, I feel like we don't really get much chance to just sit and connect with each other at all. I want to hear about how things are going with them.

 

I find that the quicker they do homework afterschool the easier it is--especially when they were younger.  Now, I give them a bit more leeway, as they are older and need to start making their own decisions.  On nights when they have an activity like sports or scouts, I am stricter about getting it done early.  Getting it finished before dinner is the goal, sometimes they don't finish, but they have to get the bulk done.

 

We are still getting our routine down.  
 
My girls get off the bus a little before 4pm, go to the sitter's house and have a snack.  They do their math homework there (because they bring their math books back and forth each day), and then they get to play or do arts and crafts.  
 
I pick them up at 5pm and the come home and do their spelling homework in the notebooks that stay home all week. While they are working on that I unpack their backpacks and start dinner.  When they are done with spelling their can either do their reading, or play, or watch something on netflix while I finish dinner.  
 
We eat around 6, then pack lunches and backpacks for the next day.  They hop in the shower while I clean the kitchen, and then are in bed for reading (them to me and me to them) by 7:30.  Lights out by 8 and they are usually asleep by 8:30.  
 
Thankfully the only nights we have activities are thursday and friday... and thursday spelling homework is a practice test and no home work on fridays!

 

My kids are walkers and we get home from school around 3:45pm.  They have a snack and then they do homework.  I find it's easier if they get their homework done pretty much first thing and then have the rest of the evening "free".  And it also helps having it done early when they have soccer practice 2 nights a week.  After dinner we generally will help them practice their math facts as well.

 

the minute they walk in the door at 3:15 -  that way it is done and out of the way for the evening.

 

We go home (usually they play for 30-60 minutes on the playground after school, so usually we're home at 4-4.30pm), they empty their backpacks, they have a snack, then they do homework. They don't really need me though, to be honest, so I can do other things while they do it (it's pretty much things they've been doing since last year). I just check it before they put it away. They basically know that once homework is done, they can play on their tablets or watch a movie or something (although they lose priviledge if they refuse to do their homework when I ask, like today).

 

We don't get home until 5:15 most nights, so we're in the "as-soon-as-you-get-home" camp as well.  I just find it easier to have them do it right when we get home, while I'm cooking dinner.  They have the option of doing homework in their after-school program, but sometimes it's just more fun to play with friends and do crafts than it is to do homework so I don't expect them to do it there. 

 

We usually get home right around 3. They generally come home, get snacks, and then burn off some steam first. Depending on the day and what activities we have that day, they get less or more time to burn off that steam. Homework is done before dinner though and before any screen time. 

 

We do homework pretty soon after getting home...the school day ends at 2:30 and we are home around 2:45, they get changed  out of their uniforms, go to the bathroom and get a snack and then we do homework. I find the sooner we get it done, the better off everyone is.

 

My kids get home around 3:45 and do their homework right away. Sometimes they eat their snack while they work, sometimes before, sometimes after. Sometimes I'm working in the kitchen while they do their work and sometimes they need me to sit with them and help.

If we didn't do it right away I think I'd have a really hard time getting them to get it done. They want to squeeze every minute of play time out of the schedule they can, and dinner and after dinner is family time where we just do whatever - play a game, watch a show together, read together - sometimes all of the above!

 

It has evolved over the years.  School finishes at 2:15 and we're usually home by 3-ish.  They have a snack and here is where we started tweaking it.
 
K I sat with them in the play/school room to do homework.
1st, we sat the the kitchen table.
2nd, they were still at the kitchen table while I did a few things in the kitchen.  They preferred to read in their room or living room.
3rd, I became tired of nagging them to do homework meet weekly requirements (AR points, KidBiz etc) so I handed it over to them.  The afternoon schedule was all over the place for a while and homework was stretching out past bedtime and into the car next morning.  I imposed a new rule that if homework wasn't completed (unless there was a good reason) by dinnertime (6/6:30) I would not sign the journal.  That helped a lot.
4th, they have suddenly become very conscientious about doing homework and will start it at the kitchen table while I am preparing  the snack or if they want to play a little they will set the timer for about 10 mins and pack up as soon as it rings.  
 
After homework they can play until dinner (no screen time on weekdays), and after dinner its baths, bedtime at 8 and lights out at 8:30.
 
I try to arrange weekday activities on Friday, but there were a couple of years when they had swimming every day or ballet on a Wednesday.  We did a lot of homework sitting in the bleachers or at the studio before class.

 

My kids have always done their homework as soon as they get home from school.  When they were younger, they would either have a snack then do homework, or eat their snack while doing homework, depending on what the snack was. They are in 4th grade now, I don't even remind them anymore.  They just come home and do their work.  
 
ETA:  They usually have to do 20-30 minutes of reading a night as part of their homework, that is usually done before bed.  So they shower, brush their teeth, do their reading, then go to bed.   The upside of that routine is now, even if reading isn't part of their homework, they read anyway.  Usually we all read together. 

 

Five weeks into K and we're still toying with our routine. We've been doing homework right before bed and they seem to like that for some reason.