Several years back, we were really struggling with a good after school routine.
I always really liked the idea of having the kids play and relax a bit right after school before jumping into homework but somehow it just didn’t work out when we tried to do that – between playing with friends and going to sports practices and lessons, it was too hard to gather the kids back in to do their homework before dinner and they were too tired after dinner.
In the end, we found it worked best to have a nice snack and chat about how our days went then quickly take care of homework. This way, homework got done and the kids still had some good time to relax and play before and after dinner.
So here’s what we came up with (this little video was put together with captions and all by my then-12-year-old, Ashton).
The Loosli Family After-School Routine
Hopefully this will help you think through the routines that might work best for your family!
Please add your comments and ideas below.
I love it! My oldest starts school later this month and I’ll definitely use some of these ideas. I loved the questions. They are so much better than the usual “what did you do today?”.
Laundry: My oldest is four and she helps separate light and dark loads, and usually turns off the machine and empties it into a basket when it’s finished. She often helps hand me pegs when I hang washing out. And she always has to put away her own clothes when dried and folded. This will change somewhat when she starts school and isn’t home all day, but right now it works really well.
Love this video! Your kids are so sweet:) Everyone usually just ‘hangs out’ and chats, but then everyone heads off and plays. When it is time for homework later I always find it hard to drag them back and it is usually a bit of a fight. I love the idea of a healthy snack right when they get home, and having everyone together around the table to work and to share… such a wonderful way to connect. Thank you for being such a great inspiration!
I saw this video on your blog last week and after my kids got home from school I showed them the video. Right after the video we went into the kitchen for their after school snack and did the exact routine as the video showed (with the questions and all). Since then we’ve been doing this routine everyday and it’s been so much easier. Before I thought it would be better to give them a break and then start on homework shortly after, I found it was much more of a fight to get them back to do any school work after their short break. I also think my kids were so impressed watching how other kids just did it.
Later that evening my daughter came to me and said how the kids were just so good and how the one boy even said, “I’ll go get my homework.”
I think it’s inspiring for children to watch other children do things that they all do. Thanks for the videos, I can’t wait to show them more!
I love this!! My kids virtual school so our routine is a bit different but we need to incorporate some of your ideas (mainly the questions) but with a slightly modified routine.
That is really cool, that you take that time to be with your children. I struggle a lot to find the right time to sit down with my children. I find myself getting overwhelmed way to much. And it would help greatly if my home were in order too. Thank you for posting what you do. It has been very helpful.
Love this, as always! Often motivational speakers encourage finding a mentor. The Eyre family are my mentors…hope they don’t mind 🙂
I too love these ideas. I’m really curious about what happens in the moments before the video. Are your kids expected to walk in the house and go straight to the table? At our house everyone jumps out of the car, scrambles into the house, stuff gets dropped, and people scatter. I would love to change this!
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I appreciate the video to show the realtime version you outlined. I can tell this is a well established routine and I’m sure consistency is the key. One question I have, ( and it was inspired by another comment ) does anyone else agree children don’t have enough free time to play?
I read school recess is down from three breaks to play during the 1950’s to one if they’re lucky now.
I mention this because while I am I grateful for your help to see how well this can work with a consistent schedule, I wonder if anyone else out there is concerned that research shows homework is proven to add no value until high school, but play adds exponential growth, emotional regulation, healthy risk taking, healthy risk assessment, creativity, social awareness and skill building, the benefits of play are almost too many to list. Play builds reading comprehension- it is a story, it has a beginning, a middle and an end, conflict and resolution. Play is mathmstical- it is sequential. All academic mandates are met through play and the opposite of play is not work, it’s depression. We now have an abundance of depression and anxiety in children as never before and we have less time for them to play as never before.
Can we start a concersation about that and mobilize moms to unite in preserving children’s right to play?
Thanks for this great comment! I agree whole-heartedly that play is vitally important for kids. I love that our kids’ school only gives about 10-15 minutes/day of homework – sometimes a math worksheet that helps them solidify what they learned that day, sometimes working on a book report, simple but meaningful stuff. In addition, they are encouraged to read for 20-30 minutes a day (they have reading time for 20 minutes after we’ve put them in bed then it’s lights out). There are many schools that give way too much homework and research says that homework can be very detrimental towards kids. There have been times when a homework assignment has been very tedious and felt like it would be a waste of my child’s time and in those rare cases, I have gone in and talked to the teacher about an alternative assignment or have had my child opt out of that assignment. Every time I’ve talked to a teacher about homework being too much, they have been very receptive and understanding and have been totally respectful of what I think is best for my child regarding homework.
I have had discussions with teachers and administration at our school about the need to protect recess time (there is too little of it as it is and when they keep kids inside to help out with something or for some minor infraction, it is really a problem in my book). Play time at school makes work time more productive and kids learn so much during unstructured recess time!
It worked really well for us to have our children enjoy a snack right after school so we could all talk together about our day and then do their quick homework before playing the rest of the afternoon and then again after dinner. As you say, play is more important than homework!
Typo- conversation