School Days - Top 10 Tips for Establishing a Good Routine
by Lindsay Small
Teachers know that children thrive in an environment with routines,
boundaries and rules. Parents unfortunately often forget it! And yet by
establishing good routines and encouraging children to help you maintain
them, you have an opportunity to set a pattern and a discipline that
will stay with your children for the rest of their lives. You will make
school days easier and far less stressful, reduce the chances of
starting your day late or dragging on forever with the homework, put an end to nagging and shouting, and have
happier, more relaxed kids.
Here are 10 tips for establishing a solid, school day routine.
1. Lay the breakfast table the night before
Put everything out apart from perishables. If you keep all your
breakfast things in one cupboard or one area of the kitchen this routine
will be easier to establish, and older children can take it in turns to
do it.
2. Put out your clothes the night before
Lay out a complete set of clothes for each child, checking them as you
do it. Older children should do this themselves - you can double check
when you say goodnight. Then if something is missing (or shoes need
polishing) you have time to put it right. Lay your own clothes out too!
3. Brush teeth at the kitchen sink
Keep a toothbrush and toothpaste for each child in the kitchen and brush
teeth at the kitchen sink immediately after breakfast. It may not be
perfect for the house-proud, but if you send your child out of your
sight to do a chore in the morning, you lose control. If you lose
control, he may start dawdling.
4. Set up base camp
Establish a "base camp" where the children keep all their school things.
You will need room for kit bags, satchels, swimming bags, sports
equipment, ballet bags, library books and whatever else the kids need!
Provide at least one hook per child for their coats (in our house kids
must hang coats up as soon as they take them off) and a basket or box
for school shoes (in our house kids must put shoes in the box as soon as
they take them off too - sometimes they do!) Another basket or box for
each child can be used as a place to put anything that needs to go to
school - gloves, letters to teachers, music, library books etc.
Everything is in its place and ready to go out the door first thing in
the morning without any fuss.
5. Make a list
Fill out a schedule of what is needed at school on each day and pin it
up at "base camp". Check each morning before you walk out the door that
you have the appropriate kit. You will find a school week planner to
print here:
http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/school_week_planner.htm
6. Nail up a notice board
Keep a notice board at "base camp" so that you can pin up reminders,
invitations, school menus or whatever else you need to keep tabs on.
7. Do it now!
If anything comes home from school that requires your attention, do it
immediately! Fill out forms and put them straight back into the satchel.
Write dates into your diary there and then, and reply the same day too.
If you postpone it, you will forget it!
8. Give homework a home
Establish a place and time for doing homework and stick to it. Keep
dictionaries and other necessary books nearby, as well as a spare set of
pencils, rulers and other stationery you might need. Make sure that
homework is put back into satchels as soon as it is completed and that
satchels are returned to "base camp" straight away. Get out a kitchen
timer if kids are reluctant to start (or finish!)
9. Be prepared
If your car is running short of petrol (gas), fill it up on the way home
from school in the afternoon rather than panicking the following
morning! As you drive home, run a mental check on whether you have the
necessary supplies for dinner, and breakfast. Nothing makes kids more
miserable in the morning than an empty fridge.
10. Get ahead
Set your alarm to wake you up 10 minutes earlier than usual. You will be
amazed at how much more in control that 10 minutes will make you feel.
And finally, leave for school 5 minutes early. Arriving early takes away
an enormous amount of stress and will put your children in the right
mood for school.
Are you convinced? Start initiating some routines in your school day
mornings and you and your kids will feel the benefits very quickly.
Making sure that your kids feel comfortable and in control before they
get to school gives them the best possible start to a school day. And
once they get used to afternoon and evening routines for homework and
preparation for the day ahead, night-times become more peaceful too.
"We first make our habits,
and then our habits make us."
John Dryden
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