6 Ways to Have a Peaceful Evening When You’re Homeschooling Boys

Overview: Getting tired of having exhausting nights… after exhausting days! There is hope! Learn how to set yourself up for a peaceful evening.

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After a busy day of homeschooling the kids, the last thing moms want is to have a stressful evening.  Since most homeschool families don’t give their children homework to complete at night, you’d think that our evenings would be naturally peaceful, right?!?

Sometimes homeschooling families do have a peaceful evening.  However, quite often, we have just as much of a struggle getting food on the table, heading out to extra-curricular activities, and wrangling kids as the next family.

And sometimes, when kids have had a bad attitude or are extremely wound up, we find ourselves still trying to complete homeschool lessons well into the afternoon or even after supper – which really throws a monkey wrench into our evening plans.

Is it even possible to have a peaceful evening when there are kids in the home?

Fortunately, it is!

Here are 6 Ways to Have a Peaceful Evening When You’re Homeschooling Boys:

1 – Crockpots and Instant Pots

After a long day of teaching lessons, making dinner is usually the LAST thing that I want to do.  One way to avoid this dilemma is to put dinner in the crockpot.  Take advantage of some of the time your kids are working independently each morning to assemble a meal in the crockpot.  This is a HUGE help for homeschool moms because when we are running out of energy later in the day, our crockpot will have the evening meal ready for us at just the right time!

And instant pots are helpful as well because they greatly decrease the amount of time it takes to make the evening meal. That’s a win in my book!

2 – Get Lessons Done

If you find that your kids aren’t finishing their lessons until well into the afternoon or evening, it may be time to re-evaluate.

• Are you attempting to have them complete too much work?
• Do attitudes need an adjustment?
• Might some of the curriculum need a change?

If attitudes are the problem, attempt to come up with some leverage that will entice your kids to want to finish their lessons in a timely manner and with a good attitude. Reward your boys with something they will really enjoy such as some time on video games, some one-on-one time with dad, or whatever else you know will motivate them.

3 – Evaluate Extra-Curricular Activities

Don’t sign your kids up for so many outside activities that you are on the run every night of the week.  If your boys are really into sports, then try to limit their involvement to one or two favorites.  My boys love basketball and we know that our family will be very busy during the basketball season so we try to say “no” to other sports or activities during the off-season.  There are all sorts of fun things you can do at home to have a peaceful family evening:

• Watch a fun movie together
• Play basketball
• Throw the football around
• Play a board game
• Read a book aloud
• Play the Wii together, etc.

4 – Earlier Bedtime?

After a long day of being together, it’s important to get the kids into bed at a decent hour so that you and your husband can have some alone time.  My boys have always gone to bed early.  We put them to bed by 7:30 or 8:00 for years and years.  And even at ages 14 and 15, our boys used to go to bed by 9 or 9:30 at the latest most nights.

5 – Tire Them Out

Boys have lots of energy!  If you want to have a peaceful evening, it’s important to be sure you are giving them plenty of opportunities to run around and do something physical throughout the day.  Boys who are made to sit for hours on end are understandably going to be wired in the evenings.  Tire those kids out!

6 – Get Chores Done Early

After a long day of teaching lessons, caring for children, making meals, etc. moms NEED some time to relax in the evening.  Do whatever you possibly can to get the household chores done before your husband gets home from work so that you will also be able to enjoy time with the family in the evening.  We’ve handled household chores differently as our boys have gotten older.  Sometimes, we have them do some chores as part of their school day. Sometimes, we take time in the evening or on Saturday mornings and the entire family pitches in.  Do whatever works for your family!  You might even consider letting some chores slide for a while in order to give yourself a break.  😉

As you can see, it is possible to have a peaceful evening with you are homeschooling boys. With a little bit of preplanning, your evenings can become much more relaxed and you can start to enjoy some fun family time together rather than dreading the end of the day.

Question:  Have you discovered any other ways to have a peaceful evening?  I’d love to hear any tips you can share with us!  Please leave a comment below.