One of the most common questions we hear from parents is: “What does my child do for the rest of the day?”
It’s a fair question. If your child is in a part-time virtual school program—say, three to four hours of live instruction—they’re not in class from 8am to 3pm like they would be at a traditional school. That leaves significant unstructured time, which can feel daunting, especially if your child struggles with ADHD or executive function.
But here’s what most parents discover: less seat time in class often means more actual learning, and the “extra” hours become an opportunity rather than a problem.
Why Part-Time Can Mean More Progress
Traditional schools spend a lot of time on transitions, classroom management, waiting for other students, and activities that aren’t actually instruction. A focused three-hour virtual session with a small group of students and specialized teachers can cover as much ground as a six-hour traditional school day—sometimes more.
For neurodiverse learners especially, shorter intense periods of learning followed by breaks align much better with how their brains work. The goal isn’t to fill every hour with academics. The goal is to maximize learning during peak focus times and use the remaining hours wisely.
Building the Rest of the Day
Think of your child’s non-class hours in three categories: extending learning, building life skills, and genuine rest.
For extending learning, this doesn’t mean more worksheets. It means applying what they’re learning in real-world contexts. If they’re studying fractions, bake together and have them measure ingredients. If they’re reading about ancient civilizations, watch a documentary. Visit a museum. Listen to a relevant podcast during a car ride. This kind of learning doesn’t feel like school, but it reinforces and enriches what they’re studying.
For building life skills, traditional school leaves little time for the practical skills kids need. The extra hours in a part-time program are perfect for involvement in meal planning and cooking, managing their own space and belongings, learning to do laundry or basic home maintenance, practicing money management, pursuing hobbies that require sustained effort, physical activity and outdoor time, and social activities outside the immediate family.
These aren’t “extras” that don’t matter. For a child with executive function challenges, learning to cook a meal from start to finish is genuinely therapeutic and builds skills they’ll use forever.
For genuine rest, neurodiverse kids often arrive home from traditional school completely depleted. They’ve been masking, struggling, and working twice as hard as their peers just to get through the day. Recovery time isn’t laziness—it’s necessity.
With a part-time program, your child can have actual downtime without the backlog of homework and the dread of doing it all again tomorrow. This might look like reading for pleasure, creative projects, time in nature, unstructured play, or yes, some screen time—without guilt.
A Sample Schedule
Every family’s schedule will look different based on when their virtual classes meet, parents’ work schedules, and the child’s individual needs. Here’s one example for a student whose classes run from 9am to 12:30pm Eastern:
The morning routine from 7:30 to 8:30am includes wake up, breakfast, getting dressed, and some movement—a short walk, jumping on a trampoline, or stretching. From 8:30 to 9:00am is setup time: getting the workspace ready, reviewing the day’s schedule, and having a mental transition into school mode.
Live virtual classes run from 9:00am to 12:30pm, with breaks built into the program.
Lunch and movement from 12:30 to 1:30pm includes eating without screens and some physical activity outdoors if possible.
Afternoon activities from 1:30 to 4:00pm vary by day. This might be a music lesson on Monday, a therapy appointment on Tuesday, a playdate on Wednesday, a trip to the library on Thursday, or a cooking project on Friday. Independent practice time (usually 30-45 minutes) also fits here.
Free time from 4:00 to 5:30pm is for hobbies, creative projects, or just decompressing.
Family time from 5:30pm onward includes dinner, connection, and evening routine.
Principles That Help
A few guidelines make the non-class hours work better. Keep mornings consistent because neurodiverse kids benefit from knowing what to expect. The same wake-up time and morning routine every school day reduces anxiety and decision fatigue.
Build in transitions since shifting from one activity to another is hard for many neurodiverse kids. Give warnings before transitions: “In ten minutes, we’ll head outside.” Use visual schedules if that helps.
Protect physical activity time because movement isn’t optional for most kids with ADHD. It’s regulatory. Build it into the schedule as a non-negotiable, not a reward that can be taken away.
Let them have input on afternoon activities. When kids have some control over their time, they’re more invested. Offer choices: “Do you want to do your reading practice before or after your snack?”
Don’t overschedule. Just because there’s time doesn’t mean it needs to be filled. Neurodiverse kids need margin in their day for unexpected challenges and recovery.
What About Working Parents?
If you work outside the home or have a demanding remote job, you may need additional support during non-class hours. Options include after-school programs or enrichment activities, a part-time caregiver or “homework helper,” trading supervision with another family in your program, and structured independent activities your child can do safely.
The goal is to find support that provides structure without recreating the problems of traditional school. A caregiver who can take your child to the park and supervise a simple afternoon routine is often more valuable than another academic program.
The Bigger Picture
The shift to a part-time program often feels strange at first—especially if you’re used to traditional school schedules. You might worry your child isn’t doing enough or that the unstructured time is wasted.
But watch your child over several months. Notice if they’re less stressed. Notice if they’re reading for fun again, or taking up hobbies they’d abandoned. Notice if dinnertime is calmer because everyone isn’t exhausted and overwhelmed.
The point of education isn’t to fill every hour with instruction. It’s to help your child learn, grow, and develop into a capable person. Sometimes, less structured school time is exactly what makes that possible.