Chore Scheduler and Screen Time Tracker for Homeschoolers

Hi homeschooling community! I’m navigating a situation with my two teenage boys that I’d really appreciate some perspective on. We homeschool, and they typically finish their schoolwork in about 30–45 minutes each day. That leaves a lot of extra time — which has turned into a couple of issues around structure, responsibility, and screen-time boundaries. Issue #1: Lack of structure and chores We used to have a few light chores for them, but we stopped about two months ago. My wife had a very rough upbringing — her mom was extremely controlling and even psychologically abusive about cleanliness — so she’s understandably hesitant to make chores a battle. To be fair, I share some of the responsibility too. I’d come home from work and end up arguing with the boys about what had or hadn’t been done, and my wife (who’s home with them during the day) was just worn out by the constant conflict. Eventually we both decided, maybe subconsciously, to just drop it. I also stopped giving them their small allowance so there’d still be some consequence, but the result is they now have lots of unstructured time and zero daily responsibilities once schoolwork is done. Issue #2: Too much screen time The other big challenge is their screen use. Once school’s over, they go straight to YouTube, gaming, or chatting online with friends. As a little experiment, I left their PlayStation unlocked over the weekend when they had a sleepover. They played around six hours one day, and one of them played another four hours the next — plus about five hours of Roblox with friends on the same laptops they use for schoolwork. It felt excessive, and it’s hard not to worry about balance, motivation, and the long-term habits we’re reinforcing. Looking for advice I’d love to hear from other homeschooling parents — • How do you reintroduce chores or structure without constant fights or power struggles? • What’s worked for you in setting healthy screen-time limits (especially when devices are also needed for schoolwork)? • How do you encourage self-motivation and purposeful use of free time when academics wrap up quickly? I’m not looking to over-control their day, but I’d really like to find a healthy balance between freedom and responsibility. Any insight, experiences, or routines that have worked for your family would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance — I know this community has a ton of wisdom around homeschool balance and teen independence.