Hey all!
I have been asked to share this system I am using for the kids who have been home from school due to COVID-19 and at this point, we are not sure what the next year holds. in the beginning, I followed the masses with the “daily school schedule” having times to be working of some school work, playtime, lunchtime, creative time… ALL THE TIMES. After a bit I constantly felt like I was having to keep everyone on schedule and reminding them what to do, meanwhile with everyone being home my mom duties were piling up and I was spending what felt like all day in the kitchen and cleaning.
Some days I felt like I didn’t have much time for the things that I personally wanted to accomplish in the day leaving my cup empty and frustrated so this was my solution.
I have a 10-year-old boy and an 8-year-old girl- I will address how I would modify for younger kiddos later in this post.
I created this design in Canva and laminated it to allow the kids to create their own schedules, learn responsibility, still use their brain and have limited screentime along with active time too! ALL WITHOUT ME! Sayyyyyy whaaaaaaa. Yes mamas here is an example of what we are doing
We are allowing 4 hours of screen time daily 2 in the am and 2 in the afternoon. I wanted them to have specific tasks before they could start screen time. I found the kids would easily wake up and go straight to watching tv or tablet time if I allowed it. Now they will mark off with an expo marker ( because I got some laminating sheets from Walmart) when they have done there am self-care tasks, a chore of choice and 30 minutes of reading and 30 minutes of math ( which is a FUN game online that they love and is hands-off for us parents but allows us to track their progress) They can then have their free time. I can simply go check to make sure the bed is made etc…… if they did not make the bed and crossed it off they will lose that day of screen time and if it occurs again that day plus the next ( so far no issues the kids are LOVING this) It takes chores off my plate, teaches them how to be responsible and THEY are in control of their own day.
For the active time we got them a kids Fitbit watch so we can see their active time, steps, even sleep patterns too. Its been nice because we will go on walks together as a family after dinner to get some extra steps in for all of us. The afternoon work is them choosing 2 pages out of a summer blast workbook that I purchased off Amazon that is grade appropriate. I love including a little something so they are using their brain and not just becoming a total couch potato!
They now have an agenda to complete and tasks to focus on that will help them!
Here is a link to the graphic that I have created, I used Canva to create it. It's free for you to use and adjust just click the file and make a copy for yourself. This way you can edit tasks, add your child’s name, and colors to personalize it to your famili’s needs.
If your children are younger and can’t read but you want to give them some responsibility I would change the words out with pictures and make this your own! just search in the search box inside Canva to find pictures to go with chores or self-care items.
I truly hope this helps your family as much as it had helped mine. I think we moms will take on the world and try to “do everything” then get burnt out and frustrated because we take on the world. I try to remember that my husband and children can’t read my mind so asking for help from your spouse and children is important. We all live together so it should be a joint effort to get clothes cleaned, dishes washed and plants watered!