I have a board in the kitchen where I right down what the plans are for the day. That way, there is no question about when we are doing the stuff I NEED/want them to do, and when they are free to do what they want.
Our schedule today went like this:
wake up-9am - TV/play/eat breakfast
9am-10am - work on Kumon/workbooks/chores
10am-10:30 - snack
10:30-11:15 - reading time (Where I read a book to them and they read something to me)
11:15-12:15 - play time
12:15-1:00 - lunch
1:00-1:30 - silent reading for Arlington and Cainan/braille work with Finley with me
1:30-3:00 - free play or movie if it is raining (which it was not)/chores
3:00-3:30 - snack
3:30-5:00 - play/TV time/art time
5:00 - dinner
I know - seems a bit strict, right? My kids like it. It decreases fighting with them when it comes time to do work. And since Finley and Cainan have mandatory Kumon work, and Finley has mandatory Braille work, it helps a lot to have it written down when we are going to do it, so there is no fighting about it.
Each day will be different, of course - especially during camp weeks. But on free days, this will be pretty much what the days look like.
And I stole from my sister in law, Carrie, the Snack Bar idea. She had made a list of chores and what snack each chore earned them. I loved it and thought it was perfect. My kids are CONSTANT snackers, especially in the summer. We would be out of crackers before mid-week, so I made a chart where they have to do something to earn the chore. It happens in the block of time before snack time, so they don't have to wait long for the reward. IT is all stuff they are capable of, and the snacks are things they wouldn't get on a regular basis, so they were pretty excited. Let's hope it continues!
Here are pictures from today!
Arlington's mask:
2 comments:
You are a Nazi Mommy - I love it :-)
This is absolutely GREAT. My daughter thrives from routine and is very sensitive to changes, and even though she's 12, I've done something like this for many years. Creating an agenda so she knew what was coming/expected was one of the best things I ever did. Rewards work wonders, too.
Even though the Grandparents' homes are supposed to be "fun zones," I also encouraged them to set some general structure. They each created a little more lax system, but it made so much more consistency and my daughter did/does SO WELL. :)
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