What does your 4th/5th grader do after school?

[Anonymous]

Assume homework was all done at school and EC's aren't until later in the evening. DD hops straight to video games, and since I WFH, and it's a constant struggle to get her to do something else while also working. I can't micromanage like she seems to need.

[Anonymous]

Same

[Anonymous]

Same. My DD wants to play Roblox with her friends. Sometimes, I'll make her read or she'll work on craft kits that are readily available with little supervision needed.

[Anonymous]

If school things are put away and homework is done and physical activity is planned later, I'm ok with tv on. Honestly, my kid always picks something educational... e.g., about animals, nature, on PBS. She needs some downtime after school and I'm ok with that because I also wfh and usually need time to finish up without being bothered. My kid is either quiet in front of the tv or doing math games on the ipad or wants to talk and do something with me, so it works out. I know that later she'll go to martial arts, yoga, gymnastics, or play outside with some of the neighbors. It evens out.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If school things are put away and homework is done and physical activity is planned later, I'm ok with tv on. Honestly, my kid always picks something educational... e.g., about animals, nature, on PBS. She needs some downtime after school and I'm ok with that because I also wfh and usually need time to finish up without being bothered. My kid is either quiet in front of the tv or doing math games on the ipad or wants to talk and do something with me, so it works out. I know that later she'll go to martial arts, yoga, gymnastics, or play outside with some of the neighbors. It evens out.

I feel the same. My 4th grade DD is busy with a lot of ECs, so I'm fine if her down time at home on weekdays is largely ipad/tv/video games. She watches decent stuff. Sometimes she will draw or do something crafty. She is also in a theatre program/musical so will practice for about 15 minutes each afternoon. She reads for about 20-30 minutes a night right before bed on weeknights. We all need some downtime.

[Anonymous]

My kid in 4th still goes to aftercare because she still needs too much attention most of the time. But honestly, struggling because there's not a lot of time to get homework done when we get home with soccer and showers and dinner etc. How does your kid finish homework already before they get home? She has reading, math pages and now writing assignments too?

[Anonymous]

My 4th grade son will do his homework and on two late afternoons he has soccer or football practice or a game. If the weather is nice he will play outdoors with his younger siblings. Sometimes he will play video game or watch tv but he is not obsessed with it.

[Anonymous]

Roblox. Sadly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If school things are put away and homework is done and physical activity is planned later, I'm ok with tv on. Honestly, my kid always picks something educational... e.g., about animals, nature, on PBS. She needs some downtime after school and I'm ok with that because I also wfh and usually need time to finish up without being bothered. My kid is either quiet in front of the tv or doing math games on the ipad or wants to talk and do something with me, so it works out. I know that later she'll go to martial arts, yoga, gymnastics, or play outside with some of the neighbors. It evens out.

I feel the same. My 4th grade DD is busy with a lot of ECs, so I'm fine if her down time at home on weekdays is largely ipad/tv/video games. She watches decent stuff. Sometimes she will draw or do something crafty. She is also in a theatre program/musical so will practice for about 15 minutes each afternoon. She reads for about 20-30 minutes a night right before bed on weeknights. We all need some downtime.

Agreed. My DD's schedule is so much busier than it used to be, that I've relaxed my thinking on screen time a lot. If she doesn't have an activity right after school, it's homework, instrument practice, household tasks (put away stuff, clean up a prior mess, etc.), then she can just chill. Often that's reading or hanging out in her room, but if she asks for TV or the iPad, then that's totally fine. Good to let their busy brains decompress.

[Anonymous]

Snack
Playground
Homework
TV
Religious class
Sport
Dinner
Bath & brush
Reading
Story time
Sleep

[Anonymous]

*obviously no playground on sport practice day

[Anonymous]

3p Homework or summer bridge book /piano practice/snack
4p iPad 30 min
5p Outdoor time
5:30 Dinner
6:30 shower
7:30 read chapter books
8:30 -9 pm asleep

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:3p Homework or summer bridge book /piano practice/snack
4p iPad 30 min
5p Outdoor time
5:30 Dinner
6:30 shower
7:30 read chapter books
8:30 -9 pm asleep

Your timing seems long. The 30 minutes iPad are scheduled for an hour. And dinner and shower don’t take an hour each!

My kid takes 10 minutes for a snack, 15 minutes for homework, and then has 2 hours to fill before dinner. He eats in 15 minutes and showering and teeth takes 20 minutes max.

[Anonymous]

My kids' school has study hall in their after school program, so kids finish their homework at that time.
They only get TV time on weekends - so on week days they draw, play outside, do a craft project, etc when they don't have activities.

[Anonymous]

4th grade:
Monday reading/writing tutor until 5:30pm. Then free time, play with siblings, go out to playground with mom or grandma. Not much screen time unless she "earns it"

Tuesday:
Play with siblings, study with grandma, then go to archery class at 7pm. Screentime in evening afterwards

Wednesday:
Sewing class with best friend, then they play until 7:30-8pm

Thursday:
After-school creative class til 5, then free time with siblings, out with mom, study with grandma

Friday:
Creative DIY class with best friend, then they play at my home or nearby park until 8pm or later.