Back to School, Back to Routine

By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy

Maybe your children are already back to school, or they will be heading back in a couple of weeks. It can be a happy and exciting time, but also a stressful time for both children and parents. Even though my daughter is only going to pre-school, I have to get us back into a school routine to make sure she gets everything done prior to leaving for school and is happy when we get there. The summer time really got us off our regular routine so it is time to hop back on board the school routine train!

Routine is Important for Any Age

No matter what age your children are, developing a daily routine can help keep their life organized and help eliminate chaos from yours. Children like routines that are predictable, regular and consistent. And since young children don’t understand time in minutes and hours, it is better to have a routine in place so they understand what event happens next.

Routines can also help children during difficult times of the day like when they first wake up in the morning, nap time, or bedtime. When children know what to expect when they wake up, there will be less arguments and they will learn to complete tasks before they can start other plans for the day.

And same with nap time and bedtime. By doing the bedtime routine prior to sleeping, they will feel more comfortable and prepared to calm their bodies and mind for sleep.

Implement a Routine

It is never too late to implement a routine, especially if a big life event is about to happen for the child – like going to school. No matter if this is your child’s first year going or their 12^th, going from summer time to school time can be a hard transition. Implement a routine that you can keep on track with year-round (this is where I need to improve). Here are some easy routines that children can follow every day, regardless if they are going to school or not, to help with their day.

• When your child wakes up in the morning, make it a routine to go to the bathroom first and use the toilet. Wash their hands next and brush their teeth while they are still at the sink. When they are finished with their teeth, have them move on to face washing and brushing their hair.
• Don’t let them hangout all morning in their pajamas. After they are finished in the bathroom, have them change into their clothes for the day. When you get them changing out of their pajamas and into other clothes, it is a trigger action to confirm that their day is starting.
• Many children wake up very hungry. 8-10 hours of sleep is a long time without eating for anyone, especially a young child. Have them eat a nutritious breakfast right after the bathroom routine.
• At this point, children might be ready to be on their way to school. If your child is still in pre-school or a half day school program and starts in the afternoon, now might be a good time to encourage free play or do something fun together.
• When your child gets home from school, have a routine in place to make the transition from school environment to home environment easier. If that means putting their backpacks in a certain place and going over paperwork together on the couch then do that. Maybe it is finding a healthy snack and going on a walk outside together. Whatever it is, ease the transition because school can be very stressful for children of any age.
• And finally, the bedtime routine, which can be the hardest of all. Children are busy little people. Getting them to calm down and relax their mind and bodies after a long day can be so hard. Start bath time at the same time every evening. After the bath is over, implement a routine: pajamas, teeth, book, then bed for example. Or if your children are movers like mine, bed time yoga is fabulous! You could also go over what will happen tomorrow in your routine so that your child knows what the plan is. 

I hope that this school year is wonderful for your children and you, the parent. This time goes so fast so it is important that we make the best of it!

What are your daily routines like when your children go to school? At what age did you start a routine? How much does your routine change from school to summer time?

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master for Choosy Kids and owner of The Choosy Mommy. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy, and son Cam, who is learning new things everyday. Click here to learn more about Christine.

The First Day of Pre-School and Only a Few Tears Shed…By Me

By: Christine Cox, The Choosy Mommy

I did it. I just took Capri to her first day of pre-school. I ALMOST made it out of the building without shedding a tear until I saw a little boy crying about leaving his mom. Then I cried…Capri was fine.

I know that the experience of going to pre-school is going to be so rewarding for her. At her pre-school they are full steam ahead in learning over play, however, I fully believe in playing to learn and we do that at home. I am also thankful for fellow Choosy Kids blogger, Molly Luke, who shared her tips for going to school which really helped me!

My goal for Capri at pre-school is really to get her to adapt to being without me, to listen to someone other than myself or her dad, and to interact with other kids her age. She also needs to start to learn routines because we are a very flexible schedule kind of family!

I never went to child care or pre-school. I went straight to Kindergarten and to be honest, I had to take a test to even be allowed into the class because I missed the birthday cut off date by 3 days (parents – September birthdays are the hardest). I remember taking the test: building a tower of blocks, telling him my ABC’s and even correcting him when he spelled my last name wrong on the paper (it was a bit harder than it is now). Needless to say, after I corrected him we didn’t do any more tests…I was READY! Mind you, it was a half day program. Capri is in a 2-day, 2-hour program so the time difference is huge but I know that if I survived Kindergarten without even doing any kind of pre-school, then she should be fine.

This year, she is going to learn all of her ABC’s, how to count to 30 and learn lots of animals (hopefully some new ones that she doesn’t already know because she is an animal “expert”). Her teacher is amazing and a lot of parents with kids who already went through the same program have agreed that it is truly one of the best pre-schools in our area. Let’s cross our fingers that she meets some new friends (wouldn’t it be cute if she met her best friend in pre-k?!) and dives feet first into this new adventure…by herself, like a big girl.

And now the tears start to flow again. I knew this day would come. Everyone told me that time will just fly by when she is young but I truly had no idea time would go this fast. And now I look at Cam, already 4 months old, growing like a weed, knowing that in a short 3 years I’ll be doing this all over again with him. Hopefully I won’t cry, but who am I kidding, I am a mom.

How did you react when your children first went to school? Tell me your stories about this separation anxiety so that I know I am not the only one who cried!

About the Author: Christine Cox is the blog master and The Choosy Mommy for Choosy Kids. She has always had a passion for writing and is honored to contribute her work to this blog. Most of her writing inspiration comes from her daughter, Capri, who is fun-loving and full of energy, and newborn son Cam. Click here to learn more about Christine.

The Empty Space Club

By: Dr. Linda Carson

It’s back to school time and my thoughts turn to young children adjusting to new environments, routines, and faces. It can be exhilarating for some and frightening for others. Even play time can test a child’s enthusiasm and eagerness.

Almost all young children love to move around, and given a little bit of open space, moving may change to galloping or running. We have all watched and winced as our youngest children collide with coffee tables, chairs, playground equipment, and of course, other children. Have you ever wondered how children actually learn to control their movements, or how we can help them become more skillful movers?

Space awareness has complex components, but in simple terms for home practice, space awareness is:

Knowledge about space, and how I use and manage my body in relation to objects, obstacles, and other movers.

For decades, preschool children have been introduced to sitting or standing on a carpet to define the place (or space) that belongs to them. And many teachers have children return to their place after doing an activity somewhere else. Most teachers call this place “personal” space or “self” space.

But space awareness is more than a spot on the floor or carpet. Young children need lots of practice time for learning about locations in space (up-down, high-low, on top-below, over-under, in front of front –behind, etc.) and judging distance. From a child’s perspective, if my self-space is how much room my body needs in my “place,” what happens when I start moving around the room or play yard in something called shared space? It can be a bit challenging but we can help children learn that they take their self-space with them into shared space…and so does everyone else! And now, the familiar safe and self-regulated movements become VERY challenging when other things or other children are included.

So how can we help children avoid collisions while having fun learning about space relationships when playing games, moving to music, pretending, and simply exploring? One way is to use props like a hula hoop to not only be the child’s “place” on the floor, but to help your child actually pick up self-space and see that it moves around too. This also helps children “see” the self-space of others while practicing. Another helpful strategy for applying concepts to a young child’s awareness of space is to use the terms empty and full to your advantage. Using containers or cups with water, sand, cereal or other items in them help demonstrate the difference between empty or full. This brings with it lots of opportunity for dialog and discussion…even math and measuring concepts. If children understand empty and full, and have practiced with hands on props and desktop visuals, they have the foundation necessary to apply the vocabulary and the concepts to their own movements and their relationships with obstacles and other people.

Choosy Kids has a song about moving only into empty spaces. It encourages children to look for and move into spaces that are empty and not filled with another person. The song even empowers children by welcoming them into the Empty Space Club if they can move and play without bumping into anything or anyone. As the song plays, do the movements with your child that are asked for during the song and during the chorus (designed as a rest period). Make up movements that you can do together, for example:

"I Love (hands over heart or draw a heart on chest) 

Being in the Choosy Kids Club   (hand sign for C)

I Love (hands over heart or draw a heart on chest) 

Being in the Empty Space Club (make up a movement for empty, i.e. point to the floor and move your hand in a circle)"

Download your very own Empty Space Club membership card and present it to your child if he or she is intentionally looking for those empty spaces instead of bumping into unsuspecting siblings or friends!

Other fun things that you can do at home to practice space awareness include using available toys and props around the house to review important location words, for example:

Can you put your toy under your chair?

Can you put your toy behind the vacuum cleaner?

Can you put your toy on top of your bed?

Can you put your toy in front of your foot? Is it near to you or far away? 

Can you put your toy far away from you?

Which is near and which is far? Toaster and bed? Door and toothbrush? 

Standing in your personal space, can you put your hands up high? 

Can you put one hand low?

Can you put one hand high and one hand low?

Make up games that involve judgments of space like tossing or rolling a ball over a line, into a hoop or into a laundry basket.

Design an obstacle course with pillows and stuffed animals as obstacles in shared space. The child must find only empty spaces to move, hop, gallop, jump, etc. while avoiding each obstacle.

Practicing space concepts in a fun and playful way lays a foundation for the development of self-regulation, as well as a respect for the personal space of that other children and adults.

What have you tried to do to help your child learn about personal and shared space?

About the Author: Linda Carson, Ed. D, is the founder and CEO of Choosy Kids, LLC, and the Ware Distinguished Professor Emerita at West Virginia University. An award winning, nationally recognized expert, Dr. Carson has devoted her career to promoting healthy preferences for young children and the adults who make decisions on their behalf. Click here to learn more about Linda.