It is 7 in the morning; Max is just finishing up his homework. My wife checks it over to make sure there aren’t any problems before storing it away in his back pack. The van should be here in a few minutes and for all of that time he will be staring out the window incessantly asking,

“Where is the van?”

When does your child do her homework?

Most parents and “experts” seemed to be divided on when the best time children should do their homework. Some believe it should be done right after school. Others schedule it for after dinner. My own parents always insisted that once we finished eating we went to our rooms. When it was done we could watch television.

What I find interesting in the articles I’ve read is that a lot of them have surveys asking when children do their homework. And generally they have three options:

1. after school

2. after dinner

3. whenever the child wants to

There are other options. For example, as I mentioned above my son does it in the morning. He gets up early enough to shower, get dressed, and have breakfast. He then sits down to do his homework.

He generally has it completed by the time the van arrives. But if he doesn’t he will finish it off while riding to school. He has plenty of time; it is an hour ride. The other kids don’t bother him. There is a monitor on board to make sure nothing inappropriate happens.

Max has learned that if his homework isn’t done he will have to do it at the beginning of class. He then has to catch up. The school gives a certain number of points at the end of the day for behavior and class room work. He prides himself on getting all of his points. But he doesn’t get them all if he has to take the time in class to complete his homework.

Why does Max do it in the morning?

We learned long ago that early morning is the best time for him. At night he is unable to focus on anything long enough. He generally doesn’t watch television. If something is on that he likes he will sit through it until the first commercial but then he gets distracted and leaves the room. We don’t see him again until he wants to go to bed.

Recently he needed to complete two 75 word essays for Cub Scouts. Since he does his homework in the morning we tried to sit him down last night to get them done. We were actually able to get him to focus for about 50 words of one essay before he was curled up in a chair, eyes closed, slowly falling asleep.

As a result we weren’t able to finish them until this morning right after he completed his homework. And he did a great job.

For me the bottom line is if your child does their best work after school make sure that’s when they do it. If after dinner is better, do it then. Find out when the best time is for your child.

For Max, the best time is early morning. This is when he produces his best work. It is also the time that he can work his fastest and then move right onto the van. Since we monitor it closely, if his output deteriorates we will find another time that works better for him.

What homework time works for you or your children?

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