Morning Focus vs Afternoon Focus: Timing Work to the Child

By Laura Lurns · Reviewed by Philip Weaver · Last reviewed 2026-10-03

Is there a best time of day for homework?

We hold no study that finds a best time of day for homework.

One study tested teenagers who were morning types or evening types (Goldstein and colleagues, 2007). On reasoning tests, they did better at the time of day they preferred. That was test scores, not homework. Goldstein's was one study, of teenagers.

Rules about when homework happens

Patall, Cooper and Robinson (2008) pooled studies of parents and homework. In a small set of them, clear rules about when and where homework happens went with better results. Simply checking up on a child did not go with better results. Those are links, not tests. It is a pattern in a few studies, not a rule.

What we see in the afternoon

A dip in the late afternoon is common in the families we work with. In our experience, hard work often goes better on either side of it. We have not tested this.

A child who has not eaten since lunch is usually harder to settle to homework. We have watched this many times in the families we work with. We have not tested it.

Trying two times and comparing

• In our view, notice when in the day your child has energy for work.
• Try homework at one time for a week, then at another.
• Each day, write down how it went.
• Then pick the time that went better, and keep to it.

These steps are our own practice.

Our page on homework battles covers the half hour before homework.

When your child is tired after school

Homework often comes at the end of the day. What we see, consistently, is that many children have very little left by then. A tired child is harder to start and harder to keep going.

Some sleep problems are medical questions for a pediatrician. Trouble falling or staying asleep that keeps going. Loud snoring, or pauses in breathing. Severe sleepiness in the day.

Our page on sleep and learning covers the hour before bed.

When to ask for help

Each of these is a reason to ask for help on its own.

• Little change, even with steady practice and good teaching.
• Schoolwork well below what school expects.
• A teacher who raises a concern about learning.
• Extreme upset about schoolwork.
• Complete avoidance of school or learning.
• Hopelessness about learning.
• Sadness or worry that lasts.
• Significant delays in speech, language or motor development.
• A skill that was there and has gone. Our position is that a lost skill goes to a doctor first, not a tutor.

If no skill has gone, start with the teacher. Say what you are seeing at home, and what you have tried. Beyond the teacher, the right person depends on what it turns out to be about. If the work is too hard, someone who works on that school skill. If worry or mood is the thing, someone who works with children's mental health. In our view, delays in speech, language or movement are worth raising with your child's doctor. In our view, if you are worried enough to ask, a professional evaluation is worth asking about.

Any talk of hurting themselves is a same-day call to your doctor or a crisis line.