How to Make a Schedule That Works for Your Child
I know you hear “schedule and think “I’m not a schedule person!” There are many ways to build in flexibility, and still help your child cope with change, transitions, and getting through hard things!
There are many factors that go into creating a routine or schedule that works for your child. It’s important to take into consideration which parts of the day they enjoy, and which parts are more difficult to get through. You’ll also want to think about the constraints of your family day, for example if someone needs to be picked up or dropped off at school during a certain time, those are non-negotiable parts of the routine. Below, we will go over a few of the things you can do to make sure you’re creating a schedule that will work for your child.
What kind of Schedule Will be Meaningful?
If your child is a good reader, you might use a written schedule, but I usually recommend visual schedules for children under 8 (at least!) Here are are some examples of visual or picture schedules:
Here is an example of a great visual schedule for a morning routine. This costs $1.50 on Teacher Pay Teachers, but you can easily make your own, you can even take pictures of your child completing their routine, and use those!
What Activities Does Your Child Most Look Forward To?
Think about these, and sprinkle them into the day as frequently as you can especially after the activities your child doesn’t enjoy. By placing fun activities after the activities you know your child dislikes, you give yourself an incredible amount of bargaining power, and it takes the power struggle away because you aren’t telling your child it’s time to go to the store, the schedule is. Now, as a team, you and your child can work through the grocery store part (boring!) and get to the park part (fun!).
You Don’t Need To Include the Times of Day
Children usually think in blocks of time, and the order matters more than the time something starts or ends. This will also give you more flexibility in terms of your schedule and timing (i mean if it’s a beautiful day at the park, no need to rush home!). When you do need to make adjustments to the schedule, just make sure you do them with your child.
Conclusion
Not all kids need something as high-structure as a written or visual schedule, but for families that notice that…
Your child is having frequent tantrums or meltdowns
The tantrums and meltdowns usually happen when they are changing activities (or transitioning).
You have difficulty getting through every day tasks like errands because of your child doesn’t want to come, and it results in a lot of big behavior or challenging behavior, like refusing.
You sense that your child responds well to warnings about what is coming up.
a schedule might be a good thing to try! As with any intervention, make sure you give this a good 4-6 weeks to really see a meaningful change. If you need more help navigating this, feel free to email me!
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Parenting never gets easy, but with the right tools you can make the hard parts more doable. You can do this - I believe in you!
You’re a good mom!
XO
Claire
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