2 Simple Ways to Establish Good School-Day Routines

Are you ready to get back into school routines? Here are some tips I wrote up a while back:

1. Have a family meeting. Usually, a night or two before school started, we would have a family meeting about our family routines for the new school year. We talked about:

• • What needs to happen at what time in the morning so that we can get to school on time?
  • What needs to happen each afternoon and evening to get homework done, take care of dinner and clean-up, and get to bed on time?
  • How can we all remember what we’re supposed to do without mom and dad having to remind us all the time?

2. Involve kids in coming up with systems to help establish routines. Kids are much more likely to be excited about things they help to come up with! One year, I had my oldest child, then 12-years-old (who seemed to be the culprit for a lot of late-to-school moments and who’s an excellent typist and likes doing computer stuff plus is flattered by the opportunity to do stuff like this) type up a list of everything that needs to happen at what time each morning with his little brothers and sister helping him remember everything.

Here’s what the kids came up with (the kids worked together to find the pictures and everything – please excuse the quality of the printing – our printer wasn’t working well!):

 

We posted a copy of the morning and bedtime routine list on the back of everyone’s bedroom door and posted the afternoon and evening routines in the kitchen and dining room.

We also reviewed this video about the after-school routine that worked very well for us last year.

This method worked very well for our family. Tweak it and try it in your family!

* My sisters, mom and I made a podcast about morning routines as part of our Deliberate Mothering Podcast Series. Please enjoy listening to the podcast by clicking on the link below. Then add your ideas for successful morning routines to the conversation in the comment section below. I can sure use a few more ideas myself!

PODCAST: Morning Routines

 

 

QUESTION: What tips and tricks do you have to offer about routines?

CHALLENGE: Take a look at the routines you’ve got to make them more effective or create brand new routines that will help your family function better!

Originally published August 24, 2012.

About Saren Eyre Loosli

Saren adores her five energetic, adventurous kids (ages 13-18) but doesn't totally adore the mess and busyness and bickering that that comes with them! She grew up all over the world, got her Bachelor's degree at Wellesley College and did her Masters in Education at Harvard University (these days, the diplomas on her wall mostly serve as visual aids when she's trying to convince her all-too-smart teenagers that she DOES know a thing or two!). She went on to design and implement enrichment programs for kids and training programs for teachers. But it was only after she finally found her wonderful husband, Jared, and had five children in five years, that her education and work experience began in earnest!

When she's not trying to answer five - or six - different needs and questions at once, she works on this website (she's Founder and Director of Power of Families).

She currently lives in Ogden, Utah and loves reading, hiking, and biking with her family (or by herself when possible!). She often struggles with balance but finds joy in being involved in many things that are meaningful to her.