Since homeschool students do not have a bus to catch to school, they could start the morning later in the day. However the ideal time to start teaching in the homeschool classroom has been an often debated topic. There are those who feel that allowing the children to run through their daily chores in the morning and begin studying after an early lunch may be a better way to use the whole day productively.
While others may argue that the children’s minds are fresh early in the morning and should be used to concentrate on studies at that time. Also what works for one family may not work as well for another. Plus the age of the homeschool student makes a difference. Younger children need less sleep than a teenager would, making it easier for them to wake up in the morning and begin school work. If you are sitting on the fence of this debate and wondering where side you need to fall on, here are some considerations.
The Circadian System in Teenagers
It is now supported by scientific research that teenagers need nearly 14 hours of sleep as compared to adults who can get by just fine with 8 to 10 hours. Mary A. Carskadon, a sleep researcher at the Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University has found that most teenagers are sleep deprived due to waking up early for school, and not going to bed early to make up the difference. The lack of sleep has been linked to lower academic performances as well as an increase in petty crime rate for the sleep deprived teenagers.
What Can You Do About This?
As a homeschool teacher of teenage children, you may want to get your homeschool students tucked into bed at a regular hour, relatively early in the evening. In addition you may want to allow them to sleep in late enough to complete about 10 to 12 hours to sleep. Also get them to take that nap in the afternoon to make up their sleep deficiency. You will find that after they get their full quota of sleep, you angry teenagers are actually doing better at school work.